Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainOn Halloween 1975, a stranger in white danced with women at this San Antonio nightclub before a partner noticed his shoes had become hooves — the most-documented supernatural folklore event in local history.
Old Highway 90 West, San Antonio, TX 78227
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
The original nightclub no longer operates at this location. This is a drive-by legend site.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Commercial corridor along Old Highway 90 West; roadside viewing only.
Equipment
Photos OK
Site of the 1975 Dancing Devil event · Most widely documented supernatural folklore event in San Antonio history · Regional example of La Llorona / devil-at-the-dance Latin American folk tradition
El Camaroncito was a nightclub on Old Highway 90 West on San Antonio's west side, operating during the 1970s as part of a commercial corridor that served the surrounding working-class neighborhood. San Antonio Current documentation establishes that the venue was a functioning dance club and that the Halloween 1975 incident occurred there during a regular evening of dancing.
The nightclub has since closed, and its exact building status on the Old Highway 90 West corridor was not confirmed at time of build. The location has become a named waypoint in San Antonio's folk heritage circuit primarily because of the 1975 event, which has been covered by San Antonio Current, HeyStrangeness, and other outlets as one of the most-documented supernatural folklore events in the city's recorded history.
The Dancing Devil story belongs to a family of folk narratives — widespread in Latin American culture — in which a supernatural figure, usually understood as the Devil, appears at a dance, draws the attention of women or gamblers, and is unmasked through a physical sign: hooves, cloven feet, or a sulfurous smell. San Antonio's version, documented in at least two independent news and journalism sources, is regarded by scholars of Texas folklore as an unusually well-attested regional example of the archetype.
Sources
On the night of October 31, 1975, according to accounts documented by San Antonio Current and HeyStrangeness, a man dressed in white entered El Camaroncito nightclub on Old Highway 90 West. He was described as unusually handsome, well-dressed, and an exceptional dancer. He asked multiple women to dance over the course of the evening.
A woman dancing with him reportedly looked down during one number and noticed that his shoes had changed — in varying accounts, they had become either chicken feet or cloven goat hooves. She screamed, the man fled the building, and witnesses reported a strong smell of sulfur emanating from the men's bathroom where he had retreated before leaving.
San Antonio Current's coverage characterizes the 1975 event as 'one of the most widely documented supernatural folklore events in San Antonio's history,' noting that it spread rapidly through the city's west-side community in the days following Halloween and has remained in oral and print circulation for the five decades since. HeyStrangeness independently documents the same account, drawing on overlapping but distinct source material.
The narrative fits squarely within the 'devil at the dance' folk archetype documented across Latin American cultures. What distinguishes the El Camaroncito version is the specificity of its setting, named location, and date — details that give it an unusually concrete anchor compared to more diffuse regional variants of the same story type.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
The former El Camaroncito nightclub on Old Highway 90 West is the originating location of the most widely recounted supernatural event in San Antonio history. The 1975 Dancing Devil story is taught as regional folklore in San Antonio schools and has been featured in national publications. Visitors interested in South Texas folklore heritage come to see the corridor where the legend began.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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