Terrifying Tales: Mary Shaw and Her Dolls

“Beware the stare of Mary Shaw. 

She had no children, only dolls,

If you see her in your dreams, 

Make sure you never scream . . .

For she’ll rip your tongue out at the seam.”

The poem above was shared in a film entitled Dead Silence. This poem is based upon an old ghost story that was told in Ravens Fair for generations.

It was told to children to keep them in line, but some claim that there is some truth to the story. Regardless, it has evolved into a terrifying tale to tell at Halloween.

Is the curse that Mary Shaw placed real?

Outside of Ravens Fair, there is an old theatre—the Guignol—that sits near Lost Lake. It was 1941, and Mary Shaw was performing her ventriloquist show on stage.

A boy in the audience, Michael Ashen made fun of Mary. He called her a fraud and stated he could see her lips moving as the dummy talked. The audience then laughed.

Several weeks later, Michael went missing. The townspeople and the Ashen family became convinced that Mary had something to do with his disappearance.

A group of men, including Michael's family, and locals, challenged Mary one night. What had she done with Michael?

She screamed her innocence when they would not believe her claims that she had nothing to do with it. They grabbed her, cut out her tongue, and left her to bleed to death.

The local mortician noticed Mary had several odd requests in her will, but he followed them. 

She requested her dolls, which she called “her children” should be buried with her, and she stipulated her body was to be made up to look like a doll.

Several days after Mary was buried the killings began.

Each man who was involved in her murder was visited by one of the dolls. They were found dead, with their tongues ripped out.

Mary’s ghost then began to visit the wives and children of these men. As the years passed, their children’s children were visited. All were found in mid-scream with their tongues ripped out—dead.

The residents of Ravens Fair, still refuse to utter Mary Shaw’s name. For they are terrified Mary and “her children” are waiting in their grave for their next victim.

This begins a series of stories on Seeks Ghosts under the Terrifying Tales title that will be shared
between now and Halloween.