We went fishing at dawn. Suddenly we heard laughs and music. Then we saw a boat on which a lot of skeletons were celebrating the Day of the Dead. They called us to join their party. We prayed the Virgin of Guadalupe, and thanks to her a strong wave took us away from them. We managed to come back home safe and sound.

My sister and I worked playing and singing at the parties. One day we were hired for a beach party. When we arrived there, first we thought if was a masquerade party. But then we realized those were real skeletons dancing around, and there was the Devil himself playing the bongo. When they got distracted, my sister and I slipped away. We thank the Virgin of Guadalupe because they didn’t follow us and because they’d paid us in advance.

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.

Rosito Lagaretta had a stomachache after eating his mother-in-law’s soup. He didn’t know she had tried to kill him and had poisoned the soup. When he found out about it, he asked Saint Cyprian for helping him get rid of his mother-in-law. One day she had a party and poisoned the orgeat syrup. But she was a fool to not know that Rosito doesn’t drink anything but beer. His mother-in-law and her daughter got drunk at the party and when they got thirsty they drank all the orgeat.

Now my wife rests in peace. I thank for her mother kicked the bucket alongside with her because I couldn’t stand her. She was treating me very badly.

Puebla

I went to put some flowers on the grave of my grandmother Lupita. I stayed at the cemetery till late night contemplating about my troubles. Suddenly some skeletons appeared and invited me to dance with them. I almost fainted of fear. But the skeletons were real gentlemen and hold me. They almost dragged me to their macabre party. I prayed to Saint Michael the Archangel, and he came with his bright sword. The skeletons saw him and ran ashamed and hid themselves in their tombs. I thank for I haven’t gone cuckoo after that.

The former landowner noticed us one day that she had sold the building and was very sorry that we would be moved out and would have no place to live. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank Saint James the Apostle because the new owner turned out to be a good person and he let us live with a fair rent. He even offered me a doorman job and arranged a nice party for us.

The Romero family
Tlalnepantla, state of Mexico

November 1, I went to the bar to drown my pain. There I found myself in the middle of a party of the dead men. They were celebrating being dead. I was terrified when they invite me to drink with them. I entrusted myself to the Holy Virgin of Guadalupe, and she helped me to escape. I promised to not drink alcohol anymore.

The Nicolas Gutierrez’s friends arranged a bachelor party for him. But instead of a chick they gave him a transvestite. He thanks Saint Patrick for he noticed it in time and didn’t make a laughing stock of himself.

I thank the Virgin of San Juan because my dad managed to organize my 15th birthday party and I danced with the most handsome boys of the school.

One night my husband and I went for a walk, and we had a macabre meeting. We saw some skeletons who had left their tombs. They had a noisy party, they were drinking and dancing. We thank the Virgin of Zapopan because our dog got very excited seeing so many bones. It rushed for them and distracted the skeletons, so we could escape and ran to our house. The problem is that the dog came back later with a big bone and buried it in the garden.

During the Lupita’s piñata, my son was hit by a stick. His head was wounded, and he was bleeding. I was scared that he’d become an idiot, so I prayed to the Virgin of the Rosary. Thanks ti her my son had no bad consequences and recovered very quickly.

I thank Saint Jude Thaddeus because he let me leave the convent for having fun at the disco.

Gabriela
Tijuana, Mexico — October 2010