La Llorona

The most common tale tells of a beautiful woman named María who, betrayed by her husband for a younger woman, drowned her own children in a river in rage. Refused entry to heaven until she finds their souls, she wanders the waters forever, weeping.

The tale predates the Spanish conquest, with scholars linking her to the Aztec goddess Cihuacōātl, who was said to appear weeping at night before the fall of Tenochtitlán.

A tall woman in a flowing white dress, hair covering her face. When the hair parts, her face is either a beautiful grieving woman or a fleshless skull. Always wet, always weeping.

Her cry — ¡Ay, mis hijos! — draws children to her and freezes adults in place. She drowns children she finds near water, believing each to be one of her lost ones. Cannot be reasoned with; recognises nothing but her grief.