In the spirt of Samhain [the holiday]

I wrote an essay.
Reason 1: I LOVE Samhain
Reason 2: I have no life
Reason 3: I love Paranormalism



So here we go!










Bloody Mary

R.N Schulte











You’re at your best friends 13th birthday party, everyone is downstairs playing games like Truth or Dare?, and Spin the Bottle. Then someone tells of a game they had played at another party called Bloody Mary. The rules were that you had to walk into a dark bathroom with only a candle. You had to stand in front of the mirror and say Bloody Mary three times in a row. Sound familiar? A popular game played at parties, but how did it begin?


There are many theories about who she was. One legend was that she was a witch, another states that she was a ghost and of course the one where she was a queen.

In the Bloody Mary story that refers to her as a witch, Bloody Mary lived in a small house in the forest. The town near by had given her the name Bloody Mary. One night, young girls had started to go missing in the town. The towns men knew it was Mary but had no proof. One night the father of one girl saw his daughter leaving from her bed and heading toward the forest. The father alerted neighbors to follow and assist him. As they followed the girl she continued to walk toward Mary’s house. Bloody Mary was standing on her porch with a wand chanting words. The men grabbed Mary and brought her to town to burn her at the stake. As she burned she screeched a curse that any soul that dare say her name three times in front a mirror would have his or her eyes scratched out by Mary herself.

In the Bloody Mary legend where she was a ghost. It says that Bloody Mary was in love with a man. She had been seeing him for many years and gotten engaged to him. About a month before the wedding Mary told her friend that she was planning to call off the wedding. Some how her fiancee found out. The night she was planning to break off from him, he came up to her while she was putting on make up in the bathroom. He acted at first that he was giving her a hug from behind but then snapped her neck. Once he had done this he cut her eyes out and kept them. Because Mary was murdered in front of a mirror her soul was trapped inside. Whenever her name is said three times in front of a mirror Mary comes out and scratches your eyes out and of course, keeps them.

Another story states that Bloody Mary was a Queen named Mary Tudor. The legend was that Mary was a beautiful woman who continued to age but looked nothing of her age. One day a slave found Mary’s secret room. It was full of dead slave girls and one tub. Mary was in the tub bathing in blood. She was put to death. All thought there is no real connection to this Mary and mirrors, it is still found as a Bloody Mary Legend.



All of these stories are different you see. They do have a few things in common though . It always involves a woman named Mary, the victim of the mirror summoning has his or her eyes scratched out ,and that Bloody Mary is summoned by saying Bloody Mary three times in a row. Although there is almost no way to find out who Bloody Mary really was, the game is continued to be played by children and teens who don’t really care how the story began, but just want a good scare.

 

I remember when kids would turn the bathroom light off in our school and do that in like 2nd grade. I was both horrified and fascinated by their attempts, but nothing ever came from it.

 

Hey, read your article. Interesting research you did. I've not seen much about her in the media except for a straight to DVD sequel to Urban Legends (no comment haha)

Anyway on that note I read that one of my favorite shows "Ghost Whisperer" will delve into that legend a little bit for its upcoming episode this Friday (October 5th, 8 PM on CBS for those of you who don't watch before going out & partying!)

I'm going to watch the episode. I would love to hear what you have to say about what they did with the legend after you see it!