ASANBONSAM

Lore

Asanbosam is the devil of the deep forest, sometimes called the enforcer of the African earth-goddess Asase Yaa. In traditional Ghanaian culture, simply speaking its name is considered dangerous-doing so is said to invite chronic bad luck-so locals prefer roundabout titles for the creature.

In appearance Asanbosam is a blend of human, bat, and gorilla. When it stands on the ground its height is roughly that of a person-about six feet (180 cm)-but the limbs are grotesquely lengthened. Its mouth bristles with elongated fangs that village elders call "iron teeth." The monster supposedly keeps them hard by drinking the iron-rich blood of humans and animals and by grinding them on quartzite outcrops in the mountains. The most striking limb anomaly is the replacement of hands with curved, iron-like hooks. With these hooks Asanbosam hangs from thick kapok branches and can stay motionless for hours, camouflaged among the vines. Hook hunting is its favorite tactic: perched overhead, it waits until prey passes beneath, then snatches the victim and hauls them into the tree to drain their blood.

Asanbosam's habitat is the tropical forest dominated by the silk-cotton tree, Ceiba pentandra. A single trunk can reach 165 feet (50 m), and its buttress roots form deep hollows. Inside such cavities the creature makes its lair; some tales claim the spaces beneath the roots lead to Asanbosam's underground kingdom. The soil around the buttresses often shows a rusty-red tint that healers explain as blood runoff from nocturnal raids. When prey is scarce, the monster is said to descend on human settlements and hunt there.