10 myths of terror based on disturbing stories

Narratives from different countries of the world that have terror as a common denominator.

When we think of myths and legends, we usually imagine elaborate narratives that tell us the history or the emergence of different phenomena or elements of reality. However, we can also find among the among the narratives of different cultures we can also find examples of myths of terrorwhich basically tell us about the fears of the unknown and incomprehensible present in all mankind.

In the present article we are going to review ten myths and legends of terror of diverse origins, some of them of great antiquity while others based on historical moments and more recent contexts.

A dozen horror myths

Here we leave you with different myths and legends of terror more or less known, which come from different countries and cultures.

1. The sack-bagman

The story of the bogeyman, who carries children away in a sack, is one of the best known myths in Spain. However, it turns out to be not so much a legend as a reference to an event that really happened at the end of the 19th century.

During this period there were several cases of men who kidnapped and murdered children (in other cases also women) in order to extract their Blood and lipids (the butters) to sell them or use them as a healing element, believing that these parts of the children helped to cure conditions such as tuberculosis, and that they could be used as a cure.. A real example was that of Francisco Leona, who together with his accomplice and his client was condemned to death after the murder of a child for these reasons.

2. La Llorona

One of Mexico's best known myths and legends of terror, and which in fact has pre-Columbian origins, is that of La Llorona. The legend tells us that once upon a time there was a woman who, after getting married and having children, saw a progressive distancing and loss of interest in her by her husband.

One day, the woman discovered that her husband was cheating on her and was about to leave her. Furious, she drowned her two children, but after doing so she realized what she had done and ended up taking her own life. Since then her spirit has been wandering, screaming and crying as she searches for her children.

3. Kuchisake-Onna

A Japanese horror myth tells the story of Kuchisake-Onna, a vain woman married to a samurai whom she cheated on with other men. One day, her husband discovered her infidelities and, furious, brutally cut her face and mouth while asking her if she really considered herself beautiful. The woman died, and the repentant husband eventually committed suicide.

Since then the woman's spirit has returned in the form of a yokai, and appears from time to time covering her face with a surgical mask. The woman will seek out and stop at someone usually young (some versions say she haunts students and even children) to ask if he considers her beautiful. If she answers no, she will kill her victim.

If he answers yes, he will proceed to remove his mask to show his huge wound, repeating the same question. If the victim is frightened, screams or answers no, he will kill them. If they answer yes, the yokai will either give them the same wound or follow them home to kill them. Trying to run away is useless, because the spirit will appear again.

4. The girl with the curve

One of the best known and most popular urban legends in many countries is the legend of the girl on the curve. It tells the story of a young girl who died years ago in a traffic accident on a sharp bend in the road. Some time later, the spirit of the same girl appears on the road hitchhiking and asking for a ride..

After getting into the car, the young woman remains silent until the driver approaches the curve where she died. It is then when the spirit tells the driver to be careful because she was killed on that curve, and then disappears.

5. The Santa Compaña

A well-known legend from the province of Galicia tells of the appearance of a procession of souls in pain that travels through the Galician territory, the Santa Compaña. In it we are told that at midnight the souls of Purgatory gather to go out in procession, carrying candles, praying and singing funeral songs. It is said to travel the roads, forests and villages, passing by and visiting the homes of those who are about to die.

The appearance of the Santa Compaña usually announces to those who see it their future death, sometimes seeing how the dead carry a coffin with the corpse of the person who sees it.Sometimes the dead are seen carrying a coffin with the corpse of the person who sees it. It can also be seen by some chosen ones and those who by mistake during their baptism have been anointed by the oils of the deceased.

The procession is led by a subject still alive, who cannot look back at any time and carries a cross and holy water. This subject (who during the day will not remember his nightly walk) is destined to die in a short time, walking every night without rest and weakening and wasting away until he dies and joins the procession or passes the cross to another victim. If someone crosses the procession, he may protect himself from it by drawing a circle and praying from within it.

6. Aka-manto

There is a Japanese legend that tells of the spirit or yokai Aka Manto, a specter that appears in public bathrooms and schools to give you a choice between two roles: one blue and one red. If the victim of this being chooses the red one, Aka-Manto will proceed to cut him with a knife until his clothes are dyed red with blood.

If the blue color is chosen, the spirit will strangle the person to death, thus making his face and skin acquire the same blue coloration it offered. Attempting to say another color will still result in death.The only way to survive is to indicate to the being that he/she does not need any paper.

7. The whistler

One of the best known legends or myths of terror from Venezuela is that of the Silbón. The story tells how a young man killed and disemboweled his own father, after discovering that his father had raped (in other versions beaten) his wife. After discovering him, his family cursed him and whipped him, and later rubbed him and rubbed chili peppers in his wounds and threw him to the dogs. Over time he was transformed into a soul in pain, who travels with a sack in which are the remains of his dead father.

This being is a harbinger of death, and it is said that it mainly seeks to attack and kill womanizers and drunks. His whistles sound far away when he is near and close when he is far away. There are several versions of this legendIn some of them, the motive for killing the progenitor is to extract his entrails to eat them when the father did not manage to hunt a deer.

8. Teke-Teke

A macabre Japanese legend tells the story of a young student victim of bullying who fell on the train tracks after being frightened by some classmates, with such luck that she was cut in half. Since then this young girl, now an angry spirit, wanders around dragging her torso with her hands looking for her legs and attacking and killing.

9. The legend of Pocong

This myth belongs to Indonesia, where the bodies of the dead are traditionally covered with white cloths and lace clothes that are tied over their heads. According to local beliefs, the souls of the dead remain in their bodies for forty days after death. After that time the body must be unwrapped.

When this is not done, the spirit of the dead will return in the form of an apparition, since its shroud prevents it from leaving. This spirit floats or jumps to move around, generally looking for the people around it.. According to some legends these beings also feed on the blood of infants.

10. The legend of Bloody Mary

The story of Bloody Mary is one of the classics of the legends of terror. The story tells of little Mary Whales, who one day became ill and eventually died. The family buried the girl, installing a typical device of the time in which a rope tied to a bell was placed in case the supposedly dead person was not dead (since catalepsy was already known). The little girl woke up, her supposed death being a product of catalepsy, and rang the bell. However, no one heard her.

When the family realized that the bell had fallen to the ground after multiple attempts and dug up the girl, they found her already dead, her hands bloody after desperately trying to run away. But before she died, she put a curseThose who say her name three times in front of a mirror will die, before which the bell that no one heard in her case will be heard.