The night of the Day of Dead, I woke up to drink a glass of water and got very frightened seeing the dead eating the food from the altar we made in honor of my grand-mother. I prayed Saint Michael the Archangel so that he would rest their souls. And right that moment, they disappeared. I dedicate this retablo in gratitude.

Teofilo Guzman
Tlaxcala, 1958

The evening of November 2, the Day of the Dead, in the vicinity of San Javier, Pancho Garcia and his donkey ran into a wandering dead soul. Pancho entrusted himself to the Holy Child of Atocha and could escape with his donkey from the danger. He thanks for that.

1915

The Day of the Dead, the dead came out of their graves to have fun. They choose my tepacheria place to dance and play music. I was scared, and all customers who were alive ran away. I thought I was going to earn nothing and only to lose money that night. But thanks to the Virgin of Guadalupe the skeletons turned out to be good clients. When they went away—because of the rooster—they left me various gold coins which were very valuable.

Tepacheria is a bar where they serve tepache, a fermented beverage made from the pineapple peel.

One October night, I went to sing a serenade to my girlfriend. I was singing to her and heard enthusiastic applause. When I turned back, I saw skeletons cheerfully applauding me. My girlfriend and I got very scared. Thanks goodness, her window was opened, so I jumped into her room, although we had some problems with her parents after because of that. I thank the Virgin to not leave me to the bony dead’s mercy.

The night of November 1, I was at the cemetery and was scared to death when I saw with my own eyes a deadman. He was about to get buried but suddenly he opened the lid of his coffin and wanted to get out of it. I entrusted myself to Saint Benedict and ran to my house. The next day, I quit this job, and I think I’d never set my foot in the cemetery again.

Celestino Morales
Zacatecas, Mexico

One night, my friend Bryan and I decided to sneak into the cemetery and pass few beers there. Nothing frightened us at all. We were joking when suddenly we heard a voice “Don’t be mean, pass me a beer!” We turned around and saw that it was a dead man. We thank the Virgin of Zapopan for we ran out of the cemetery safely. We promise to pay more respect to the dead.

Kevin Hernández
Zapopan, Jalisco

I took Dorita for a boat ride down the river. I planed to read her some poetry and declare my love to her. But when we passed the old cemetery down the river we saw dead men. They had come out their grave and were dancing, gathering flowers and waving to us. Dorita was so frightened that I though she’d never accept my proposal after this ride. However, thank to the Virgin of Guadalupe she agreed to marry me despite everything.

After I saw a ghost of a dead man I won’t touch ouija ever again.

The night of November 1, the sisters Ballesteros were coming back from the mass. In an alley, they ran into a skeleton party. The dead gallantly invited them to join the party but the sisters ran away frightened. They thank the Virgin of Zapopan for the skeletons didn’t follow them. They locked themselves in the house, and didn’t get out for a few days, nor they opened the door for anybody.

The night before Day of the Dead, I woke up to drink a glass of milk. What a great fear I had when I saw a dead man eating from the altar we’d made for my grandfather. I implored the Lord of the Wonders so he would take and rest this soul. He heard my prayers, and it disappeared immediately.

Filiberto Cordero
Puebla, 1952

That dark night in November, my family and I had to ride through the cemetery. We got scared as many skeletons, ghosts and dead men appeared to us. They looked threatening. We thank the Virgin of Guadalupe for her protection and because she gave our horse more speed so the dead didn’t get us.

June 24, 1909, on the Saint John’s Eve, my old man was coming back from the field and met a ghost of a hanged man. I thank Saint Augustine for protecting my old man and his donkey from such danger.

Charcas, S.L.P., 1909

The gravedigger of the town cemetery Pafilo Molina worked till late hours cleaning the graves for the Night of All Saints. Suddenly he heard some noise. Frightened he came closer and saw some dead men celebrating their day. One dead lady even invited him to dance. He thanks Saint Michael for he managed to escape from death and now can tell the story.

Teziutlan, Puebla