La Pascualita: Corpse Bride of Chihuahua, Mexico

Sep 30

Storefronts will often display mannequins to advertise the products inside, some store owners will spend hundreds if not thousands for beautifully detailed dolls to grab potential shoppers’ attention. But, what if they appear to be a bit too life-like?

If you believe the legends, in Chihuahua, Mexico for over 80 years there was a mannequin known as La Pascualita, that may have been the embalmed daughter of the store's original owner.

Pascuala’s Love

In 1930 Chihuahua, Mexico, Pascuala Esparza Perales de Perez owned a small but fairly successful clothing store named La Popular that specialized in wedding dresses. She would often spend most of her days working at the store, ensuring everything was in perfect condition while greeting customers with a huge smile. According to locals, the only thing Pascuala loved more than her business was her daughter.

So it was no surprise that the store would close for a day as Pascuala took the day off for her daughter’s wedding. But a few days later, the store was still closed. People began to get curious and started to worry about the usually happy and inviting Pascuala. Their curiosity turned to sorrow when they found out Pascuala’s daughter had died moments before her wedding.

Her daughter had been stung by a scorpion taking refuge in her wedding dress and she collapsed on her way to the altar. Pascuala was devastated and many believed her store would never open back up.

La Chonita

A few weeks later on March 25th, 1930, the doors of El Popular opened and many flocked to the store to visit their heartbroken friend. To their shock, they were met with a joyful and happy Pascuala who simply stated her daughter would always be by her side.

Meanwhile, other locals were transfixed by the beauty of a new display in the window of the store. It was a brand new mannequin unlike any they had seen before yet it looked familiar.

Asking Pascuala where she got the life-like doll, she told them it was custom-made in Paris, France. Since March 25th was the Día de la Encarnación (The Feast of the Incarnation), Pascuala named the mannequin “La Chonita” as it’s a nickname for Encarnacion.

But people were taken by just how life-like La Chonita looked, she had extremely detailed wrinkles on her hands, varicose veins on her legs, teary eyes, life-like skin, and real hair. It was then the locals realized La Chonita bore a striking resemblance to Pascuala’s late daughter.

La Pascualita

As the days went on and more learned of the life-like mannequin, the store experienced an influx of visitors specifically there to see the doll that resembled Pascuala’s daughter. Soon they even gave La Chonita a new name, La Pascualita (little Pascuala). Rumors started to spread that a doll that detailed would be impossible to make and many questioned whether it was a doll to begin with.

One night after the store had closed, a taxi driver taking a break near the store spotted someone moving around inside. Peering through the window, he saw a beautiful woman in a wedding dress dancing in the dark, barely illuminated by the moonlight, and fell in love.

The following day he returned to the store wanting to ask Pascuala about the woman but he froze in terror when he realized the woman he saw, was La Pascualita.

It wasn’t long before other stories were passed around, many claiming to see La Pascualita move her eyes, fingers, and even smile. Special attention was placed on the mannequin’s hand that appeared to be aging as time went on.

People realized that they were right, La Pascualita wasn’t a doll, she was the embalmed daughter of Pascuala now on display and, she would always be by her mother’s side.

A Benevolent Spirit

Of course, Pascuala denied claims she had her daughter embalmed but many pointed out that she always refused to show proof that La Pascualita was just a mannequin. Meanwhile, the stories showing otherwise continued to grow.

One legend says that a couple arguing across the street from La Pascualita turned into a heated exchange ending with the girlfriend ending the relationship. As she crossed the street, the enraged ex-boyfriend pulled out a gun and shot her before running away. The woman lay dying on the road and looked over to La Pascualita, begging her for help.

She claims she saw La Pascualita look at her and smile as she passed out. Later in the hospital, the doctors stated her survival was nothing short of a miracle and the woman went on to credit La Pascualita for saving her life.

Others claim that if you see La Pascualita smile at you, it meant you were going to have good luck for the foreseeable future. As the decades went on La Pascualita became a staple of the community and many noted the drying and receding skin on her hands as proof that she really was a body.

La Pascualita became a tourist attraction with many coming by to see her and hoping for a sign of good fortune but is the story true?

Other Versions

There are a few other versions of the origin of La Pascualita, some have some minor changes like saying that Pascuala didn’t have a daughter and it was actually her sister who died, or that it was a black widow spider and not a scorpion.

Others say Pascuala didn’t get the mannequin from France but instead built it herself after hearing that her daughter’s spirit was spotted roaming around the city.

One big variation to the legend says after the La Pascualita was put on display, it really was just a mannequin, and people were attracted to the intricate detail. (A slight variation says it was the daughter but that no one claimed it was alive.)

One day a Frenchman passing by the store spotted La Pascualita and mistook her for a real person but quickly realized she was a mannequin. But, something kept calling him back to the store and despite her being an inanimate object, he fell in love.

The Frenchman happened to be a magician and used some forbidden spells to bring La Pascualita to life. Every night under a full moon, many claimed to see her and the Frenchman walking around town, having fun, and dancing.

But Did it Happen?

It’s pretty well established that the Legend of La Pascualita has a lot of holes and some impossible parts. Having a body embalmed as a mannequin for over 80 years displayed out in the open while the hot sun shines down on it is one of those impossible things.

Sure, you can keep a body embalmed for years and decades with very little obvious degradation but not in the conditions La Pascualita was kept in.

Often the body of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin is brought up as proof that a body can be embalmed for decades without appearing to degrade. But, some might not know that Lenin’s body has to be embalmed every other year in a weeks-long process where it’s submerged in all kinds of chemicals. In 2016 the Russian government spent almost $200,000 to complete this process.

Yet, despite his body being kept out of sunlight and in a special airtight display, his body is still decomposing. Over the decades, parts of Lenin have been replaced in processes that required special biomedical researchers. It’s highly unlikely that a small wedding shop would have the resources to preserve La Pascualita to the same degree in worse conditions.

Pascuala Esparza Perales de Perez

Interestingly, information on Pascuala Esparza Perales de Perez outside of the legend is almost non-existent but looking through heritage sites, you can find one entry that matches her name. This Pascuala died in Chihuahua in 1967 and was born in the late 1800s. While she fits the timeline of the legend, records show she had two children, both boys, and none of her relatives died in 1930.

In researching the legend I found a dissertation written in 2012 by Theresa Cordova at the University of New Mexico called, Recordando Nuestra Gente: Ritual Memorialization Along the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.

Part of her research involved Teresa traveling to Mexico to find proof of the legend of Pascualita. Speaking with the city of Chihuahua’s historian, Dr. Rubén Beltrán Acosta, she was told there was no proof any part of the legend happened.

She next tried to find some records in the city’s church archives as the Pascuala was Catholic. This too ended in a dead end.

In the end, she found no proof it ever happened, and appears to just have been a legend that was created over time.

Marketing

The legend of la Pascualita appears to be nothing more than an effective marketing ploy to drive business to La Popular's clothing store. Today, La Popular is known as La Popular La Casa De Pasculita because the legend is a huge tourist attraction.

La Pascualita, the actual mannequin, has a dedicated Instagram and Twitter account where it shares the legend as a true story to drive up interest. For years if you went to the store, you could buy a pamphlet detailing the legend and hear about how getting a blessing from La Pascualita meant good luck for you and your marriage.

Even in her research, Teresa was denied an interview with the current owner of La Popular as he felt it would be bad publicity.

A New Mystery

With the various claims that La Pascualita is real and the numerous images and videos showing her move (some of which are clearly photoshopped), there are just as many claims stating that the doll has been DNA tested, pulled apart, and revealed to be fake.

I couldn’t find any credible sources showing this proof and don’t believe it will be easy to find as the owner of La Popular works extremely hard to keep the belief going. Even if they don’t actually believe in the legend, many who live in Chihuahua see the mannequin as part of their culture and a central part of their city.

Despite this in 2017, La Pascualita was gone for 9 months when the owner lent her out for an exhibition of antiques. Upon her return in 2018, many noticed the Pascualita that returned wasn’t the same that left.

Original on the left, new on the right.

This caused an uproar in the community with the local paper running a front-page story on the change. There have been no answers to what happened to the original or why this new one was placed in its spot.

An unverified claim on the Pascualita Instagram says that la Pascualita was also being restored at the exhibition and it was discovered she was a cadaver this whole time, so a replica was made. Again, this is an unverified source written on what appears to be a Word document, no actual newspapers or other records have claimed this is true.

This has left many questioning what happened to la Pascualita and demanding her return. Others believe the soul of the original was somehow transferred to the new mannequin or that the original was laid to rest after being on display for 88 years.

Of course, the owner of La Popular hasn’t made an official statement because the new mystery is sure to drive more tourists to visit the store.