The Urban Legend of Bloody Mary

Bloody Mary

Legend has it that if you stand in front of a candlelit mirror and chant the words Bloody Mary thirteen times, a vengeful spirit will appear. However, there are also many other variations to this urban legend. There is no definitive answer as to Bloody Mary’s identity, but Mary could often be depicted as a witch, ghost or demon (Houston). Some accounts say that a young woman named Mary was supposedly in a terrible accident, which mutilated her face (Norder). There are other variations to the legend that claim she was a witch that was executed over a hundred years ago for practicing the dark arts (Mikkelson).

I collected this urban legend from a nineteen year old male here at the University. He is a sophomore and is majoring in biochemistry. He was born in India, but moved to Phoenix with his parents, sister and two brothers. He first heard this urban legend from friends during a sleepover when he was in fifth grade. While we were standing and retelling the story, other people came up and listened to him tell the story. Afterwards, everyone agreed that they had heard this story when they were younger, but that some of the details were different. It was very interesting how one story could have so many different variations.

The way he remembers the story of Bloody Mary is that you have to be standing in front of a mirror. When retelling the story, he paused before specifying that you have to be standing in front of a mirror in the bathroom. You must be by yourself or else it will not work. You must turn out the lights, leaving only a small light on, such as a night light. Next, you have to say the name Bloody Mary thirteen times. He paused again, and then included that you must be turning around in a circle, wh...

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...as impacted countless people around the world, especially in the United States, even sparking the emergence of numerous other urban legends based on the same principles. Many aspects of the original story have changed--there are countless variations to the particular legend. Bloody Mary has played on people’s desire for excitement and it is also a way to release anxiety and experience some safe fear.

Works Cited

Houston, Mystic. "The Legend of Bloody Mary." Bella Online. 2006. Minerva WebWorks LLC. 8 Apr. 2006. http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art30890.asp.

Mikkelson, Barbara, and David P. Mikkelson. "Bloody Mary." Snopes. 27 Oct. 2005. Urban Legends Reference Pages. 6 Apr. 2006. http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/bloodymary.asp.

Norder, Dan. "The Face in the Mirror." Mythology Web. 1999. 7 Apr. 2006. http://www.mythologyweb.com/bloodymary.html.