Case file · Witch trials
Tlahuelpuchi: bloodsucking witchcraft in Tlaxcala
Anthropologists Hugo Nutini and John Roberts's 'Bloodsucking Witchcraft' (1993) documented how rural Tlaxcalans attributed sudden infant deaths to the tlahuelpuchi, a witch who turns into a turkey or a glowing light to suck babies' blood.
1993 CE · 19.32, -98.24 · status: account
The account
Nutini began the work after witnessing a cluster of infant deaths during fieldwork; the book analyses dozens of cases in detail, including how families searched for the witch and protected babies with garlic, onions and mirrors. The authors note the belief was weakening by the time of publication.
The sceptical view
Nutini and Roberts concluded that the deaths were mostly accidental suffocation and other medical causes, with the belief serving to relieve guilt and explain loss.