El Charro Negro
On lonely Mexican roads at night, a handsome rider in a black charro suit offers travellers a lift, or a bag of gold. Accept, and you've made a deal you can't undo.
What was reported
The Charro Negro is a figure of Mexican legend: an elegant horseman dressed in black, with a wide sombrero and silver buttons, riding a black horse. He appears at night on country roads and to people walking alone.
He offers riches, or a ride on his horse. Those who accept find that the gold turns into something else, or that they can't get down from the saddle, and that they've sold their soul. In some versions he is the Devil himself; in others, a man who made a pact and now has to collect souls.
Explanations offered
Pacts with the Devil are an old theme in Spanish and Mexican folklore. The Charro Negro dresses as the image of wealth and pride in rural Mexico, which is part of the warning.
- When
- Told for generations
- Where
- As told across central Mexico
- Witnesses
- Mexican folklore
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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