Terrifying Facts About The Legend Of La Llorona

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Every region of the world has its own unique urban legends, and South and Central America are no exception. This ghost story from Spanish American folklore keeps children up at night fearing for their lives - the story of the La Llorona.

This terrifying story out of Mexican folklore is so popular, it's made its way into European urban legends and inspired movies based off the scary and sad La Llorona. If you didn’t grow up with an abuela who reminded you nightly to be kind to your family lest you incur the wrath of La Llorona, you might not know the story. La Llorona is the story of a beautiful woman who, after suffering heartbreak, drowns her children in a river.

If you’re tired of the regular ol’ ghost stories, this is the perfect time to go down the rabbit hole of La Llorona, one of the scariest urban legend to come out of South America.

Sometimes She Kidnaps Children



Depending on which folk tale you follow, La Llorona isn't just some weeping ghost who hangs out by the river, but rather she's a child kidnapping monster. In Mexico parents use this version of the tale to keep their children from running around at night and getting into trouble. If a child is caught by the ghost she'll ask them for forgiveness and then drown them in the closest body of water.


In Some Stories La Llorona Murders Her Children In A Jealous Rage



As the Arizona version of La Llorona goes, the ghost was originally a woman named Launa who lived in Kingman Canyon with her husband and two children. Unfortunately, she felt that her husband was paying too much attention to their daughters and grew increasingly jealous until she pushed them over the edge of the canyon. After their children's death Launa's husband left her, and she threw herself off the edge of the canyon to join her children. Ever since then she was damned to wander the canyon.


Some Say Her Husband Killed Her Children



Why did La Llorona keep killing her children? In some versions it wasn't even her that killed the children. In one version of the story a poor woman and her terrible, also poor, husband start having children and they can't afford to feed them so the husband just starts drowning them. After giving birth to their fifth child, La Llorona's husband threw the baby in the river and she went in after the baby and drowned. From there on out the woman returned to the river bed night after night.


Her Heart Was Broken After Her Husband Cheated On Her



Another alternate version of La Llorona's story is that while she was alive, she and her husband had a couple of children and everything was good. That is until she bore two sons and her husband started stepping out on her. When she discovered he was carrying on behind her back she freaked out and threw her children into a river. It wasn't until after they were dead that she realized what she had done. She refused to leave the bank of the river or even eat. She grew thinner and gaunt until she looked like a walking skeleton. She finally died on the banks of the river.


La Llorona Has Been Allegedly Caught On Film



Many have claimed to have photographed and videotaped La Llorona. In a security video from Mexico City, a strange ghostly figure in white is seen standing in the middle of an intersection. The footage was captured at 2:20 am on September 18, 2016 and in the video the woman in white is seen standing still in the intersection while cars drive directly towards her. Many believed the ghost was that of La Llorona.


La Llorona Can Just Walk Into Your House



According to Teresa Finney, a writer for The Hairpin, her mother had a face-to-face encounter with the most famous ghost is Hispanic culture when she was a girl. It was late at night and she was on the phone with her boyfriend when she suddenly felt a chill. She said: "All I know is that I tried to turn around to see where the cold was coming from, but I couldn’t move. I was frozen! I was laying in bed on the phone and I’m paralyzed, I can’t move. That’s when I see her. She’s in the doorway of my room just staring at me, dressed in all white. I try to scream but I’m just paralyzed.” When asked how she knew it was La Llorona she said, "I just knew.”


La Llorona Was Barred From Heaven



One version of the story says that after La Lorona's children drown (either she drowns them or someone else drowns them) she drowns herself in the same river where they died to join them in the afterlife. Once she makes it to the gates of heaven she's barred from entering until she finds the children, which begins her journey across eternity, searching in vain for her drowned children.


La Llorona Is Part Of A Popular Children's Game



La Llorna might be super scary to most of the outside world, but a lot of kids in South America play a dark version of hide and seek where the the seeker plays La Llorona and calls after the hiders screaming: "Donde estan mis hijos," which means "where are my children?" Imagine how scary it is to hear a group of children playing that game.


She Lives Near The River



The most well-known version of La Llorona is that she's the ghost of a woman who lost her children after they drowned in the river. Now, years after their deaths, La Llorona still cries as she searches for them in rivers or various bodies of water. Like most river ghosts who have lost their children she's not the kind of thing you want to come across, at the very least she causes great misfortune to anyone who runs into her on moonlit night.


She Haunts Part Of The United States



La Llorona doesn't just haunt Mexico, her legend haunts any area that has a large Hispanic community, including places like Santa Fe. According to the legend in this part of the country, people who don't treat their family well will be paid a visit by the wandering ghost - and that's not something you want. In this scenario she's more a harbinger of doom. According to Epifanio Garcia, one night after he got into an argument with his parents, he and his brothers ran away from home for the night and were visited by a tall woman wearing a black tapelo and a black net over her face. She was silent until the boys turned the horses around to head back home, at which time she said "I will visit you again someday when you argue with your mother."

Another story involved a man by the name of Epifanio Garcia, who was an outspoken boy who often argued with his mother and his father. After a heated argument, Epifanio, along with his brothers, Carlos and Augustine decided to leave their ranch in Ojo de La Vaca to head toward the Villa Real de Santa Fe. However, when they were along their way, they were visited by a tall woman wearing a black tapelo and a black net over her face. Two of the boys were riding in the front of the wagon when the spirit appeared on the seat between them. She was silent and continued to sit there until Epifanio finally turned the horses around and headed back home, at which time she said "I will visit you again someday when you argue with your mother."


She's Responsible For So Many Spooky Songs



La Llorona might be a super spooky ghost that preys on children who are mean to their parents but that doesn't mean that she doesn't have her fans. The story of La Llorona's haunting has a song to go along with it, and there are A LOT of covers. As fun as these songs are it's hard to imagine that a ghost who murders child would listen to something so danceable.


La Llorona Echoes Greek Mythology



The story of La Llorona is an alternate version of a Greek myth. Her story is similar to the tale of Zeus' affair with Lamia, the Queen of Libya. After Hera (Zeus' wife) finds out about her husband's affair she turns Lamia into a demonic demigod who is forced to eat her own children. After chomping down her children she's forced to walk the earth and eat every child that she comes across.


La Llorona's Origin May Be From The Ancient Aztecs



One of La Llorna's oldest origins may go back to Aztec times. In this story the weeping ghost is sort of a Banshee (the wailing ghost from Irish folklore) who acts as the patron saint of women who die in childbirth. According to legend the Aztec goddess of fertility and motherhood, Cihuacoatl, abandoned her son Mixcoatl at a crossroads, and that's where you'll find her weeping. If you do run across her you're likely in for some back luck, which is what the Aztec people found out when they saw her directly before Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortes arrived and overtook the Aztec people.