The minute I heard about 'Thee Boogie Man', I laughed. Not the kind of uncomfortable, awkward laugh that comes from being confronted with a scary situation. More like that, you've got to be kidding, your creepy Boogie Man ain't got nothin' on La Llorona, kind of laugh. I was six when I first heard of The Boogie Man, and I still stand by that.
My friend sat in front of me with fear in her tired eyes. She had not slept very well thanks to her older brother. Being the sweetheart that brothers are, he told her the Boogie Man was coming to get her. Now I did not laugh at my friend's expense. What did it for me was when I asked her what this Boogie Man looked like. According to my friend, the Boogie Man was this harry creature with a paper bag over his head. The expression on my face must've shown her I wasn't buying it, because she immediately began explaining that the paper bag was only over it's head because apparently, the creature only revealed its face right before it would strike.
And then the laughter began.
She became so upset with me, she refused to play with me at recess.
The next day, we were friends again. I sat her down and, looking at her straight in the face, I said,
"Do you want to know about La Llorona? She's WAAAY scarier than the Boogie Man!" I remember her eyes getting so big! She ran away, holding her hands over her ears, screaming "la, la, la, la...". I never got to tell her about La Llorona.
Since then, I have discovered that the Boogie Man does not have a true identity. It varies depending on the person. La Llorona's background story varies, but the gist is the same. She is the ghost of an unstable mother who drowned her kids in the river and now haunts it at night looking for them. In order to make sure my siblings and I were home before dark, my mother would tell us that La Llorona might take us for one of her kids and snatch us.
I tell this to my non-Latin@ friends and I always get the same response.
"Why would she do that?" followed by, "That's so mean!"
Well folks, I can only tell you one thing: It works, that's why!
Let me give you a little background story. I was born in Mexico and did not take up permanent residence in the good ol' USofA until I was five. I heard of La Llorona in Mexico, where we lived really close to a river. Can you imagine being told you would be snatched by a bat-shit crazy ghost who drowned her kids? That would definitely get you home before dark. But here's the craziest part. I migrated over 1300 miles and my mother was still threatening us with La Llorona! I thought I was too cool for school once and told my mom La Llorona didn't know where we were. My mother looked at me dead in the eyes and told me she would personally call her over! WHAT??
Well played mom, well played.
So this one goes out to La Llorona for haunting my dreams and all the dark crevasses around me. You kept me in line (somewhat) and you kick the shit out of the Boogie Man any day!
Salud, Amor y Feliz Dia De Los Muertos!
-Wuadalu
P.S. For those of you interested in the legend of La Llorona, here's what wiki has to say
