Bloody Mary

In another post I discussed the legend of Bloody Mary and how school children conjure her. This is one variation of the traditional tale that has been passed down from one generation to the next.

The townsfolk avoided crossing Mary’s path for fear this witch would curse their fate. She lived deep in the forest in a tiny cottage. One winter the young girls in the village began to disappear. Everyone suspected Mary of foul play but no one dared accuse her.

One night the miller’s daughter hearing a strange, melodious sound that no one else heard arouse from her bed compelled to find the source. Her mother, nursing a toothache, saw her daughter pass the kitchen. She called out her daughter’s name. Her daughter ignored her appearing to be in a trance.

The miller’s wife shrieked, calling for her husband, she followed her daughter out the door. The miller came running. They both repeatedly tried to stop their daughter she managed to break free each time staying to a path that headed out of town. Neighbors heard the couples’ desperate cries, grabbed their guns and pitchforks and came to help.

A farmer pointed to a strange light that glowed at the edge of the forest. Several others spotted Bloody Mary standing at the base of a large, dead oak tree. She was holding a mirror out in the direction of the miller’s house. She was glowing brightly as she continued to cast a spell on the miller’s daughter. Several shot at Mary. One bullet met its’ mark and Mary fell to the ground.

The angry townsmen leapt upon her and carried her to a field where they built a huge bonfire and burned her at the stake. As she burned Mary glared at the villagers through the flames that engulfed her. “If anyone,” she cried,” mentions my name aloud before a mirror I will send my spirit to revenge myself in payment for my death.” When the villagers went to the evil witches’ cottage they found the graves of all the girls she had murdered.

Bloody Mary’s curse lives on. Tales have been told of young people who were foolish enough to chant Bloody Mary’s name before a mirror, summoning her evil spirit. It is told she tears these poor victim’s bodies to pieces ripping their souls from their mutilated flesh. They are trapped forever in a burning torment inside the mirror.