Halloween is a time for horror-enthusiasts to come out and play. (I’m having flashbacks to the Conjuring and I don’t like it). Costume designers can suddenly afford to pay the rent in a New York High Rise and every time you turn around there’s another movie about demon possession and evil spirits that eat people. Everything scary is suddenly cool, and the creepier, the better.
So, while most people are herding to the theater to see some girl trip over a tree root and then die, others are looking for something outside of the status quo. I figured that adding a little supernatural to our reality would be a good way to spice up Halloween for all the Phoenicians in this haunted house! Here are four little factoids that most people don’t know about Arizona, but let me tell you—they err on the side of creepy (aka this girl will never try to discover if they’re true or not). Arizona is a great state. The supernatural seem to think so too.
1 – El Chupacabra – If you first thought that sounded like a special order from Taco Bell, you wouldn’t be the only one. But, El Chupacabra actually means, “Goat Sucker”. El Chupacabras have been spotted in Latin America and all over the Southwestern U.S. To my knowledge, no one has caught this creature on camera, so we’re playing the guessing game with its appearance. Some say it looks like a dog, others say bear, and a few people say reptilian. Either way, it feeds by sucking the blood from livestock. That’s all I need to know, because I’d rather not become a midnight snack for a creature of the night. If you’d like to investigate, good luck!
2 – La Llorona – The legend of the “The Weeping Woman” or the “Woman in White” has been around for several generations. The story talks about a mother that drowns her two children because she wants to keep the attention of her husband. She is said to be stuck on Earth because she was denied entrance to the afterlife until she finds her children. So, she wanders roads, lakes, and forests looking for her long lost children and crying. Some say that she yells, “Oh, my children.” And popular media has her as the punisher of unfaithful men, because her husband was having an affair. Her tale is tragic, but if you see a woman in a white dress on the side of the road—I’d suggest driving faster and maybe rethinking some life choices.
3 – Skinwalkers – The Navajo Reservations in Arizona are as beautiful as they are mysterious. Sightings of skinwalkers are prevalent in Supernatural social circles everywhere. They’re a transformative species, which means that they can change into any wild animal or appearance they chose while keeping complete control over their predatory instincts and mental cognition. That’s like a fourth degree black belt wrapped in an Iron Man suit with the power of Thor and the brain capacity of Dr. Banner at their disposal. This also translates to, “A DETRIMENT TO MY SURVIVAL.” Be careful when driving through reservations at night, because strange things are known to happen.
4 – Ghosts – One of the most haunted houses in the state is located in Bisbee, AZ. The Oliver house is known for its violent history. Several people have died or were murdered in this house—many of them going unsolved. There are stories of an old lady who died in a room on the second floor and at night, she’ll stand over the bed and watch the guests sleep. People have reported the sounds of footsteps, running water, doors opening and closing randomly while staying in the house. Personally, that is one trip I won’t be taking.
Here’s a link to a video that discusses the Oliver House Haunted history in detail: http://www.travelchannel.com/video/oliver-house-haunted-history