The abiku is a West African demon that tempts children away from their homes to eat them. The abiku has no stomach and must eat constantly because it can never become full. In other versions, it can dissolve into smoke to get into homes, where it preys on newborns. In general, where demons are concerned, it sucks to be a kid. Other mythologies are chock-full of demons who eat children: the Brazilian Bicho-Papão, Czech Bubak, Egyptian El Nadaha, Iranian lulu-khorkhore, Mexican El Cucuy, Quebecois Bonhomme Sept-Heures, Serbian Babaroga, Spanish El Coco, Turkish Dunganga—there are too many to list. Our guess is that there’s an archetype here, and that some kind of supernatural monster has spread all over the world indulging its taste for children. We ran into an abiku once, preying on a neighborhood of immigrant Nigerians in Queens, New York. The part where it turned to smoke was a bitch, but we got the job done.