Guia de Paraty

The Corpo-Seco of Toca do Cassununga

At Toca do Cassununga in Jabaquara, tradition places a man so cruel that heaven, hell, and the earth itself all rejected him.

Category
Haunting / Folklore
Location
Toca do Cassununga, Jabaquara Beach
  • Cursed man
  • Recorded oral tradition

The legend

The Corpo-Seco is said to have been a wealthy, selfish, and cruel man who harmed others throughout his life and mistreated his own mother. When he died, neither God nor the Devil would take him. Even the earth cast him out. With skin dried tight over his bones, he rose from the grave and began wandering Toca do Cassununga at night, frightening anyone who came near.

Versions and context

The Corpo-Seco appears in different parts of Brazil, always as someone condemned to remain among the living. In Paraty, the story is anchored in the rock formations of Jabaquara. Another version collected in the region places the haunting on Ilha de Itaoca, across from Calhaus Beach, where a former resident is said to have returned because he was not buried where he had asked.

Associated places

The places below appear in this version of the story.

  • Toca do Cassununga
  • Jabaquara Beach
  • Ilha de Itaoca — related version

Sources consulted

The sources below record the oral tradition and its context.

  • CEPA — Paraty Tourism Inventory
  • Lendas de Paraty Project — Paulo Gustavo Law/SECEC-RJ, 2024

Monthly update

September 10, 2026.

A gaunt man with desiccated skin emerges between massive granite boulders at Toca do Cassununga, with Jabaquara in the distance.
In Jabaquara’s oral tradition, the Corpo-Seco wanders through Toca do Cassununga at night after the earth rejects him.
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Nearby places

Distance is approximate and measured in a straight line.