As a kid, I was infatuated with folklore. Many of my childhood years were spent in North Carolina, becoming absorbed into local stories like the Headless Railroad Man and the Ghost Lights of Maco Station. It wasn’t until I was a teen and had moved to another state that I realized these stories were shared all over the country, each place telling things a little differently, yet keeping the same premise.
You would think this would delegitimize the stories, but for me, it just made them more fun. I would research and learn, compare, and contrast. My interests went from reading children’s books about Anansi the Spider, to watching every episode of Monster Quest. Do you know the differences between the Spottsville Monster and the Skunk Ape? Alright, alright, I’ve obviously calmed down a bit as I’ve gotten older, and my infatuation with folklore has seamlessly blended with my love for horror. In fact, folklore horror remains one of my favorite sub-genres.
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So, I got to thinking that number one, there simply aren’t enough serviceable horror films that celebrate the historic folklore from around the globe, and number two, someone should highlight the ones that do exist, so other people can nerd out on this topic as much as me! With those two thoughts in mind, I’ve decided to write up a mini-series of articles highlighting horror films based on folklore from all around the world. With February being Black History Month, I thought a great way to tie the subject matter to the monthly event was to kick off the series with Africa, celebrating horror stories made popular by African culture, a lot of which has evolved into Black culture. Now that you’re familiar with my obsession and my idea, let’s get started.
One of the most popular pieces of African folklore that seems to pop up in horror films is the wandering demon. Although they have no one generalized name (Shetani in the East, Uthuli in the South, etc.), the stories range all the way from Ghana to South Africa. Usually, the tale depicts a demon that has possessed a desperate and lonely human or animal, particularly those that have lost people close to them. The demon wanders throughout the desert or jungle in search of havoc to wreak and more souls to drag to their version of hell, which also differs from region to region.
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Examples of movies that do a great job of portraying these stories are Abro Ne Bayie (2008 – Ghana) and 8: The Soul Collector (2019 – South Africa). As many fables and folklore tales have messages, both films show the warnings of letting desperate strangers get too close. A more traditionally religious demonic story is told in the Nigerian film Karishika (1996), where Lucifer sends a group of demons to collect more souls for hell.
Another African malevolent creature was used recently in Netflix’s His House (2020) is the Apeth, a Sudanese witch that can attach itself to those that have endured a tragedy or open themselves up to evil acts. His House was one of my top horror films of last year, so I highly recommend checking that one out. The portrayal of the hallucinations the Apeth can cast upon those it attaches itself to and haunts are truly breathtaking and terrifying. Haunt folklore is also the base of Uganda’s only horror film, Bunjako (2016), a story about University students camping near a forest that houses an evil spirit and its flesh-eating minions.
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Although possession seems to be a big thing in a lot of African horror folklore, it does dabble in its own version of European-style Gremlin/Leprechaun type stories. The Tokoloshe, for example, is a little dwarf-like water spirit, comparable to a goblin. The South African Tokoloshe can turn invisible and is usually called upon by mischievous and malevolent people to do their bidding. Many films have been released about this creature, and although most of the films have been super low-budget and not well-received, the best one came out of South Africa in 2018, titled The Tokoloshe, from filmmaker Jerome Pikwane. Another example of mythical creature folklore comes from Morocco, where the story behind the 2018 film Achoura details a hideous vampiric monster that feeds on the joy of children, draining them of their life essence.
Mythical beasts aren’t the only creatures that show up in African folklore horror. True stories of real-life animals have gained legendary status over the years, becoming more and more exaggerated as time goes on. Tales of Gustave the killer Nile Crocodile come from Burundi and Tanzania. Gustave folklore has him at 20+ feet long, 3,000 pounds and the eater of more than 300 people in the region. The stories have instilled so much fear that villagers near Lake Tanganyika will go weeks without bathing. Michael Katleman directed a 2007 creature feature horror film about Gustave called Primeval, that follows a group of researchers trying to capture him, in a very Anaconda-esque story. In the Shadow of Kilimanjaro (1986) is another creature feature based on a Kenyan story about a colony of 90,000 ravenous baboons that overtake a small mining village in 1984, killing its residents.
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No African folklore horror article would be complete without moving northeast to countries like Egypt and Sudan. Although sharing stories of origin with Arabic countries of Persia (I’ll get to those in the Asian folklore horror article), Egypt and Sudan both have their own legends regarding the Djinn (Jinn, Genie), a creature that grants wishes and in darker stories, always claims a price for them. Regardless of which country’s iteration of the creature, they have become the basis for countless horror films throughout history. More African-based stories spawned films like The Humans and the Jinns (1985) and Jinn (2014).
The most popular (and my personal favorite) African folklore in horror comes from myths of Egyptian mummies. Whereas the mummies themselves aren’t the myths, the curses that come with them are. The cursed Egyptian mummy has become a staple in classic horror, with Boris Karloff’s portrayal in The Mummy (1932) cementing the creature’s place in the famous Universal Movie Monsters. The cursed mummy stories would carry on through many different sub-genres of horror, like anthologies with Tales from the Darkside (1990), adventure with The Mummy (1999) and comedies Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) and The Monster Squad (1987).
Geeking out aside, I’m sure there are a ton of films I’m forgetting to mention. However, this should give you a good start if you’re interested in going down this path. I can say with certainty that with the vast amount of creepy, horrific stories that come from African folklore, not nearly enough horror films have been made of them, and I hope to see some in the future. Particularly, with more mythological creatures like the Grootslang or Kongamato.
We would love to hear any of your favorites in the sub-genre, and feel free to give us suggestions to check out. I hope you’re as excited as I am to dive into Asian folklore horror for the next part of the series!
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