![]() The Poinciana Woman, however, seems to stick to the clifftop area of Dudley Point and the military precinct, and some tales have her haunting the imposing concrete and gun turrets. The Pontianak was brought to Darwin by Filipino and Malaysian fishermen, whose population was growing by the 1930s and whose colourful ghost stories gripped the locals, Mr Dyrting concluded.ĭyrting's theory seems like a solid explanation - but why is she always associated with trees in Darwin? Her abusers change, but she is always Aboriginal or "Malay"? And when did she start to haunt East Point? Location, location, locationĮast Point Reserve covers 200 hectares of tropical bush, walking trails, a lake, horse paddocks, Darwin's fanciest restaurant and, of course, a World War II military fortress.Įmilio Cubillo believes he photographed a ghostly presence - the Poinciana Woman? ( ABC News: Rosa Ellen) ![]() ![]() In Indonesia she's known as the Pontianak and is the subject of many horror movies and stories. Mr Dyrting identifies the legend as originating from a well-trodden ghost story popular all over south-east Asia, about a vengeful pregnant woman who haunts men. His version of the story was that she was a "beautiful brown-skinned Asian woman" who was gang-raped, became deranged, took her life near a poinciana tree and uses those long nails to " her victims and feeds on their still-steaming guts". She was also the subject of an entertaining essay by writer Roland Dyrting. The Poinciana Woman has captured the imagination of artists like Sarah Drummond. "The story we were told was she was a beautiful Aboriginal lady who was raped by soldiers which I always believed to be Japanese," wrote Robyn.Īnd so the story goes, the mythical woman became pregnant and took her life near a Poinciana tree, as she couldn't return to her people. To collect some of the many variations, I asked the Old Darwin Facebook group, a forum for local nostalgia lovers. It's a gruesome tale, beginning with a gruesome act. But many aren't clear on the actual story of how or why she got that way, let alone her origins. It turns out a lot of people grew up jittery about this malevolent ghost with a penchant for hiding in trees. "It's frightening out there at East Point, thanks to the Poinciana Woman being around, but I never really knew much about her," she said. She spent her teen years in Darwin in the 1980s. "I think it comes from when we used to go cruising at night in the panel van and boys used to try and scare us into cuddling up to them, by using the Poinciana Woman," says Curious Darwin questioner Kirsty Burke.
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