Good morning, evening, and night to everyone. With the spooky season rolling around this year, it’s no surprise we’re all wondering what plans to carry out with loved ones for a scary fun time. That being said, I’m sure each and every one of us has heard dozens of Halloween urban legends, including the Candyman, the Headless Horseman, or witches and their black cats. While these are renowned characters of a spooky nature, have you ever really wondered about their origins? How did they come to be the beloved symbols that resurface every October? Whether you have or haven’t, I’ll talk to you about a particularly popular persona, which I can guarantee you, or someone you know, tried conjuring up before; Bloody Mary.
Let me refresh your minds with the rules of the game. You must first be alone in a dark room with a mirror, most preferably a bathroom. It is said you must light a candle and place it in front of the mirror, before looking straight at your reflection and saying “Bloody Mary” three times. As you say this, it is crucial you say her name clearly and slowly enough to be able to understand. After these simple steps are done, you wait in silence–eyes unmoving from your reflection–for her to appear. These are the most widely known steps, but according to an extended rulebook, more commonly known as Wikihow, if Bloody Mary does not appear before your eyes, you should spin in a circle three times, because that may cause her to appear. If she still does not appear, spin three times in the other direction, and perhaps that’ll work. After all is said and done, you must blow out the candle to end the game before leaving the bathroom. If you’re with a group of friends, then choose the next person to send into the bathroom, and maybe they’ll see something you didn’t.
Now that you are familiar with the game, how did Bloody Mary come to be this widespread? Well, no one seems to be quite sure. Bloody Mary of the Mirror is now known independently of historical figures and events. However, the nickname itself, “Bloody Mary,” can be traced back to Queen Mary I of England, as she would have Protestant dissenters burned at the stake during her reign in the 1500s. Another more convincing connection is that of the Hungarian noblewoman and serial killer, Elizabeth Báthory. According to Britannica, Báthory tortured and murdered around 600 young women in the 16th and 17th centuries. As punishment, she was kept in her chambers at Castle Čachtice until she died. Her story is quite interesting, but details of her crimes I cannot share in all their entirety. The most prominent and relevant characteristic of her crimes to the “Bloody Mary” nickname would be that she is said to have bathed in the blood of her victims, though this idea is put to doubt as there are no real accounts of her doing so. Regardless, this countess did commit heinous crimes and tortured her victims in inhumane ways. Overall, we can be safe in assuming that the urban legend of “Bloody Mary” is nothing more than a story invented by idle minds. As for the phenomena that occur within the game, it is explained to be your mind’s impressive imagination and hallucination. Why not try your hand at the game?
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