Urban Legends

Orang Minyak

Origin: Malaysia

The Orang Minyak (or Oily Man) is a supernatural creature from Malaysian folklore who attacks young, unmarried girls at night as they sleep in their beds. Due to a deal made with the devil, his skin is black and covered in shiny black oil.

The Oily Man is a human being who has studied black magic and made a deal with the devil. At night, he sneaks into the bedrooms of young girls and attacks them while they sleep in their beds. The Oily Man has a bald head, and his eyes are red. He is completely naked, and his entire body is covered in shiny black oil.

According to the legend, The Orang Minyak was originally a deformed man who lived in a small Malaysian village, Kampung. 

The man's face was disfigured, and he was a hunchback. Because of his physical deformities, everyone in Kampung made fun of him and bullied him mercilessly. The men beat him and spat on him, and the women refused to have anything to do with him.

The disfigured man fell in love with a woman who lived in the village, but he believed she would never love him back. Driven by anger and frustration, he began studying black magic and occult rituals. He made a deal with the devil to restore himself to a handsome appearance. However, there was a price to pay. He was cursed to transform into an Orang Minyak after night falls and forced to victimize young, unmarried girls as a sacrifice to satan.

Under cover of darkness, the Oily Man sneaks into a girl's room and stands over her bed, watching her sleep. The girl suddenly wakes up, only to see a dark form staring at her with penetrating eyes. She feels paralyzed, unable to struggle or cry out. He attacks her, and she isn't sure if she is dreaming or if it is really happening.

Afterward, the Oily Man leaves a black cross on her forehead and escapes into the night. When she wakes up in the morning, she finds black oil stains all over her bedsheets.

They say that Orang Minyak is almost impossible to catch. The black oil makes him difficult to see in the dark and also makes him very slippery, which helps to evade capture. He is also very strong and agile and can climb walls and jump from one roof to another with ease. Using black magic, he can walk through walls and vanish into thin air. Some say he is even able to become invisible, squeeze through narrow spaces, and bypass locked doors.

Some girls try to protect themselves from the Oily Man by borrowing sweaty clothes from boys. They will wear the clothes at night while they sleep, hoping to trick the Orang Minyak into thinking they are male, so he will leave them alone.

Another way to protect yourself from the Oily man is to sprinkle banana heart petals and bera taro leaves around your bedroom. This will trap the Orang Minyak, and you can throw a piece of batik cloth over him to weaken him and sap his powers. Then, if you bite his thumbs, the Orang Minyak will die.

You can also kill him by sticking him with a branch of a Petai plant. Orang Minyak is afraid of the rain because water will make him visible to others, and it is believed that he is also afraid of mirrors.

Whenever there is a sighting of an Orang Minyak in Kampung, the local people arm themselves with wooden sticks, machetes, and axes and patrol the area to protect their girls. Others stay indoors, sleep with all of the lights on and pray every night for protection from evil spirits.