In Mexico and the Southwestern U.S.  parents warn their children not to misbehave or wander off because La Llorona (Spanish for crying woman) will mistake them for her own children and snatch them up. 

One version of the story tells of a young woman who wants to attract the man of her dreams but can’t because she has children. To solve her problem she drowns her children.  After she goes to these extreme lengths the man rejects her anyway. Horrified by what she has done, La Llorona kills herself. She spends the rest of eternity searching the river for her kids.

People tell many variations of the story. In one, the man is the children’s father who leaves La Llorona for a rich woman. In a rage La Llorona kills his children. She immediately regrets her actions and kills herself.

In the version told in Honduras, the children drown when the woman is doing laundry and not paying attention to her kids. While this is horrible and a fear shared by many parents, it’s perhaps a little less romantic.

Jeremy C Shipp at Slices of Weirdo Pie- Has an astonishing ability to bring the strange to life and his fiction is really good too.

SS Michaels at Slush Pile Hero - Keeps a watchful eye on her readers. She doesn’t hesitate to point out the suspicious ones.

Tanya Moore at Misadventurous – Mixes science fiction with urban fantasy with erotica with…

Richard Cody at Notes From a Life in Progress - Writes lyrical prose and exceptional poetry. He is also a 4th level Psychonaut.

John Claude Smith, a member of The Hive Mind – Writes disturbingly strange stories. And his eye for art provides hours and hours of strange viewing pleasure.

Avery Edison at Avery Edison’s Internet Website – Check out Avery’s about page where she has links to her novel in progress. And remember don’t scratch – you’ll only make it worse.