Chaneques

My favorite Mexican monster is the chaneque. Chaneques are creatures of the forest that spend most of their existence as nothing more than a lonely voice. They are able to take on any form they choose, but on their own they have no memories. With no memories, they cannot think of what shape to take and are stuck without form until a human stumbles upon them accidently. When they do encounter somebody in the woods, they are able to look into that person’s mind and take the shape of something within that person’s head. Usually a chaneque will appear to a person as a friend or relative, and the encounter will initially seem like a chance meeting in the woods. However, chaneques do not like to be alone and shapeless. When they finally find somebody, they want to keep that person in the woods as long as possible. Although chaneques will not physically hurt people, they will attempt to lead travelers deeper into the forest until they are lost, and they are said to be exceedingly adept at this.

It is not uncommon for me to run into my Mexican neighbors in the middle of the woods carrying nothing, just sitting and smoking cigarettes and drinking from a two liter bottle of coke. Every time this happens, they seem to want to go swimming in the river or looking for armadillos or something. I have always had to turn down these offers down, because I am usually heading up to the blind. Perhaps these were not encounters of particularly eccentric neighbors, but of chaneques. Maybe it’s a good thing I am always busy, or else I might still be stuck in the mountainous forests of Veracruz.

This is chaneque country