[BLOG TOUR] Vampires of Portlandia by Jason Tanamor

by - September 25, 2020

 

The moment I saw a blog tour for an aswang novel, I knew I had to join. Thank you so much to Shealea from Caffeine Tours for hosting this blog tour and accepting my application. And thank you to the author, Jason Tanamor, for my free e-copy of this ARC.

Read on to learn more about the book and about aswang and Philippine folklore!

Vampires of Portlandia is an adult fantasy novel by Jason Tanamor. It will be released on September 29, 2020.


What is Vampires of Portlandia about?

When Marcella Leones relocates her family of aswang vampires from the Philippines to Portland, Oregon, she raises her grandchildren under strict rules so humans will not expose them. Her only wish is to give them a peaceful life, far away from the hunters and the Filipino government that attempted to exterminate them.
Before she dies, she passes on the power to her eldest grandchild, Percival. He vows to uphold the rules set forth by Leones, allowing his family to roam freely without notice. After all, they are aswangs.
However, when the aswang covenant is broken, the murder rate in Portland rises drastically. Who is behind the murders? And who is behind the broken covenant? Along with sensie Penelope Jane, Percival must find the truth.
It's then they discover that there are other breeds of aswangs—werebeasts, witches, ghouls, and viscera—who have been residing in Portland for years.
Based on Filipino folklore (aswang), “Vampires of Portlandia” is a fantastical tale of different monsters coexisting in the weirdest city in America.


Does this book sound interesting to you? No worries. It's coming out next week!



My moodboard


Some of you might be wondering: what is an aswang? Well buckle up. 

Let me introduce you to Philippine folklore!

The Philippines, located in Southeast Asia, has been a bustling crossroads of culture for thousands of years. Our culture isn't just Malay, it's also heavily influenced by China, India, and of course the old colonizers: Spain and the United States. If you're also Southeast Asian, you might recognize some of these creatures, albeit under a different name.

First, what is an aswang?

The aswang is basically an umbrella term for various creatures of Filipino foklore. There isn't an exact taxonomy to classify them, but they share these characteristics:

  • They're often evil or malevolent, causing harm to humans
  • They drink blood or eat internal organs and viscera (sometimes they eat unborn fetuses)
  • They look like regular human beings by day, but shapeshift by night (into monsters or great dogs)
  • They can be defeated by garlic, salt, a stingray tail, or holy water
Sometimes they're compared to vampires, and that is quite similar! There are aswang who suck blood by using their long, probosis-like tongues. But this is only one kind of creature. You might have also heard of:

The manananggal

Whose name literally means "one who removes". By day, she's a (beautiful) woman. By night, the upper half of her body grows wings, separates, and flies away in search of food. Her beauty is replaced by long dark hair, gaunt skin, sharp vampire teeth, and talons. Her lower half hides somewhere safe. It's said that the only way to defeat her is to pour salt on her lower body, so that she can't reconnect. If she can't reconnect her body by the time the sun rises, she'll die.

The only way to tell if someone's a mananggal (aside from catching them in the act, I suppose) is to look into their eyes. If your reflection is upside-down... run!

The tiktik (or wakwak, or ekek)

These bird-like hunters are named after the sounds they make. Tik-tik. Tik-tik. They prowl the night in search of flesh. Pregnant women, beware of holes in your roof. The tiktik might stick their probosis through the hole and suck your baby out of your belly button while you're sleeping. Creepy, huh?

Even creepier: the farther they are, the louder their cries. So you might think that you're getting away... but in reality they're getting closer.

The tiyanak

This is basically an evil demon baby that lures you in with its cuteness, only to reveal its true form and eat you when you get too close.

Yep, they just keep getting scarier.

How do you become an aswang?

So how do the evil undead become... undead? There are lots of stories about these too. It varies from region to region. The Philippines is a vast place with thousands of languages and ethnic groups, and each one has different interpretations.

In Vampires of Portlandia, the power is passed down by an amulet or agimat. The agimat is in itself an important object in Philippine folklore; it can be used to bestow strength, healing, protection, or powers on the wearer. There are other legends about swallowing precious objects too. An established Filipino superhero named Darna undergoes her magical-girl transformation by swallowing a magical stone and shouting her name. Kind of tricky, but unique!

There are also legends that say you become an aswang by swallowing a black chick. As in, a baby chicken. Sometimes, you have to swallow an egg. 

It's also interesting to note that being an aswang can also be passed down through the bloodline. The characters in Vampires of Portlandia are indeed a family of aswang, with the grandmother Marcella acting as the matriarch of their clan. Here's another interesting note: the head of the clan cannot die until they pass their powers onto their heir. This ensures the continuation of their bloodline. So unlike Western vampires, even the aswang are very family oriented. More like The Addams Family than Dracula.


This is just a small introduction to Philippine folkore, since there are too many creatures to be encompassed in one post. If you find this intriguing, then check out Vampires of Portlandia for a glimpse of how they are in action!


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For further reading, I highly recommend The Aswang Project online:

https://www.aswangproject.com/etymology-of-aswang-where-did-the-word-come-from/

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Check out the other stops for this blog tour here!

September 20

September 21

September 22

September 23

September 24

September 25

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