# Dark Water



## Stormcat (Mar 16, 2016)

I want to write a book about a beautiful young mermaid who not only lures sailors to their watery grave, she milks them for all they've got whilst they slowly die. And she is portrayed as "The good guy".

Inexplicably I already have a name for my man-eater, Lucrezia Vasquez. Spanish-language surname got me thinking about south america, and one man-eater myth in particular. It's a similar tale, where a creature from the sea takes the form of a beautiful young woman to lure men to their doom. Except she can only do so once a year. Problem is, I can't remember what it's called, or what country it's from.

I'd like to do more research on the myth, but with so little information to go on, I can't formulate my most basic plot elements! Can anyone help?


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## Sleepwriter (Mar 16, 2016)

The encantado are close to that.  Except it only happens at night.


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## Glyax (Mar 16, 2016)

La llorena ? Is a Hispanic culture myth of a sad beautiful wan who drowns people.  There is also the one covered in river monsters, of a beautiful woman who springs out of the water, pulls a man down and he is never seen again (Jeremy Wade decided that was an arapoya (SP) )


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## Stormcat (Mar 16, 2016)

Glyax said:


> La llorena ? Is a Hispanic culture myth of a sad beautiful wan who drowns people.  There is also the one covered in river monsters, of a beautiful woman who springs out of the water, pulls a man down and he is never seen again (Jeremy Wade decided that was an arapoya (SP) )



No, I know it's not La Llorena. I think the myth may have to do with river monsters.

I remembered a few other tidbits of information. Supposedly, the woman-form of this creature only eats fish, and always wears a hat to hide the fact she has a hole on the top of her head. I have no idea why I remember this old "Wild Thornberries" episode that centered on the myth and associated river (Amazon?) but it's still awfully little to go by. I'll look at old Wild Thornberries episodes to see if anything jumps out at me.


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## Stormcat (Mar 16, 2016)

Sleepwriter said:


> The encantado are close to that.  Except it only happens at night.



Huh. After a bit of research, this seems to be it. Now just to find a more reliable source of South American mythology than Wikipedia.


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