Thanks Greg & crew for getting my tired gray cells to fire some sparks. Leaving aside D&D I did some quick research.
"A ghoul is a mythological monster from ancient Arabian folklore that dwells in burial grounds and other uninhabited places. The English word comes from the Arabic name for the creature: الغول al-ghūl, which literally means "demon"."
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"The ghoul is a desert-dwelling, shapeshifting demon that can assume the guise of an animal, especially a hyena. It lures unwary travellers into the desert wastes to slay and devour them. The creature also preys on young children, robs graves, drinks blood, and eats the dead[4] taking on the form of the one they previously ate."
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It sounds pretty great. Here's my quick Gloranthan ghoul take.
A ghoul is a thing from before the dawn. It's not a human, but rather a hell entity with no true shape of it's own. They eat the flesh of the dead to gain a human form, and are usually scavengers hanging at the edges of human societies. Some of them are creatures in the wastelands and deserts. A Ghoul that only has foxes to eat will become a "demon fox", and a one preying on trolls would be a troll-ghoul (but trolls are pretty savvy with hell-entities. Then again, some could well cooperate with one).
It fits nicely with the sub/superhuman attributes, the eating of dead bodies and the lurking out of site at graveyards and such.
The "king of ghouls" in Sartar was a nasty human drawing power form human sacrifice, until cursed by Sartar. Sartar, being a powerful hero of change probably turned him into what he was already acting like... except that the real ghouls are probably much more cautious.
Being hell entities with bodies that mimic the recently dead, it's no wonder they are thought to be undead,
-Adept
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