Name: Popobawa

Area of Origin: Eastern Africa

Popobawa (literally, “Bat Wing” in Swahili) is the name of an evil shapeshifting cryptid, believed by those in Zanzibar to have originated on the Tanzanian island of Pemba, and was the catalyst of a major outbreak of mass hysteria across the Zanzibar archipelago in the mid-1990s. The creature is popularly described as being able to change forms between man and animal, and though somewhat small in stature, possesses a pair of large bat-wings, its face framed by pointed ears and containing a large singular eye. It is also sometimes associated with an off-putting sulfurous odor. Primarily attacking during the nighttime, its exploits can comprise of physical harm or poltergeist-like phenomena, but worst of all is sexual assault and violating of both men and women alike. It seems to prey on unbelievers the most, and those that are attacked are urged to warn others; those that don’t are threatened by the possibility of the past being repeated.