A Flicker in the Night
The night is quiet in a village of the Ewe people of West Africa. Lanterns have been blown out, fires reduced to embers. Then a strange light appears — small, darting, flickering like a firefly. A child stirs restlessly in their sleep, fever rising, lips murmuring incoherent words. Outside, the glow lingers by the window, pulsing faintly, before vanishing into the dark. By morning, the child is weaker, and whispers spread through the village: the Adze has come.
What Is the Adze?
The Adze is one of West Africa’s most unsettling folkloric beings — a vampiric spirit that takes the form of a firefly or other small insect. By slipping unnoticed into a home, it feeds on the blood of sleeping children, leaving behind weakness, sickness, or even death.
But the Adze is more than just a vampiric insect. When captured, it can transform into a human-like sorcerer, often described as a witch in disguise. In this form, the Adze possesses tremendous power: spreading disease, cursing crops, causing misfortune, and even controlling the minds of its victims.
Its danger is both physical and social. The Adze thrives on suspicion — turning neighbors against one another, feeding the fear that anyone in the community could be secretly harboring its spirit. Unlike other monsters that can be slain with a weapon, the Adze destroys from the inside, corroding the trust that holds a village together.
Origins of the Legend
The legend of the Adze originates among the Ewe people, who live across Ghana, Togo, and Benin. In traditional belief systems, witches were thought to wield spiritual power to harm others. The Adze is often described as the spiritual embodiment of such a witch — a shape that slips between firefly and human, natural and supernatural.
Fireflies themselves likely played a role in shaping the legend. Their eerie glow in the night made them seem otherworldly, and their unpredictable movements resembled a searching spirit. In rural villages without electricity, the sudden appearance of a glowing insect near a sickbed could easily spark terror.
Colonial-era records mention the Adze in passing, often oversimplifying it as “witchcraft.” But for the Ewe, the Adze was more than superstition. It was a way to explain the inexplicable — why healthy children wasted away, why crops failed, or why one family seemed cursed while another prospered. The Adze gave shape to invisible misfortunes.
Terrifying Encounters and Accounts
Oral tradition is filled with chilling accounts of the Adze:
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The Sleeping Child – Perhaps the most feared sign of the Adze was a child who woke feverish after a firefly had been spotted near the house at night. The illness would deepen over days, and unless rituals were performed, the child rarely survived.
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The Witch in the Village – Sometimes whole villages would turn on one another after a rash of sickness. People whispered that the Adze had chosen a human host. An unlucky woman, often someone isolated or envied, might be accused, with tragic consequences.
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The Firefly That Wouldn’t Die – A recurring tale tells of a firefly that resisted every attempt to kill it. When finally captured in a jar or net, it burst into the shape of a sorcerer, revealing the witch behind the curse.
Even in modern times, echoes of the Adze remain. Witchcraft accusations still appear in rural Ghana and Togo, with illnesses or sudden deaths sometimes blamed on supernatural interference. The legend has left a long shadow that stretches far beyond the villages where it was first told.
Similar Legends Around the World
The Adze may be unique to West Africa, but its themes of vampirism, possession, and sickness resonate globally. Here are some of its eerie cousins:
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Aswang (Philippines) – Like the Adze, the Aswang hides among people, living as an ordinary villager by day. At night, it transforms into a monster — sometimes a winged vampire, sometimes a ghoul — feeding on children, pregnant women, or corpses. Both creatures are feared for their ability to pass unnoticed until it’s too late. Where the Adze slips into homes as a firefly, the Aswang swoops from the sky or crawls across rooftops, its long tongue piercing through walls.
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Pontianak (Malaysia/Indonesia) – This vengeful ghost is said to be the spirit of a woman who died during childbirth. Beautiful at first glance, she lures men in, then reveals her corpse-like face, long black hair, and razor-sharp nails. Her shriek is a death omen — if it sounds close, she is far away; if it sounds faint, she is right behind you. Much like the Adze, the Pontianak is linked to sickness, fever, and death, and is especially feared by families with young children.
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Strzyga (Eastern Europe) – In Polish and Romanian lore, the Strzyga is a vampiric demon born from a person with two souls or other strange features, such as being born with teeth. After death, the Strzyga rises from the grave to suck the blood of the living. Villages plagued by unexplained illness often turned to tales of the Strzyga. The parallel to the Adze is striking — both embody hidden threats within the community, a reminder that anyone could be a monster in disguise.
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Obayifo (Ashanti, Ghana) – A close cousin to the Adze, the Obayifo is another vampiric witch-like being from West Africa. Said to emit a strange glowing light, it prowls at night and feeds on the vitality of children. Its glowing aura mirrors the firefly’s flicker, suggesting that the Adze and Obayifo may once have been variations of the same legend, told in different regions.
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Churel (India) – This terrifying figure is said to be the spirit of a mistreated or neglected woman, especially one who died in childbirth. At night she hunts men, draining their youth and vitality. In some tales, she disguises herself as a beautiful woman, but her backward-facing feet give her away. Like the Adze, the Churel personifies envy and vengeance, feeding on the very lifeblood of the community.
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Lamia (Ancient Greece) – A queen turned monster, Lamia was cursed to devour children after losing her own. She is often depicted with serpent-like features and an insatiable hunger. For Greek mothers, she was a boogeyman figure, much like the Adze is for Ewe families — a reminder that the night holds dangers beyond human understanding.
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The European Vampire – The vampire of Slavic and later European folklore also echoes the Adze. Rising from the grave, spreading plague, and preying on the young, vampires inspired fear throughout villages just as the Adze did. Both creatures reveal humanity’s oldest fear: that something unseen, silent, and hungry stalks us while we sleep.
Through these comparisons, the Adze takes its place in a worldwide family of vampiric beings. Each reflects its culture’s deepest anxieties — from childbirth and illness to envy and betrayal.
How to Survive an Adze Encounter
Unlike many monsters, the Adze offers no simple method of defense. Folklore insists that once marked by the Adze, death is almost certain. Still, traditional practices developed to protect against its attack:
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Keeping Fireflies Out – Families were cautious about leaving windows open at night, fearing the glow of fireflies could carry death with it.
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Charms and Amulets – Protective items, often blessed or made with specific herbs, were kept near sleeping children.
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Community Rituals – Healers or shamans might be called to perform rites to drive away the Adze, chanting or using smoke to cleanse a home.
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Capturing the Spirit – If the Adze in insect form could be trapped, it would reveal its human witch form, exposing the person responsible. Unfortunately, this often led to suspicion and violence against innocent people.
The true horror of the Adze is its inevitability. Unlike vampires slain by sunlight or silver, the Adze spreads dread that cannot be easily dispelled.
The Adze in Popular Culture
The Adze hasn’t gained the same worldwide fame as vampires or werewolves, but its strange nature has caught the attention of scholars and creators:
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Folklorists often cite the Adze as an example of how belief in witchcraft shapes communities, influencing justice, health, and social ties.
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Writers and game designers are beginning to resurrect the Adze in modern horror, drawn to its eerie firefly form.
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Academic studies link the Adze to real-world issues of disease and witchcraft accusations, showing how a folkloric being can have lasting cultural impact.
Its relative obscurity makes it a treasure trove for horror fans — a monster as strange as it is terrifying.
Final Thoughts
The Adze is not a monster of brute strength or visible terror. It is a flicker in the dark, a fever without explanation, a whisper that turns neighbor against neighbor. By hiding in the shape of something as harmless as a firefly, the Adze embodies the idea that danger often comes in the smallest, most overlooked forms.
It is also a reminder of how legends shape the way we understand misfortune. Whether blamed for sickness, envy, or betrayal, the Adze reflects humanity’s search for meaning in the face of suffering.
The next time you see a firefly glowing in the dark, ask yourself: is it simply a beautiful insect — or the hungry spirit of something far more sinister?
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