"Supernatural" beginnings in North American folklore : the vanishing hitchhiker and La Llorona

Abstract

Through the use of motifs (such as the bridge, travel and vengeance) and character role reversals the creators of the pilot episode of [the television program] “Supernatural” build a narrative that cleanly combines the urban legends of La Llorona and the Vanishing Hitchhiker. By applying the La Llorona tale as a backstory for the ghost of the Vanishing Hitchhiker, the creators are able to produce motivation for the hostile actions inflicted upon unsuspecting drivers by the ghost. In this way, they are also able to give these two legends, neither with any tangible history of aggression, a new means of interacting with living characters within the fictional world of “Supernatural.”