Mexican Ghost Tales of the Southwest : Stories and Illustrations » (1st Edition)

SPECTERS that haunt the rivers and woods, hidden treasure, headless goblins, a wild phantasmagoria of gore and grizzle...all here for the first time in English to delight audiences of all ages, but particularly young adult readers. Alfred Avila's collection of deliciously gory tales is founded in oral lore and the Hispanic tradition native to the American Southwest. He has salvaged these stories from disappearing forever for future generations to enjoy in the darkness, where the devils, demons and spirits of the night become living, breathing entities to entertain, frighten and teach.

Children's Literature

Alfred Avila has collected ghost tales told and retold by Mexican Americans living along the border in the U.S. Southwest; land that once was part of Mexico. La Llorona, condemned to wander the Earth looking for the bones of her children; Enrique, whose screams can still be heard by the river's edge in punishment for his evil deeds; Cuco, saved from death at the witches' hands by the magical powers of the rooster's crow at dawn; these are among the collection of ghost tales put together by Avila in an attempt "to pass on the tales of the spirits who once roamed unleashed in the world." Avila has created eerie pen and ink sketches to go with his ghoulish tales. These tales provide insights into the mystical, spiritual world of the Southwest's Mexican heritage and draw on historical events of the Spanish invasion, Yaqui resistance and Mexican Revolution.