There are forms of this story in many states and all over the world.

Yes! That's why I'm so interested! I've heard several versions of this story, the above account came from a man from New Mexico that worked for my family. He seemed sincere, but I wish I could remember why he told me the story. Maybe we were swapping stories, the way men do when they're sitting around relaxing after hard work. Recently, I wondered if there were any stories posted on Youtube and looked there. Sure enough, there are a multitude of supposed "ghost" videos, I watched a few of them and guess what I found? A video that was a put-on by young people in Europe. I can' t remember where they were fro but I detected a slavic note in their voices. It's quite similar to the stories I've heard. In the european video, they pick her up hitchhiking. I'll go see if I can find it.

I found a much longer version of the video, apparently it's in Portugal. The Portuguese they're speaking sounds nothing like that spoken in Brazil. I was stumped on that one. I'm still not sure it is, I wonder if they're tourists. Oh well, back to the screaming woman hitchhiker. It's a variation of the woman in the road story. Sometimes the driver gives her a ride. Sometimes she disappears from the car, or something happens farther down the road and the woman disappears, and locals tell the driver that he is truly lucky to have escaped with his life, and then recounts the story of the screaming woman to him. Here it is:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fNQS0Zob1K8

Your posts made me think of urban legends and these are all over the internet now, too.

Here are some more references:

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/vanish.asp

I hope that others will post versions of this story. I'll begin by giving you my preliminary analysis of the screaming woman of the south-western U.S., where she came from, and how she morphed into the modern version. What she means to our culture I'll save for later.

In Ireland there is a traditional haunted spirit called the Banshee. She is an older woman with long flowing gray hair. She wails, and the sound of her cry foretells death. Anyone who encounters her is likely to die soon, or at least someone close to them.

In Mexico, there is La Llorona, the screaming woman or the wailing woman. She can be heard at night, her cries carrying long distances in the still night air. Those who know of her do not go to investigate, for she will visit death upon them. Usually her victims are travelers, strangers, new to the area and ignorant of her ways. They often try to find out what is happening, and somtimes never return. The Mexico version often appears near water, such as a river. She is more beautiful than the Banshee, and her wails can lure men to river where they drown trying to reach her. Very similar to a siren don't you think?

In Slavic folk lore, there is the tradition of Rusalka, or the water sprite. She too is very beautiful, lives in a lake, and her beautiful lilting song carries through the night luring handsome men with her beauty.

Antonin Dvoraks Opera, Rusalka tells this tale beautifully. In Act I, Rusalka tells her father she is in love with a handsome prince who comes to the lake to swim. She wants to become human to marry him. Her father doesn't like the idea, but loves his daughter and send her to a witch seeking advice. In Dvorak's "Song to the Moon", Rusalka tells the moon of her love for the prince, and asks the moon to speak on her behalf. It's always nice to have a little relaxing diversion during serious discussions, and I adore Anna Netrebko. I could listen to her for hours on end (and I do). Here is Anna Netrebko, singing song to the Moon, but staged in an MTV like music video. This video was a smashing success in Germany and Russia, (proof that the whole world isn't retarded)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iLqXZHO45o

The words (Libretto) in English:

Silver moon upon the deep dark sky,

Through the vast night pierce your rays.

This sleeping world you wander by,

Smiling on men's homes and ways.

Oh moon ere past you glide, tell me,

Tell me, oh where does my loved one bide?

Oh moon ere past you glide, tell me

Tell me, oh where does my loved one bide?

Tell him, oh tell him, my silver moon,

Mine are the arms that shall hold him,

That between waking and sleeping he may

Think of the love that enfolds him,

May between waking and sleeping

Think of the love that enfolds him.

Light his path far away, light his path,

Tell him, oh tell him who does for him stay!

Human soul, should it dream of me, Let my memory wakened be.

Moon, moon, oh do not wane, do not wane,

Moon, oh moon, do not wane....

SO where does our screaming woman in the South-West come from? The Automobile.

Before the automobile she was La Llorona, and travelers were riding donkeys or walking. Thus Llorona has kept up with the times. She represents the same person as the Irish banshee or Rusalka. Other traditions have their versions too.

So, what do the Banshee, La Llorona, and Rusalka represent to us? Why do all of these cultures have a similar tale? What is it about this story that strikes a note within us?

What do you think.

Ooooh I like it. In the south-west version we have elements of two traditions, the traveler who picks up someone who vanishes meets La Llorona. Exxxxxxcellent!

Even earlier, the tale of Ulysses and the sirens comes to mind. The calls of women, water and possible death.

"Circe aided their departure, and instructed them how to pass safely by the coast of the Sirens. The Sirens were sea-nymphs who had the power of charming by their song all who heard them, so that the unhappy mariners were irresistibly impelled to cast themselves into the sea to their destruction. Circe directed Ulysses to fill the ears of his seamen with wax, so that they should not hear the strain; and to cause himself to be bound to the mast, and his people to be strictly enjoined, whatever he might say or do, by no means to release him till they should have passed the Sirens' island. Ulysses obeyed these directions."