Richmond Haunts Short

El Coco: Spain’s Boogeyman and a Dark History

June 5, 2026 02:44 Europe, International

Episode notes

About this episode

Long before many modern boogeyman stories, families across the Spanish-speaking world warned children about El Coco. The figure has no single fixed appearance; its power comes from the idea that something waits in the darkness for children who ignore a warning or refuse to sleep.

This Short follows the folklore into a real 1910 crime in southern Spain that became linked to the legend. The case gave an old cautionary story a human horror more disturbing than any supernatural monster. By separating the traditional figure from the later crime, the episode shows how folklore can absorb real events and change the way a community remembers both.