The Metro Vampire

It’s the time of the year for one of the better urban legends.

We have some strange names in Mexico City… a subway station named Cemeteries (Panteones) which is in front of several cemeteries… and with people carrying everything else on the subway, I wouldn’t be surprised some day to see a funeral procession, comoplete with “guest of honor” heading that way. But my favorite … and it’s the name of the neighborhood… is Barranca del Muerto… “dead man’s gulch” would be the literal translation.  It sounds like something our of a bad 50s western, but it’s a nice, suburban area.  There were a lot of dead men in the gulches back during the Revolution, when Emiliano Zapata’s forces occupied the area for a few weeks, and there was intensive fighting, and… there have been stories going back to the 19th century of body dumps there.

And, with the station logo being circling vultures, it’s the kind of place that if a creepy story isn’t true, it should be.

The creepiest story, and one everyone believes, supposedly happened not too long ago … when Barranca del Muerto was the last stop on line 7.  A tired commuter took the last train and fell asleep.  He was in the last car, and woke up in a completely darkened car in the tunnel.  While figuring out what to do, he heard moans from the other end of the car.  One can, supposedly hear the moans of the unburied dead in Barranca del Muerto … and there are a couple of places on the Metro where one can hear some eerie sounds (which … given the strange geology of Mexico City might be … and probably are… natural phenomona)… and it’s an open secret that the last cars of the subway, late at night, are often where people hook up for clandestine quickies.  So, it’s quite believable that the commuter would see two men embracing and some soft moaning.

When the commuter approached the couple… to try to get their help in getting out of the car… he realized  those weren’t moans of pleasure, but a feeble attempt to say “soccoro!” … help me!

And… he was bleeding profusely.  But the other guy was not there to help… oh no.  Turing to face the commuter was a pale, pale, pale figure, with the face of a bat.  The commuter screamed, as he pried open the door of the car and ran towards the station.  Eventually, in the locked station, he was able to find a cleaner and … his babbling story making no sense… the subway police were sent to investigate.

Where the found… nothing.  Well, a dead homeless guy who apparenly had a really bad case of anemia.  And, of course, no police report exists.

Don’t fall asleep on the Metro!