COUNTRY FILE · CENTRAL AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN
Cryptids of El Salvador
What cryptids are in El Salvador? The best-known are La Llorona, El Cadejo and Sisimite.
El Salvador has 3 cryptids on file so far. Explore each one below, and check back as new reports come in.
Cryptids reported in El Salvador
SPECTRAL · 16th century
La Llorona
Canals of Xochimilco, Mexico City
A weeping ghost in white who wanders rivers and canals at night crying for the children she lost – Mexico’s most famous and most widely told legend.
FOLKLORE
DOGMAN & CANINE · Pre-colonial roots; recorded 19th century
El Cadejo
Night roads of Guatemala and El Salvador
A spectral dog with burning eyes that follows night travelers in Central America – the white one protects them, the black one leads them to ruin.
FOLKLORE HOMINID · Pre-colonialSisimite
Mountain forests of Honduras, Belize and the Yucatán
Central America’s hairy wild man of the mountain caves, said to walk on backward feet, fear water and dogs, and carry off people who stray into the forest.
FOLKLORESightings timeline
- 2006“El cadejo” on Salvadoran television El Cadejo
The audiovisual unit of the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) first broadcast a short programme retelling the legend in January 2006, one of many local adaptations that keep it alive.
Latest from El Salvador
No recent cryptid headlines from El Salvador. See all the latest cryptid news.
Videos
ARCHIVE.ORG3:04
La Llorona
Pikes Peak Library DistrictA short 2010 storytelling segment from a Colorado public library’s community TV channel – a good example of how the legend is told in the US Southwest.
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The Legend of La Llorona
Monstrum | PBS StoriedFolklorist Emily Zarka explains the legend’s Nahua and colonial roots and its many regional versions.
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El cadejo (2006)
Audiovisuales UCAA short Salvadoran film from the Universidad Centroamericana retelling the legend.