La Tunda

La Tunda is a bogeyman figure from the African-Ecuadorian people from the Colombian Pacific area, sometimes specifically the Esmeraldas Province. It is said she was once a favored angel from “the time when animal spoke,” but she defied God and was thrown into the Valley of Tears as punishment. Other stories however say she is a mother who killed her child in the woods and was cursed to search for this child until Judgement Day. Some other stories say that at some point she married the Devil and gave birth to Cuco. She is often thought to have eyes like a caiman, hairs like a porcupine, and a grinder (specifically a molinillo which was more like a whisk) for a foot. She lives in a dark cave with caiman skulls, bats, spiderwebs, owl eyes, and the bones of disobedient children as decorations. She’s nocturnal and is filled with rage, and none have seen her and lived. Some believe she lures victims into the forest and drains them of their blood. She has strong shape shifting powers but always has her molinillo foot, though she is cunning and skilled at hiding this detail. People say she appears to bewitch, bite, carry away, and/or eat children if they misbehave. She’s well known from poems by Adalberto Ortiz called “La Tunda, Tunda Que Entunda” and “La Tunda Para El Negrito” which threaten that the Tunda will bite children she catches.

Citations:

Hall, Derek, and Hellman, Roxanne. Vampire Legends and Myths. United States, Rosen Publishing Group, 2011.

Lewis, Marvin A.. Adalberto Ortiz: From Margin to Center. United States, Lehigh University Press, 2014.