Schools in Malaysia have been struck by a mass hysteria 'epidemic' in which students claim they are having visions of female vampiric ghosts and are being physically pinned down by evil spirits.

Called 'body possession phenomenon', one bizarre incident saw 20 female students sent home from a single school after complaining of being overwhelmed by it.

Yesterday reporters attempting to speak with students at one school were not allowed entry but heard screams coming from inside classrooms.

More than 100 students at schools in Kota Baru (pictured), Malaysia, have been affected by the phenomenom

Education chiefs in the Kota Baru region are now using shamans and religious leaders to try and clear the schools of the supposed 'bad spirits', the Straits Times reported.

The latest school to be struck by the hysteria was SMK Pengkalan Chepa 1, which avoided spreading it by sending five female students home for the day.

Those affected by the bizarre hysteria claim to be overwhelmed by bad spirits and see spirits such as the pontianak, a type of female vampiric ghost popular in Malaysian folklore.

Pontianaks are said to be the spirits of women who died while giving birth who return to prey on men.

Teacher Norlelawati Ramli, 32, even claimed she felt something pinning her down after she tended to a student who was complaining of seeing demons.