On his way home during a stormy night, Carlos Rodarte 鈥 just a boy at the time 鈥 trekked through the mud and into the darkness alone.
The boy tried to be brave but he kept hearing his uncle鈥檚 words in his head: 鈥淲henever it rains and the ditch overflows, that鈥檚 when La Llorona is sure to be out.鈥
As lightning lit the night sky, Carlos realized someone was following him through his family鈥檚 orchard. It was La Llorona, easing closer and closer to Carlos as she wept.
La Llorona is an infamous ghost well-known in Latino folklore. As the shortened story goes, though many variations exist, La Llorona drowned after killing her two children. But her spirit remains, as she cries and screams for her kids.
Thousands of years later, the tale of La Llorona is still told. Many people 鈥 like Carlos 鈥 swear they have seen her.
People are also reading…
Christopher Rodarte, who grew up in New Mexico and is a third-grade teacher at 蜜柚直播鈥檚 Sam Hughes Elementary School, published a book centered around the wailing woman. Christopher Rodarte is the nephew of Carlos Rodarte.
鈥淟a Llorona: Ghost Stories of the Southwest鈥 is a compilation of first-person encounters with La Llorona. The encounters may be exaggerated, with names and details altered, but the heart of the stories were all told to Christopher Rodarte as truth. Some even happened in 蜜柚直播.
Carlos鈥 story is just one encounter 鈥 and Christopher Rodarte鈥檚 favorite 鈥 mentioned in the book. Now decades after Carlos鈥 encounter with La Llorona, Christopher Rodarte still refuses to go into the family orchard alone at night and turns his rear-view mirror so he doesn鈥檛 have to look into the darkness as he drives through the area.
鈥淭he stories have fascinated me since I was a child,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something I鈥檝e been drawn to since I was very little and it scared me senseless.鈥
鈥楢UTHENTIC AND RESPECTFUL鈥
Although the book is intended for young readers who have 鈥渙utgrown 鈥楪oosebumps鈥 but aren鈥檛 ready for Stephen King yet,鈥 Christopher Rodarte says a number of adults have had nightmares after reading it.
The 159-page book 鈥 which originally started as a script for a film 鈥 was released in April, but it鈥檚 something Rodarte had been working on for the past two decades.
The book, which is Rodarte鈥檚 first, includes stories that didn鈥檛 quite fit into the film script, which is still a work in progress.
When compiling the stories, Rodarte dug through handwritten archives from the University of 蜜柚直播鈥檚 Southwest Folklore Center and spoke to a number of people who have encountered La Llorona.
鈥淚 wanted (the book) to be as authentic and respectful as possible 鈥 not exploitative,鈥 he says.
Rodarte says La Llorona is especially well-known in Spanish-speaking communities. But he even found versions of a similar story 鈥 just under different names 鈥 in Germany and Africa.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a story that was probably developed around patriarchal times as a way for women to control their children and men,鈥 he says. 鈥淔or children, it was a cautionary tale to keep them away from ditches and floods.鈥
Most tales of La Llorona have a moral that tends to be something like, 鈥渂e good or La Llorona鈥檚 gonna get you,鈥 Rodarte says.
鈥淲ith ghost stories, usually ghosts aren鈥檛 really dangerous. They don鈥檛 really hurt you,鈥 he says, adding that La Llorona is an outlier. 鈥淧articularly the fact that she鈥檚 a mother and mothers are supposed to be loving and safe 鈥 there鈥檚 something about that that鈥檚 fascinating to people.鈥
No one knows for sure when or where La Llorona originated, but Rodarte says people 鈥渁damantly believe she鈥檚 from their town.鈥
Rodarte says that, while writing the book, he witnessed two people at a local barbershop fall into a heated discussion when talking about La Llorona.
鈥淭hey were arguing that La Llorona was from Mexico and he insisted La Llorona was from 蜜柚直播,鈥 Rodarte says. 鈥淭hat was one time that I saw people wanting to take possession of her.鈥
Lucky for Rodarte, he says he鈥檚 never encountered La Llorona.
鈥淚鈥檓 happy with that,鈥 he says.
鈥淟a Llorona: Ghost Stories of the Southwest鈥 can be purchased at Antigone Books, 411 N. Fourth Ave.; Mostly Books, 6208 E. Speedway; Clues Unlimited, 3154 E. Fort Lowell Road; and the 蜜柚直播 Inn gift shop, 2200 E. Elm St. It鈥檚 also available online through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.