Lankin
The Lankin was a vine-like creature which feasted on grief. It was unable to take people against their will, and so enticed victims to grab hold of it by morphing into their deceased loved ones.
In November 2016, it came through the rift in Coal Hill Academy. Aiming to feast on Tanya Adeola's grief, the great trunk of the Lankin tried to lure her in using the image of her father. Other branches took the forms of Rachel Chapman and Orla'ath, with the aims of feasting upon Ram Singh and Andrea Quill, respectively. It intended to feed on Charlie Smith's grief too by taking the form of his mother and father, but wasn't able to maintain the form for long as Charlie had a stranded relationship with his parents and felt little to no grief for their deaths.
Miss Quill compared it to a chameleon, because of the way it camouflaged itself and snatched its prey.
Tanya fed it anger instead of grief, which poisoned it and left it in a weakened state. Miss Quill then drove a double-decker bus into the trunk, and it was forced back through the rift. (TV: Nightvisiting) April MacLean later claimed that they had killed it. (TV: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart)
Behind the scenes
The Lankin shares similarities with the character Yivo from the Futurama film, The Beast with a Billion Backs. Both are unique beings with a seemingly infinite number of tentacles which can be seen sticking into people's backs. Stylistically, it presented itself in the episode similarly to the First in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode Conversations with Dead People.
The name "Lankin" or "Long Lankin" (alternately "Lamkin", "Lambkin", "Limkin", "Linkin", or "Lammikin") is a figure from English folk music who is usually found entering a house at night to commit murder and/or theft. Depending on the source, he is either a man, a devil, or a bogeyman.
