Repost from Ranker (2016): The Creepiest Urban Legends and Stories from Mexico
Mexico is one of the largest countries in the world and a popular vacation spot to party it up. But you might have second thoughts before booking those spring or summer break plane and hotel tickets if you grew up hearing the multiple spine-chilling urban legend from Mexico that revolve around mothers, children, and ghosts.
These ten urban legends and creepy stories from Mexico - including the famous La Llorona and Chupacabra, the not-so-famous La Lechuza and El Cucuy, and everything in between - are hard to forget, and for the murderers and ghosts taking center stage in the legend, the stories will never be forgotten.
La Llorona Cries for Her Children
"La Llorona," otherwise known as "The Crying Woman," fell head over heels for a man who gave her the ultimatum: him or her children.
The Crying Woman chose the latter, drowning her own children, in hopes to be with the man she loved. But after rejecting her, she took her own life as well. Whereabouts of the man, and if he was the children's biological father, still remain unknown.
The Crying Woman goes around the streets of Mexico, grieving the loss of her children. Children must never wander the streets alone or misbehave, or La Llorona will come out and get them.
El Cucuy
"Behave or El Cucuy will come and find you."
A warning from the parents, "El Cucuy" (otherwise known as the boogeyman) is a creature who preys on children who have misbehaved their parents. He can show up at any given moment in the night.
In your closet.
Under your bed.
At the foot of your mattress.
Always listen to your parents, or the boogeyman will find you...
A Nurse Prowls Through the Night
In the 1930s at Hospital Juarez, "La Planchada" (aka "The Ironed Lady") fell for a doctor, but he left her for another woman. Slipping into a deep depression, La Planchada contracted an illness that, ultimately, killed her.
Rumor has it that she had looked down upon other nurses, as well as murdered a patient in hopes of overcoming her heartbreak from a man she was no longer able to trust.
She is said to roam the halls of hospitals and tend to the needs of patients, as well as return to the room where she died and heal whoever is staying there.
The Vanishing Hitcher
Traced as far back as the 1870's, the vanishing hitcher is exactly what it sounds like. He hails down drivers, only, to suddenly vanish, sometimes even when the car is still moving, with no explanation.
Some say that the hitcher often appears in the form of a young girl, leaving an address for her house. Drivers are often greeted by two grieving parents, who are said to announce that today would have been their little girl's birthday.
La Lechuza
If she sees you, she will get you.
"La Lechuza" is a woman who turns into an owl, waiting outside of the houses of her victims, often crying until her victims come out.
Also known as "The Witch Owl," rumor has it that she sold her soul to the devil to become more powerful. Sometimes she appears as an owl the size of a human being, often with the head of an owl and body of an elderly woman.
The Goat Sucker
First caught in the act in March 1995, "Chupacabra" (or the goat sucker) is a tall creature who lurks in more than one-hundred farms, sucking the blood from the animals.
Others have also identified "Chupacabra" as a werewolf creature with vampire fangs - basically, a vampire werewolf.
Whether called the bloodsucker or Chupacabra, this creature is one of the most pervasive cryptozoologic entities out there, having made appearances in Puerto Rico and across North America.
White Death
"White Death" felt unloved and unwanted, and was driven to take her own life. Now, guilty or not, her spirit goes after anyone who knows she exists. No one is truly safe, especially once you are forced to tell someone of her existence.
If you hear her knocking at your door at night, do not speak of her to anyone. IF you tell someone of her, she will only go after your loved one(s).
Ladies in a Red Car
Crusin' on the streets of Mexico City and Cuernavaca, the "Carriage of Witches" (a red car containing a group of beautiful women) often go after lonely men during the night, making promises to fulfill their needs - only to accept their offer leads to death.
Men who get into the red car are found hours later on the side of the road, branded with ritualistic symbols.
Never drive alone. Stay in groups. Otherwise, stay indoors at night.
Alley of the Hands
Do you dare walk through the "Alley of the Hands," ten skeletal fingers that capture their victims?
In 1780, a priest established his life in Alfalfa, in hopes to spread the word of Christ. Upon his brief stint, the priest had received some help from two local town boys, only to never see them again the following day.
Killed during his sleep, who killed the priest became the talk of the town, putting the two local boys onto trial and, ultimately, leaving them to hang.
The boys' hands were nailed to the wall of an alleyway and whenever anyone had attempted to remove them, they were only visited by the spirits of the boys, as well as catching a glimpse of the priest.
The Girl in the Tube House
The Tube House is an abandoned mansion in Monterrey, Mexico. It was built in the 1970s by a family of three who wished to make a safe and comfortable home for their disabled daughter, who used a wheelchair to get around.
On the day the family brought her to see the new home for the first time, the little girl fell off one of the ramp and veered through one of the windows, falling to her death.
Reports say that the little girl will throw any living child out of the window, if they trespass her property. Some have even seen her waving to them through the very same window she fell out of.