He who names, calls. And someone comes, without an appointment, without explanations, to the place
where his name, said or thought, is calling him.
When this happens, one is justified in believing that no one ever completely leaves as long as the
beckoning, reckoning word that brings him does not die.
Eduardo Galeano
Some things are best spoken of in whispers. Soft murmurs barely heard above the hiss of the kerosene lamp, never to be spoken of in the dark. Are the tales true? Who knows? But it is certain that the crying is heard in the night approaching the tightly shuttered house, often pausing, and then passing into the distance. There are many that swear to have seen the ghostly, ghastly figure. Of course, their stories may be discounted as merely the ravings of a disturbed mind.
"Tales to frighten children," you say. But these tales persist. They remain in the collective memory, and with reason. In speaking of the use of terror in supernatural stories, Howard Lovecraft has stated that: "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown... ." (Lovecraft, Howard Phillips 1973, Supernatural Horror in Literature, Dover Publications, Inc., New York.: p. 12).
Regardless of the learned statements of men, the retelling of tales about revenants, ghostly terrors, persists. Why? Because we all love the frisson produced by a well-told ghost story as we huddle together around a fire. The thrill of feeling a presence behind us that is not there when we turn around, cannot be dismissed with a casual wave of a hand. We long to be frightened. We dare others to terrify us. Thus, when the story is ended we may safely crawl under our blankets, substituting dreams for the nightmares of the darkness.
Thus, proceed with me as I lead you by the hand. Taking you to other worlds and times. Sharing the fears of the past and the present. Come meet "La Llorona - The Crying Woman". Learn about her terrors and her dark deeds. I will also introduce you to her "sisters", and yes, to her "brothers" in terror; to "La Sayona", "el anima sola", "el Silbón", and others.
Ahh, but the names sound odd to you? You don't recognize these "fantasmas", these phantoms? They are here. They reside in the silent land and dark, abandoned corners of the "other" world. The world of the Hispanic, the Chicano/a, the Latino/a. Old stories that were born before Columbus and that have endured into the urban cities. Don't be afraid, they only become real when you believe.
LA LLORONA