Federico Stories

In Chalchuapa, on some special nights, many mysterious people walk along the main street of the town. They walk while carrying candles, and flowers and some of them carry a curious black coffin (figure 1). Figure 1. The Funeral Cortege. ¹ The crew stops for a brief moment at the entrance of the town and if any curious person was looking at them, one of the people leaves the event briefly. The person offers them a lighted candle as a souvenir. However, the next morning, the candle had transformed into a human bone! The curious person who received it begins to go silent and gets feverish and dreams about what they had seen until they go crazy and in a couple of days he dies of fright. Be careful if you ever walk in Chalchuapa alone! Inspired by  Hilos Narrativos ’ version. Credits: ¹  Hilos Narrativos

In 1995 on October 31 st , I was coming back from a long trip to Panama. My company had sent me to deliver several tons of coal and wood to the canal. It had been one of the most tiring trips in my life. I just wanted to reach my house and sleep in my bed. Around 1am, I reached Izalco and tried to go directly to my home, but suddenly, I saw some curious lights moving in the cemetery. I had never seen any lights in the cemetery at night. I decided to park next to the Ash River (Río Ceniza in Spanish) and entered the cemetery to check what was happening. I started to walk carelessly inside the cemetery when suddenly, a white dog approached me with a kind of stick, but as soon as he left it next to me. I noticed it was not a stick, but a massive bone. The dog fled as soon as it had released the bone next to me. I only crossed myself and kept walking inside the cemetery. I thought nothing important had happened. After a while, I started to hear some strange words from behind, "Kakasb...

The Ilopango elders always speak of a supernatural beast called the Mulus. They are afraid of it and its powers, and they refer to the General Cemetery as the Valley of the Crosses. Many of them assured they were near to being devoured by the Mulus when they walked close to the cemetery at night. The Mulus is a creature from the world of wrath, with a shape almost identical to a wolf but of a larger size. It is a very frightening and contemptuous beast that you can only see in cemeteries at night. Every midnight appears when a person is buried and checks their tombs to see if they were murdered or wicked people during their time on Earth. When it finds those tombs, digs them, and devours their corpses (figure 1). Also, while it’s eating, it makes the noise that is known as “MULUS!” Figure 1. The Mulus. Some gravediggers said a few people saw the Mulus, for the first time in a cemetery in Rosario, La Paz in the 1900s. For them, the Mulus represents a neutral being that is i...

Many moons ago in a small town of El Salvador, two noblemen fought for the love of a beautiful and distinguished lady, who was the envy of her entire town. In that town, these two noblemen were in love with the lovely lady as no one had ever seen. They constantly tried to impress her with their fantastic duels with their machetes, thousands of gifts, flowers, gold, all that you could imagine! But she couldn’t decide because she wasn’t fascinated by any of them. Many months passed from their last duel when the lovely lady met a young man from a neighboring farm. An extraordinary horseman who toured her farm, in his bright jet-black steed, this was love at first sight. From that day, the two lovers met in an abandoned ranch between the two farms. One night during the full moon, the young rider took his beloved one to the ranch of their intimate encounters. However, that night some eyes followed the lovers below the moonlight; and this person to win favor from his employer gossi...

There is not a more mysterious bird than the owl. They are unique birds that you can only see at night, especially during the phenomenon of the blue moon (figure 1). Figure 1. An owl during the blue moon.   ¹ Many people in El Salvador believe, the owls are the witches’ spirits who roam the Central American skies every night. They say the owls try scaring their victims in dark places before they transform them into mice that can later hunt and eat! Plus, some of them say when you can hear a low whistle from the skies, it is an owl that is flying over you! If anyone tries responding with the same whistle, it will fly to you and scratch your eyes! There are different types of owls in those lands, but the unique ones are the bearded owls . They are a rare species that possess two large and elongated feathers that grow next to its beak. The elders say these bearded owls are sorcerers, who were cursed by an old shaman who converted into owls forever! He did it because they we...

Many years ago, the owner of a magnificent mansion went for a sail on a crafted raft near Teopan Island in Coatepeque Lake. Unfortunately, he was dragged by an underground current to the domains of the Goddess Itzqueyé of the Freshwaters. On this day, his life changed forever, and no one saw him alive again. A few months later, he reappeared to the people who took care of his property and inherited it. They were perplexed by what they saw, his legs had lengthened, and his lips had widened, transforming him completely. He only smiled, thanked them for all that they did, said goodbye, and vanished in front of their eyes. They never saw him again. Nowadays, many people agree, that his spirit enchants Coatepeque Lake, and they call it: “The Tabudo.” They describe him as a good spirit who presents himself as a small being to all fishermen, but little by little, it becomes bigger and bigger. Later, he sits in the front of their rafts when they notice something uncommon his legs surpass h...

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 ...

Many moons ago, the Siguanaba ’s son was taken to the hereafter because his mother was cursed and forced to live in the Salvadoran rivers until the end of time. After the Siguanaba was cursed and vanished, Tlaloc called his son and told him: “Son. I have cursed your wife forever. She is going to live in the rivers washing her clothes and scaring bad men because of her greed and irresponsibility.” Tlaloc’s son couldn’t believe what he was listening to and replied: “Father, why are you taking all that I have? Haven’t I had work enough to have at least my child?” Tlaloc answered: “Son, I understand, but you have more responsibilities in this town. You will see your son again one day.” The man was furious and disappointed because his father took everything he had: his wife, his child, his dignity, all. They discussed for hours until he accepted his destiny and left his child with him. Meanwhile, he would try to recover the love of his life. He started a quest in every Salvadoran river,...

Once upon a time in a place known as El Salvador , there was a town inhabited by a working and respectful tribe who was very kind to all their neighbors. In this town, it lived a breathtaking girl who was admired by all the young men of this place. This girl was named Cihuehuet (figure 1). Her beauty was immeasurable, and all nearby hamlets knew her. Many young warriors and hunters propose to her all the time. Figure 1. Cihuehuet dancing on the rivers. ¹ However, the girl knew herself very well, and she had become very conceited and vain. Every time she went to wash her clothes in the river, instead of hurrying and doing her work, she stayed for a very long time watching her face reflected in the clean and shiny waters from Lempa. When the wedding time came, she married the bravest and strongest warrior of the region, who was Tlaloc’s son. Some months later, the Shaman told her: “You are going to have a boy.” She realized, when her son was born, she would not be able to d...