Eater of Children
Today I want to talk to you, very briefly, (because I confess, I struggled a bit with this one), about El Cucuy.
El Cucuy is also known as El Coco and a myriad of other variations.
This creature is similar to the bogeyman, and parents often invoke it as a way of encouraging their children to behave. For while this creature is not a hideous monster, what it does is, It eats children, in particular naughty, misbehaving children.
It tends to hang out on rooftops looking for misbehaving children who it will then follow home and hide, either under the bed or in a shadowy corner, until the child is along in bed and then it will emerge and eat the kid.
El Cucuy is mostly remembered via rhyme and lullaby. Though it is remembered differently in many. Sometimes is a chap in a shroud, sometimes a female alligator/dragon monster, sometimes a pumpkin headed ghost creature. The legend refers to it being able to change its shape which explains how it appears differently in different retellings.
El Cucuy has appeared in modern culture, with him being referred to in Don Quijote as a scarecrow. He has appeared in games as a foe, such as Adventure Quest Worlds an RPG type game released in 2008. He has also turned up on TV in shows like Wizards of Waverly Place on Disney channel in 2007-2012.
Lastly, he has appeared in books, such as Stephen Kings Outsider where El Cuco was the main villain.
Letters from a Horror Writer 
They were featured in an episode of Grimm, I recall. They were depicted as being able to see the future of children and looked for those destined to commit evil.
See thats pretty damn cool 😎
I am hispanic and my parents used to use this, el cuco, and tons of other Dominican superstitions.
Great post! Thank you for writing it.