Urban Legend: La Mala Hora

The Urban Legend Story: La Mala Hora

You see, there are quite a few people who whisper the phrase "La Mala Hora" to one another in New Mexico. It means "The Evil Hour".

Which hour do you ask? Why the same as the Witching Hour, Black Mass of Night, the Devils hour, or the Gloaming.

La Mala Hora is a hushed name of not WHAT lurks in the night, but rather the ONLY time of night in which all veils are substantially thinner to emerge an unspoken name. An unknown and unnamed spirit that comes at this Evil Hour.

The story my mom likes to tell is that it was 1979. The radio wouldn't stop playing Electric Light Orchestra, and while Michael Jackson would get big, everyone still saw him as the kid brother to Tido.

New Mexico was smaller then. You could still find country roads that came up not that far outside of town. Kids would go out with blankets to gaze at the sky and look at shooting stars. When you drive far enough away from light polution, you'd be surprised at how many you can see.

Mom told me how she had a friend who was out with a boy "Stargazing". She always held up her hands and gave a wink as she said this. That the both of them fell asleep and woke up again in the middle of the night. They realized both of their parents were going to kill them for not coming in at curfew and immediately picked up the blanket and started to walk back to the boys truck.

I can still hear my mother at the crossroads in the story.

"This is the part that isn't totally clear to me, but I'll always explain it the same way my friend told me." She'd say.

"When Cassie and Bryan got back to his truck, he realized that he'd dropped his keys somewhere along the way of walking back. He told Cassie to stay put by the truck while he retraced his steps in the dark.

She saw him walking back to where they initially laid down the blanket in the sand between the brush. She looked back up at the sky as she leaned against the car and continued to look at the sky as she heard the boy almost kicking at the sand in frustration trying to find his keys.

After a moment she looked back down and over to the field because she realized it had gone very very quiet. She saw the boy with both arms at his sides, he'd even dropped the blanket but half heldonto a corner of it. She could see his hand shaking as she stared forward toward another section of the brush.

She followed his gaze and blinked. There was a black mass floating there. Not really visible, it made her think she'd been going partially blind the way it seemed to suck in any available light around it.

She saw the boy take two steps toward it, and a few tears coming down his cheeks. But she knew they weren't tears of happiness this boy was very scared.

It was when the black floating mass charged at him in an unnatural speed almost propelled by a pull from behind the boy and enveloped him.

The scream that followed is one that the girl never forgot about as long as she lived. but in that, she felt her knees buckle and ducked behind the door of the truck.

eventually, the screaming stopped, but she was frozen in place on the sand by the truck shaking and holding her jacket over her head. She didn't remember falling asleep again sitting up, but nodded awake realizing there was morning daylight around her.

She stood up and sprinted to the nearest main road. She was able to flag down a passing car, and through tears explained she was sure someone was following her because they attacked her boyfriend.

The sheriff was called out to where the girl last saw the boy. But when he was found, they had some questions for her. Frankly, he was all blue-skinned, but there had been no bruising about his body that the sheriff could tell.

She was in a jail cell for a minute while they tried to figure out what questions to ask her. The story she gave them of a black mass that flew at him and then his screaming made it sound... well unbelievable.

The Coroners Office found that the boy did die of asphyxiation, but no marks on his neck or body, just he plumb didn't take one more breath.

She was processed as a suspect for a while, then released. That ripped her nerves to shreds, my mom remembers how people would just stare at her in the hallway after that.

My mom also said that as her friend was leaving the sheriffs office an old woman with wrinkled and tan skin pulled her aside with a sad look in her eye. She asked her what time of night it was.

The friend responded saying she didn't know what time, just the middle of the night. The woman pressed asking if it was 3am? Her friend shrugged. The woman then said a small incantation under her breath in a language she didn't speak.

But she heard one thing. La Mala Hora. The woman shook her head and began to walk away.

Somethimes La Mala Hora can be as early as midnight becuase the spirits that take advantage of La Mala Hora are strongest either at 3AM or when they know someone is about to die at Midnight.

You see, if you ever begin to something black and indescribable form at La Mala Hora, you must immediately look away! For if you stare too long into the black mass void of smoke and shadow that begins to reveal itself to you, if you stare for too long you'll go mad, or worse.