Jutting out into the sea below the historic Castillo San Cristobal in San Juan, Puerto Rico, there’s an old 17th century sentry box which has captivated the imaginations of local people for generations. It was here, under a moonlit night many years ago, that a young soldier placed on duty mysteriously disappeared – leaving only his musket and side-arm behind.  In the years that followed, stories of the Devil's Sentry Box were passed down through families, but nobody ever found out where the missing soldier went, why he disappeared, or what became of him. Superstitious locals give the old sentry box a wide berth these days, and in the years since the soldier’s disappearance, a number of sinister theories have worked their way into local myth and legend...

Passed down from parent to child through the generations, traditional myths and legends play an important role in societies across the world. They connect people to their place of origin and bind communities in the joy of shared storytelling. They can also act as a warning to youngsters on the dangers of bad behavior... This is the story of La Llorona, one of Latin America’s most sorrowful paranormal legends. La Llorona, the Weeping Woman In Latin America and Spanish-speaking society in the US, no myth or legend is shared as widely – nor with as much fervor – as that of La Llorona. You can hear versions of her tale in countries from Puerto Rico and Mexico to Guatemala, Venezuela, and beyond. What links them, though, is their warning note of danger and tragedy.  The name La Llorona translates to ‘the weeping woman’ or ‘the wailing woman’. There’s evidence to suggest her story pre-dates the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in Latin America, but in recent times it has become more closely associated with the Spanish colonial era itself – and the relationship between the conquistadors and local indigenous women.

There are plenty of tales of monsters that go bump in the night and the Chupacabra, which translates to goat-sucker, is no exception. Tales of this Puerto Rican monster exploded in the mid-1990s, but have been around for longer. The idea of anything drinking blood gives us the creeps, but this one takes things a step further. The creature has become legend and is likened to the South American version of the Sasquatch. People out there think it exists and may try to find it, but there is no definitive evidence. There are a few stories that have guessed, though, but no one really knows for sure what caused all the trouble for farmers who have lost their livestock to some nightly assailant. The Chupacabra is an allegedly fearsome creature similar to the vampire in that it drains the blood of its victims. The idea of something preying on our pets and livestock is terrifying, so it's no surprise that this legend is the stuff that nightmares are made of. Let's learn more about this creature that swoops in during the night to drink the blood of goats and cows. Livestock Slaughter of the 1990s The story of the Chupacabra really gained momentum in 1995 in Puerto Rico. The monsters were blamed for livestock and pets being killed but uneaten, and drained of blood. The idea that it was an animal killing for food was a hard one to take since the animals weren't eaten. You can imagine what a freaky thing this was to discover, so it makes sense that trying to find a monster to blame it on made sense.

Far out in the North Atlantic – somewhere between Bermuda, Miami, and San Juan, Puerto Rico – lies the Bermuda Triangle; a stretch of open ocean which has held mystery since the 15th century. Ships have sunk with no explanation, airplanes have disappeared off radar without warning, and navigators have reported strange lights in the sky. Compasses spin with no change in direction, and violent weather shifts cause catastrophe. It’s a place which has defied explanation for centuries, although as science progresses, new theories claim to shed fresh light on the mysteries at play.  Confusion and Intrigue Since Records Began

Photo by Loloday Laurent Dhotelle