Bloody Mary

This is a Halloween Book Week guest post by Mrs M from At Home With Mrs M!

When I was younger, it was the done thing at sleepovers to scare each other silly with ghost stories and creepy tales. Sitting around in the dark on cushions telling stories and trying to make each other jump was something we always looked forward to – and we had vivid imaginations! The stories I most remember ranged from bizarre tales of baby heads on sticks at the local convent school to Pierrot dolls creeping up the stairs and leaving their tears imprinted on peoples faces, to that well-known spine-chilling tale about the fact that humans can lick too. Of course we got a lot of inspiration from the books we read with the Goosebumps series and then the Point Horror collections being the popular ones to read.

One of the best known of all the creepy tales that did the rounds when I was at school was that of Bloody Mary. I was recently amused (and slightly alarmed) to discover it still doing the rounds at schools today; apparently it’s a bit of a ritual now and all juniors (and their parents) have to go through a few weeks of sleepless nights and being petrified to use the toilet. I’m sure that you’ve come across Bloody Mary before but if not, let me tell you about her.

Apparently legend has it that you can summon this evil lady by chanting “Bloody Mary” into a mirror in a darkened room, lit only by candles. She’ll then appear in the mirror and claw your eyes out. More than likely, this was going to end in your untimely death. If it didn’t, well then you just had the pleasure of Bloody Mary haunting you for the rest of your life. Generally a bathroom was the most popular choice of venue when I was young, I distinctly remember running the taps as we did it, and the jury is out on just how many times you need to chant her name. I thought it was three, but apparently it can be anywhere up to one hundred times, which might explain why she never actually appeared to me.

The real story of who Bloody Mary was is somewhat of a mystery. It has been suggested it has come from Queen Mary I of England who was of course given the moniker “Bloody Mary” however this has been pretty much discounted on the basis that Bloody Mary was meant to be a beautiful young woman and reportedly, Queen Mary I most certainly couldn’t be classed as beautiful. There’s also much talk of Bloody Mary being Mary Worth or Worthington, with various variations to her tale. Some say Mary Worth was in a terrible accident and became hideously mutilated whilst others say she was a witch, a child killer or someone who was killed herself whilst pregnant – either way, she’s come back for her revenge!

There is no word on where and when this tale originated however “Bloody Mary” seems to be causing as much havoc today as she has ever done, terrifying children all over the world!

My own experiences of Bloody Mary never came to much however it has just dawned on me that this might be why I don’t like looking in the mirror in a dark room and cannot have one near my bed! Perhaps Bloody Mary got to me more than I thought!

Did you ever do the Bloody Mary chant, and more importantly if you did, did you ever see Bloody Mary? I’m going to hazard a guess at no since you’re still here reading this post but do let me know if you remember the legend of Bloody Mary.

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