12 Terrifying Ghost Stories From Around The World

2. The Weeping Woman

Oh sure, a crying woman doesn't sound scary on its own (you heartless sociopath), but when you hear about why she's so upset you'll soon change your tune. Known as La Llorona in South American countries, the basic legend behind this tale tells of a beautiful young woman named Maria. When she is left rejected and heartbroken by the man she has pined for, she drowned first her children and then herself.

Which is pretty dark to begin with.

It gets worse, though. When she reached the gates of Heaven the absence of Maria's children was called into question, and she tearfully admitted to her horrific crime. She was not permitted to enter the afterlife until she found them, and so Maria is forced to wander the Earth for all eternity, searching in vain for her drowned offspring, crying the whole time. Hence, The Weeping Woman. When it comes down to it, the La Llorona legend is most often employed as a way of parents making sure their kids don't go wandering off during the night, but we think it's pretty terrifying and heartbreaking in itself.

The idea of the Weeping Woman hasn't the pure shock factor of others on our list, but it is indefinably eerie: a pale woman with mottled skin, wandering aimlessly through the dark, her gentle sobs echoing through the mists. Plus she's got the "Bloody Mary" thing of being able to see her if you say her name three times in the mirror. Don't do that.