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El Hombre Del Saco: When Crime Becomes Legend

El Hombre del Saco (The Sack Man) is a version of the boogeyman that is localized in Spain. The Sack Man, as his name implies, is an old man who carries a large sack over his shoulder, and uses it to contain the misbehaving children that he catches out on the streets. 

El Hombre del Saco is one of the more interesting versions of the boogeyman that I’ve come across. Nothing gets my brain firing on all cylinders like a good historical connection, and this story has extremely strong historical ties. In fact, this is one of the few legends I’ve come across that can be traced back to a definite source, and we can pinpoint the time when this legend originated to the year. 

The story of El Hombre del Saco originated in 1910, following a crime that shook Spain. On June 28th, 1910, in Gador, Spain, a man named Francisco Ortega hired a local barber and healer by the name of Francisco Leona to procure a cure for his tuberculosis. This miracle cure ran at the exorbitant price of 3,000 reais. Running the numbers, converting this into USD, and adjusting for inflation comes out to about $18,000 in 2022. 

(Pictured above: Francisco Leona)

The cure in question was the blood and fat of a young boy. For Leona, 3,000 reais was the price of a life. He took the payment and kidnapped a seven year old boy from Rioja, the town next to Gador, stuffing him into a sack and taking him to a farm in order to carry out the murder. 

The boy’s body was found on the side of a road with wounds on his stomach and side, skinned, and killed by blunt force to the head. After which, the perpetrators were tracked down and executed. 

A documentary about the crime was released in 2019. The documentary is called “La Cicatriz” (The Scar). It’s a short documentary with a runtime of 25 minutes. I have yet to track down a subtitled version (my spoken comprehension is much poorer than my reading comprehension). Should anyone find one, I would be interested to know where you got it.

[whatthefolkk]

Squonk: America’s Saddest Cryptid

Today’s post is super important. It’s the most important thing you’ll read today.

That’s because it’s about the Squonk, and if you don’t know about the Squonk, you need to. Immediately.

The Sqonk is a cryptid from Northern Pennsylvania, and is most well known for crying. All day. Every day. Forever.

Why is the Squonk so sad? Is there anything we can possibly do to cheer it up?

Well, no. The reason why the Squonk is sad is because it’s lonely, and it’s lonely because it’s ugly. It’s described to be the ugliest thing to ever exist. Some sources say that it’s so ugly that despite how bad you might feel for it, one glance will immediately cause you to flee in terror. So the Squonk lives alone, crying because it knows that it’s too ugly to ever have companionship.

The Squonk is also said to be able to dissolve itself into a puddle of tears when threatened. You know, like we’d all like to do when our redneck family members show up for Thanksgiving.

Reference to the Squonk was first recorded in the 1910 book Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods: With a Few Desert and Mountain Beasts by William Cox (otherwise known as “please learn how to shorten your titles”). Fearsome Creatures was written as a field guide to the area, including many joke animals, and the Squonk certainly isn’t the only interesting concept presented in it. For those interested in taking a look at the other cryptids in the guide, I’ll provide a link to a free PDF copy here. It’s a short book, clocking in at about 50 pages, including full page illustrations.

Above is the Squonk as depicted in the original 1910 illustration. This seems to be the reference for most modern interpretations, considering that many illustrations in recent years have a boar-like or pig-like appearance.

According to Fearsome Creatures, you’re most likely to spot the Squonk at night. It prefers to travel under cover of darkness in order to minimize the risk of being spotted. It’s also possible to track the creature by following the trail of tears that it leaves behind.

While not specified, we can safely assume that the Squonk either hibernates or, at least, isn’t overly fond of the cold. Fearsome Creatures describes it as being easier to hunt on cold nights because it doesn’t like moving around as much.

Fearsome Creatures was expanded upon in 1939 by Henry H. Tryon. This version is still quite a short read, clocking in at about 90 pages, once again with full-page illustrations included in the count. The entire book is available through the Lumberwoods Unnatural History Museum website here.

Above is the Squonk as depicted in the 1939 illustration, looking much more amphibian than the previous edition.

[whatthefolkk]

Charman: The Boogeyman of Ojai

Ojai, California is a town with a very unique flavor in all aspects. It has worked very hard to maintain that flavor, even going so far as to enact an ordinance in 2007 that bans chain stores with more than five locations from entering the town, in order to preserve its small business economy. 

In a town that strives to and protects its right to be unique, of course the local lore also has the flair of something that you can only find in Ojai. The town has several legends that are passed around by locals. One of the most well-known legends is that of the Char Man. 

The following excerpt from Charlie Seemann’s 1981 paper on the legend outlines one of the most well-known versions of the story. I will also provide an additional link for those of you who don’t have student access to Jstor. 

“ Back in 1948 there was a big brush fire in the Ojai Valley, which burned a good part of the valley and destroyed many homes. It was several days after the fire before anyone could get around to all the burned homes in the sur- rounding foothills to see if everyone was all right. There was a man living with his son in an isolated cabin in the hills south of town. Their house was burned in the fire, the father was killed in the fire, and the son was badly burned. When someone finally got out to the remains of the cabin, they found that, apparently, the son had gone crazy from the experience, for he had hung the body of his father by the feet from what was left of a nearby tree and had stripped all the burned skin from it. After skinning his father, he fled into the hills down on Old Creek Road, where he has lived in his "charred" condition ever since. Every once in a while he comes close enough to town to encounter someone, occasionally chasing people and such. The police have been sent out to look for him, and although they have caught glimpses of him, and found traces of him, they have never been able to catch him.”

There are several variations of the story, with additional details. 

Some versions put specific emphasis on a specific bridge near Camp Comfort on Old Creek Road, saying that you can agitate the Char Man by standing on the bridge and shouting “Help! Help!” To which he’ll respond by emerging to chase you. 

In some versions, both parents were present, and were both skinned and hanged by the Char Man. 

Sometimes it was his brother rather than his father that died.

In some versions, it was his wife that died in the fire. This version seems to be the origin of number 1 on this list, as in this telling, he went mad after being unable to reach his wife as she screamed for help inside the house. 

There is also a version unrelated to the 1948 fire, where the Char Man was in an automobile accident that caused his car to catch on fire on the bridge. 

There are some accounts that he was a firefighter who died while fighting the 1948 fire. 

There are also several sources that could be the origin of the story.

The story may have started shortly after the 1948 Ojai fire. The fact that this fire happened is the only confirmable portion of the story. The fire was confirmed to have burned 30,000 acres in the valley, and 13 homes were destroyed by the flames. http://ojaihistory.com/major-ojai-fires/ You can find photos of the damages through the LA Public Library’s website here 

As outlined in Seamann’s paper, the origin could also possibly be in the early 1960s, as confirmed by a police sergeant who confirmed that he was called out to investigate a man who looked “charred” and had frightened a group of local teens. This man was in fact found, and was an elderly man with a very bad case of skin cancer. 

No matter the case, the locals seem to take the whole legend in stride, and used to boost their economy, which I can’t blame them for at all. Their local Charman brand hot sauce was established in 2006, and the business seems to be doing pretty well for itself. 

Also, these label designs are dope as fuck. 

While the Char Man is the most famous legend in Ojai, he’s certainly not the only local urban myth. Let me know if you’d like me to cover the Ojai Vampire in a later post, and if you’re ever in Ojai, be sure to taste that locally made Charman hot sauce and tell me how it is.

[whatthefolkk]

Introduction

Welcome to What the Folk, a blog about folklore, mythology, and urban legends. I’m Lynn, the blog owner. 

What the Folk, once I get it formally up and running, will post weekly on Sundays about stories, creatures, and the cultural facts that go along with them. This blog also takes requests through asks, so feel free to send me a message if there’s a certain topic that you would like me to cover. 

Thank you, and I hope that you enjoy your time on my blog. 

--Lynn