It is the spooky month! It is the scary season! To celebrate, we brought some scary legends right to you!
1. “La Llorona”
Originating from Latin America, “La Llorona” is a prominent myth told among Spanish-speaking communities. “La Llorona” quite literally translates to “weeping woman”, she is best characterized by her wailing and bridal appearance. There are many variations to the “La Llorona” legend, however, most follow a similar structure. La Llorona is a fair young maiden who is pursued by multiple suitors. La Llorona eventually gets married to a suitor. Unfortunately, however, the marriage grew sour. Some versions imply that the husband had cheated on her, other versions simply have the relationship fail. Whatever the case may be, it all ends in La Llorona’s two children drowning with some variants claiming it was intentional while others claiming it was accidental. This causes La Llorona to drown herself, cursing herself to wander as a lost spirit (more information here). La Llorona is said to be found near bodies of water, typically in Latin America, and is said to drown whoever encounters her. Who she preys on depends from person to person, some say she goes after unfaithful men, some say she goes after children, while others claim she preys upon mothers and pregnant women. More information can be found here.
2. “Bloody Mary”
Emerging from the 1800s, “Bloody Mary” is a classic urban legend that most people grew up with. The myth goes that “Bloody Mary” was initially a sickly girl pronounced dead before her actual demise. She was buried only for her to awaken inside the coffin. There, she attempted to claw her way out of the coffin, leading her nails and hands to start bleeding. Now, if you chant “Bloody Mary” three times in front of your bathroom mirror there may be a chance that the woman herself may come claw out for her next victim. More information can be found here.
3. “Hanako-San”
“Hanako-San” or “Toire no Hanako-San” is a Japanese urban story about a little girl’s spirit haunting the school bathrooms. According to Japan Travel, Hanako is the spirit of a young schoolgirl who committed suicide due to bullying or WWII bombings. However, there are multiple versions of this story. A journalist from NPR shared that Hanako was using the bathroom when a bomb fell on top of her school. On the other hand, The Business Standard claims that Hanako was playing Hide-and-Seek in the restroom when an air raid happened. It is unclear which version holds the real story, but every one of these spoke of Hanako haunting the bathroom on the third floor, down to the third stall of the school. It is said to summon Hanako-San, one must knock on the restroom door three times while chanting her name. If she responds, there’s a high chance the brave soul will be dragged down to Hell – through the toilet.
Some students believe in these legends. For instance, A junior from Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Milo Ramos shared their opinion on La Llorona, “I believe in La Llorona because of my culture.”
They elaborate on their statement exclaiming that “in Latino culture, if you mess with spirits, bad energy will come back to follow you.”
There is also the popular story of Bloody Mary that caught peoples’ interest.
Jaidyn Lombera, a senior at ERHS claimed, “I tried to summon Bloody Mary back in third grade, though nothing happened.”
Lombera continued recounting the event, “I had heard knocking on the window, but it might’ve been a dream.”
Another junior student at Eleanor Roosevelt, Han Tran said, “As a kid, I believed in the story of Bloody Mary and was scared, so I never tried to summon her.”
On the contrary, there are other students who don’t believe in these stories.
A junior student at ERHS, Amy Chan stated, “I don’t really believe in them because I thought those were like folklores or something.”
