These articles cover legends from across the continent, including Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, South Africa, Zanzibar, Kenya, Mali, Somalia, Sierra Leone and Mauritius. Two are tied to dated events. Touni Minwi is the 1994 panic in Lallmatie, Mauritius, which two Mauritian newspapers covered at the time and again in later retrospectives; the article finds no record that the oiled, shapeshifting intruder existed. The Popobawa page describes a documented mass panic in Zanzibar. Gustave is the unusual entry: a real, photographed Nile crocodile in Burundi. The rest are folklore figures. The headless lady of Frégate Island has no confirmed name, no recorded death and no police report. The chipekwe is listed as unverified. The Tutankhamun curse page starts from the fact that Howard Carter lived another sixteen years after opening the burial chamber. Each page marks which claims have a source.
Articles
- Mmoatia: Ghana’s Backward-Footed Akan Forest Dwarfs: Small forest beings of Akan-speaking Ghana, said to leave backward-pointing footprints. (Label: Oral tradition.)
- Touni Minwi: Mauritius’s 1994 Werewolf Panic: The 1994 panic in Lallmatie, Mauritius, over an oiled, naked intruder. (Label: Partially documented.)
- The Headless Lady of Frégate Island, Seychelles: A headless ghost said to walk a private Seychelles island at dusk; no name, death record or police report. (Label: Unverified.)
- Ebigane: Gabon’s Shapeshifting Bat-Buffalo Vampire: In Fang epic songs, a shape a hero can force into being: teeth, horns and bat wings. (Label: Oral tradition.)
- Chipekwe: Zambia’s Unverified One-Horned Lake Monster: The Lake Bangweulu monster that hippos reportedly avoid; unverified. (Label: Unverified.)
- Madam Koi Koi: The Ghost That Still Haunts Nigerian Boarding Schools: The ghost remembered by students of Nigerian federal boarding schools. (Label: Documented.)
- The Most Beautiful Girl Hidden Under an Ass’s Skin: A Kotoko Legend from Chad: A Kotoko folktale from Chad about a daughter born in a donkey's hide. (Label: Oral tradition.)
- Bouda: The Hyena-Shapeshifter of North African Folklore: A craftsman who becomes a hyena at night, in tales from Morocco, Ethiopia and Sudan. (Label: Documented.)
- Tikoloshe: The True Story Behind South Africa’s Most Feared Spirit: A small, malevolent, often invisible spirit feared across Southern Africa. (Label: Documented.)
- Popobawa: The True Story Behind Zanzibar’s Most Feared Spirit: A shapeshifting night spirit tied to a documented mass panic in Zanzibar. (Label: Documented.)
- Nandi Bear: Kenya’s Shadow Beast of the Highlands: The livestock killer of western Kenya called chemosit by the Nandi. (Label: Documented.)
- Tingoi: The Water Spirit Who Judges Beauty in Sierra Leone: A river spirit of flawless beauty in Mende oral tradition. (Label: Oral tradition.)
- Napolo: Malawi’s Serpent Spirit Behind Real Landslides: In Chewa, the word for the serpent and also for the flash flood itself. (Label: Documented.)
- Grootslang: The Elephant-Serpent That Guards a Bottomless Hole: The elephant-serpent said to live in a bottomless “Wonder Hole” near the Namibia-South Africa border. (Label: Oral tradition.)
- Ninki Nanka: The Dragon of the Gambian Swamps: The creature parents on the River Gambia and in Casamance name to keep children from the water at dusk. (Label: Oral tradition.)
- Wokulo: The Invisible Dwarf Mali’s Bamana Call Stronger Than Any Wrestler: An invisible, hairy bush spirit about three feet tall, from Mali. (Label: Oral tradition.)
- Kongamato: The Winged Cryptid of Angola’s Swamps: A winged creature of the Jiwundu swamps that fishermen carried a charm against. (Label: Oral tradition.)
- Dhegdheer: The Long-Eared Cannibal of Somali Folklore: “Long ears”, the figure of Somali bedtime stories. (Label: Oral tradition.)
- Eloko: Moss-Covered Forest Spirits of the Congo: Hollow-tree spirits of the Mongo-Nkundo people in the DR Congo rainforest. (Label: Unverified.)
- Gustave the Crocodile: Burundi’s Real Man-Eating Giant: A real, photographed Nile crocodile in Burundi that a herpetologist has tried to catch for nearly three decades. (Label: Unverified.)
- Egyptian Curse Legends: What’s Actually Documented About Tomb Curses: Howard Carter opened the burial chamber in 1923 and lived another sixteen years. (Label: Documented.)
- El Naddaha: The Nile’s “Caller” Who Lures Victims by Name: A voice from the Nile that Delta fishermen do not answer. (Label: Oral tradition.)