Stories to haunt you night or day

True story of Bloody Mary

While holding a lit candle go into a room that has a mirror and gets pitch dark, then turn out the lights. Spin around three times in front of the mirror while slowly chanting 'Bloody Mary Bloody Mary Bloody Mary.'

Then... look in the mirror and you will see the pale face and glowing eyes of Bloody Mary staring back at you.

Back when I was a kid that's what two friends dared me to do when we were bored one summer afternoon. It was too hot to go out and do something and we had resorted to a truth or dare kind of game to pass the time. I'd never heard of the Bloody Mary game before and was intrigued but a little creeped out, would Bloody Mary really appear in the mirror if I did all that stuff?

'Okay, I'll do it.' I said after giving it a little bit of thought.

So I took a candle and headed towards the only room in that house that could get pitch black, the bathroom. To my surprise one of the two girls that had dared me to play the Bloody Mary game was now saying 'Nooo don't' and trying to stop me from going. The other girl just kind of hung back and was quiet, she too was scared but didn't want to say anything.

Ah, they didn't think I would actually do it when they dared me. Or maybe it just didn't hit them what could actually happen until I had accepted the dare. Well one thing was for sure, I couldn't back out now.

I went into the bathroom and closed the door behind me, making sure not to accidentally put out the candle as I set it on the sink. I could hear the girls loudly scampering back to the bedroom and then it was dead quiet. LOL, they really were scared. But maybe they had good reason to be.

WHO IS BLOODY MARY?

I did as instructed and turned around three times while chanting the wordsBloody Mary. After the third turn I cautiously looked at the mirror, would there be some spin-induced optical illusion that would catch my eye and scare the crap out of me? Or the face of Bloody Mary? Or worse, the face ofBloody Mary hovering right behind me and looking over my shoulder.

And... there was nothing. Just the flickering of the candle showing everything that was supposed to be in the bathroom and not a single thing (or person) more.

My friends weren't disappointed as much as relieved that nothing had happened and quickly moved on to other subjects to occupy our afternoon, they never brought up anything like Bloody Mary again.

The fact remains though that some people do say they see strange things and even Bloody Mary herself when they play the game.

There are many different rituals on how to conjure her in the mirror, often including doing things like whispering 'I stole your babyBloody Mary' three times or for the truly brave out there, firmly locking the door before starting the chant.

But who is Bloody Mary anyway and did she ever really exist? And what is the story behind the freaky chant about the baby?

I looked it up and there are various theories as to who the woman behind the Bloody Mary legend is, but many believe her to be a woman named Mary Tudor.

Mary Tudor is confirmed to have actually existed and I'm not surprised that she's believed to be the origin of the Bloody Mary legend as her life was often soaked in blood...