PART ONE
ghoul (gōōl) noun [Ar. ghāla, also ghūl ]
-roughly from the verb transitive to seize, more accurately to take up suddenly
-feminine form ghalan, also ghalen (though this is an erroneous usage since by most mythological sources the ghāla is sexless)
-plural form unclear
-VARIATIONS: (chiefly European) goule, ghoule, and ghool; also (rare) ghowl
-SOURCE: pre-Islamic
—from “Rudiments of Terms,”
The Morakis Dictionary of World Myth
Go to sleep you whining, fat brat, or else,
tonight, you’ll be eaten by rats.
There’s a vampire in the basement,
There’re goblins in the walls,
a werewolf in the closet,
and ghouls in the hall.
—from “The Babysitter” by PHILIP STRAKER
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