Published on Saturday, October 18, 2025
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Every country’s got its ghosts, but down here in Costa Rica, the shadows tell stories that go way beyond campfire chills.

These legends aren’t just bedtime tales; they’re part of the culture, whispered from generation to generation under the hum of jungle nights and the glow of streetlights in sleepy towns. So grab a coffee, dim the lights, and get ready to meet the spirits, witches, and cursed souls that still roam paradise.

Let’s be real, October hits different when the spooky stories start rolling in. While the U.S. has its share of haunted houses and urban legends, Costa Rica’s ghosts are out here working overtime. Forget pumpkin spice, down here, the chills come from tales whispered under banana leaves and foggy mountain roads.

Following last week’s story, “There’s A Lot To A Name,” by James Brodell, we continue our Costa Rican Creepy Tales series with one of Costa Rica’s most infamous phantoms: Segua.

Now, some expats might hear “Segua” and think of a cold craft beer, yeah, the Segua Red Ale. But trust me, the legend behind that name is nowhere near as refreshing.

The word Segua (or Cegua) traces back to the Nahuatl word cihuatl, meaning “woman.” The tale traveled south from Mexico centuries ago and found new life in Costa Rican folklore, with a terrifying twist.

Back in the late 1800s, people swore they saw her, a ghostly woman who appeared out of nowhere on dark country roads, asking men for a ride to town. She’d charm her victim with her beauty, soft voice, and mysterious vibe...  until the poor guy leaned in for a kiss. That’s when she’d shift into something straight out of a nightmare: a woman’s body topped with a rotting horse skull, glowing eyes, and a stench of death.

Yeah, not exactly the dream date.

In most versions, the man doesn’t make it home. His body was found the next morning with eyes wide open, frozen in terror. The few who survive? They’re said to live the rest of their lives paralyzed, unable to move or speak of what they saw.

Different countries have their own version of this ghostly woman, X’tabay in Mexico, Siguanaba in Guatemala and El Salvador, Sucia in Belize and Honduras, but Costa Rica made Segua its own.

In writer Elías Zeledón-Cartín’s book Leyendas Costarricenses (“Costa Rican Legends”), she’s described as breathtakingly beautiful, with long black curls, deep eyes, lips red as blood, and a siren’s voice that could melt any man’s heart. Sometimes she’s dressed in black, other times in white or pink, her face hidden under a thin veil.

And then... well, you know what happens next.

Some stories say she appears as a crying girl by the road or a river, a trap for kindhearted men who stop to help. The moment they reach out, the horrifying transformation begins. Others claim you can sense her presence first, a whisper, a low growl, or laughter that sounds like it crawled out of hell.

But where did she come from?

One version says La Segua was once a beautiful woman from Cartago province, proud, vain, and ashamed of her poor family. When her mother tried to stop her from chasing a wealthy Spanish man with a bad reputation, the girl cursed her. A witch appeared, furious, and condemned her to wander forever.

“Men will come close,” the witch warned, “but your face will drive them away.”

Another tale flips the script, saying she was actually a woman wronged, betrayed, and abused by a rich lover. Cursed by heartbreak, she now roams the night, hunting men who treat women like playthings.

In Guanacaste, locals swear she still shows up at community dances, beautiful, flirtatious, impossible to resist. Once she lures a man away under the trees, the kiss seals his fate.

The legend even made it to the big screen: in 1982, Costa Rican filmmaker Antonio Yglesias brought La Segua to life, written by Alberto Cañas. A clip still floats around on YouTube’s Cine Ficcion Channel.

So if you’re driving down a dark road in Costa Rica and see a gorgeous woman waving for a ride, keep going.

Have a Pura Vida Halloween!

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