Federico Stories

Long ago, a dirty and scary woman (figure 1) started to visit Guatajiagua’s rivers every midnight. Every citizen believes she came from the Honduran virgin jungles. Figure 1. The dirty woman. The men described her as an evil spirit. She presents herself mainly when they are drunk, returning to their homes as a beautiful woman washing her clothes on the banks of the closest river. She later calls the men asking them for their support. The men tend to fall in love and approached her. After they speak for a while, she presents her true face! Most men tried running, but only a few have escaped. The lucky ones returned to their homes and for the unlucky ones, no one knows their destiny. Inspired by Valdemar Bolainez’s version collected by Ennis Arely Arevalo Girón, Lissette Amelia Gutierrez Paz, and Karen Liseth Mancia Bonilla in their  thesis  Cultura Popular de Guatajiagua.

When passing by the path that goes around the hill in Guatajiagua, a ghost ( El Espanto in Spanish ) appears from nowhere (figure 1). Figure 1. The Guatajiagua ghost. Everyone is afraid to pass near the hill because the ghost loves to scare all men. The ghost searches for new ways to be always in front of all men and throws their hats. Most men try finding another way to avoid the ghost. However, the ghost will keep chasing until around 11 or 12 PM. At this time, the men will be able to reach their homes. Generally, their women will be waiting for them angrily, demanding to know why they are so late at home. Suddenly, the ghost appears in the courtyard, and the women ask, “who is that bundle that is passing by?” Then the men always answer: "He is the one who would not let me pass, I was afraid of that one, and so I came late." Inspired by Hipólito Cruz’s version collected by Ennis Arely Arevalo Girón, Lissette Amelia Gutierrez Paz, and Karen Liseth Mancia Bonilla in their...

Most of you might have heard about some twins who transformed into the Cadejos because of their bad behavior and uncountable mischief. However, these Cadejos are mostly seen in the rural areas while the good and the bad ones are from the urban side, and their story comes from the pre-colonial era. Do you want to hear it? Are you sure? Because it’s a scary story, are you sure? So, let’s dive deep into it. It was the year 400 BCE when the first inhabitants of Quelepa, a settlement of the Lenca people, were moving to a new land, a place that was beautiful and relatively close to a volcano. Plus, it was next to an impressive river full of fresh water. In this settlement, a couple had a difficult birth of fraternal twins, the first ones in centuries. The town rejoiced because a new pair of twins had come, and there were massive celebrations, even the Shaman and their King came and blessed them. Some years passed, and these twins grew up. One had beautiful red hair, and yellow eyes,...

It was around 10:30 PM, and I was coming back from the wildest party of my life when I heard some strange sounds. Something was close by, but I couldn’t see it. I stopped for a moment and turned around when a pair of red eyes were glaring at me from the top of a hill; the eyes looked like embers (figure 1). Figure 1. The Black Cadejo. ¹ Holy mother of God! I thought. What are these eyes? My God, get me out of here! This must be the Cadejo! Vreeew! There was a loud whistle that I had never heard before. It looked as if an animal was whistling far away, but it was actually in front of me. Suddenly, the animal became huge and then small. It was black, the size of a big pooch, but instead of paws, it had four hooves at the end of each leg. In a blink of an eye, I got paralyzed. I could not move, I felt that it was on quicksand, and I was sinking into it. I felt hypnotized, I could not stop looking at the embers in its eyes, and as I stood there staring, it stared right back at ...