This monster comes courtesy of my husband Marcin, my son Miles, and my friend D.M Guay (of 24/7 Demon Mart fame). Long story short:
- D recently sent my son (aged 2.5) a package of fabulous monster-themed picture books.
- I’ve been so busy with other things this week that, come Sunday night, I had yet to choose a Monster.
- I delegated this responsibility. IOW, I picked up one of the aforementioned picture books (I believe it’s called the Monster Atlas?), lobbed it gently at Marcin and said “here, you pick one.”
That, my friends, is how we have arrived at Adze, the West African vampire, shapeshifter, and possessor. He is what we here at Monster of the Week like to call a real triple threat.
Shut up, I’m hilarious.
Powers and Abilities
As I said above, Adze are shapeshifters. However, the shapes into which they shift are limited. Specially, there’s two. In their natural form, Adze look like fireflies. They sneak through keyholes or cracks in windows and suck the blood of humans, which leads to severe illness and death.
The second form Adze take is, of course, human. When they are free, they can choose to turn into humans at will. When they captured in firefly form, they change automatically, which I assume has scarred more than one group of kids on a sleepover out in the country.
However, just because they are captured and/or unable to suck your blood and kill you doesn’t mean they aren’t still dangerous. In fact, they may be even more dangerous in human form.
What’s more dangerous that bloodsucking death-dealers, you may ask? How about a being that can possess you in a way that exacerbates your worst qualities, ruins the lives of everyone close to you, and eventually drives you to madness? Because…yeah, that’s pretty much what they do. Are you the jealous type? Get ready to freak out your friends and lovers with your crazy possessiveness. Like the sauce? Then you can kiss your liver, and probably your life, goodbye. Do you bet the ponies, roll them bones, or hang out with one-armed bandits? I think see where I’m going with this. When the Adze get you, they jack your foibles up to a thousand and destroy not only you, but everyone who cares about you too.
Origins of the Adze
There’s not a written account of when this myth began. This tells me it started in the oral tradition somewhere, which actually lends it more credence in my opinion. If it was important enough to make it from mouth to mouth until someone eventually wrote it down, it must be some bad (and true) stuff indeed.
Scholars believe the myth of the adze probably stems from fears of diseases like malaria or other mosquito-borne illnesses. Makes perfect sense, of course. But who’s to say it wasn’t also some kid who caught the wrong firefly on a warm summer night? Two things can be true, you know.
Defeating the Adze
Ready for the good news? Too bad–there isn’t any. Adze do not have a known deterrent, and once bit, there is no cure. The only way to avoid death or worse at the hands (or teeth) of an adze is to make sure you aren’t one of their ideal targets. What is an ideal target for an adze? Women (because of course), the elderly (seems unfair), and the poor.
Hmmm, is it me, or does the “Adze Prime Targets” list seem to share a lot of similarities with “Populations That Are Inconvenient for a Male-Dominated Capitalist Society” list?
Indeed, at one point in history it was common practice to blame everything from mental illness to infertility to bad luck on the adze’s possessive influence. The fact that it can’t be cured, well…that seems like a pretty convenient way to discredit and marginalize problems we don’t want to deal with, doesn’t it?
Oh wait, I forgot. There is one thing that, though difficult, might help remove an adze from a possessed victim. Three guesses what that is.
That’s right. Send your thoughts and prayers people. It’s bound to work eventually.
If you like unusual vampires, then check out my post on Bakeneko, the Vampire Cat of Japan.
Author’s Note
As I write more and more of these articles, which involve more in-depth research and discovery than the social media posts did, I can feel them becoming more…socially conscious, I guess is the term I’ll use. This is not an intentional move on my part, nor am I trying to push any political or religious viewpoints on anyone. However, so you all know a bit more about the mind behind these articles, I will say this:
I am a left-leaning lapsed Catholic who believes that any dogma or system of believe that is based on the suffering of others (in whole or in part) is fundamentally broken and needs to be either fixed or eradicated in favor of something better.
Also, because I believe that nothing is perfect, we should be constantly learning, growing, and fixing everything.
This is what I think. It doesn’t have to be what you think. That’s all.
