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This spooky story comes directly from my mother and her personal experiences. The story leans toward a more paranormal aspect, as it has to do with passing of one of my moms late friends. At the time of this experience, my mom's friend had just passed and she was affected deeply by this. So when she had awakened in the middle of the night, from a phone call coming from the kitchen, only to pick it up and find out it was her late friend calling her; feeling numb is an understatement.

Now that my mom has grown older and carried this story in her heart, she still claims the events as real; and personally, I believe her every bit, because I too can recall paranormal moments of my own, so I know what it's like to have these experiences. Even though the credibility of this story has been question in the past, mostly by my stepdad who is not a believer in ghosts, she still holds certain to the fact that this story really did happen, and that the events she experienced are true. Especially, with my mom's family being rooted in catholic beliefs, finding these stories to be "fake" or "made up" seems simply absurd.

What seems to make my mom connected to this story compared to her other paranormal experiences in the past, is the fact that not only did the "ghost" in the story hold significance in her life, but she was also close and friends with the family of the "ghost" (a.k.a. her late friend), and so she also had to experience her close friends become affected by this loss. The traumas that we have as humans will always have a lasting impact on us, and our development, and can affect our outlook on life. Our ghosts from the past symbolize heavy trauma for us, and looking at these encounters through a rhetorical and personal lens can help us find peace with the traumas we’ve faced

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I plan to adopt the methodology of relational accountability and I will use it to explore how this story seems to connect personal relationships between my mom and the people she has told the story to, more specifically, the family of the friend who had passed. Between the connections that people have with each other and the environment that surrounds us, we as people can grow. (Wilson 87)

During the conduction of my research, I found that many of the people use the story my mom gave as a sort of a way to connect with her friend who had passed, and the family also loves to recollect on the story, hoping to share some fond memories. The story seems to uphold itself positively, in terms of relational impact, as every time it's told, it's used as a sort of "last" memory of him, showing that my mom's story holds some pretty strong beliefs and many people seek comfort to this story. we as people must learn to accept ghosts instead of run from them (Parham, 3)

The methodology of land-based research also seems to hold itself pretty strongly in terms of this story being told, as it relies heavily on my mom and the memories of his loved ones who all still live close within each other. The story isn't a widely known one, but instead it's one that holds significance over these families. In order to understand the full impact and context of the story, we must first consider the narrative of my mother and the way that he was viewed amongst his family and close friends.

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What is the long term impact that this story has had on its audience, and how did they react when they were first told about it?

Alot of the audience members in this story were close family to the person who had passed, did they also feel his presence in some way? Did they start to view their surroundings differently?

Considering the long term impact that this story has had on my mom and the people she’s told it too, does this affect the way they encounter other “ghost” stories?

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Throughout the conduction of my research, I will try my best to not only gain insight from my mother, but also use these methodologies to conduct conversations with my mom that way I can attain an authentic voice to add the to the story, and I can also see how other people, especially the family, were affected by the passing. My goal is too truly shed a light on my mom's friend, and on how he was truly good person, and how he held alot of significance in not only my moms heart, but also other people's; essentially, I want make my mom's late friend a PERSON, not just a ghost in a spooky story.

Using this methodology, I'd also like to understand who my mom was a little more too, and being able to explore the specifics of this story, I am able to also see how she was when she was young, and being able to discuss this story means that she's able to talk about her past experiences and the way that she grew up. Now, my mom has told me everything about herself, she's definitely an open book, however hearing her stories and experiences as a person, made me start to want to know more about her childhood and her growing up. And also by being able to talk to the family of her late friend, who was also clsoe and friends with my mom, I'm able to see how my mom was as a person, not only through my mother's eyes but her peers and friends as well.

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This story seems to hold weight in my family, especially for my mom as she was the one who experienced the events in the story herself, and she was extremely close with her friend who had passed. She considered him the "good one" in the family and had high potential for him, sadly his life was taken from him when he was only in 8th grade, and this still has a heavy impact on my mom. When trauma impacts one generation, it has the effect to carry on to later generations (Frosh 3), and that's why I chose this story, since it also seems to connect both my mother and I.

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Around the time when my mom was a teenager, she had been woken up in the middle of night by a phone ringing. The ringing was coming from the house phone, hanging on the wall from inside the kitchen. My mom had waited a couple moments, hoping that someone would answer the phone, mainly because she grew up being scared of the dark and she didn’t want to walk down the pitch black hallway to answer it. Eventually, with the phone not being answered, she found herself hurriedly walking to the kitchen to answer it. When she picked up the phone, she heard silence on the other end. She was confused as she stood there for a minute, hoping for a response. After what felt like forever she eventually heard a voice. However, they were talking to her in a normal tone, like if it wasn’t 3am but instead 3pm. Immediately my mom recognized the voice, it was the voice of her friend who had passed! Despite his passing already taking place, she didn’t think twice when she recognized his voice but instead she had a normal reaction and carried on a conversation with him; he checked up on her and made light small talk. Eventually he needed to go, but before he did he gave my mom a number, one to call back. Eventually my mom hung up the phone. Suddenly she woke up in her bed. It felt somewhat like a dream but she also felt that it was real, she wasn’t too sure. She decided to check the home phone in the kitchen, where suddenly she found the number sitting there, tucked into a crevice in between the phone and the wall. She was surprised to see the number written down. So she picked up the phone, dialed the number, and called it. However, when she called the number it was a disconnected line. My mom believes that she got a call from beyond the grave, specifically from her friend that had passed, and she believes that he was calling to say one last goodbye.

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The personal history that I share with this story is that this was a story that I grew up hearing all the time. Growing up, I would hear this story in the car, on the way to grocery store, during dinner time, and even during those few times where my mom feels like she has encountered some type of ghost presence in our home. My mom is a very spiritual person, in the sense that she believes in ghosts and other-worldly entities. She felt that the entity was her friend saying a final goodbye, in a sense. "A ghost is a becoming and an un-becoming- they exist at the same time as they do not" (Heholt & Niamh, 6)

the true solidification that this story has to me, or what it makes it seem real is that fact that she also had many other stories of her friend who had passed, although they weren't ghost stories, they were REAL stories. She would reminisce on memories of how they would mess around in class together, rebel against their parents and hang around town, and overall she would describe fond memories of them both. The solidification of the friendship they had with each other was greatly established. Over time, her friend became less of a "ghost" to me, and he instead started to become a real person. He had this beautiful life and it was sadly taken from him.

This story seems to hold some connection not only to my mom and I, but also to our community because she also told this story to her friends and even to the family of her friend who had passed; whom my mom also happens to be close with as well. My mom also grew up catholic, and so alot of these ghost stories seem to stem from her catholic beliefs from when she was younger, and studies seem to show that more than a third of Catholics in the US have had a paranormal experience (Catholic Digest, 14) My mom believes in the afterlife, a higher power, and ghosts. Or legends such as the cucuy, where it presents itself as a pumpkin headed monster, that could be either masculine or feminine; and the monster eats children and leaves no trace. (KTRK-TV, 2) Stories like these are where our paranormal fears stem from. However, my mom's story haunts me because it makes me genuinely think about the afterlife and how we as individuals, particularly those who were raised in a religious household, seem to perceive and describe these stories.

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Not long ago, I wrote about how bogeyman-like legends exist almost all over the world. It's stunning to know that nearly every culture on the planet has one. In many Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries, there are tales of one of these, a mythical monster called El Coco (or El Cucuy). While some details vary from story to story, one thing seems consistent: El Coco eats children.

Behind the Names: El Coco, El Cucuy

El Coco, Coca, Cucuy, Cuco, Cuca, Cucu, Cucuí, El-Cucuí-as you can see, plenty of words are used to describe this particular monster. The name is thought to derive from various languages, particularly in northern Portugal and Galicia. The common theme across languages is that the word means "head" or "skull," but the literal translation of most would be "coconut." If you've ever seen a whole coconut, you can probably imagine why the word "coconut" is also used colloquially for "skull."

Yeah, something like that. Pop some googly eyes on there, and you've got yourself a true deserted island conversation partner.

You can listen to the pronunciation of two of the words here, so you can practice them at home: el coco & cucuy.

Everyone needs these words in their vocabulary because the last thing you want to do is look up a pronunciation guide when El Coco drags you off into the darkness.

El Coco's Hunting Grounds

Murderous creatures from folklore or legend often stalk specific parts of the world. Unfortunately for us all, El Coco gets around by language and culture, so anywhere with people who speak Spanish, Portuguese, or Galician is susceptible to attacks by El Coco. I've taken the liberty of combining a few maps to create an "El Coco Danger Zone Travel Guide" so you can know where you might get eaten. Credit to Allice Hunter and Jonatan argento, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons for the original maps I used.

2023 El Coco Danger Zone Travel Guide. My fun travel guide is not exhaustive but should be considered a loose reference. Remember, though, that because El Coco seems to stalk by culture and language, you're right on the edge of danger no matter where you are in the world. Someone in close proximity to you likely speaks enough Spanish that El Coco might come to your area to crack open some fresh coconuts.

The Legend of El Coco

Glowing red eyes from under your bed or in your closet.

Mouth full of razor-sharp teeth like a barracuda.

A hairy beast atop the roof.

Long claws like knives.

Some say it is a vaguely female, humanoid alligator.

Or has an empty pumpkin for a head.

Some say it is the dark shadow of someone who recently died.

Whatever the form, the mere sight will paralyze you with terror.

The creature lives in a cave in the hills or mountains and uses one large, bat-like ear to listen for children misbehaving. It comes down from its den to stalk misbehaving children. El Coco snatches them up, tosses them into a bag, and whisks them back to its lair.

In the darkness, El Coco tears into the children, feasting on their flesh and leaving no trace of them behind.

Parents warn their children, "Behave, or El Coco will come and take you away."

It is a tale told to children who want to go into dangerous places, those who do not listen to their parents, and those who don't want to go to bed. You'll notice that there are conflicting descriptions of El Coco and that the warning of "behave" could really take on nearly any meaning based on the parent.

As adults, whenever we encounter something like this, we inevitably ask: is El Coco real?

While you may read this and think that El Coco is simply a myth created by parents to keep their children in line, remember that countless children over centuries have been terrified by these brief stories and warnings. So, in children's minds, El Coco is very real-no matter what you think.

Interestingly, there are legends of malevolent creatures in folklore that can only be seen by children. If you talk to adults who heard about El Coco when they were children, some have stories of close encounters with it. Somewhere, in the back of their minds, lies the stories of El Coco from their childhoods, still haunting their sleep.

Possible Origins of El Coco

The earliest known reference to "El Coco" comes from 1518 in "Auto da Barca do Purgatório"-an allegorical play written by poet and playwright Gil Vicente. The name "Auto da Barca do Purgatório" translates to "The Act of the Ship of Purgatory" and the use of El Coco is in reference to the devil. Sadly, I had trouble finding much in the way of Gil Vicente's work available in English, but you can read more about him here and here on Project Gutenberg and even see photos of an original manuscript from him right here.

Gil Vicente wrote this over 500 years ago. Who knows where he got it from? But that means we have hard evidence from over 5 centuries ago of "El Coco" used to describe an evil being.

All of this bogeyman business, like in the case of El Coco, could be attributed to a simple tradition of parents using fear to scare their children into behaving. But that would mean the entire world spontaneously decided to scare their children into behaving using the same method. That seems a little unlikely.

Is there another reason why these bogeyman legends exist worldwide? Perhaps some folklore spread like wildfire across trade routes hundreds or thousands of years ago?

Or maybe there really were evils that lurked in the dark, waiting to eat children. But things like that can't be real, right? You know, like Albert Fish, the American child serial killer cannibal dubbed "The Boogey Man."

Relevant & Related

Several years ago, a film titled El Cucuy: The Boogeyman was released. Check out the film trailer, and read more about it from the filmmaker Peter Sullivan right here.

For another spooky tale of El Coco, check out Draw the Life TikTak's The Cucuy or Coco Monster, which includes illustrations as the story unfolds.

Storyteller Joe Hayes and illustrator Honorio Robledo also put together a picture book in Spanish and English of the El Cucuy.

Speaking of Joe Hayes, he has his own YouTube, where you can see him in storytelling action in El Cucuy.

The Casagrandes also had a fun episode about El Cucuy.

In 2014, musician John 5 released Careful With That Axe which includes a track titled El Cucuy.

For a lighter spin on El Cucuy, you'll want to pick up a copy of El Cucuy Is Scared, Too! by author Donna Barba Higuera and illustrator Juliana Perdomo.

And a slightly more personal story of an encounter with El Cucuy.

If you're interested in reading about other legends near El Cucuy's hunting grounds or more on the bogeymen across the world, here are a few articles of mine you may enjoy: La Llorona of Mexico City | El Silbón of Los Llanos in South America | Bogeyman: Myth or More?​

Galician folklore? I've got you covered with Santa Compaña of the Iberian Peninsula.

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El Coco, El Cucuy: The Child Eater | Into Horror History | J.A. Hernandez

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"Sleep child, sleep or else...Coco will come and eat you." - Auto de los desposorios de la Virgen by Juan Caxés. 17th Century.

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I'm choosing to include this story as part of my assignment because the coco is one of those stories that many of us grew up with as kids, and they most likely influenced our fears today (especially those who come of Mexican descent and/or catholic upbringing). The story is meant to show where a lot of us tend to derive our ghost stories and it's also meant to show where the paranormal fear and belief started for most people.

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This passage is meant to show us how many of the stories we heard growing up influenced our belief in paranormal stories and experiences today, and The Coco is one of those stories that most of us heard as kids. By stating that adults seem to not believe this as much and that this myth was more so created by adults, in order to keep their children in line, you can't help but wonder why a monster like this was specifically created; this can't be random, it had to have come from somewhere.

As adults, the experiences that we take in children will continue to have some form of influence on us as adults today, and even though adults may not feel this story is real, the inner child in them will always believe it. Stories like the cucuy and many others are what influence us when we grow up.

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Story 2 - Elisa Lam: What really happened in the Cecil Hotel

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Story 2 - Elisa Lam: What really happened in the Cecil Hotel

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Elisa Lam: What really happened in the Cecil Hotel

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A viral video. Online sleuths. An internet mystery. We've been here before, right? We have indeed. If you watched Netflix's Don't F*** With Cats in 2019, then some of their new show The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel might sound familiar to you. But this documentary series, and the story of Elisa Lam, is something very different.

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Story 2: Elisa Lam: What really happened in the Cecil Hotel

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Story 2: Elisa Lam: What really happened in the Cecil Hotel

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This is less of a story because it did really happen and it was something that seriously affected a lot of people, however the focus of this story is meant to show how we deal with real-life tragedies and we somehow are able to find paranormal pretexts in the story, trying our best to figure how to explain this situation. This incident is unfortunate, the tragic story Elisa Lam is about a 21 year-old student who stayed at the Cecil Hotel while she was traveling los Angeles, the last known footage of her shows her acting unsual and before anyone knew it, she had vanished and she was eventually found in water tanks of the hotel; unalived. The rational explanation is that either foul-play was involved or it was self-harm, however, the more popular explanation is that there was something paranormal going on.

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The obsession by surrounding Elisa's case with ghost stories, goes to show how obsessed the public was, idealizing her situation with some type of paranormal reasoning because people's fascination with ghost/paranormal stories is just so great.

With tragedies like Elisa Lam, we as the public understand that it's devastating and hard, so when we add a paranormal explanation to the story, we give it a sense of understanding, such as by contextualizing them. By using the explanation of ghost stories in contexts like this, we use it more so to process a sense of grief or loss, as these ghosts help people come to a more definite conclusion, even if it's not exactly scientific or logical.

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Comment
by u/DominisDomain from discussion
in AskReddit

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This story focuses on experiences of paranormal where the ones affected in this story are more younger people, which means that there is more gullibility and more people around the age of 20-21 tend to believe than those who are older. The story focuses on a basement in the couch, and the narrator of the story goes through their experience in very vivid detail, placing us in their shoes. This story focuses on paranormal sightings along with the setting taking place in the house, and having the house as one of the main components.

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We as the reader are left with this suspense and ambiguity that seems to linger throughout the text with words like "Bright light" "shadow" "eyelids" and "couch" seem to create a visual space for the story and it establishes a setting.

With the narrator of the story feeling unsure about what is happening, it coneys this sense of vulnerability throughout the story and make you on the edge of your seat. We as the reader are left in our imagination throughout the story, trying to figure what's real and what's in the narrator's head.

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The story has a connection to both my home and community, because not only did it personally affect my mom, but it also happened in my hometown, and my mom still lives there today. Like with my mom and other women, the experince of these ghost stories play a huge role into growing and developing (Cruz, 46) Of course she isn’t reminded of him all the time, but usually when she gets hit with those feelings of nostalgia, she’ll sometimes look back on the memories she had with her friends, and sometimes those memories lead into that story.

However, it’s not always a retelling of the story, but rather the basic elements of the story, added with some new details or background information. My mom also grew up catholic, going to church every sunday and being reprimanded by her mom, my grandmother, everytime she did something bad or “sinful”. My mom believes in the afterlife and a higher power, as I do too, so finding reason to believe this story was real wasn’t that difficult. I find this story haunting because it makes me truly wonder about the afterlife and how we as people, especially those who grew up with religious beliefs, seem to view and characterize these stories.