Ghoul

Ghoul (Arabic: غول‎, ghūl) is a demon or monster associated with graveyards and the eating of human flesh which originated in pre-Islamic Arabian religion; in modern fiction, the term is often used for certain types of undead monsters. The word "ghoul" is also used in a derogatory way to refer to anyone who delights at tragedies or the sufferings of others, or whose profession is linked directly to death.

Goul or ghul, in Arabic, signifies any terrifying object which deprives people of the use of their senses … ~ William Beckford

Quotes

For all their laughter, ghouls are a dull lot. Hunger is the fire in which they burn, and it burns hotter than the hunger for power over men or for knowledge of the gods in a crazed mortal. ~ Brian McNaughton

• From ghoulies and ghosties,
  And long-leggedy beasties,
  And things that go bump in the night,
  Good Lord, deliver us!
  • Anonymous saying, usually presented as a traditional Scottish prayer, but also sometimes more generally Celtic, with perhaps a Cornish or Welsh origin.

• Goul or ghul, in Arabic, signifies any terrifying object which deprives people of the use of their senses; hence it became the appellative of that species of monster which was supposed to haunt forests, cemeteries, and other lonely places, and believed not only to tear in pieces the living, but to dig up and devour the dead.
  • William Thomas Beckford, in The History of the Caliph Vathek (1786), as translated by Samuel Henley

• GHOUL, n. A demon addicted to the reprehensible habit of devouring the dead. The existence of ghouls has been disputed by that class of controversialists who are more concerned to deprive the world of comforting beliefs than to give it anything good in their place.
  • Ambrose Bierce, The Cynic's Dictionary (1906); republished as The Devil's Dictionary (1911)

• The dead walk among us. Zombies, ghouls — no matter what their label — these somnambulists are the greatest threat to humanity, other than humanity itself.
  • Max Brooks, in The Zombie Survival Guide : Complete Protection from the Living Dead (2003), Introduction, p. xiii

• I am not yet born; O hear me.
  Let not the bloodsucking bat or the rat or the stoat or the clubfooted ghoul come near me.
  • Louis MacNeice, in "Prayer Before Birth", in Springboard (1944)

• For all their laughter, ghouls are a dull lot. Hunger is the fire in which they burn, and it burns hotter than the hunger for power over men or for knowledge of the gods in a crazed mortal. It vaporizes delicacy and leaves behind only a slag of anger and lust. They see their fellows as impediments to feeding, to be mauled and shrieked at when the mourners go home. They are seldom alone, not through love of one another's company, but because a lone ghoul is suspected of stealing food. Their copulation is so hasty that distinctions of sex and identity are often ignored.
  • Brian McNaughton, in "Meryphillia", in The Throne of Bones (1997)

• Belligerent ghouls
  Run Manchester schools
  Spineless swines
  Cemented minds
  • Morrissey, in "The Headmaster Ritual", on Meat is Murder (1985)

• Belligerent ghouls
  Run Manchester schools
  Spineless bastards all
  • Morrissey, in "The Headmaster Ritual", on Meat is Murder (1985)

• All law enforcement agencies and the military have been organized to search out and destroy the marauding ghouls. The survival command center at the Pentagon has disclosed that a ghoul can be killed by a shot in the head or a heavy blow to the skull. Officials are quoted as explaining that since the brain of a ghoul has been activated by the radiation, the plan is, kill the brain and you kill the ghoul.
  • TV Newscaster in Night of the Living Dead (1968), written by by John A. Russo and George A. Romero