Who Is Bloody Mary And The 5 Scariest Real-Life Stories
Bloody Mary is an enduring figure because the monster steeped in oral history was built to last forever. She morphs and changes with the times but retains her core creepiness. It helps that first-hand accounts and analog horror stories are filled with tales about her or inspired by her. Every child has heard some version of her story, and almost everyone has tried to summon her in a darkened room. The murderous woman to who Candyman himself owes his predatory first appearance is a nightmare we all should avoid, and yet, like a moth to a flame, we quiver in front of mirrors and whisper her name. Who is Bloody Mary? Was she ever a real person? Is she real? Here’s everything you need to know about the everlasting monster.
How do you call Bloody Mary?
There are more variations of this ritual than can be counted. All of them require someone to stand in a darkened room, usually a bathroom, and stare at the mirror while reciting her name a number of times. In some stories, it is three times; other times, it is as many as thirteen. At some point, a female figure will appear in the mirror, sometimes with a baby. If you are lucky, you will only see or hear Bloody Mary, but a few unlucky people get scratched or pulled into the mirror and never seen again.
Who is Bloody Mary based on, and was she a real person?
There are several real people on who Bloody Mary may be based. The first is Queen Mary I. Mary Tudor got the unfortunate moniker because of her penchant for burning protestants. After she claimed the throne, she sought to terrify her citizens by reinstating heretic burning. She initially hoped only a few killings would be necessary, but three years and nearly 300 people later, she was still fighting with those of different faiths.
The Bloody Mary stories that link a baby with the scary woman also make some sense. Shortly after marrying Phillip, she announced she was pregnant. Her due date came and went with no baby. Reports from inside the castle claim she gave birth to what is described as a lump of flesh. She may have miscarried or delivered a deformed stillborn baby. We will never know. This was her only pregnancy; she died five years after becoming Queen. Her protestant half-sister Elizabeth became Queen and began killing Catholics. The victors write history, and Mary was given her nickname despite her sister and father killing thousands more than she ever did.
The next possible person Bloody Mary could be based on is Mary Worth. Her story is what many rural witch stories, including the Bell Witch and the Blair Witch, are based on. Supposedly she kidnapped and killed children in her village until she was caught and burned alive. As she was dying, she cursed the town and vowed to haunt them if they ever said her name while looking in a mirror. Her crimes against children and supernatural powers would work in the story’s context.
Other reports are that she was a slave smuggler who tricked poor souls into coming with her, where she sold them into slavery. Those that dared to defy Mary or escape were hunted down and tortured until she murdered them. In both accounts, she is labeled a witch. In the child kidnapping story, she murdered the kids to bathe in their blood and remain young. In the slave trade story, she did it as part of a witch ceremony and because she loved the all-mighty dollar.
The final option is the Hungarian noblewoman Elizabeth Bathory. She was said to have killed anywhere from 80 young women to 650. Moreover, she supposedly did unspeakable things to her victims, including sewing their lips shut, burning them, and cutting off parts of their bodies. All of this before she drained their blood to bathe in it like a macabre fountain of youth. There is some possibility, however, that she was a victim herself of a King who owed a sizable debt to her late husband and who staged a slanderous campaign.
The Scariest Real-Life Accounts of Bloody Mary on YouTube and Reddit that might be true
Nearly everyone has tried to summon Bloody Mary with very little success. We might all say we have seen her, but very few slumber parties end with scratched arms or missing children. More times than not, we convince ourselves and others that we saw or felt something that can’t be explained, and thus the legend continues. Some accounts have an air of truth to them. A seed of fear and plausibility that, no matter how big a skeptic, defies explanation.
There is a strange thread on Reddit called r/ThreeKings that dabbles in philosophy, meditation, bizarre rituals, and lucid dreaming. It’s the kind of place perfect for Bloody Mary recipes. After reading countless ways to summon Mary or any other entity, you might want to venture into the paranormal to hear real stories. Buried in comments on another’s story is a brief one from u/1975ari. In this user’s experience at nine years old, she summoned Mary, and nothing happened. Later that night, however, she was found crying in front of the mirror. At first, she had no memory of the event, but later she remembers waking up and feeling like an older woman mourning the loss of someone.
It’s not the most dangerous or violent of the stories out there, but it feels the most real because sleepwalking and night terrors are terrifying things that plague people every day, sometimes with disastrous results. Some people with spouses or family members who suffer from these sleep maladies report them wandering off or even attacking others. It’s all very scary stuff.
The next humble story from u/ilostmemarbles is harrowing for the genuine appeal for answers. This user is reaching out not to shock or scare but for help, and her cat story is something anyone with pets can relate to. Those of us with cats especially know their peculiar habit of staring at nothing for long moments or meowing for no reason. It can be disturbing and, in this case, might be a sign that they should sell that house and get out.
Another Reddit user, u/JustBrowsingFR recounts a story that delivered not a tearful woman but an ominous shadow. There is something creepy and relatable to a story that is subtle enough to be plausible yet eerie enough to cause goosebumps. Anyone who has ever been in a real haunted house knows that unpleasant feeling of being watched or followed. It’s unsettling and not something you ever forget.
YouTube is a hotbed of Bloody Mary encounters. There are compilation videos everywhere with the scariest Bloody Mary stories detailed. Since few of those show actual footage of said events, it’s hard to say how “real” any of them really are. One of the more compelling is a simple to-camera explanation of something sent to YouTuber @HaileyReese. There isn’t any actual footage, and the story doesn’t end with anyone dying, but Hailey’s honest approach makes it feel more real than most of the obvious effects forward offerings.
This TikTok from @kelsiidaviess is scary because she really believes something has happened, and her fear comes through the video. Some unexplained changes in lighting and camera focus could be nothing but might be proof that there is something to the urban legend after all.
The truth probably lies somewhere more clinical and less supernatural. I think, therefore, I am. The more videos we watch, the more we immerse ourselves in these stories, the more afraid we become. It’s human nature, and if you are susceptible to suggestion, as most of us are to some degree, you begin to look over your shoulder and peer pensively in the mirror. Hoping to see something and yet desperately wanting for nothing to be there. I always think twice about these things. I’ve stayed at one of the most haunted places in America, The Elms Hotel And Spa in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, and I can tell you I’m a believer. There are things in this world that can’t be explained and are better left alone. Is Bloody Mary one of them?
As the Managing Editor for Signal Horizon, I love watching and writing about genre entertainment. I grew up with old-school slashers, but my real passion is television and all things weird and ambiguous. My work can be found here and Travel Weird, where I am the Editor in Chief.