By Andrew McCarthy

There is a certain delight in viewing Halloween movies, whether you are a genuine adrenaline junkie or someone who hides under the blanket.

Some expats still feel chills down their backs as they remember the fearful scenes of the American version of Llorona's tale, in the movie "The Curse of La Llorona" which was released in 2019.

This film is one of many about the ghost woman since the first film about her "La Llorona de México," was released in 1934.

The book of Costa Rican legends, “Leyendas Costarricenses” (Costa Rican legends in the English language) by Elías Zeledón-Cartín, tells of the Llorona tale. 

She is a woman who loses her children and the pain makes her become a ghost that for eternity walks in the middle of the night on lonely roads looking for her children or your children.

Undoubtedly, one of the expat's favorite legends is Llorona, or the weeping woman or the wailer. This is a legend that originated in Mexico and has spread throughout Latin America. There are even Llorona versions in Spain and Portugal.

The origin of Llorona is about the Aztec indigenous goddess called Cihuacóatl, half snake half woman. Aztec folklore says she was the first woman to ever give birth, therefore she is considered the protector of childbirth and, particularly, of women who died when giving birth.

Cihuacóatl had a son, Mixcóatl. But she lost him in the forest. As a goddess, she never dies but she returns to the forest frequently to mourn her lost son.

Since then, when the town church bells ring at midnight somebody's cries and anguished wailing heard by townspeople were of a supernatural woman who walked on the roads at night looking for her child and mysteriously disappeared at dawn.

The few brave people came out of their houses looking for that woman to try to help her. She is described as a young woman dressed in white, hiding her face with a veil, crying and desperately looking for her children. She walks deep into the woods and is found near the river banks until she disappears at dawn.

In other versions of the legend, Llorona was a woman named Maria, who fell in love with a Spanish gentleman, Jose. They had three children. However, Jose never wanted to marry her.

Years later, Jose married a Spanish woman, Isabel, from his same social circle. Upon hearing that she was betrayed, Maria went mad in pain and dragged her three children to the river to drown them. Later, seeing what she had done, she jumped into the river, dying as well.

Since then, Maria has become the Llorona ghost who walks through eternity crying and screaming "Where are my children?" Legend has it that she is seen walking along the riverbed in the middle of the night screaming and crying in her eternal search for her children.

Another version of the legend was about a lovely young girl. Also named Maria. As she was so beautiful, her parents overprotected her and never let her leave the house. Her parents wanted her to marry the most powerful richest man in town.

One day, the richest and most powerful man, named Mateo, came to the young Maria's house to ask for her hand. But she refused to marry because she was not in love. That rejection bothered him since no woman had ever refused him.

One night he decided to take revenge on the beautiful Maria. He managed to break in through a window and kidnap her without her parents noticing. He takes her to a dark forest away from the village and sexually assaults her. After committing this crime Mateo left the town.

Within a few months, Maria realized that she was pregnant. Her parents, out of shame that she would hurt the reputation of the family, ordered her to marry Mateo, the same man who had raped her. She refused. Then, her parents took her by force to the highest peak of a mountain and abandoned her there.

Alone in the mountains on a full moon night, the young Maria gave birth to a child. Not knowing what to do, she wrapped the baby in blankets and put him in a handmade basket. She put the basket in the river and waited until the current washed it away. Remorseful for what she had done, she jumped into the river to try to save her son but she died.

For committing two sins, murder and suicide, the soul of Maria became Llorona. She was punished for eternity for roaming through the woods near the river bends like a ghost in search of her son.

Llorona in her desperate search for her baby pops up suddenly when she hears the laughter of children playing near rivers or lagoons or even on the seashore. The story goes that she disappears from the children she finds.

You should never leave your kids playing around alone because Llorona always comes back to take more children.

For those who still want to know more about the folk Costa Rican tales, the pleasant book by Elías Zeledón-Cartín can be purchased for about $5 online at the National University editorial website.

Have a Pura Vida Halloween!