La Mala Hora

My friend Isabela called me one evening before dinner. She was sobbing as she told me that she and her husband Enrique were getting divorced. He had moved out of the house earlier that day and Isabela was distraught.
Spooky SouthwestRead 30 more southwest folktales featuring supernatural occurrences and ghosts of all sorts by S.E. Schlosser. Learn more.I called my husband, who was on a business trip in Chicago, and he agreed that I should go stay with Isabela for a few days to help her during this difficult time. I packed a small suitcase and got right into the car. It was late, and it would take me at least four hours to drive from my home to Sante Fe. Isabela was expecting me to arrive around midnight.As I traveled down the dark, wet highway, I kept feeling chills, as if someone or something were watching me. I kept looking in the rear view mirror, and glancing into the back seat. No one was there. Don't be ridiculous, I told myself, wishing fervently that I was home in my bed instead of driving on a dark, rainy highway. There was almost no traffic, and I heartily wished that I would soon reach Sante Fe. I turned off the highway just before I reached the city, and started down the side roads that led to Isabela's house. As I approached a small crossroads, I saw a woman step into the street directly in front of my car. I shrieked in fright and slammed on my brakes, praying I would miss her. The car shuddered to a halt, and I looked frantically around for the woman. Then I saw her, right beside my window, looking in at me. She had the face of a demon, twisted, eyes glowing red, and short pointed teeth. I screamed as she leapt at my window, her clawed hands striking the glass. I put my foot down on the accelerator and the car leapt forward. For a few terrible moments, she ran along side the car, keeping up easily and striking at me again and again. Then she fell behind and in the rear view mirror I saw her growing taller and taller, until she was as large as a tree. Red light swirled around her like mist, and she pointed after me, her mouth moving though I could not make out the words. I jerked my attention back to the road, afraid what might happen to me if my car ran off the street. I made it to Isabela's house in record time and flung myself out of the car, pounding on her door frantically and looking behind me to see if the demon-faced woman had followed me. Isabela came running to the door and let me in. "Shut the door! Shut it!" I cried frantically, brushing past her into the safety of the house. "Jane, what is wrong?" she asked, slamming the door shut. She grabbed my hand and led me into the living room. I sank onto the couch and started sobbing in fear and reaction. After several minutes, I managed to gasp out my story. Isabela gasped and said: "Are you sure you were at a crossroads when you saw her?" I nodded, puzzled by her question. "It must have been La malhora," Isabela said, wringing her hands. "The bad hour?" I asked. "This is bad, Jane. Very bad," Isabela cried. "La Malhora only appears at a crossroads when someone is going to die."Ordinarily, I would have laughed at such a superstition, but the appearance of the demon-woman had shaken me. Isabela got me a cup of hot cocoa, brought my luggage in from the car, and sent me to bed. She was so concerned for me that she didn't once mention the divorce or Enrique. I felt much better the next morning, but I could not shake the feeling of dread that grew within me all day. Neither of us mentioned La Malhora, but we were both thinking of her when I told Isabela that I wanted to go home. Isabela insisted on accompanying me. I flatly refused to drive after dark. I was afraid I would see the demon-woman again when I passed the crossroads. We left the next morning, and we hadn't been home more than twenty minutes when a police car pulled into my driveway. I knew at once what it meant, and so did Isabella. The officers spoke very gently to me, but nothing could soften the news. My husband had been mugged on the way back to his hotel after dinner last night. His body had not been found until this morning. He had been shot in the head and was killed instantly.

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The Hairy Toe

retold by
S. E. Schlosser

Once there was an old woman who went out in the woods to dig up some roots to cook for dinner. She spotted something funny sticking out of the leaves and dug around until she uncovered a great big hairy toe. There was some good meat on that toe which would make a real tasty dinner, so the old woman put it in her basket and took it home.
When she got back to her cottage, the old woman boiled up a kettle-full of hairy toe soup, which she ate for dinner that night. It was the best meal she'd had in weeks! The old woman went to bed that night with a full stomach and a big smile.
Along about midnight, a cold wind started blowing in the tops of the trees around the old woman's house. A large black cloud crept over the moon and from the woods a hollow voice rumbled: "Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!" Inside the house, the old woman stirred uneasily in her bed and nervously pulled the covers up over her ears.
From the woods there came a stomp-stomp-stomping noise as the wind whistled and jerked at the treetops. In the clearing at the edge of the forest, a hollow voice said: "Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!" Inside the house, the old woman shuddered and turned over in her sleep.
A stomp, stomp, stomping sound came from the garden path outside the cottage. The night creatures shivered in their burrows as a hollow voice howled: "Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!" Inside the house, the old woman snapped awake. Her whole body shook with fright as she listened to the angry howling in her garden. Jumping out of bed, she ran to the door and barred it. Once the cottage was secure, she lay back down to sleep.
Suddenly, the front door of the cottage burst open with a bang, snapping the bar in two and sending it flying into the corners of the room. There came the stomp, stomp, stomping noise of giant feet walking up the stairs. Peeping out from under the covers, the old woman saw a massive figure filling her doorway. It said: "Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!"
The old woman sat bolt upright in terror and shouted: "I ATE your hairy toe!"
"Yes, you did," the giant figure said very gently as it advanced into the room.
No one living in the region ever saw the old woman again. The only clue to her disappearance was a giant footprint a neighbor found pressed deep into the loose soil of the meadow beside the house. The footprint was missing the left big toe.

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Scary Driving Experiences

On my way back from spring break, I was on a two-lane road with no shoulder and a giant pick-up pulling a horse trailer steadily tailgating me. The speed limit was 60mph, but I had gotten up to 70 to keep the distance...he caught up and I refused to go any faster on the curvy country road....so on one such curve, the guy decides to pass me...he stayed 1/2 in my lane and half in the oncoming lane...I was caught dodging the big truck as well as the mailboxes on my right...scary! Well, Monday night I was on the highway and this guy in a low-riding white cadi, complete with tinted windows and hood bling tried to pull into my lane, so I slowed way down and watched him swerve along in front of me. At the exit, I ended up almost beside him in the right hand turning lane. I watched as he wove through traffic and I don't know why, but I was really getting scared. I noticed he pulled into 7-11 and was glad to be done with him. But I did take note that he parked near the street and seemed to be looking directly at me.

How it changed my life:

to cont. the story above: I got to the park where my husband's ball game was and found a parking spot, only to realize that the white car was right behind me. When I got parked, in a panic, I again checked my rear-view and saw he had me blocked in...I had my four boys plus my two neighbor boys & felt like we were in serious danger at that point. As I warned the boys to stay in the car, I noticed he wasn't behind us, so I reversed my van and saw that he was slowly creeping out of the park. I don't know for sure, but I think the big corn-fed men with bats in the big-wheel dodge deisel duelly next to us mighta done the trick. My van was fine upon inspection after the game, but I had an eagle eye out for him to return the entire night. I have a stellar driving record and nothing like these two incidents have happened to me, especially not being followed-a deisel tried to force me out of an opposing lane once when I was 16, but that seems ages ago, been driving 16 yrs. haven't been that scared in a long time.