The Creatures of Midnight

by Maximo D. Ramos, Dani Reyes (Illustrator)

BOOK ON FILIPINO MYTHICAL CREATURES WRITTEN IN ENGLISH

Genres: Mythology

114 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Nick Klagge · Rating 2 out of 5]

I put down Ramos' longer book "Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology" without finishing it, so I didn't write any review of it. This book is a much shorter treatment of the same material. Like CPLM, Ramos frustratingly groups Filipino legendary monsters into a set of pre-existing European-derived categories (elves, dwarves, witches, etc.), resulting in forced stuff like "aswang (ghoul aspect)" and "aswang (vampire aspect)" rather than just acknowledging that the mythology of such a crossroads culture as the Philippines might not fit neatly into categories.

The book is presented in a "bestiary" style that makes it easier to read. However, if you're interested in something like this, I would much more highly recommend the modern "Alejandro Pardo" books by Budjette Tan et al. Those books present the creatures with engaging scraps of narrative, where here, we get loose listings of characteristics. The book seems oddly targeted at kids, while dealing with some pretty gruesome stuff (although I guess Grimm's fairytales are the same). Plus, the monsters in each section often end up feeling kind of same-y, because there are often separate entries for several creatures that are really just "variations on the same theme" from different regions.

Also, the art is fairly amateur-ish looking, and most of the humans depicted look really European. The Alejandro Pardo books have much cooler (and scarier!) art.

[marc | bookmarcreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look past the dated artwork and you’ll find some very cool monsters in here. Only problem I found was that a lot of the traits and weaknesses of the creatures in this book overlap one another, making the line between creatures of a similar category blur, but I guess you can’t be picky with ancient folklore passed on from region to region by word of mouth. There’s naturally bound to be some similarities and it’s cool various regions of the Philippines got represented in here.

I think it’s just so awesome to find out that the Philippines, the land of my ancestors, have their very own dragons, elves, merfolk, witches, ogres, ghouls, demons, vampires, weredogs (no wolves in the Philippines) in their folklore and they’re all highly unique and terrifying in their own way! Don’t believe me, google search “Manananggal” 😱🦇😱

[antang · Rating 2 out of 5]

the euro lens in which philippine legends are looked at in this book was off putting. but considering the time it was written in puts it in perspective. still not a fan…..was an easy read though

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has a lot of the same information as the author's *Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology* with none of the social commentary. I wish I had deferred buying that book, and instead started out with this. It has excellent illustrations and the description of each creature is told almost in a poetic format. I imagine that many children would love reading this to get a bit of a spook.

[A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very simple intro to Pinoy mythology. Definitely written for a younger audience. It was great for introducing me to some figures I hadn't heard of, since I'm just starting my journey in learning more about Filipino folklore, but I wish there was more information/detail.

[Raph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would love to read these as bedtime stories to my future children.

[Maricar Dizon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the fourth book from a collection entitled Realms Of Myths And Reality by Dr. Maximo Ramos. If you are interested to know more about the creatures from Philippine Folklore, look for his books. The content of The Creatures Of Midnight is very informative and straight to the point, with illustrations for every creature. Just don't expect too much when it comes to the whole package for all of Dr. Ramos' books look like textbooks.

[meesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

read this all in like a day but it was very informative for my lil project albeit a bit euro centric?

[Caitlin Vansteel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting YA I think my kiddos will like it.

[Raph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is something I would love to read to my future children as bedtime stories