1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the short stuff. I'm Josh, and 2 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:08,560 Speaker 1: there's Chuck, and there's Jerry sitting in for Dave. And 3 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:09,719 Speaker 1: this is stuff you should know. 4 00:00:11,039 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 2: That's right. We're beginning our Spookcius month about two. 5 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:18,240 Speaker 1: Yes, and I'm psyched. 6 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:23,480 Speaker 2: I am too. We love our halloweeny content. And we're 7 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 2: going to talk to you a little bit today about 8 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 2: a kind of one of those just fun urban legend 9 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:34,160 Speaker 2: stories that seems to be geographically specific in that it's 10 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 2: around you know, maybe Texas, New Mexico border towns, mainly 11 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 2: of the Lalla Choosa, the owl witch. 12 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:45,519 Speaker 1: Yeah, but I think that's where its origin was, along 13 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: the border of Texas and Mexico. But I saw also 14 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 1: it spread chuck to places like Argentina and Cuba. They 15 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: have their own versions. But Lala Choosa is a I 16 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: think somewhere around a set foot owl with the face 17 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: of a woman, fifteen foot wingspan and a bad attitude. Yeah. 18 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:11,200 Speaker 2: And this is one of those things where you know, 19 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 2: because it's lore and legend, it's going to differ from 20 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 2: place to place depending on who's telling the story. By 21 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 2: the way, we should think how stuff works and all 22 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 2: that's interesting. Austin Harvey from there, and I found a 23 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 2: fun article on Texas Standard from Sarah ash and Raoul 24 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 2: Alonzo that helped out with this. But yeah, this is 25 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 2: one of those sort of legends where and there's a 26 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:35,319 Speaker 2: lot of different versions. We're going to go for a 27 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 2: few of those. One is that La La Chusa will 28 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 2: make like sounds like a baby is crying, hoping that 29 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 2: someone will go, like, try and find this baby and 30 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 2: all of a sudden be snatchable by the talons and 31 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 2: they would be snatched up and return to the owl's nest. 32 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 2: Ostensibly that's so creepy. 33 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: Yeah. Can you imagine seven foot owl woman with a 34 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: fifteen foot wingspan mimicing of baby's cries. 35 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 2: No, it's pretty terrifying like that. 36 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: Also, some of the other stuff that said about her 37 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: is that if you see her near your house, it 38 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:11,520 Speaker 1: means she's portending that something bad is about to happen 39 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 1: to somebody in your house. Maybe a piece of furniture 40 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:15,360 Speaker 1: in your house. I don't know. 41 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:18,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, if I think sometimes if you dream about La 42 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 2: La choose a family member will die soon. And it 43 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 2: seems like most of the tellings it is a woman 44 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:29,799 Speaker 2: who was once a or an ol woman who was 45 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:32,920 Speaker 2: once a human woman and something bad happened to her, 46 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:37,520 Speaker 2: some act of cruelty, usually something by a bad man happened, 47 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,079 Speaker 2: or maybe maybe happened to her child and it turned 48 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 2: her into a vengeful beast. Sometimes La la Choosa is 49 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,360 Speaker 2: more of a witch's familiar, like the like you know, 50 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 2: Dracula's or a vampire's familiar, and I think in that 51 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 2: case the as a witch's familiar, they would abduct kids 52 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 2: for the witch. 53 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,360 Speaker 1: Right. She's also been accused of being an MS area 54 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 1: of Satan himself Satan, that's right. And one of the 55 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,799 Speaker 1: things you said is that she's often described as being 56 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: vengeful because of something that happened in her past or 57 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 1: her kid. Usually that's chalked up to either her child 58 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 1: was killed for a crime they didn't commit and so 59 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 1: now she's stealing other people's kids in return, or that 60 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,639 Speaker 1: her child was killed by a drunk man. Yeah, and 61 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,799 Speaker 1: that's actually one group that she seems to target. And 62 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: modern tellings are drunk dudes stumbling out of bars and 63 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 1: walking home alone at night and then wow, fifteen foot 64 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: wingspan comes out of nowhere and the talents just sink 65 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: into their head and carry them off by their scalp, 66 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: and if they're lucky, their scalp will rip off of 67 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: their head and they'll follow the ground and die on impact. 68 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 1: And if they're unlucky, they'll be carried by their scalp 69 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: all the way back to Lalla Choose's layer, and bad 70 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: things are going to happen to him there. 71 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:00,080 Speaker 2: That's right. If you want to kill Lalla Choose, a 72 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 2: good luck, buddy, because apparently you cannot hurt Alala Choosa 73 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 2: with bullets. I think if you try to kill one 74 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 2: with a gun or something like that, you're going to 75 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 2: get killed like pretty soon afterward for sure. 76 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,040 Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, I guess in the La La Choose a 77 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: fact off, there's that whole idea that this is a woman, 78 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:26,839 Speaker 1: our woman who is actually some sort of spirit or 79 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 1: familiar or something like that means that there is an 80 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: actual person involved in this elsewhere, often a member of 81 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:38,360 Speaker 1: the community secretly preying on the rest of the community 82 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: as Lalla Choosa, and that when La La Chusa is 83 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:45,159 Speaker 1: out doing her thing, that person is unconscious back home 84 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: in some room until she comes back and reinhabits their body. 85 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 1: So either they're possessed by her or they're using her 86 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 1: or their special ability to enact vengeance and terrorize a community. 87 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: And there's actually sposedly I looked all over for I 88 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:04,920 Speaker 1: couldn't find it. But there's supposedly some sort of incantation 89 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:08,200 Speaker 1: or prayer or something that a community can use that 90 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:11,039 Speaker 1: will reveal the person who is actually La la choosa 91 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:14,279 Speaker 1: and then ostensibly they get their scalp taken. 92 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 2: All right, shall we come back after this, Yes, all right, 93 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:45,760 Speaker 2: we'll be right back with Mara la la Choosa. 94 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: Okay, Chuck. And we've been using the name La la 95 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:56,720 Speaker 1: choosa without explaining to non Spanish speakers that la choosa 96 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: is actually the word for owl. Yeah, which makes lot 97 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: of sense. Sure, And this was we said that this 98 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: whole thing kind of came from the Texas Mexico border, 99 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:10,719 Speaker 1: that seems to be the origin of it. And they 100 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:14,600 Speaker 1: think essentially that this is just like any other bit 101 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:20,360 Speaker 1: of folklore, that it was used to explain unbearable things 102 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:23,960 Speaker 1: like the disappearance of children, or probably more likely, it 103 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:26,559 Speaker 1: was used to keep kids on the straight and narrow, 104 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:31,159 Speaker 1: like fairy tales were right, you know, Western Europe, same 105 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:35,040 Speaker 1: thing if you're out messing around and you know, spray painting, 106 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: somebody's brick wall or something like that. Lola Choose is 107 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:40,600 Speaker 1: going to come out of nowhere and snatch you up, 108 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:42,279 Speaker 1: so you better be good kind of thing. 109 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, And you know, as far as where these 110 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 2: things come from, I remember, God, many many years ago, 111 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 2: we did one in urban legends, and it's always pretty 112 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:57,719 Speaker 2: much impossible to trace back like the true origin With 113 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,320 Speaker 2: this one. There are people who think this might have 114 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 2: come from pre Columbian meso America, when the indigenous peoples 115 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:10,880 Speaker 2: had very close relationships in bonds with animals. But when 116 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 2: the Spaniards came along to meso America, they brought, of 117 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 2: course Christian Catholic Christian beliefs with them and condemned the 118 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:20,600 Speaker 2: rest as paganism. Of course. 119 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought this is really interesting because a lot 120 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 1: of the gods in meso American cultures were animal human hybrids. Right, Yeah, 121 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: so an owl woman may have been some ancient or 122 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: eldritch deity and was in no way, shape or form evil. 123 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: But the Spaniards came along as Christians and went to 124 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 1: that Christian playbook and basically said, your gods are now 125 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: Christianity's demons, so stop worshiping them. And that is a 126 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: great explanation for where something like La Choosa came from. 127 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. It's also popped up over the years 128 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 2: in like various pop culture ways. I'm surprised or has 129 00:07:57,640 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 2: it been like a pretty cool La la choose a 130 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:03,240 Speaker 2: like movie or a character in a movie or TV show? 131 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:04,920 Speaker 2: You know, they'd be truly frightening. 132 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: Have you seen the movie based on Lajrana? I don't 133 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 1: think I saw that. That was it was kind of 134 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: scary that it was the Latino urban legend and it 135 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: was okay. 136 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 2: All right, well maybe I'll check it out. You have 137 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:20,360 Speaker 2: good horror recommendations. 138 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: Okay, I take that back then, because I don't want to. 139 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: I don't want to ruin Streek. 140 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:30,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mentioned pop culture. I think Lalla Chuosa was 141 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:32,959 Speaker 2: a was an enemy in an issue of a comic 142 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:37,560 Speaker 2: book called Releempago, and that was created by Margarito Garza. 143 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 2: So that was one. What else it was music too, righte? 144 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,840 Speaker 1: Yeah? There. Yeah, there's a song called El Parajo Gigante 145 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: de Robe, which is by a group called Los Campion's 146 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:55,959 Speaker 1: de Raul Ruiz and the de Robe is actually talking 147 00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 1: about a specific town called Robestown or Rob'stown. Texas along 148 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:07,120 Speaker 1: the borders near Corpus Christy and there was an outbreak 149 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 1: of sightings of La La Choosa in nineteen seventy five 150 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: and seventy six, and like it was a big deal, 151 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:16,800 Speaker 1: Like this whole town was like like credible. People are 152 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: like I saw La La Choosa with my own eyes. Yeah, 153 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: And it turned out that there was a group of 154 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:26,440 Speaker 1: teens from town who had created a pretty convincing La 155 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:30,040 Speaker 1: La Choosa like dummy, like a life size one, and 156 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:32,880 Speaker 1: was just you know, running it around town scaring the 157 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:36,560 Speaker 1: Bejesus out of people. So that's where that that inspired 158 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:38,080 Speaker 1: that song. As far as I can tell. 159 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:40,880 Speaker 2: You know, I wish I knew somebody who was a 160 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:43,880 Speaker 2: good sort of model maker creature maker, because we've been 161 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 2: getting more into the Halloween front yard decorations and like 162 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:50,160 Speaker 2: to be a little outside the box and not just 163 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 2: whatever you get at party City or no, not party city. 164 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 1: What is it? 165 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:55,520 Speaker 2: We did a whole episode on it last year. 166 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:58,320 Speaker 1: Oh spar Halloween. 167 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:00,719 Speaker 2: I mean there's there's a is really good. I'm not 168 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:01,320 Speaker 2: knocking it. 169 00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:03,839 Speaker 1: Have you been at home Depot lately, dude? They've gone 170 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:04,840 Speaker 1: off the chain? 171 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 2: Oh really? 172 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, they have like ten twelve foot tall scary monsters. 173 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 1: Now it's crazy like their Halloween thing. But it's the 174 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:19,680 Speaker 1: same issue that you don't want, which is name somebody 175 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 1: two door sounds gonna have the same thing. 176 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:24,959 Speaker 2: Yeah, I would love a custom sort of. I think 177 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 2: Allala choose it would be truly scary and it has 178 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:29,199 Speaker 2: kind of a fun story behind it all like stuff 179 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:31,679 Speaker 2: that has like a legend behind it. So hey, if 180 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 2: anyone out there wants to just you know, make me one, 181 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:36,000 Speaker 2: I'll just say my address on the show and you 182 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:37,520 Speaker 2: can just drop it off in the front yard. 183 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:41,080 Speaker 1: Good plan. Yeah. There was one other thing too, and 184 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:44,440 Speaker 1: I kind of touched on that Lalla choos has survived 185 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 1: into modern day and that the most modern interpretations tend 186 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:53,839 Speaker 1: to kind of drill into the kind of gender norm 187 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:57,840 Speaker 1: or flip flop gender norms. Yeah, that the fable or 188 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:01,200 Speaker 1: the urban legend actually kind of gets into, which is 189 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:04,680 Speaker 1: there's a vengeful woman who is big enough and powerful 190 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:09,040 Speaker 1: enough and angry enough to punish bad men. Yeah, and 191 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:12,720 Speaker 1: that not just men who stumble home drunk from the 192 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:16,400 Speaker 1: bar are targeted, but men who are known to abuse 193 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:20,120 Speaker 1: their wives their children are her favorite like prey. Now, 194 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:23,400 Speaker 1: so It's interesting how she kind of evolved into a 195 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:25,720 Speaker 1: bit of like an avenger for women and children. 196 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 2: I like that version. 197 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:28,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, hats off Leila Choosa. 198 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:31,280 Speaker 2: That's right. We're good guys. Don't come after us. 199 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:35,240 Speaker 1: That is true, Chuck, that is true. Anything else? 200 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:36,480 Speaker 2: I got nothing else? 201 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:41,839 Speaker 1: Okay, well then short stuff is Oh. 202 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:46,080 Speaker 2: Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For 203 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:50,360 Speaker 2: more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 204 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:52,320 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.