New Mexico has its fair share of boogeymen: La Llorona, the wailing woman; Zozobra, ”Old Man Gloom”; the Chupacabra, the goat sucker; and El Kookooee, the Boogeyman. These supernatural apparitions bring with them bad luck and ill will. New Mexicans respond by burning them in effigy.

The burning of Zozobra, marking the beginning of Fiestas in Santa Fe, has grown into a major event that draws thousands. El Kookooee, though much smaller, has grown quickly in recent years. The event takes place on the last weekend of October, deep in the south valley of Albuquerque. Schoolchildren design the effigy each year, and each year local artists construct the boogey man per the children’s specifications.

El Kookooee, like Zozobra, is blamed for the ills of the world, and people are eager to place their fears and worries at his feet to kindle his flame.

I, though, think of Kookooee less as a demon and more as a vessel, a sacrificial lamb. As he ascends to the night sky as embers and ash, he carries our worst habits away with him.

Thanks, Kookooee, for bearing our burdens for us. We will meet again next year, when we Burqueños have amassed another heap of problems to unload onto your fiery altar.

Each year in observance of Día de Muertos, the NHCC invites students, teachers and general public to create and display ofrendas (altars) in honor of loved ones, pets and community leaders who have passed away. This installation of ofrendas is always beautiful, engaging and respectful of the traditional celebration. This year, the installation includes an ofrenda created by artist, Jacobo de la Serna in remembrance of bicyclists that have lost their lives on New Mexico roads. Artist, Catalina Delgado Trunk designed an altar for the community to bring their offerings and remembrances on the evening of November 2.

In addition to the ofrendas, the event had an arts and crafts portion where attendees were invited to decorate sugar skulls, make papercrafts, and to screen print their own tshirts.  Here are my photos.  All were taken with my dad’s 50mm lens.  Even though it’s 30 years old, it still takes some amazing shots.