Chilling Legends Of South America That Will Keep You Up At Night

The intense geography and environment of South America can already make it seem like a pretty forbidding place. With massive rainforests and huge rivers hiding all sorts of exotic wildlife (per Britannica), dangerous situations can be encountered nearly at every turn, from venomous predators to catastrophic floods. After years of extremely violent and tragic conquest by the Europeans were added into the mix, the countries that formed on the continent afterward were deeply affected by these grim events as well.

So, as the fusion of cultures developed over time, new legends and myths were born as hybrids of the ancient native beliefs along with those of the newcomers. It may then come as no surprise that the most frightening aspects of this mixed folklore are a reflection of the darkest moments of Latin America's volatile past. There are many tales of monsters, ghosts, and other spooky terrors of the night, yet these are the ones most likely to be etched in one's memory when alone in the South American darkness.

Of all the scary legends in Latin America, few cause as much dread as the tale of La Llorona. The story goes that a mother was absolutely devastated when her husband abandoned her for another woman. Her grief then became so great that it caused her to lose her mind and commit the unthinkable; the murder of their children. The most common version says she did so by drowning them, however another variation has her carry out the horrible act in a more brutal manner with a blade, says History Today. Afterwards, she saw no other path than to take her own life too.

The evil nature of her actions caused the poor woman to be transformed into a malevolent spirit known as La Llorona, or "the wailing woman," who wanders alone in the darkness of night, endlessly weeping over the deaths of her children. Adding another layer to the ghost's supernatural aura is the strong connections to deadly, primeval goddesses of the Aztecs, such as the "snake-woman," Ciuacoatl.

Although the horrifying, yet tragic legend originated in Mexico, it continued to spread throughout Hispanic communities to the north and south, reaching as far as Colombia and Venezuela, according to the Library of Congress. In these countries today, the scary tale has become quite useful for parents trying to get their own kids to behave, because if they do not, there is the threat that La Llorona will come and make them her next victims.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

In the Peruvian capital city, Lima, there is an ominous residence that has, over many years, become clouded in increasing notoriety. The urban legends begin over 250 years earlier when the site was supposedly the home of a Persian sorceress, whose benign attempts to cure diseases resulted in her being executed by the Holy Inquisition for witchcraft in the 18^th century, according to infobae. From then on, the stories only became grimmer the following century as the building was allegedly the scene of several horrific events, such as a deranged slaughter brought on by hallucinogenic drugs, brutal dismemberment, and the massacre of an entire family by its patriarch.

In 1924, the Andrade Fernández family purchased the haunted structure and turned the ground level into a hardware store, leaving the second floor unoccupied. Since then, some visitors have claimed to hear strange sounds from above, but the grandson of the original owner, Ladislao Tery Andrade, believes all the paranormal connections are nonsense.

When interviewed on the show "Cuarto Poder," the current manager of the property explained his theory: A group of kids saw an older worker in the window on the second floor late one night and mistook him for a ghost (via RPP Noticias). The rumors rapidly spread from there and went wild with all sorts of gruesome embellishments. Nonetheless, Andrade's more plausible explanation is still open-ended, since records backing up any of the most extreme tales have never been found.

Hailing from the region of modern-day Argentina and Chile, the Peuchen is another serpentine monstrosity of South American folklore that had its origins among the native Chilote and Mapuche people. The creature is described as being approximately twice as large as a human, but that is far from its most frightening feature. With broad wings, the giant snake could terrorize victims from the sky, along with using its powerful ability to paralyze prey simply with its gaze.

The nightmare did not end there, for once the vampiric beast had a living being within its grasp, it was so entirely drained of its blood that the corpses became dried out, says Paula Hammond in her book, "Fantastic Fearsome Beasts: Scary Monsters of Myths and Legends." According to the indigenous tales, the Peuchen has been a terror throughout the region stretching back into the ancient past, but even as recently as 1916, the fearsome animal was written about as if it was real in the Spanish-Mapuche dictionary of Father Felix de Augusta.

The Cuero is a Lovecraftian-style monster from Chilean folklore that is described as a broad, flat, aquatic beast with lethal tentacles, having claws and eyes attached to the end of each appendage. The disturbing appearance of the creatures was not the only aspect of its dreadful mystique, for when it moved from its watery habitat onto land and then back, the movement would bring on dangerously powerful winds.

 Even scarier is the sinister way the predatory beast would hunt by lurking underwater and snatching humans to drag them below the surface. The helpless prey would then face a nightmarish end as the creature would wrap its body around its new snack and devour it whole.

Among the legendary life forms in South American mythology, the Cuero might have the most bizarre origin story of them all. In her book, "Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth," Carol Rose explains that the locals believed a donkey hide had accidentally dropped into a river with chilling results: Possibly through some sort of dark magic, the skin transformed into a living thing that consumed whatever made the mistake of crossing its path.

One of the more recent urban legends of South America originated on the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador during World War II. To deal with the threat posed by the Japanese navy in the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. government reached out to the Ecuadorians to request permission to build an air base in the archipelago. The plan was agreed and by 1943, the newly constructed military installation housed over 3,000 officers and civilian laborers, according to Galápagos Conservancy.

During this period, according to legend, a shocking event unrelated to the war occurred near the base, with awful consequences. The tragic tale centers around the girlfriend of one of the U.S. soldiers, both of whom were living at the base. After discovering her infidelity, the enraged soldier killed her by pushing her off a cliff, causing her decapitation, as described by Christopher Minster's "Viva Travel Guides Galapagos."

From then on, the headless ghost was said to haunt the installation, even after it was permanently closed in 1946 and all the American soldiers had left. In the following decades, several Ecuadorian servicemen who have been stationed there claimed to have seen the menacing phantom in the darkness of night. The most disturbing accounts say she attacks the soldiers when they are alone.

Centuries ago, when the Spanish and Portuguese conquered their way through Central and South America, the colonists brought with them the Old World legend of the Duende. Descriptions of these goblins from the Iberian Peninsula say that the creatures are three feet tall and wear animal hides, along with a traditional red hat, according to Owlcation. Since the Mayans also believed in a minuscule deity who wore a hat, the myths of both cultures merged to create a hybrid version of the complicated dwarves.

Neither purely evil nor good, the behavior of the Duende is unpredictable, for some will help those who are lost in the forest, while others will commit the terrifying act of kidnapping children. And some of the nastier goblins are guilty of other heinous crimes, like cutting off a kid's toe. The scariest part is that the tiny creatures are said to sometimes live in the bedroom walls, so one never knows for sure a Duende is lurking about.