Oftentimes, the best-known horror stories come from the inversion of cherished ideas. Whether it be the goodness of people, society’s trust in the government, or even an individual’s faith in religion, as humans we have lofty expectations for the institutions and relationships we allow in our lives. So it follows that when just one of those ideals is inverted, then nothing good would come of it.

One of those ideals is the family, or more specifically, a mother’s love for her children. It could be nonexistent, as seen from TV shows such as Family Guy, or obsessive, such as from movies like Stephen King’s It and Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. But did you know that this horrific mother has roots in local legends and folklore? The story of La Llorona, or The Weeping Woman, embodies this. 

La Llorona tells the tale of a young, beautiful woman named Maria. She was said to be the most beautiful in town, but whenever men proposed to her, she’d refuse. One day, a handsome (and rich) aristocrat came into town. He saw Maria and immediately fell in love with her. He asked her to marry him, and unsurprisingly, she accepted. The couple rode off, eager to start their life together. Not long after, she gave birth to two sons and for a time they were happy.

Unfortunately, this happiness didn’t last long. Soon enough, Maria’s husband started cheating on her with a younger, prettier woman. He began abusing Maria as well and often compared her to his younger mistress. Eventually, Maria realized he didn’t love her anymore, and that the only reason he was even with her was because of her sons. Angered by this, Maria took her sons to a river and drowned them. She then drowned herself, thinking they’d be happy together in Heaven.

This wasn’t the case, however, for when she got to the Gates of Heaven, she was stopped by an angel. The angel asked where Maria’s children were. When she told the angel that she didn’t know, it refused her entrance. It said that unless she had her children with her, she wasn’t allowed inside. When she went back to the river, her children’s bodies were already swept away. Maria was doomed to wander the earth, searching for her missing children, all the while carrying the guilt of killing them. Thus began the infamous story of La Llorona. 

Though the legend is central to Latin America, the story has spread throughout the Southern parts of the United States. As mentioned before, it’s typically told as a scary bedtime story, forcing children to listen to their parents. But more than that, it emphasizes how importantly we view youth and beauty and how at times we might even put ourselves ahead of our loved ones. It’s a sad story that is the making of many stories, including that of the Conjuring’s own La Llorona. And who knows? Though the true story might have been lost through decades of storytelling, you may just stumble across remnants of the legend at night when you hear a woman crying out for her lost children.