Scary Stories

The Bloody Mary Ritual

We were having a sleepover at my house that Saturday night.  Me and my four best friends; Alex, Bianca, Sabrina, and Lacey.   We made cookies and watched movies and did our hair and makeup.  By midnight, we’d run out of planned activities.  It was time to improvise. 

      “Let’s try that Bloody Mary thing,” Lacey suggested. 

      Alex, who was sitting crossed-legged on her sleeping bag, said:  “What’s the Bloody Mary thing?” 

     Sabrina, who was lounging on top of her own sleeping bag on the far side of the room, said:  “Come on, Alex.  Everyone knows the Bloody Mary thing!  You stand in front of the bathroom mirror with a lighted candle and say the witch’s name three times.  Then her ghost appears, looking just the way she did when she died; all horrible and bloody with scars all over her face!” 

      “She sounds gorgeous.  Just why, exactly, do you think I would want to see the ghost of Bloody Mary?” Alex asked skeptically. 

     “Why not?” I said from my place on the pull-out couch in the living room.  “I’ve always wanted to see a ghost! It could be fun.  Besides, I've heard she can tell your future if you summon her correctly.” 

      “And if you don't summon her correctly - or if she's in a bad mood - the ghost of Bloody Mary will rip your eyes out and leave your face horribly scarred,” Lacey said dramatically.  “Or you will be found dead with claw marks all over your face and body.” 

       “Or you could be trapped in the mirror with Bloody Mary for eternity,” Sabrina added. 

      “Ooo, that sounds like fun!  Disfigurement, death or entrapment.  What a fabulous way to spend eternity,” Alex said sarcastically.  “Where do I sign up?”

      “It’s a load of crap,” Bianca said as she tried to balance on one foot on the arm of the pull-out couch.  “It’s just a story told to scare little kids.  Bloody Mary isn't real.” 

      “I’ve heard its real,” I said.  “My friend Katie tried it once and saw the ghost in the mirror.  Bloody Mary told Kate that when she grows up she is going to become a research doctor who cures cancer and saves lots of live and wins a Nobel Prize.”

      “Hogwash,” said Bianca dismissively. 

      “There’s only one way to know for sure,” said Sabrina.  “Come on!  Let’s try it.” 

       I ran to the supply closet to get a candle and matches, and all of us, even Alex and the disbelieving Bianca crowded into our large downstairs bathroom.  

     "This is a bad idea," Alex said nervously as we lit the candle. 

      "Not it's not!  It's the perfect thing to do at a sleepover," I said.  "Like telling ghost stories.  Only this one might be true.  Here, you hold the candle."  I thrust the flickering candle into Alex's hand.    

     Once the candle was lit, Bianca turned all the bathroom lights.  As we stood before the bathroom mirror, I told everyone the story of Bloody Mary. 

      Bloody Mary was the name of an evil witch that live back in Colonial times.  The witch used her black arts to make her young again by killing a bunch of young girls in her village.  When the villagers discovered Bloody Mary was behind the murders, they burned her at the stake.  Bloody Mary used mirrors to help her locate and enchant her victims, and she cursed all mirrors when the villagers executed her, so that anyone chanting her name three times would be pulled into the mirror with her to spend eternity in the flames!