This week: The strange case of Clarita Villanueva Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Quote for the week:
"Mystery spread its cloak across the sky.
We lost our way.
Shadows fell from trees.
They knew why."
~From "House of Four Doors" by the Moody Blues |
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In 1953, a young girl in the Philippines had a frightful, mysterious experience. Seventeen year old Clarita Villanueva was an orphan who had lived on the streets of Manila since the age of twelve. After her parents died, she had no other means of support, so she was forced to survive as a sex worker and "taxi dancer" meaning she would dance for money.
One night, she approached a potential customer who turned out to be an off duty police officer, so she was arrested and thrown in to Bilibad Prison to await her trial. The prison was a dark fortress like structure with a violent history that was also rumored to be haunted.
One night, Clarita suddenly began screaming and crying inside her cell. The guards came running and found her writhing around in torment and bleeding from what appeared to be bite marks all over her body. The cell had been locked so nobody else could have gotten in, and some of the bite marks appeared to be in places where she could not have bitten herself.
After Clarita eventually calmed down, she claimed she had been attacked by two strange entities. One was huge with black fur all over its body. The other was smaller with an angelic face and a large moustache. Both had enormous buck teeth and fangs. However, guards and other prisoners who witnessed the attack claimed that they saw nobody in the cell with Clarita.
Over the next few weeks, Clarita continued to suffer similar attacks. Other prisoners and guards saw her writhing around in her cell but all claimed that they could not see anyone attacking her.
Eventually, the mayor of Manila heard of the situation. He had Clarita brought to his office, where doctors examined her. Clarita immediately had one of her episodes, and writhed around screaming as the medical team attempted to hold her down. Witnesses claimed to see bite marks appearing on her body but did not see any way that she could have been making the marks herself.
After the attack passed, Clarita was asked to draw pictures of the entities that were attacking her. However, each time she tried to draw them, the pencil went flying from her hand.
Doctors and psychiatrists who examined Clarita had difficulty agreeing on a diagnosis. Some believed that she was faking the attacks in an attempt to gain attention and possibly escape from prison. However they had difficulty explaining how she could have made the bite marks. She had been under close observation during many of the attacks, and some marks were in areas where she couldn't have made them herself. Others claimed that she was suffering from a skin disorder or that "hysteria" caused rashes that appeared to be bite marks. Others argued that they did not know of any skin disorders or psychological conditions that would cause marks of this nature to spontaneously arise on the body.
Eventually, Lester Sumrall, a preacher and self styled exorcist, heard of the case and traveled to Manila to see Clarita. In a book he later wrote about the case, he describes a three day standoff with the demonic entities after which he claimed to have exorcised them. After that, Clarita had no more attacks, and was released from prison after about three weeks. After the attacks stopped, the public gradually forgot about the case. It isn't clear what happened to Clarita later. Some reports say that after being released from prison, she moved out of Manila, eventually married, and had a family.
It is very difficult to distinguish fact from fiction in this case. Even the most "official" accounts are filled with speculation about demonic and supernatural activity. Most of the available information comes from Sumrall's book, "The True Story of Clarita Villanueva." However, his book seems to be mostly about himself as a hero who saved a young girl from demon possession, so much of it may not even be true. Most subsequent accounts appeared in paranormal publications and may have been embellished for drama.
Clarita did appear to have been "cured" after the exorcism, but there might be a logical explanation that does not include demons. If she was suffering from a psychological condition and truly believed in the power of exorcism, that may have been enough to stop the episodes. If she was somehow faking the attacks, she just might have decided that this was a good time to stop. Nobody seems to have come up with a really good explanation for the bite marks, but the descriptions of them may have been embellished over time as well. Many of the first attacks occurred when Clarita was alone inside a dark cell, so she may have been making the marks on herself in a way observers couldn't see.
What do you think happened?
Something to try: Write a "locked room" mystery in which a character appears to be attacked inside a locked cell. |
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Mystery: November 16, 2022 Issue [#11659]
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