El chupacabras - Dominican Mythology

Growing up in one of the least advanced areas of the Dominican Republic, I heard a lot of stories most of them filled with superstition and religion. It was hard to express my disbelief of such stories when you could never know who you were about to insult. However, there is something that happened to my family that still a mystery to me.

At the end of the 90's, my grandfather had created a little farm in his backyard. In it, there were around 60 ducks, 10 chicken, 6 gooses and a cat that had recently given birth to eight kittens. Every day he would wake up and feed his growing population of animals. He would spend the day throwing bread into the duck's pond to watch them rush to feed.

One night like no other and with not notice, all animals were killed. in the middle of the night, someone or something slipped into the backyard and viciously slaughtered every single animal on the farm. Not even the whisper of the breeze sounded off that night. Only feets away of dozens of animals being mutilated, my family sleep peacefully.

Already up at six, My grandparents drank coffee as they prepare to take on the day. My father was heading to the backyard when he found the body of a kitten, missing its head. Upon close inspection, he found all 8 kittens dead and decapitated. The mother, however, was just dead with two whole in its chest. All animals on the farm were killed that night. Bodies were found all around the backyard, some even inside the pond. All with two holes in their chest. Only the kittens missing their heads to never be found; and a mysterious lack of blood, that in today's world would be credited to a vampire.

A crazy thing had happened and soon the word spread around town And people came from everywhere to see the dead animals bodies and to awe in the mystery. Not much later the events of that night were mention in a national paper.

In town live two twins, I would say that they have been old since I can remember. Both women suffer from Albinism which causes them to look white from head to toe which made them look even older. They live in the street over my grandparents. According to one them who supposedly woke up in the middle of the night because she heard a noise in her roof. She said that it sounded like someone was throwing up and later she opened the window and saw a shadow flying away at the broke of twilight.

In the following days, I heard many rumors and theories of what had happened. From a vaca a person who becomes an animal to eat other animals and spy on a human to witches who wanted the blood and heads for ritual sacrifices. The most predominant theory was el chupacabra a half goat half demon who eats animals. Still today no one knows and for most of us, in my family, it's a story bury in the back of our minds.

Imagines provide by bing image search term (chupacabra, kitten, mistery shador, ducks)