One of the oldest functions of folklore is to scare…I mean, teach lessons to children. As a former schoolteacher and current mom of a toddler, I can attest to the dare-devilish traits that many children seem to possess.
Before the days of stranger danger, society needed a way to keep kids away from the hazards of life. An easy way to accomplish this aim? Scary stories! (I guess you could classify stranger danger as a type of modern folklore or urban legend. That’s a topic worth further exploration.)
Along the Texas-Mexico border, La Llorona or the Weeping Woman is the queen of scare-lore.
Her lesson: don’t go near bodies of water at night, especially if you’re alone. A scary ghost lady will definitely kill you.
Story: There are a billion variations on this tale. Yes, that’s an accurate, scientific estimate. The one I heard growing up in Central Texas was something along these lines- a beautiful woman had three small children. She fell in love with a bachelor, but he wasn’t a fan of kids.
He made an ultimatum- either marry me and get rid of your children or I’ll leave you forever. The woman decided in favor of her man and drowned all of her children in the local creek, river, lake, etc. Insert the name of your local body of water. In my old stomping grounds, it happened to be the Brazos River.
She immediately regretted her decision, but there was nothing she could do to bring them back to life. She killed herself. Now, she wanders the local creek, river, lake, etc. every single night, frantically looking for her murdered children.
Since her own children won’t come back to her, she steals the kids hanging out in the water instead. Then, she drags you to hell. Often times, she’s dressed in a white dress covered in bloodstains. She screams “Where are my children?!” in a horrible shriek.
Well, mission accomplished. My friends and I were scared to death (pun intended) of La Llorona. You taught your lesson, scary ghost lady.
Do you have another version of La Llorona? What lesson legend scared you as a child? We all have our local La Lloronas, wandering the creeks of childhood.
Image Credit: http://759a9ffa0abd5ed34c58-76baa18eca5118ba96dca6403b176d26.r54.cf2.rackcdn.com/oBI7FMcAWO_1394395311170.jpg
Works Cited:
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/gh-lallorona.html
https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/lxl01
Archived Folk 
