Federico Stories

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...

In the 1900s, in the San Pablo canton in Cuscatlan, many women made amazing hand-made comals (kinds of large pans made from clay). They were the best in entire El Salvador, and everyone wanted to know their secrets. These women used to sell their comals in some unique baskets every Sunday at noon around the municipality. Many people, especially the pupusa makers (las pupuseras in Spanish) , jumped to them when they heard those women saying: "Comals! Comals! 2 for 0.15 cents! Comals of all sizes! Do you want a comal?" Everyone ran and approached them because they wanted one.  Over the years, in the 1920s, a man decided that he deserved to know these women’s secrets. He went to spy on them. He found that the women were making the comals in an odd cave next to a forest (figure 1) every Saturday. He had never seen that cave in his life. He descended around 120 stairs until he reached the secret place where the women made their mystical comals. Figure 1. Dwarf’s Cave....

The Maya and the Kekchi called this genie “Mam,” and the Pipil tribe named it “Man-Agua” (Man-water). During a stormy night in the 500s, a powerful thunder struck the Earth. The Pipil leader left his home to see what was happening. He was already worried because this had been one of the most powerful and long storms in his life. The tribe was losing their cornfields (their main source of food) because of the unstoppable storms. It had been months since the last time any had seen the sun. When he left his house and walked around, he was afraid because he had seen for the first time a white woman (figure 1). The woman was as magnificent as no other, and it seemed that the storm had lowered her to the Earth. Suddenly, she rose again to the clouds, where she had come from, and was unseen for a while. Figure 1. A Managua in the eye of a storm.  ¹ Over the following weeks, many Indians described the same white woman or women appearing across their area. The woman always ...

During the 1800s, there was a woman living in San Vicente. She had an abusive relationship with her husband, who didn’t respect her. Her husband was an alcoholic man who drank every night, at least two bottles of “Agua Ardiente.” He yelled at her all the time because she was not as beautiful as her sister, and she was not as good at having sex as she was. Her life was miserable, and it didn’t matter what she did, it was never enough. Five years later, her husband abandoned her with her sister, who was better at everything. She didn’t know what to do; in these times, divorce was a terrible sign. Her life was socially finished, and she was more miserable than ever. She looked like a normal Indian with dark skin, black eyes, and short and curly hair. Nothing special and her age limited her to start a new life. After many months, she considered committing suicide because she didn’t have any social life, and her family isolated her from her group too. She was forced to become a lone...

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 ...