Costa Rica’s Creepiest Ghost Stories and Mysterious Legends

Every society has tales of terror that challenge our imaginations and our courage. Costa Rica has folk tales that include a priest who lost his head over a woman and now walks the land without a head, a wrastle son who was changed into a devil dog named Cadejos that roams at night, snarling and rattling his chain, and a cart that rolls through the rural areas without oxen to pull it, all because its owner built it with lumber meant for the church. These are stories that go way back in time. Some say they are superstitions. Others swear they are true. There are also some more recent creepy stories that have gained believers because they have been repeated so many times, and they just could, maybe, possibly be true. Back in the 1900’s, cries and screams coming from a newly filled cemetery plot were reported in Heredia but by the time the bureaucracy got around to investigating and opened the casket, it was all scratched and ripped inside. In Atenas a blond, naked ghost called Macho Chingo was reported walking along the hills. Macho is a common word for someone blond and chingo is used for someone in the buff. Some reports said he was wearing a necktie and that he’s German. In Alajuela everyone knows about the nun that haunts the old hospital building. But there is one story from more modern times that occurred in Rio Segundo, an eastern suburb of Alajuela that just, possibly, could be true because some people swear to it. Not too long ago Rio Segundo was a decidedly rural area with big coffee haciendas and whole families lived on the land to help with the coffee work. Among them a young man and his sweetheart. As they planned their wedding the owner of the hacienda offered the couple a vacant house on the property for them to spend their wedding night. According to custom , the groom wore white pants and a white shirt and a red cummerbund embroidered by the bride. After the ceremony the pair took off for the vacant house located in a far corner of the farm where nobody would dare to bother them. The house was large, with multiple nooks, crannies, closets and cubbords and to the young couple, from humble backgrounds, it was a palace. Never again would they find themselves in such a spacious home. It prompted them to challenge each other in a game of hide and seek. There were so many great places to hide! When it was the groom’s turn he hid so well that his new wife wandered from room to room in the dim light trying to find him. At first it was a game, a thrilling game, in anticipation of the night to come. But as minutes passed and then hours, she became weary and worried. Where could he be? She wandered all through the house several times but she never found him? Did he repent getting married and fled? Or did he fall and lose consciousness? After much time searching she gave up, tired and depressed and heart broken. The love of her life was gone. As time went by she accepted the fact and returned to her parent’s home to get on with her life. Years went by and the property was sold along with the house. The new owners took their time clearing out all the old furniture left inside including several trunks and barrels, opening them up to see if there was anything left of value inside. And there, in one of the trunks, they found a skeleton dressed in white with a red embroidered cummerbund. There is no conclusion for this story. Did the bride weep over her lost sweetheart Or was she angry at the skeleton for messing up her life? Did she want the cummebund back? And more curious, how come the guy didn’t figure out how to escape, or was he still waiting all that time for her to find him? Will we ever know the truth behind this story?