¡Ay Cucuy! is a Latino storytelling series and party featuring Latino Chicagoans sharing personal spooky tales of hauntings and encounters with the supernatural.
¡Ay Cucuy! was conceived as complimentary community programming to run in conjunction with The Wizards that shares similar themes of haunting and the supernatural.
During the run of The Wizards, two ¡Ay Cucuy! evenings were held on October 8, 2022 and on Day of the Dead, November 2, 2022. Hosted by Ricardo Gamboa, co-directed by Gamboa and Ruth Guerra and featuring a specialty cocktail menu by Luis Antonio Mora and music and sonics by Vales Madre, both ¡Ay Cucuy! evenings were sold-out, standing room only evenings.
November 2nd
Stories By
Elijah Ruiz
Eliseo Real
Veronika Miranda
Melissa DuPrey
Zulema Ortiz
Veronica Castro
Pedro Gamboa
Sean Parris
Ricardo Gamboa
Story One
Elijah Ruiz
On this Day of Dead, Elijah remembers his “Lila.” This tale recalls the special relationship Elijah had with his grandmother who was lost to cancer.
Story Two
Eliseo Real
Eliseo reprises his story from the first installment of ¡Ay Cucuy! for Dia de los Muertos to remember his father.
Story Three
Veronika Miranda
Veronika remembers her best friend and “soulmate” Purple because there are some friendships that never die.
Story Four
Melissa DuPrey
Ancestors, brujería and family secrets mix in this story by Melissa.
Story Five
Zulema Ortiz
Zulema married her high school sweetheart. On the night they moved into their new house, she had an expected visitor in this story full of twists.
Story Six
Veronica Castro
Veronica remembers a particular soul from her childhood and a haunting that helped spur her into a lifetime of activism.
Story Seven
Pedro Gamboa
Father of ¡Ay Cucuy! creator and host Ricardo Gamboa shares a story about falling in love and a horrific date that might’ve altered the course of his personal history.
Story Eight
Sean Parris
Husband of ¡Ay Cucuy! creator and host Ricardo Gamboa gets intimate with a story about losing his mother to cancer, a ghost he wants to commune with.
Story Nine
Ricardo Gamboa
On Day of the Dead when the veil between the worlds is thinnest, ¡Ay Cucuy! creator and host Ricardo Gamboa shares a story of border crossing and brujas.