The Corpse Bride in the Window: La Pascualita in Mexico
For more than 80 years, visitors have been lured to a wedding gown shop in Chihuahua, Mexico, to study the spookily lifelike bridal mannequin in the window.
For more than 80 years, visitors from all over the world have been lured to a wedding gown shop in Chihuahua, Mexico, to study the spookily lifelike bridal mannequin in the window.
Most are so captivated by the mesmerizing gaze of La Pascualita, that they leave convinced that she is a mummy rather than a dummy.
The Shop Window At Night
She was first installed in the window in 1930.
People soon realized that she bore an uncanny likeness to the store’s owner at the time, Pascuala Esparza. They concluded that the apparent mannequin was really the embalmed body of Esparza’s daughter who had died recently on her wedding day after being bitten by a black widow spider.
According to legend, the mannequin is not really a model at all, but the perfectly preserved corpse of the previous owner’s daughter.
Esparza denied the story, but the rumors persisted.
Closeup of her face
La Pascualita began to take on a life of her own. It is said that a love-struck French magician would arrive at night and bring her to life, taking her out on the town.
“Her hands are very realistic and she even has varicose veins on her legs. I believe she’s a real person.” – Sonia Burciaga
Others say her eyes follow them around the store and that she changes positions during the night.
One shop worker, Sonia Burciaga, who has to change the dummy’s outfits twice a week, says:
“Every time I go near Pascualita my hands break out in a sweat. Her hands are very realistic and she even has varicose veins on her legs. I believe she’s a real person.”
Share This Story
About The Author
Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Step into the world of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, where truth is always stranger than fiction! Bui…
By this author
The Government Once Nuked a Bunch of File Cabinets
Diving Into a Historic Election Relic
The Scariest Halloween Monsters and Their Origin Stories
At Ripley’s, we’re always in search of the unbelievable – maybe it’s you! Show us your talents. Tell us a strange story or a weird fact. Share your unbelievable art with us. Maybe even sell us something that could become a part of Ripley’s collection!
Get lost in a vortex of weird and wonderful stories! Ripley’s twenty-first edition annual book is full of all-new, all-true stories from around the world.
In 2024, Nike revealed a shoe inspired by the Green Goblin, the villain from the 2002 "Spider-Man" movie.
Robert Ripley began the Believe It or Not! cartoon in 1918. Today, Kieran Castaño is the eighth artist to continue the legacy of illustrating the world's longest-running syndicated cartoon!