The stories behind the 10 biggest fears of Brazilian children

Childhood is a time of discoveries and magic, but also of fears and insecurities. It’s when we learn a lot about the world and everything is new, but we have great fears. And each culture has its myths and characters capable of terrifying little ones.

O awesome.club gathered the 10 stories behind the fears of Brazilian children for you to remember and discover the origin of these cases.

Legend has it that the old man with the bag or papa fig looked for children who were unaccompanied by adults, offered gifts, kidnapped them and then fed on the livers of these victims. Even today, this story is used to scare children and teach them not to accept anything from strangers.

It is believed that this legend originated in the Northeast, where there was an outbreak of diseases that affected the liver, and to control the focus of the diseases, professionals punctured the liver of people who died, mostly children. The legend was probably propagated by the population at the time who thought that the health agents were the “papa-figo” (liver papaya).

Singing songs contributes to a healthy development of the child, as it favors the self-esteem and socialization of the little ones. But have you ever stopped to think about the content of these children’s songs? Classics of Brazilian folklore such as “Atirei o pau no gato”, for example, keep the importance of preparing children for the “real world”, with the perception of good or evil and the knowledge that there is beyond political correctness. After all, unfortunately, animals like cats are still mistreated out there.

This legend is popular across the country. A lot of people believe that, for the blonde in the bathroom to appear, you just have to follow the whole ritual that includes turning on the faucets, flushing the toilet, among other things. The most likely origin of this legend dates back to the 19th century and refers to the young Maria Augusta de Oliveira, who lived in Guaratinguetá, Interior of São Paulo and suffered a lot from an unhappy marriage, separated, and years later would have died of rabies (disease ), which causes dehydration. The site of the house where Maria Augusta lived was replaced by a state school and rumors arose that Maria wandered around, opening taps so that she could quench her thirst. Historians believe that the legend was reinforced by teachers to prevent students from leaving the room at all times to go to the bathroom and thus skip class.

The bogeyman would be a creature that lives under the bed and feeds on stubborn children. Just like the story of the man with the bag, the boogeyman is also used by parents as a device in educating children so that they are more obedient.

Popular belief says that if you leave the slipper face down, your mother will die. This legend was spread by the mothers themselves because in the old days the houses did not have a floor finish and leaving the slippers with the soles facing upwards would cause the shoes to get dirty.

José Mojica Marins, now 82 years old, better known as Zé do Caixão, was the first filmmaker to produce horror films in Brazil. He produced more than 30 films whose titles produced chills, such as the 1964 classic, “At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul” (watch it here). Mojica, who in the 1990s came to be considered a cult filmmaker, even hosted a program, Cine Trash, on Band, featuring horror films. However, in 1997, with the new age classification for television content, the program left the afternoons and changed host.

This alleged supernatural creature gained notoriety when, in the 90s, it was blamed for the death of animals, mainly goats — hence the origin of the name — here in Latin America and the United States. The attacked animals appeared with bites on the neck and completely without blood.

In 1996, the Brazilian press reported alleged sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) in Varginha (Minas Gerais). But, of course, the story had no witnesses or substantiation and, like so many other cases involving UFOs, that was it. But the fact is that the city has since been associated with this story and even made some tributes to the alleged alien in the form of monuments and a memorial, under construction. You can find a case report here.

The existence of this folkloric creature gained strength in rural areas of Brazil because it was disseminated by families as a way of controlling the chastity of their daughters until marriage or preventing them from having a loving relationship with priests. One version of this legend says that if a woman marries a priest, she will become a headless mule.

One of the most curious cases. Riding on the huge success of Balão Mágico in the 80s and its presenter, Simony, who had a TV show on Globo, the character Fofão fell in love with children. Several associated products were then created, including a doll with an appearance that was not the most friendly. Worse: soon, rumors began to emerge that there would be a curse on this toy and that the mother would have found a knife inside the doll. Other people claimed to have found black candles and other strange things inside the doll. Anyway, Fofão would be a kind of Brazilian version of Chucky, the killer toy. it is believed that the story was invented by a competing company to hurt sales of the toy.

Does your region have a story or legend that we forgot to include on this list? Do you remember any case that we didn’t tell? Tell us!