Scary For Kids
Lechuza

Lechuza

The Lechuza is a scary Mexican urban legend or myth about an old woman who can turn into a giant black bird. “Lechuza” means “Owl” in English. This story is also known as “La Mujer Lechuza” which means “The Owl Witch”.

Lechuza

According to Mexican folklore, a Lechuza is an old witch (or Bruja) who can turn herself into a monstrous black bird. They will prey on people who they think have done them wrong or they will steal children to use in their occult rituals. Some say that the Lechuza has sold her soul to the devil in order to gain her powers.

Usually, the Lechuza will appear as a large bird, the size of a human being. It can also appear as a creature with the body of a bird but the head of a hideous old woman.

They usually only come out at dusk or after nightfall. Many people in Mexico have spotted lechuzas flying high over the tops of houses or have seen it outlined against the moon at night.

If the Lechuza fixates on you, it will sit outside your door at night, making crying sounds like a baby. If you go outside to investigate, it will swoop down on you and carry you away.

If you find unexplained scratches on your door or windowsill, it could mean a Lechuza has visited your house during the night.

“When I was a child, my family lived in a little town near the mountains in mexico. I remember my mom telling me about an old lady that lived nearby. She was 60 or 70 years old and my mom said she was suspected of being a witch and could turn into a “lechuza”. Apparently, the old woman had done some witchcraft (“brujeria”) on my grandma. My grandmother’s hair and eyebrows were gone. Some people in the town wanted to hurt the “lechuza” to see if it was really this old lady. One night, when they saw the giant black bird, they took out their guns and started shooting at it. One of them shot it in the leg. They waited and waited, but for days the old lady never left her house. When she eventually came out, she couldn’t walk and she was hobbling around on a cane…”

“My family is from Chihuahua, Mexico. My older sister claimed she saw a lechuza a few years ago when she went back to visit. They were swimming at a local pond and they saw an enormous black bird watching them from afar. They started getting freaked out and decided to go home. The lechuza followed them all the way home while they were driving and stayed outside their house until dawn. My uncles claimed they shot a lechuza and the next morning, they found an old lady lying there dead from gunshot wounds… so… either lechuzas are real… or…my uncles are murderers!”

scary for kids

18 comments

  • To be honest my grandma was a witch and the REAL myth about the Lechuza is that if you shot it and it doesn’t die you will die instead. If the Lechuza touches you then you will die. And if you dream about it and it talks to you or you hear it in your sleep that means that someone from your family will die. Thats the real myth about Lechuza’s so if people really shot at it they would have been dead they probably shot a real owl and not a Lechuza trust me they would have been dead. My dad’s friend saw one and he tried to kill it by running it over and over again. When he was driving off the Lechuza got back up then he died right there in the drivers seat, so if they shot the Lechuza they should be dead if you ever see on tell them in Spanish come for chille and salt and more likley they will leave.

  • There are also witches in Mexico called tlahuelpuchi who are believed to suck blood. They mostly live in the mountains of Mexico. My mother told me one was feasting off her mother until the curandero (a healer who serves as a doctor for rural people) scared it off and had my grandmother wear a blessed crucifix to keep it away. There is a book, “Blood Sucking Witches in Tlaxcala Mexico” about two scientists who went and studied this phenomenon. Their findings were very scientific and interesting in its own way.

  • Carlos Castaneda tells a story (in his first or second book) about going to a dance at night in Mexico. He left by himself and passed a woman people had told him was a witch. He was walking, and the witch started following him. She turned into a huge black crow and started hopping and croaking. It was horrible and really scary, but for whatever reason, she didn’t get Carlos.

  • @lovevamps7, have you tried keeping an idol or picture of any hindu god(if you are Hindu) or any object your religion beside where you sleep?

  • I remember my grandma telling me a story of a similar being. It was an old lady who used witchcraft to turn herself into a bat and steal babies and drink their blood…..

  • The creepy part is that my friend saw this video where a ‘flying person’ jumped off a building and flew off. She says that she is sure the video is ABSOLUTELY real, and the ‘person’ had wings… But then again, it was in India, I think, so I don’t know if it applies here. This is creepy…

  • Hey SFK! I wanna share something with all your readers in here… I don’t know it’s worth publishing it on your site or not ’cause it’s like a really really short thing when written down, still it’s a true thing, so I am just writing it to you.
    it happens to me mostly at dawn. I will suddenly wake up feeling a movement as if somebody is getting on my bed. I would feel my hands and feet growing cold but I become so afraid to turn around and see, that I keep lying perfectly still. After sometime I could feel the thing recoiling out off my bed slowly, as if trying to trace a movement in me but I would lay still, closing my eyes. After sometime when I can feel my palms and feet warming up, I would turn around, ofcourse to see nobody. It has been happening once or twice a month for the last 5-6 months. Recently I had a nightmare that triggered me to write about it. I dreamt I was sleeping peacefully when suddenly somebody jumped up on my bed. In my dream I woke up but like other days, I was lying down still. I felt I was being pulled slowly to that thing though I didn’t feel anything touch me. I knew something would go wrong if that thing gets me, I suddenly stood up and went out of my room without takin a look at my bed. I don’t remember where I went but when I felt myself warm enough, I came back to my room just to find a black stain beside where I use to sleep. I woke up in cold sweat. I don’t know what to do or whom to say, so I thought it’s better to seek help from my friends here.
    keeping in mind that I am an Indian, please don’t suggest me to go to a priest for blessing my house ’cause it was done when building our house was being started by the saints and all

  • Welcome back @ chosen 1… I real wanna see the lechunza.. I have heard somewhere about them…I am really interested in them but sfk why did you post here this story? This story is already there in mexican urban legends…. Anyways good job ….

  • The story/legend was good but the last line made me giggle… My uncles are murderers… Lol

Follow Me

Copy Protected by Chetan's WP-Copyprotect.