Bloody Mary – [Cursed game | Urban Legend | Ghost]

Description

• Bloody Mary – [Cursed games | Urban Legend | Ghost] 

• About: The infamous mirror ghost and a regular haunt at slumber parties & school washrooms across North America. Saying her name aloud, three times in front of a darkened bathroom mirror supposedly causes a vengeful blood soaked spirit to appear. The rules, conditions & chant for summoning Mary as well as details about the spirit itself are often embellished, her appearance, cause of death, who she is and what she does will almost always vary depending on who you play it with or where you read about it first.

• Ritual: Conjuring Mary often requires a chant, most common is the repetition of “Bloody Mary” whispered into the mirror as many times as the ritual demands. Its most often said consecutively 3 times (other popular numbers include 7, 13, 47, 50 going as high as 100!) Other common varieties include taunting the spirit with a spiteful “I don’t believe in you Mary” Some variations cast Mary as a mother with participants taunting her with “Bloody Mary, where is your baby?” or “Bloody Mary, I killed your baby”. And for those who really want to tempt fate, there’s “Bloody Mary, come out with your axe!” or otherwise yelling/cursing at the mirror. As for the exact time you’re able to summon the spirit midnight or 3:00 AM (the witching hour) are generally popular times. Though, speaking from personal experience, most school kids attempt it during lunch or recess in a darkened bathroom with a mirror, without any regard for whatever time or other specifications might be.

• A few other supposed ‘requirements’ for summoning Mary include but are not limited to:

• Lighting a number of Candles (3-5) or a using a dull blue light. (Alternatively, sometimes the candles are specifically red, and placed on either side of the mirror. Sometimes you’re supposed to stare into the candle (or a lightbulb) and then at the mirror.)
• Staring into the mirror without blinking.
• Blinking into the mirror 3 or more times.
• Twirling around while calling her name.
• Saying her name backwards: “Ydoolb Yram.”
• Taking a swig of water or alcohol each time you say her name.
• Flushing the toilet each time you say her name.
• Sprinkling or coating the mirror with water or ocean salt water.
• Writing your or her name on the mirror or drawing a summoning circle (usually a pentagram.)
• Pricking your finger or otherwise drawing blood. (Not recommended.)

The list goes on…

On the final chant, the spirit appears, what it does also upon arrival also varies, a few variations I’ve come across are as follows:

• Nothing appears, but a disembodied voice peaks to you.
• She’ll do nothing but stare at you. – (I’ve heard that after locking eyes with her its said that you’ll be ”cursed to never be comfortable looking into mirrors in the dark again!”)
• She causes paralysis, causes you to go blind, feel sick, drive you mad, etc.
• You can ask Mary one question about your future; (Do not ask her any other questions, or else.)
• The mirror turns a different colour (usually blood red.)
• She’ll steal your soul, drink your blood, or otherwise harm/kill you. 
• Mary will leap from the glass, striking her summoner dead. scratching your face/gouging your eyes out with her nails. (Often times, Mary is said to use an axe or another sharp weapon.)
• She drags you into the ‘mirror world’, ‘a mirrored version of your house’, or straight to ‘hell’.

• Variants: A few popular descriptions of the spirit include, a ghostly woman in a white, bloodied bridal gown, the ghost of a persecuted witch, a mother, prostitute, student, teacher, or a maid who just plain hated children. Other times Mary is said to simply appear as a floating red dot (orb?) or furious, glowing red, or bloodshot eyes floating in the mirror. Some also call the spirit, by different names or relate her to historic persons or other local ghosts, witches, etc.

A few other specific variations/names given to the legend include but are not limited to:

• “Mary Whales” 🚗 One of several names As collected by Janet Langlois in “Indiana Folklore” 1978, supposedly originates from local stories of vanishing hitchhikers. – [See also Resurrection Mary from Chicago.]
• “Mary Worth“🧙‍♀️ A woman accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts & put to death during the witch trials in the 1860’s; Sometimes said to have been a Murderous slave owner.
• “The Bell Witch” 🧙‍♀️A famous witch from Southern Tennessee folklore is also a stand in for Mary at times.
• “Mother Mary” 📿A ghostly nun or other religious figure, sometimes said to be the “Devils Wife or Girlfriend” or, according to one comment section, Virgin Mary’s ‘Evil Twin’.
• “Hell Mary” 😈After saying “Hell Mary” 7 times, the ghost appears either a demon or Satan himself.
• “Martha Heller”🗡️This version was collected by Jan Harold Brunvand, from an account as far back as 1962* If you say “I believe in Martha Heller” into a mirror she will appear holding a dagger in one hand and a bloody tongue in the other.
• “Bloody Bones” 💀The ghost appears as a bloodied skeleton or a rotting corpse, likely related to the ‘rawhead boogeyman of the same name.
• “Mary Wolf” 🐺 This version appears as a werewolf. Unfortunately, there’s little to no information to be found about it, but- if you’ll excuse the tangent- it could be related to stories of “invisible mirror wolves” from Californian folklore (passed to me by a friend.) says that “Giant invisible wolves with glowing red eyes that could only be seen whilst looking in the bathroom mirror appear in the men’s public school restrooms, the pack will drag you to hell if you aren’t quick enough.”)
• The English Queen 👸 “Mary I Tudor” (among numerous other existing, real or historical persons with a dark or bloody history. – See also: Mary, Queen of Scots, Countess Elizabeth Bathory, Black agnes, etc.) In this popular version, Mary is supposedly the ghost of Mary I Tudor, Queen of England (reigning 1516-58) who is often remembered & nick named as “Bloody Mary” on account of the religious persecutions & be-headings which prevailed during her reign, after appearing, the queen’s ghost supposedly chops off your head! (More about Tudors real history here. For further reading about Mary Tudor as a ghost see also “The Ghost that walks Windsor Castle”) “The Encyclopedia of Spirits”(Cheung. 2009, p.290-291) also offers a particularly strong argument for Mary Tudor being the origin of the name “Bloody Mary.”” (Although all of that said, in my personal experience, most Canadians seem to get get quite irritated when you bring the royalty/historic variations up.)
• There are quite a few other names for the spirit but are either too difficult to find information on or are otherwise vague, including: Kathy, Sally, Agnes, Aggie, Veronica, Mary Jane, Mary Lou, Mary Worthington, Mary Weathersby, etc.

On that note, are also quite a few graves which have been rumored to be ‘Bloody Mary’s Grave’ – (a couple examples from Baldwin Cemetery, Jennings County Indiana, [1] [2])  –

As there are literally dozens of variants to the Bloody Mary ghost legend, scholars often argue where it originates from. As said, Queen Mary Tudor has a strong argument going for her as far as the origin of the name Bloody Mary goes, However, mirrors have been used for divination rituals have for decades, There are a number of variations of these divinations, most of which involve unmarried girls wanting to catch a glimpse of their future husbands, some involving chanting a rhyme in a darkened room and then quickly looking in the mirror to catch a glimpse of the bridegroom-to-be, Others involve throwing apple peels over your shoulder while near a mirror, or brushing your hair. –

• Halloween ‘Mirror of love’: One strong example of using mirrors to summon a Spirit (or Satan himself) is found in the “mirror of love ritual” performed on November Eve (Halloween night). Today this ritual is found most prominently featured on old vintage postcards . According to Theresa Cheung’s Encyclopedia of the Psychic World (2006) – “Young women were encouraged to walk up a flight of stairs backward, holding a candle and a hand mirror, in a darkened house. As they gazed into the mirror, they were supposed to be able to catch a view of their future husband’s face. There was, however, a chance that they would see a skull-face instead, indicating that they were destined to die before they married.”

[Tuck and Sons postcard No 150. -[image source]

It seems that this (or at least a very similar) “November Eve” mirror ritual originated in Ireland. One similar example is found in “Ancient Legends of Ireland” as recorded by Lady Jane Wilde’s originally published in 1888. [p.110]  –

November Eve: “All the spells worked on November Eve are performed in the name of the devil, who is then forced to reveal the future fate of the questioner. The most usual spell is to wash a garment in a running brook, then hang it on a thorn bush, and wait to see the apparition of the lover, who will come to turn it. But the tricks played on this night by young persons on each other have often most disastrous consequences. One young girl fell dead with fright when an apparition really came and turned the garment she had hung on the bush. And a lady narrates that on the 1st of November her servant rushed into the room and fainted on the floor. On recovering, she said that she had played a trick that night in the name of the devil before the looking-glass; but what she had seen she dared not speak of, though the remembrance of it would never leave her brain, and she knew the shock would kill her. They tried to laugh her out of her fears, but the next night she was found quite dead, with her features horribly contorted, lying on the floor before the looking-glass, which was shivered to pieces.”

🌎 A Few Other Similar ghosts from around the world:

• Blue Baby Blue. 🌐 – The spirit of a stillborn or suffocated infant is said to be summoned by staring into the mirror while chanting “Blue Baby Blue” 13 times and cradling your arms back and forth in front of the mirror until you start to actually feel the weight of the ghost baby. The baby gets bigger & heavier as you go. If you don’t do the ritual fast enough it’s said that a woman will appear in the mirror of the bathroom and shout, “Give me back my baby!!” breaking the mirror with her screams if you don’t let go of the baby. Flushing it down the toilet is the common ‘way out’ but others say that the mother ghost will haunt you or kill you on the spot if you do that. Occasionally Bloody Mary is said to be the baby’s mother. Why you’d attempt to summon this one is beyond me! It lacks the ‘reward’ that summoning Mary might have. Judging from comments on various websites & the internet archive, this variant of the legend dates back to 1999-2012 (at least) but it seems to have had a recent resurgence becoming quite popular on TikTok as a “challenge”. (So perhaps the reward is ‘clout.)
• Hanako-san 🇯🇵 – Japan’s most well known restroom ghost. (Quite often touted as “Japan’s version of Bloody Mary” which is not necessarily incorrect, but also not quite!! The two are distinct and should not be overly conflated.) Hanako is the spirit of a young girl who haunts the 3rd most restroom stall on the 3rd floor of the school. Knocking 3 times causes her to appear. She’s a fixture of Japanese elementary school ghosts & urban legends dating back to at least the 1950’s Although, her origins are sometimes theorized to go back decades more and might’ve flowered from customs & cleaning rituals relating to Kawaya Kami. – Like Mary, Hanako has many of her own regional variations. – You can see a few of them by checking out the links at the bottom of this page, shout out to Tera of TYZyokaiblog!) – Japan actually has several Yokai & a slew of ghosts that haunt restrooms as well, find even more in my list of Toilet Terrors.
  (As a side note, some newspapers & various websites have conflated another yokai known as Kuchisake-onna with Bloody Mary as well despite them not having much in common. Perhaps she’s just the only urban legend they know.)
• La Llorona 🇲🇽 – La Llorona is a wailing woman & vengeful ghost originating from Mexican folklore. She cries, mourning her children whom she drowned in a jealous rage after discovering her husband was unfaithful to her. Whoever hears her crying either suffers misfortune or death. She’s also said to steal any children she comes across in hopes of replacing her own. Modern versions of the story in some parts of America have combined her with Bloody Mary. (I could go on but I’ll save it for a future sticker)
• Svarta Madame 🇩🇰 –  (The Lady In Black) A Danish/Swedish ghost of a witch from the 1800s who was burnt to a crisp at the stake. She chokes you from behind when you say “Black Madam, Black Madam, come out, come out” into the mirror three or more times in a pitch black room. She dates back to 2011 (at least, unfortunately I’d need to learn danish to tell you the full history!) various horror movies & a books series have also been made about it since, so there does seem to be some history there.
• Loira do Banheiro. 🇧🇷 – (Blonde in the Bathroom.) – A ghost popular in Brazil & Portugal, said to be the spirit of a pretty blonde student (or teacher) with a bloody cotton stuffed mouth who haunts public school restrooms. Supposedly killed by her envious classmates (or delinquent students, for giving them bad grades.) she haunts the restrooms and asks students to remove the Blood soaked cotton out of her nose. To make her appear you have to enter the last stall in the restroom, kick the door to the stall 3 times, flush a toilet 3 times turn a tap In the sink 3 times and say a curse-word aloud 3 times.
• CandyMan 📽️ – Worth an Honourable mention as it pops up where and whenever Bloody Mary is mentioned online and as it clearly does shares similarities to Bloody Mary (as well as The Hookman). however The Candyman originates from a short story titled “The Forbidden” from the 1985 anthology Books of Blood by Clive Barker and was adapted into a movie in 1992. Candyman is an urban legend created for the story that says if you speak “Candyman” 5 times into a mirror, the spirit of a murderer covered in bees and with a hook for a hand will appear from behind you and kill you. In the years since the movie premiered, the story of Candyman seems to have spread out of the context of the movie. It’s popped up in urban legend info graphics which have in turn been adapted into iceberg videos which in turn have no doubt spread to campfires and slumber parties of people too young to be aware of the movie’s and book’s existence. So while the story may have started as work of literary or pop culture fiction, Candyman may have found his way into the realm of urban legends in the same way that urban legends spread- the power of word of mouth.

In my own personal experience in Vancouver, BC, Canada, the standard schoolyard mythos of the 1990s-early 2000’s had it that “Mary was a former teacher or an older student, who was murdered decades ago.” The reasons for her death where always described vaguely (suicide or murder where common factors) but because she’s a ghost most of us just assumed that she died in a sad or tragic way- there was no need to be specific about the details.

I have a vivid memory when I was in 3rd-4th grade or so, Some friends and I had been dared to summon Bloody Mary whilst in the tiny closet restroom next to the nurses office during lunch break, the summoning rules went such as I remember them:

“Go into a washroom with a mirror, in pitch darkness, say “Bloody Mary” 3 times into the mirror whilst spinning around with your eyes closed. As you finish your final spin, turn to face the mirror. A murder victim covered in blood appears in the reflection. You can ask her ONE question about your future. Do not ask her any other questions, or else she’ll yell loudly then scratch your face off and drag you into the mirror world…”

Why the ghost would know anything about our future was beyond me at the time I didn’t even know what to ask. Fortunately I was good enough at rock paper scissors as to not be the one to summon her. The restroom was very small, not much bigger than a closet. As such, The student who was tasked with summoning Mary had tripped over the toilet whilst spinning. He came out of the restroom crying, with blood dripping from his forehead! Everyone freaked out believing that Mary actually got him! The students and I got detention for even attempting the ritual. (In hindsight, the ritual is probably better suited for slumber parties, unless you don’t mind staying late.)

Bloody Mary is also a popular topic of hazing rituals, dares, & tests of courage. It’s quite common for a prankster to sneak up & scream loudly to startle the person focused on the ritual. It’s also easy to take advantage of the ritual participants in similar ways such as the following report by “Debra S Brisch” collected by folklorist & Urban Legend expert Jan Harold Brunvand:

“I was introduced to this story as a new 6th grader in Olson Jr. High School, Woodstock, Ill., Fall of 1962. Two or three older girls would tell some younger girls to turn out the lights in the bathroom and recite 50 times ‘I believe in Martha Heller.’ She was supposed to appear in the mirror with a dagger in one hand and a bloody tongue in the other. The trick behind this was that while we younger kids were faithfully reciting the line, the older girls handed our purses out the door to their accomplices who would steal our money, gum, jewelry or whatever.” – (found across several 1990’s papers)

Bloody Mary is a common dare amongst school children and thus can be seen as a rite of passage (if you want to get Freudian about it, the “bloody” in her name and the fact that she’s commonly summoned in bathrooms makes her an easy metaphor for menstruation) But if you think about it logically, using Bloody Mary as a dare shouldn’t make sense because it’s too ridiculous for there to be any real risk factor. Even if ghosts are real they’re usually said to haunt where they died or a place they frequented in life. And if they could simply appear when someone asked there wouldn’t be a debate as to their existence. And yet, even if you don’t normally believe in ghosts, there’s still that apprehension. That feeling that something might happen. Even some fans of the Candyman movie are afraid to say his name in front of a mirror. These types of stories and rituals that offer a chance to know the unknowable and that gives them a kind of power over those who hear it. It’s not just a belief, it’s a temptation to believe. And that temptation is especially strong when you try it as a kid. (And equally disappointing when you try it as an adult.)

I personally still get weirded out by mirrors and avert my eyes whilst in dark rooms with mirrors to this day. — I’d suppose that everyone is biased to their own local interpretation – it’s like everyone has their own version of Bloody Mary and don’t realize that theirs might not match up to other people’s ideas of her because they generally don’t talk about it or discuss it as much (if at all) past attempting the ritual for the first time. All of that said, I’d love to invite my readers to leave their personal experiences with their own ideas of “Mary” in the review section below this post! 

[Thank you for reading! This Art sticker & Bio by @SamKalensky, part of my urban legends series of stickers! Check my shop & support my work for many more! Many Thanks go to my editor, Cattype for assisting with editing & research!]