A ghoul is a demon-like being or monstrous humanoid that originated in pre-Islamic Arabian religion, associated with graveyards and the consumption of human flesh. In ancient Arabic folklore, ghouls belonged to a class of jinn and were often confused with the siʿlā, a witchlike species of jinn, immutable in shape. The ghoul was often depicted as a desert-dwelling, shapeshifting demon that can assume the guise of an animal, especially a hyena, and lures unwary people into the desert wastes or abandoned places to slay and devour them. The creature also preys on young children, drinks blood, steals coins, and eats the dead, then taking the form of the person most recently eaten. In modern fiction, the term ghoul is often used to label a certain kind of monster. By extension, the word ghoul is also used in a derogatory sense to refer to a person who delights in the macabre or whose occupation directly involves death, such as a gravedigger or graverobber.