El Callejon de el Beso

Personal Background:

            Paola is a junior at the University of Southern California. She has spent a lot of time if Mexico with her family, and is able to keep her connection with her family since she lives in Los Angeles. She grew up in Los Angeles with a lot of different Mexican influences throughout her life.

Ghost Story:

Paola knows a lot of different stories from growing up, but the one she liked the most was called El Callejon de el Beso, which in English translates to The Alley of the Kiss. She does not remember if she heard it on a tour of a city when she was little, or if she heard it from her parents. She feels it must has been her parents trying to scare her from staying away from the alleys of buildings, as well as to listen to them when it comes to serious situations. This ghost story takes place within a city, similar to where Paola had family.

“When they were rebuilding a city in Mexico, they built the structures so close together that you were able to touch the windows from each building at the same time. A boy and a girl had their windows very close together, and they ended up falling in love. The father of the girl did not approve of the boy, but that didn’t make the girl stop seeing the boy. One day when the girl and the boy were meeting in the alley between their buildings, the girl’s father came out with a gun and tried to shoot the boy. Since the alley was so narrow, the father ended up shooting both the boy and his daughter. It is said that the two haunt that area now.”

Paola did not have all of the details, but this story means a lot to her. To her, it meant that she needed to listen to her parents, otherwise they would hurt her in some way, as well as the person she was seeing. As she got older, she realized this was not the point of the story, but she still does not want to do anything to disobey her parents this much. A lot of this has to do with her culture and the morals her parents have taught her.

Analysis:

This is an example of a ghost story, as well as a legend. The story before the haunting part seems as though it could be completely true. It may have been a legend that turned into a ghost story over time.

To me, it was a way for Paola’s parents to keep her from doing things she was not supposed it. It has as though many of the Mexican tales have a to do with keeping children out of trouble.