Bloody Mary
Turn off the lights, look into the mirror, and say her name three times. Then, the legend says, a face that isn't yours looks back.
What was reported
Bloody Mary is a ritual played by children and teenagers, mainly in the United States and Britain. In a dark room, often a bathroom, players stare into a mirror, sometimes by candlelight, and call her name a set number of times. A woman is then supposed to appear in the glass, sometimes covered in blood, sometimes reaching out.
In the 1970s, the folklorist Janet Langlois studied the game among girls in Indiana and found many versions and names. Some players link Mary to a witch, a woman killed in a crash, or the Tudor queen Mary I.
Explanations offered
Folklorists see the game as a rite of passage, a safe way for children to test their courage together. There may also be a real effect behind it: in 2010 a psychologist showed that staring at your own face in a mirror in dim light for a few minutes makes most people see their face warp and change into other faces.
- When
- Played since at least the 1960s
- Where
- Bloomington, Indiana, USA
- Witnesses
- Children at sleepovers, and folklorists
- Status
- Urban legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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