Urban Legends

La Llorona

Origin: Mexico and other Latin American countries

La Llorona, or in English "the Weeping Woman," is an urban legend from Mexico and other Latin American countries about a female ghost who roams water areas such as rivers, mourning over her drowned children.

This story has been passed from generation to generation, warning and terrifying children about La Llorona.

There are a lot of versions to this story.

In the most famous version, there was a young, beautiful woman named Maria. Maria was also kind in, and every guy in her village dreamed of her, but she ended up marrying a rich man with whom she fell in love. He gave her tons of gifts and attention.

She lived a happy life with him and until she gave birth to two children. After that, things began to change.

Her husband turned to alcohol and began having multiple affairs.

He would often leave Maria and the children alone for months. He didn't care for them anymore.

Lastly, he decided to leave Maria for good and married another woman.

Her now-ex-husband would only come and visit his two children. This caused great hate in Maria for her children.

One Evening, Maria decided to take her children on a walk by the riverbank, there Maria saw her ex-husband with his new wife passing by.

After seeing them both happily together, Maria couldn't hold back her anger and hate anymore. In a fit of blind rage and urge for revenge, Maria mercilessly drowned her two children in the river. Once she saw her children's dead bodies floating in the river, she realized her mistake. Maria was overcome by guilt. She tried to save her children, but their bodies were too far away, and it was too late.

She mourned and wailed for her dead children for days and days. Maria couldn't eat, she couldn't sleep. She just wailed in a white gown by the riverbank where she had killed her children until finally, she died there as well.

However, she was unable to enter the afterlife without her children.

And so, she was cursed to roam the earth until she had found her dead children.

Not long after, her restless spirit was seen by the nearby rivers in the dark. Locals, afraid of her, stopped going out after dark.

In another version, the children are of an affair the man had with Maria. As the wife of the man found out, she decided to forgive her husband and accept the children as hers. However, Maria was having none of it, so she decided to drown the children in the river so that nobody could take them away from her.

It doesn't matter in which version of the legend you believe. Important is that La Llorona roams at night in waterfront areas in search of her dead children.

She is often described as a tall, thin ghost in a white gown with natural beauty and long dark hair.

Her wails are horrible and loud. They say that when you hear her, you should make it for a run in the opposite direction.

And if by any chance you encounter La Llorona, she will drag you into a watery grave. If she comes across a child, she attempts to take that child and drown them as well, in hopes that she will get her children back in return.

The tale of La Llorona is told by parents to make their children behave and be home on time.