Tonight you’re working the late shift at the department store.
It’s slow, and you and your coworkers can’t wait to go home.
You hear the familiar buzzer that says you can start closing up.
It’s been a long night and the thought of bed sounds like a long-overdue end to the
day.
The mall is now closed.
You tell your coworkers they can go home while you finish up.
While going about the last of your duties, you find a note from the head manager.
He’s asked you to set up some new displays that arrived earlier this afternoon.
Down in the storage room, it begins to sink in that you, at this dark hour, in the emptiness
of this silent department store- are alone.
In the corner you see a tall object draped in a white sheet.
You know what it is.
It’s a mannequin.
You feel a chill crawl over your skin.
You are paralyzed.
You could have sworn you saw the sheet move slightly.
Greetings everyone, and welcome, to The Grim Gallery.
This particular legend harkens all the way from the city of Chihuahua in Mexico.
There in downtown, you’ll find a popular wedding shop called La Casa De Pascualita.
And while they are known to attract tourists from South America, Canada, and the US, it's
not the bridal gowns bringing the most interest.
This shop is more well-known for a certain mannequin standing in its display window.
The mannequin in question is La Pascualita herself, or to some, better known as Little
Pascuala- and she has been living at the shop for over 85 years, since she was first installed
on March 25, 1930.
Pascuala Esparza was the original owner of Le Casa De Pascualita and was well-known for
the bridal gowns she crafted.
It is said that at one time her daughter was to be married and so in excitement, she crafted
a beautiful gown for her daughter to wear for the wedding.
Unfortunately, Esparza’s daughter was bitten by a black widow spider shortly before she
was to be wed and tragically died.
In other versions of the tale, she was stung by a deadly scorpion.
In any case, it remains that the daughter of Pascuala Esparza was dead.
Not long after, a familiar-looking mannequin appeared in the store window of La Casa De
Pascualita, showing off a new wedding dress.
For many of the townsfolk, the new storefront display appeared shockingly realistic and
had a chilling resemblance to Esparza’s late daughter.
From the real hair on her head, to the finely-detailed lines on her face and hands, to even the subtle
veins on her legs.
It appeared very much like a real human body, frozen in a dream-like stasis.
Naturally, the locals suspected that the bridal statue was in fact the perfectly preserved
body of Pascuala Esparza’s dearly departed daughter- in an effort to preserve the young
bride-to-be.
While people were enraged at this morbid suspicion, Esparza reassured them that the mannequin
was indeed just that- a mannequin.
And over time, the sight of this frozen fashion model and its eerie history and presence at
night, became a popular icon for both locals and tourists alike.
It is rumored that at some point after Little Pascuala’s unveiling, a love-struck French
magician would visit our alleged corpse bride in the night, and bring her to life for a
venture out on the town.
Some visitors have claimed that like the portrait of Mona Lisa, the permanent gaze of Little
Pascuala seems to follow you around.
Others have said that at night, her face moves slightly and she shifts positions on her own,
and that only the owner and a few close employees are given permission to change her dress behind
closed curtains...
Keeping in classic tradition with urban legends, officially documented accounts of this mannequin’s
alleged physical movements from real people range from largely unavailable at best, to
virtually non-existent at worst.
I was however able to find a Spanish news report taken by what seems to be a local media
station, which showed footage of the mannequin in its window display.
The reporter describes that the mannequin is said to be subtly smiling in the footage,
but it’s extremely hard to tell, given the shaky camera movements and the fact that it
was apparently filmed with a potato.
During an inspection of the mannequin, the man in the video seems to note how unusually
realistic the features of the mannequin are- focusing primarily on the hands and how the
nails appear to be real human nails with what looks to be three weeks of past growth.
In an interview, a publicist for the shop mentions that she’s received claims from
people saying they have seen the mannequin sweat.
The reporter mentions that all photos taken by the news team show strange smudges.
But whether or not the mannequin is really the preserved body of Esparza’s daughter
is a matter much more verifiable to look into.
The closest thing to an actual account on the mannequin being a well-preserved corpse
is a cryptic description from a woman named Sonia Burciaga, who allegedly works at the
bridal shop, tasked with changing the mannequin’s outfit when needed.
She's quoted as saying “every time I go near Pascualita, my hands break out in sweat.
Her hands are very realistic and she even has varicose veins on her legs.
I believe she's a real person.”
However, it is unknown where or when this account was taken and the source has yet to
be identified.
One theory suggests that perhaps only parts of the mannequin belong to a corpse, like
the realistic-looking hands.
Another suggests that the corpse is hidden inside the mannequin.
But even then, wouldn’t there be a distinct smell emanating from the mannequin?
Okay so let’s start with the obvious one: could a corpse really stay perfectly preserved
for over 85 years?
The short answer is no.
But for the sake of argument, let’s take a deeper look at the process of human preservation.
As mortician Caitlin Doughty of the YouTube channel, AskAMortician points out, taxidermy
the way it is performed on animals wouldn’t work the same way on humans, given that you’d
see all the seams and stitches on our hairless, featherless bodies- and Pasqualita’s skin
is flawless.
She also brings up the case of Vladmir Lenin, whose corpse has been preserved through embalming
since 1924.
Embalming is the process of replacing the blood and much of the organic matter in a
cadaver with chemicals like formaldehyde, to keep it from decomposing.
Doughty explains that while it is possible to preserve a corpse for a very long time
through this method, it does require a team of biomedical engineers who must monitor and
perform regular maintenance on the body around the clock in addition to maintaining a properly
controlled environment- a few things Pasqualita lacks in the sunlight-exposed store window
of her home.
So what about the seemingly real human nails?
While the growth of nails on a mannequin is creepy, it isn’t biologically possible for
a corpse to grow nails after a certain period post-mortem.
It is true that various functions continue to operate after death, however hair and nail
growth only continue so long as there are new cells being produced in the body.
If the mannequin was a fresh corpse, then this might be feasible for a time, but certainly
not after 85 years.
The mannequin has not been scientifically documented or analyzed by any professionals,
though admittedly, many of its features, particularly its hands, are extremely well detailed for
a simple store display.
Actually, those hands straight up look like they belong to a corpse and not
a wax figure or mannequin at that.
I think it’s these cryptically realistic images of her hands that keep the legend alive.
But other than that, everything else seems rather farfetched.
The question we should be asking is, who was the craftsman of this incredibly detailed
work? And why did they do what they did?
Why is the daughter’s name omitted in all accounts of the legend?
Was she really named Little Pascuala?
If she was real, and the mannequin in the store really is a mannequin, what happened
to the body of Esparza’s daughter?
Wouldn’t Esparza point out her daughter’s grave to prove she was telling the truth?
Although the video is entirely in Spanish, I was able to interpret from an interview
with a publicist for the shop, albeit on a very limited level via YouTube’s translation
tools, that the owner’s prefer to not add to the rumors out of respect for the dead.
This would explain why there might not be as much information on the facts surrounding
the legend.
The news report does mention that the locals of Chihuahua have adopted the icon as a local
character and have embraced the legend of La Pascualita as an idol.
Some even going as far as to bring candles, worship, and pray to it for protection and
good fortune in marriage.
So what do you think?
Is Pasqualita a really well-preserved corpse, or really well-detailed mannequin?
Since it brings a strong attraction to the bridal shop as well as the downtown area,
it’s understandable that locals would purposely exaggerate these bizarre accounts to keep
the legend alive.
The news coverage in itself seemed to be a sort of special segment publicity piece, using
creepy music to set the tone.
They even show footage of the mannequin appearing to move on its own, which could have easily
been exaggerated for publicity and was likely engineered by someone moving the mannequin
at its base off camera.
On top of that, it seems unlikely that the shop owner’s would go through the trouble
of performing embalming maintenance on a sun-exposed corpse displayed in plain sight- or that they
would perpetuate the idea of defiling the original owner’s dead daughter.
So no, it’s more likely Pasqualita is just a regular mannequin and the fanatic stories
of a corpse grew around her looking so life-like.
If you stare at something long enough, you’re bound to perceive movement even if there is
none.
Currently, there’s simply not enough evidence to suggest that she is in fact a corpse.
But I’ll admit, my understanding of the news coverage is limited due to Google’s
automated translations.
So viewers, I ask you:
if any of you can understand Spanish, I urge you to watch the video for yourself from the
link in the description and come back with your interpretation.
If anything new comes up, I may make a followup video.
Regardless, of whatever she’s made of- the fact that many have claimed to see her move
is rather concerning.
Whether you choose to believe or not is entirely up to you, however the world is a dark and
mysterious place and there is evermore an infinite plethora of the world for us to explore.
Remember: though we may fear the unknown, we live everyday to learn and understand these
fears, and through this, we may hopefully gain a better insight into ourselves.
Thanks for watching and goodnight.
And the comment of the week goes to Sinister Dark Soul.
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