MONSTERS: La Cegua

 

Photo by Anudariya Munkhbayar

La Cegua was a beautiful woman cursed to become a spectral monster in Costa Rica. It was said that she resided in Cartago. The story is said to have happened between 1563 when Cartago was established and 1823 when San Jose became the capital. She was half native and half Spaniard and was extremely beautiful. She would then fall in love with a Spanish soldier. They would have a sexual relationship and believed he loved her two. When the Spaniard left she had broken down and gone mad. A curse would befell her and she would use it against men she deemed unfaithful to their loved ones.

She will first appear to adulterers as a beautiful woman but then transform into a face of a rotting horse skull. In her womanly form, she has an oval face, large black eyes, long curly hair, red beautiful lips, a slender and tempting body, and a voice much like a siren. She is typically wearing full white or black, but there have been occasions where she wore a vapourous pink dress or a luxurious period dress. There are possibly more than one La Cegua and they may work together at times.

Travelers in Costa Rica are to be careful on their journeys. Especially on lonely roads at night. She typically appears in front of drunkards or womanizers. She will then ask the stranger if they could take her to her ride (in older tales it was a horse and more recently a modern vehicle). After she gets onto the man's horse or in his vehicle she rides with him for a while. She tempts him and transforms into her monstrous version either killing or disabling him and making him go mad.

She sometimes doesn't appear on the road and instead at dances and festivals in towns. She usually flirts with every man who approaches her. The one who succeeds in having a hookup with her will accompany her to a clearing of the Guanacaste pampa under a leafy Guanacaste tree. They make love all night, but when he tries to kiss her that face appears.

There is another version in which it is a crying child instead. When the child is found on the side of the road the person will give them a ride. The child would then resort to turning into its horse face.

It's said in order to escape her wrath is to throw mustard seeds at her. She will take her time and pick them up. This gives enough time for the victim to run and flee the La Cegua.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Myths and Folklore Wiki

We Love Costa Rica

Villians Wiki

Ghosts: La Vidua

Photo by Benjamin Lehman

La Vidua or The Widow or The Window in Black in Englis is a spirit that roams the lonely mines and path within Chile. In life, La Vidua went mad with grief and anger when her husband died and those feeling followed her in death. After death, she roams waiting for unsuspecting men. 

She is not noticeable to travelers on the road at first. The closer they get the more details they get. Dressed in a black dress that covers her entirely, the person she picks cannot see her face till they are close to her. Once close enough it is revealed that La Viuda is a very beautiful woman. She will then demand sex from the man and if he refuses she will kill him and go on looking for the next one. 

In the modern retelling of the story, she has been seen climbing onto cars of men who are alone and may have alcohol in their blood. 

SOURCES

Villians Wiki

FOLK TALES: Blue Beard

In the 1600's Blue Beard is a wealthy and powerful nobleman and a well-desired groom in idea, but his unusual blue beard made him unattractive. Though many women and girls found him repulsively ugly he was able to marry several beauties. The problem with that is that each one would mysteriously disappear.

One of his neighbors, a noble lady, had two beautiful daughters. Bluebeard asked the woman to allow him to wed one of the daughters of her choice. The girls were, of course, repulsed by him and his blue beard. They also didn't want to become another wife that would mysteriously disappear.

Blue Beard had a plan to win their affection. He would take them, their mother, and several of their friends to one of his country houses. They would spend a whole week of parties, hunting, fishing, dancing, mirth, and feasting. Everyone would spend the nights joking and enjoying each other.

The younger of the two sisters began to fall in love with him and was starting to think he was a mighty civil gentleman. The two would soon wed. A month after Blue Beard would tell his young bride that he was obliged to take a country journey of about 6 weeks. It was about affairs of great consequences. He told her she should invite her friends to their home if she pleased.

He would give her keys to his treasures and she was allowed to each one except for a certain closet. He told her she could not go to the closet at the end of the great hall on the ground floor. He warned her if she did she would receive his anger and resentment. She would promise to do that, and her friends would come.

Her friends would tell her that they would not come while her husband was there because they feared him. They would see and look at all the riches of the home and be impressed and happy for their friend's newfound life.

At the party, the door haunts her, and her desire to open it increases. The treasures she had access to were so grand and she wondered what was so magnificent that was hidden behind the door. Her impatience allowed her to slip from the party and to the forbidden door. She would take the key out and opened the door with trembling hands.

What lied behind it was horrible. The floors were covered in clotted blood, and along the walls were the missing wives. Each one had been brutally murdered. She thought she would die from the shock it scared her so much. She would drop the key in the blood. She would go back to her senses and lock the door and went to her room to think.

This is when she noticed the key was stained with blood. She tried to clean it off, but would not as the key was magical and evidence of her betrayal was stained upon it. To her surprise, Blue Beard would return home that night. He stated that while he was on the road letters came telling him the affair he was going to deal with was concluded. She pretended to be excited and not show she was terrified that she was the next wife to disappear.

The next morning Blue Beard asked for his keys back. He asked her what had happened to the forbidden room's key. She had hoped he wouldn't notice. She would tell him it was upstairs on the table, and he requested her to bring her the key.

She was terrified as she brought down the blood-stained key. He automatically knew of her betrayal of his trust.

"Why is there blood on the key"

"I do not know." She cried.

"You do know!" Blue Beard was angry, "I very well know. You went into the closet, did you not? Very well, madam; you shall go back, and take your place among the ladies you saw there."

She would throw herself down on her feet and begged for forgiveness. He had a heart of stone and her pleads did not change his mind. He's heard this all before.

"You are to die Madam."

"Since I am to die give me time to pray alone." She cried. He would answer her wish.

"I give you a quarter of an hour nothing more." He demanded.

When she was alone she called out to her sister Anne. She asked her to go to the top of the tower to look for their brothers and to give them a sign of haste. Anne would go up the tower and be on the lookout for their brothers.

She could feel her time ticking and would call up to Anne occasionally. But there were no signs of their brothers when the impatient Blue Beard called up to her demanding her to come down with a sword in hand. His threats kept coming and she kept telling him one moment more. That was when Anne spotted their brothers coming. His anger seemed to shake the home and the young wife came down the stair unwillingly.

She would throw herself on his feet again begging for forgiveness and keep her life. It still did not work on his stone-cold heart. He would grab her hair with one hand and raise his sword with the other. She asked to collect herself. He was about to refuse and was about to strike her when a knock on the gates stopped him.

Two horsemen were her brothers and would enter with their swords drawn. With one brother was a dragoon the other a musketeer and Blue Beard knew he had no chance. He would flee without killing his young bride and the brothers would pursue him. They would overtake him on the porch and ran their swords through him. The girl had no strength to greet her brothers. Blue Beards' crimes would be known and she'd be known as the one who survived.

The young bride was now a widow and her husband's estate was hers. She was able to allow Anne to marry the man she loved, She married a man she loved, and she bought Captains' commissions for her brothers. She would eventually forget her nightmare with Blue Beard.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Blue Beard by Charles Perrault

GHOSTS: La Lorna

 

There once was a beautiful Hispanic woman who lived somewhere in either Mexico or the Southwest of the U.S.A. She had believed that she would never fall in love again or nobody would love her because she had children.

She did end up meeting someone and they fell in love. She had hidden the fact that she had children from him for a while. Eventually, she admitted to having several children to him. He had given her the ultimatum of "him or the children".

That night she had gathered her children up and told them they were going on a night stroll. They had walked to the river. One by one she drowned them. After she had done the deed she had gotten her lover and had told him what she had done.

Horrified he rejected her.

Realizing she never should have chosen him over them she went and drowned herself in the same river. She was hoping that she would see them again. That they would all live together in heaven, but when she got to heaven's gate they barred her. In order to come in, she had to find her children's souls.

She walks around at night weeping for her children. She searches and searches for them. When she happens upon a child she mistakes them as her own. Since she had forgotten what her children look like. She drags the child to the nearest body of water and drowns them when she realizes that they aren't hers.

The legend is used as a warning to children in a form of curfew and to not wander by bodies of water at night.  It also varies on how or why the children die. Like the example above it was the mother, but in some versions, there is no lover and it was her husband that had done the deed or was the reason the children were killed. What is known is that she wanders trying to find her children.

Some say La Llorona had drowned her own children in a jealous rage. In order to get back at her husband for either stepping out on her or paying too much attention to the children. She then drowns herself.  In this version, she searches for her children in order to go to heaven or because she regrets it.

In other's, it's the husband who kills their children by drowning them. They didn't have enough money to feed all of their children. After La Llorona found out she had drowned herself in the same body of water her children were killed in.

Fictional Murders: Black Dog Of Rolling Hills

Hanging Hills is a beautiful place to hike. It's mountainous and overlooks the city of Meriden, Connecticut within It's got great scenery and there's a saying some people use as a warning. "And if a man shall meet the Black Dog once, it shall be for joy; and if twice, it shall be for sorrow; and the third time, he shall die."- by W.H.C. Pynchon.

On Hanging Hills there are rare occasions where people see a black dog. The dog is said to be nothing unique in appearance. It's a moderate size has black fur, and nothing noticeable about its appearance. he strange thing about the dog is that when he barks he makes no sound and seemingly disappears when people come close. There's never any evidence he'd ever been there as he doesn't even leave footprints.

Geologist W.H.C.Pynchon had written the earliest accounts of the mysterious black dog in 1898 Even though the legend had been around for much longer. Pynchon mentions he saw the dog and it had followed him to a restaurant and back about the path before he mysteriously disappeared around the area he first saw him. Marshall scoffed and claimed to have seen the dog twice already and the legend did not scare him.

Marshall and Pynchon were looking at a rock formation on the edge of a cliff. They noticed the little black dog approach them, and unfortunately, Marshall slipped on the ice and fell to his death. Even though his death is labeled an accident many believe that the little black dog was to blame.

Many people claim to have the same experiences even over 100 years later. There are even some deaths that people believe are caused by the sighting of the black dog today.

SOURCES:
Connecticut Weekender
Connecticut Boom
The Yankee Express
Unsolved Mysteries

Fictional Murders: Aren't You Glad You Didn't Turn On The Light?

Kelly and Danny were complete opposites. Kelly was a bookworm, who was seen as smart and responsible and Kelly liked to live life on the wild side and was seen as a party girl.  Despite their differences, the two girls were best friends. When they had gotten to college the two had roomed together in the dorms.

It was getting close to their first midterms of college. Danny, being who she was, wasn't worried about the midterms. She was invited to a party by a guy she liked and really wanted to go. When two got back the room they discussed their plans. 

Kelly was, of course, going to stay in the dorm and study. Danny wanted her to come to the party and enjoy the night but wasn't successful in convincing Kelly. When Danny left she felt guilty she wasn't going to stay and study, but partying is a good way of releasing stress. 

It was already 3 a.m. by the time Danny got back. The lights were off and she figured Kelly was sleeping. She could hear her toss and turning on her bed and didn't want to wake her if she was already having a tough time sleeping.

In the morning Danny woke up to a horrifying sight. Above Kelly's bed written on the wall in blood was "Aren't You Glad You Didn't Turn On The Light?" She automatically ran over and found Kelly was cold and was covered in blood.

This would mean the tossing and turning she was hearing when she came in wasn't Kelly having a rough time sleeping. She was being murdered and who knows how long the murderer spent in the room before Danny woke up.

SOURCES:
How it was told to me as a child
Urban Legends Online 

Fictional Murders: Skinned Tom

It was the 1920's and even though times were tough Tom had enough charm and good looks to go around. When he had dated every girl in his hometown in Tennessee he'd decided to move on to the neighboring town. This was when he met sweet Eleanor.

Eleanor was different than all the other girls he'd dated. Of course, he was physically attracted to her she was gorgeous, but something about Eleanor made Tom want to stick around. It wasn't known if Tom knew, but Elanor was married. It probably wouldn't have mattered anyway, because he was smitten with her.

Her husband did not want to believe the rumor going around town. That his beloved Eleanor was cheating on him. In order to either catch her in the act or prove the town wrong he told her he was going on a weekend trip. He never did leave town, but instead hid in the woods to keep an eye on her. When he saw Tom pull up and she got in the car her husband became enraged.

He carefully followed the two in his car. When they pulled into a Lover's Lane and everything got hot and heavy. Tom was suddenly pulled out of the car. Her husband had a knife up against him.

"So you're the man who's been with my wife!" He screamed at poor Tom.

"Please, she never told me she was married. I'd never take another man's girl!" Tom was begging for his life, but he was unsuccessful.

Eleanor sat in the car terrified watching as her husband dragged poor Tom into the woods. She sat waiting for her fate as she hears Tom's screams. She didn't know what to do but was too terrified to do anything. Eventually, Tom's screams stopped and her husband came out bloodied without his knife.

Her husband sat in the car and drove both of them to the police station. He had turned himself in. When the police arrived to get Tom's body they arrived to see the skin of a man hanging in a tree. The body it belonged was nowhere around. The knife that was used on him could not be found either.

It's said that Tom now haunts the Lovers Lanes in Tennessee. He was going to give people committing adultery the terrible fate he suffered.

SOURCES:
Scary For Kids
Thought Co. 
Only in Your State
Kobold Press

Fictional Murders: La Llorona

There once was a beautiful Hispanic woman who lived somewhere in either Mexico or the Southwest of the U.S.A. After her husband died she had believed that she would never fall in love again. She believed that nobody would love her because she already had children.

She met a man and hid the fact that she had children from him. She knew that he wouldn't stay with her because of them. But she could not keep the secret forever so she admitted to him to have children. He gave her a hard ultimatum. It was either him or the children. She loved this man and did not want to be alone. So she did what she thought was best.

She went on a stroll with the children. They walked by the river and they didn't know why, but she did. She then drowned her children one by one. After the horrible deed, she went straight to her lover. She told him what she had done and the children wouldn't be a burden on them.

Horrified he rejected her. He didn't want her to murder the children, but to give them up.

This was when she realized what she had done. That she should have never chosen a man over her own children. She went to the same place she drowned the children and committed suicide by drowning. She was hoping to see them in her next life and live together in heaven. When she got to the gates of heaven they barred her. In order to come into heaven, she would have to find her children's souls.

Now she walks the night weeping loudly for her children. She searches all over for them. It had been so long that she doesn't remember what they looked like. Whenever she happens upon a lone child she thinks that they are one of hers. She then drags that child to the nearest body of water and drowns them when she realizes that they aren't one of hers.

There are other variations of this story.

Some say La Llorona had drowned her own children in a jealous rage. In order to get back at her husband for either stepping out on her or paying too much attention to the children. She then drowns herself.  In this version, she searches for her children in order to go to heaven or because she regrets it.

In others, it's the husband who kills their children by drowning them. They didn't have enough money to feed all of their children. After La Llorona found out she had drowned herself in the same body of water her children were killed in. What is known is that she wanders trying to find her children.

The legend is used as a warning to children in a form of curfew and not wander by bodies of water at night.

SOURCES:
Wikipedia
Legends of America

Fictional Murders: S.S. Ourang Medan

In either June of 1947 or Feb of 1948, a distress signal was coming from a ship. It seemed that the person sending out the S.O.S. was terrified and stated that people were dying among the S.S. Ourang Medan and that "possibly the whole crew dead." What followed was indecipherable morse code or was it the madness taking over the panicked messager? Eventually, silence followed.

The ship was noticed by the American ship called the Silver Star believed the ship was in the Straits of Malacca. Noting the urgency in the message they sought out the ship and found it. When getting on the ship they noticed that there was no sign of life aboard.

Everyone they saw was laying down with their mouths and eyes wide open and their hands were reaching out as if trying to grasp something or protecting themselves. There didn't seem to be any wounds on any of the people. The ship's dog was found to be dead in the same horrifying state. The crew members under the deck were also found in the same horrifying state. They found the man who sen out the S.O.S. with his finger on the telegraph.

It was also noted that the ship was cold even though it was a scorching 110 degrees outside. After finding no survivors they quickly got off. They planned to pull the ship to shore, but that wasn't meant to be. Thick smoke began to rise out of the ship and the Silver Star had hardly enough time to cut the line away from the S.S. Ourang Medan before it exploded and sunk.

What was it that killed all those men on the ship and cause the ship to explode?

It's more simple than it seems. The ship most likely never existed in the first place. There were no records of the ship existing The ship Silver Star was named that, but that wasn't the name of it at the time. At the time the name was Santa Juana and its name changed later when it was bought by Grace Line Shipping Company.

If it did exist the ship may have come from the Dutch East Indies. In Indonesian, Ourang means ‘man’ and Medan is the largest city on the island of Sumatra making some think that the ship may have come from there. The ship's name literally means "Man of Medan". Some theorize that the ship itself may have been expunged from records because they were smuggling things for the war. It could be possible that the "smoke" that the rescuers were seeing was a nerve gas that was being transported to Japan.

It was theorized that several countries were involved with the cover-up such as Singapore, Japan, Netherlands, Germany, China, and the United States. As at the time the use of Lethal Gas and Chemicals was baned.

It's also theorized that even though they weren't found in records possibly they did exist. That a malfunctioning boiler caused everyone to die from carbon Monoxide Poisoning.

A third theory is that it was pirates that killed the crew and left them the way they did. Which how would the pirates kill the crew without any physical injuries though.

SOURCES:
Beyond Science T.V.
Mysterious Universe
Skittish Library
Historic Mysteries