Bloody Mary

Mary lived deep in the forest in a tiny cottage where she prepared and sold herbal remedies for a living. 

Folks living in the town nearby called her Bloody Mary, and referred to her as a witch. 

No one dared to anger the old woman for fear that they may be cursed; that their cows would go dry, or their food-stores rot away before winter, their children take sick of fever, or any number of terrible things that an angry witch could do to her neighbors.

Then the little girls in the village began to disappear, one by one.  No one could find them.  

Where had they gone?  Grief-stricken families searched the woods, the local buildings, and all the houses and barns, but there was no sign of the missing girls. 

On a couple of occasions, the towns people went to Mary's home in the woods as they suspected that she may have taken the girls, but she denied any knowledge of the disappearances. 

Still, it was noted that her old appearance had changed.  Each time they saw her, she looked younger, more attractive.

 

The neighbors were suspicious, but they could find no proof that the witch had taken their young ones.

Then came the night when the daughter of the miller rose from her bed and walked outside, following an enchanted sound no one else could hear. 

The miller's wife couldn't sleep because she had a terrible toothache.  She was awake and in the kitchen treating the tooth with an herbal remedy when her daughter left the house. 

She screamed for her husband and followed the girl out the door. 

The miller came running in his nightshirt. 

Together, they tried to restrain the girl, but she kept breaking away from them and heading out of town.

The desperate cries of the miller and his wife woke the neighbors. They came to assist the frantic couple.

Suddenly, a sharp-eyed farmer gave a shout and pointed towards a strange light at the edge of the woods. 

A few townsmen followed him out into the field. 

They saw  Mary standing beside a large oak tree, performing magic and was facing toward the miller's house. 

In the path of her evil curse was the miller's daughter. 

The townsmen grabbed their guns, weapons and pitchforks and gave chase toward the witch. 

When she heard the commotion, Mary broke off her spell and fled back into the woods. 

The far-sighted farmer had loaded his gun with silver bullets in case the witch ever came after his daughter. 

Now he took aim and shot at her. The bullet hit Mary in the hip and she fell to the ground. 

The angry townsmen leapt upon her and carried her back into the field, where they built a huge bonfire and burned her at the stake.

As she burned, Mary screamed a curse at the villagers. 

If anyone mentioned her name aloud before a mirror, she would send her spirit to revenge herself upon them for her terrible death. 

When she was dead, the villagers went to the house in the wood and found the unmarked graves of the little girls the evil witch had murdered. She had used their blood to make her young again.

From that day to this, anyone foolish enough to chant Bloody Mary's name three times before a darkened mirror will summon the vengeful spirit of the witch. 

It is said that she will tear their bodies to pieces and rip their souls from their mutilated bodies. 

The souls of these unfortunate ones will burn in torment as Mary once was burned, and they will be trapped forever in the mirror.

More on Bloody Mary:

"Clearly one of the more disturbing urban legends to form around the supernatural, Bloody Mary has many variations, most of which involve chanting her name three to one hundred times while gazing into a mirror.  Often conducted in a darkened room at midnight, participants in this eerie “game” commonly chant “Bloody Mary” thirteen times, after which the the ghost appears behind them and in some versions of the tale, murders them brutally or pulls them into the mirror.  In other versions, summoners chant “Bloody Mary” to invoke the ghost and a deceased person of their choice, with whom they can speak until 12:08 a,m.

While Bloody Mary’s true identity remains a mystery, she has been linked to a variety of individuals from a suicidal mother wrongly accused of killing her children to Mary Worth, a name allegedly derived from a victim of the Salem witch trials, and even Queen Mary I, who suffered a number of miscarriages and was known as Bloody Mary for executing countless heretics.  The legend is said to date back to the 1960's, with names borrowed from historical characters or confused over time.  A staple campfire ghost story, the tale often changes depending on who is telling it and has become a modern urban legend."

Source:  urbanghostsmedia