(female narrator) It comes in the night, causing mischief and preying on unsuspecting sleepers in their beds.

It may even drink your blood.

No, I'm not talking about Dracula, but something a little bit more mysterious-- the tokoloshe.

Often described as a goblin-like creature, whose sole purpose is to cause mischief and hardship for humans, this notorious South African monster is blamed for everything from theft to divorce.

Also called a tikoloshe, many believe it is real, even elevating their beds off of the ground to avoid becoming a victim of this diminutive creature.

The majority of people have never claimed to see one.

But if something goes wrong in South Africa, you can bet a tokoloshe is to blame.

[intro music] I'm Dr. Emily Zarka, and this is "Monstrum."

First off, let's talk about pronunciation.

There are a number of different ways you can pronounce this monster's name-- Toko-lo-sh, toko-lo-shee, toko-lo-che, and many more.

But to keep it consistent, I'm going to use one of the most common versions-- toko-lo-sh.

Reports of the tokoloshe appear in the news quite often, sometimes for something as simple as stealing food.

But other times, it's said to be the cause of more serious crimes.

In 1933, a man went to jail for the murder of his nephew whom he had mistakenly killed after misidentifying him as a tokoloshe.

There's even a movie about it.

[shouting in foreign language] With all the different varieties of the tokoloshe I found in my research, I have to admit I got a little confused.

So I was thrilled when I was able to talk to a sangoma.

A sangoma, or insangoma, is a South African traditional healer who is believed to be called by the ancestors to enter into this essential role.

These people often have common jobs like teaching or law.

But they also serve their communities as physical and spiritual healers, divinators, and protectors against witchcraft.

Sangoma Mzuvukile confirmed that there are different types of tokoloshe.

But the basic description is a short, powerful, half-human, half-animal being that feeds off of the dark energy created by harassing humans.

They're active at night and are almost always small, hairy, goblin-like creatures.

Some say they have long ears, maybe even a tail.

The one thing they all have in common is some kind of relationship with a witch.

In South Africa, someone capable of evil may be suspected to be a witch.

And harm can come to a person if they are characterized this way.

A tokoloshe may even be considered a witch's familiar, or as one South African told me, their sidekick.

But this is no Batman and Robin situation.

The tokoloshe carries out any work the witch is hesitant to do themselves for fear of retaliation.

In one version of the legend, the tokoloshe carries a magic stone or charm that makes it invisible to everyone but the witch who it is bound to.

They cause misery in all kinds of ways, like getting you fired, causing bad dreams, stealing livestock, or committing sexual assault.

I couldn't find a reliable source that explains why the tokoloshe myth came into existence in the first place, though it is part of many African mythologies.

It's like the boogeyman or any strange figure that appears in the night.

How the tokoloshe is made is also debated within different communities, each having their own story.

Some say they were once a domestic animal transformed by a witch, or that they were even the witch themselves.

Others say they are made from graveyard dirt and parts of dead bodies, or sometimes even a doll.

It's also claimed that the witch inserts a hot poker or nail into the tokoloshe's head to animate it.

Sangoma Mzuvukile told me that he's not sure how one is made because only witches know the exact recipe.

However, the tokoloshe is definitely made by someone practicing dark magic.

So not only does it cause evil in the lives of its victims, it's created with bad intentions.

And while the tokoloshe is smart and capable of making its own decisions, more often than not, it's following someone else's orders.

Because of that, there's not a whole lot you can do to avoid a tokoloshe's harassment.

Since they are small and supposedly bad climbers, some people put bricks under their beds to elevate it and protect them from the grasp of the tokoloshe.

Once you are plagued with one, only a sangoma can rid you of the creature.

The misdeeds of the tokoloshe vary widely.

But where it gets truly unsettling is how they might very well be a scapegoat for actual crime.

In the early 1990s, three pediatric doctors reported that multiple children came into their offices with sewing needles inserted into their bodies.

Their mothers all said that this had been done by a tokoloshe.

The doctor speculated that the children were actually abused by their caregivers, who were often female neighbors or relatives.

But by saying their children had been harmed by a tokoloshe, the mothers were able to seek health care for their children without alienating or upsetting their community relationships.

In the past and in rural areas, the tokoloshe has been more of a mischievous trickster.

But as urban spaces expanded, the monster took on the role of a violent sexual predator.

A victim of assault might seek help from a sangoma without fear of retaliation from their attacker if the victim frames the tokoloshe as the aggressor.

Both of these examples show how a fictional creature can be more than just a scary story.

When problems arise and crimes occur, unfortunately, it can sometimes be easier, and even safer, to point the finger at a fictional being.

Tokoloshes are symbols of inappropriate and sometimes violent sexual appetites, mischief makers, and a possible vengeance of practitioners of magic.

Not all monsters have easy-to-identify origins.

Sometimes they have taken on such a life of their own that no amount of scholarly research can pinpoint their creation.

And that's part of what makes the tokoloshe scary.

Like the boogeyman, the malicious tokoloshe feeds off some of the most frightening fears we have lurking in the night.