Urban Legends

Urban legends are popular methods used to bring caution over certain matters. Often they are exaggerated stories to explain the explainable. Some are quite terrifying that leave you wondering what parts of the legends are based on some sort of truth. As you may know by now, if you follow my blog, I am a big fan of scary stories. Most of the scary stories I pen are based on some truth that I exaggerated for entertainment, however some on completely based on a true event. It is up to you to try to decipher which ones are true. I am also a big fan of urban legends. Scarier, the better. I also love to decipher urban legends to find some truth to these stories.

Growing up in a Nicaraguan household we were never short of urban legends. The urban legends were often tied to a name of a story teller of Pancho Madrigal. My uncles, grandma, mom and briefly my dad shared stories of this story teller which sure caused some sleepless nights as a kid. I recently found Pancho Madrigal stories on YouTube, which you might want to check out if you understand Spanish and wish to know the elaborate versions of the urban legends. Urban legends are common in every country, but there is something about Spanish urban legends that make your skin crawl. As we are in the midst of the spookiest season on the year, I saw it fit to share some of these urban legends with you.

The first urban legend I would like to introduce you to is the one of Los Duendes (Evil Elves). Duendes are little elves in Latin American mythology. According the the Nicaraguan myth, these little creatures mostly appear at night and do not like to be seen, very much less captured. They had an evil agenda and they prey on young children, particularly those who have not been baptized, behave bad and do not have a bracelet to guard them against evil. Young children are given bracelets to protect them against evil eyes and entities. The duendes strip the children of their breathe as the children sleep at night causing their death. Small children attempt to play with them as the elves lure them away eventually kidnapping them. These elves are often attracted to children that misbehave. The hiding places of these elves are under the beds, in closets and in dark corners of a child’s bedroom. While this urban legend may have been a story to warn mothers to baptize their kids or for kids to behave, there must be some truth in this crazy legend. Right? I heard this story several times growing up. My grandmother was convinced she had seen duendes and would shoo them away from her kids when they were young. I have also heard other people from Nicaragua that with certainty recall their first hand experience with duendes around their bed. These creatures often lurk around the children, even under a newborn’s crib. If this does not scare you, just make sure you check your kid’s room tonight-you know just to be sure.

Another popular story in Nicaraguan folklore is that of La Mocuana ( The Witch of Mocuana), a beautiful Indian princess betrayed by a Spaniard just to steal her gold. Variations of the legend change the reasons why she resides in a cave but most versions agree that shame of the betrayal caused her insanity. Her restless spirit roams through the fields of the countryside as she lures men to her and takes them to her cave for a deadly destination. Men are attracted by her slender back and long black shiny hair, she does not expose her face. La Mocuana kills the men traveling in the countryside as vengeance for the man that scorned her. At first I thought this story was told to men to scare them to be faithful in their travels. Again as this story was told to me over a campfire in Nicaragua, it was told as certainty by workers in the countryside. They assured they caught a glimpse of a beautiful woman in the field but ignored her call and kept walking. The sighting of this so called beautiful woman is common. Now if you are not sure how the countryside of Nicaragua looks, let me tell you… it is dark and eerie. Very much a good reason to keep walking and not pay attention to anyone calling for you- even if their good looking. So next time you are traveling near a field, be on the lookout for the slender woman with black hair.

Another urban story is of the Hombre Sin Cabeza (Headless Man). The headless man is said to a religious priest who was beheaded for defending the Indians. The headless priest walks around in grief at night making an appearance at dawn often to people who are late partying. People are attracted to him as some form of bewitchment and the priest takes them to a church where he shows them his wounds. Those who have been haunted are often left speechless. In another version of the headless man he rides a wagon. The spirit of the man rides the wagon around dawn and you can hear the steps of the horse as it travels on the quiet streets. This urban legend was not too scary for me once I first heard it but I did experience something weird on my first trip to Nicaragua. The house I was staying had a big porch and my dad was out there sitting as guard. When suddenly a big bang was heard from the metal tall fence. My dad alarmed thinking it was annoying kids went out to check all was OK. No kids were found. My sister and I got on top of blocks to look over the fence and to make sure our dad was safe, this time there was another loud bang from the front of the fence, but no one was there! We were all looking and no one was pounding on the fence. We did see from the corner of our eyes, a cart or wagon on the street but it wasn’t moving. Scared, we went inside the house. It was well after midnight when this happened. Once we shared this story with my aunt, she blamed the bang on the headless man. I do not know who caused the bang but what I do know I will not ever peak my head over the fence late at night in Nicaragua again.

A very popular urban legend in central America is that of La Llorona (The Weeping Woman). The story of a woman who lost her mind and drowned her children in a river. The punishment for her crime is to wander the earth crying until she finds the remains of her children. According to the legend, her cries are often heard near isolated rivers and roads. Children go missing often in areas where her cries are heard. When children misbehave they are also told the weeping woman would come for them. This popular story has made it to several campfires and even the big screen. On my first trip to Nicaragua, I was surprised this urban legend was being discussed on their evening news. As per the report, a child went missing around the railroad after several people reported cries and an apparition of La Llorona. This was on the news as a very real situation. I took as a criminal mimicking the urban legend to pull off this horrendous crime. Whatever the cause, it was unsettling. This story has been repeated so many times but something about it is creepy enough to make you not want to hear anyone cry.

The last and final urban legend is El Cadejo (Ghost Dogs). Our indigenous ancestors believed the dog helped humans in their passage to the afterlife. The Cadejo is a ghost represented by a dog with red sparkling eyes. There are two kinds of Cadejo, one white which represents good and one black which represents evil. The dogs are found at night wandering and follow people. The white dog follows the good person heading home after a long day of work or good hearted fun. The white dog guards the person of evil and ensures they make it home safely. The black dog follows people who have been out partying, drinking, or performed immoral acts. The black dog pursues its victims in torture until it steals their soul. The person is left to act like a fool for the rest of their life if they do survive. This urban legend once again sounds like a warning to not stay up late and party. My grandmother assured me that she had seen these dogs in an intersection of a dark road and saw the black dog follow a drunk man which was reported dead the following day. This story may not seem as creepy but I bet you will get nervous and remember this urban legend if you see a dog follow you.

There are so many other urban legends out there that are scary and weird and just plain terrifying. I figured that they may be rooted in an ounce of truth. What do you think? You may have a couple of urban legends that you grew up with. These are the ones I heard from my family. I do know a lot more. I enjoy listening to different urban legends from so many different places. So next time you want to say a scary story, I hope I inspired you with some urban legends. That I managed to give you some goosebumps while reading this blog. If not, I at least I hope you check your bed for duendes tonight.