Nick Groff Investigates… Bloody Mary!

Nick Groff is one of the most respected names in television and beyond when it comes to the paranormal. He has had incredible experiences in some of the most haunted locations in the world. As a friend to Arrow in the Head, we’ve shared some very exciting experiences with Nick including a couple of wild and spooky moments that we’ve managed to capture on camera. Thus, we’ve decided to work with the television host and producer extraordinaire so he can share his knowledge and insight on all things that go bump in the night. With this bi-monthly column, we plan to delve into everything from urban legends to ghostly apparitions, to his take on some of the coolest genre flicks ever. This is Nick Groff Investigates…!

BLOODY MARY (& CANDYMAN)!

Having discovered horror at a very young age, I found that I embraced pretty much everything that went with it. From HALLOWEEN on, nearly everything about genre fascinated me. And this led to all the scary stories that you hear about when you are at a campfire or sleepover. For me, the tales that really tantalized were the ones that you could try and replicate. Whether it was the old “light as a feather, stiff as a board” trick or getting terrified while playing a Ouija board, this was the type of thing that excited me – yeah, I know, I took a few chances.

One of the things that truly creeped me out was the idea of “Bloody Mary.” And the most bizarre thing was, I had no idea of who she really was or what she would actually do. Even still, the thought of sitting in a dark bathroom and looking in the mirror and saying her name three times was something I don’t actually remember doing. I do however remember being supremely freaked out by the thought of some vicious ghost. Yet as an adult, the mythos behind Bloody Mary appears to be almost quaint – the original intent was Bloody Mary would reveal the face of a husband to a young woman walking backwards upstairs into the darkness with a candle (or somehting like that). And according to Wikipedia, the face would often be of a skull or the Grim Reaper himself.

The great thing about these spooky folk tales is that they tend to create some interesting interpretations in film. One of the best examples of using the mysterious ghost in a mirror idea is the classic feature CANDYMAN. In it, Virginia Madsen is Helen Lyle, a grad student working on her thesis which involves urban myths – with one in particular involving a scary fella named Candyman. As she digs deeper into the phenomena, she discovers that some horrific stories are absolutely true. And how do you summon this mythical monster? By standing in front of a mirror and saying his name five times. This fantastic film made mirrors scary, and presented the world with the brilliant Tony Todd as Candyman. If you have yet to see the original film, then I highly recommend you do so.

While CANDYMAN is a very different story, it sure gave a bit of proof that having some sort of creepy ritual of summoning a demonic force in a mirror is probably not a good thing to do. This got me thinking about Bloody Mary and all the creepy stories that she has inspired. Whether you believe in her or not, it may give one pause to try and summon the entity. But you know who would have something to say about this haunted story? I'm sure you do. This week, I got to thinking about Nick Groff and what he’d have to say about this mysterious woman who shows up when called. 

During our conversation, he filled me in on his own story, and frankly, I felt a bit strange that I’ve never had the experience of trying to contact the haunted image myself. So in preparation for this weeks column, I gathered a couple of my friends to give it a try… We saw nothing! That said, perhaps others have had more terrifying results than we did. If so, please share your tale in the comments below. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll let Nick finish up with his own experiences with Mary while I go find a dark room and say a certain name three times…

Say Bloody Mary three times in the mirror and turn off the lights. That’s exactly what I did as a teenager with one of my friends and it scared her so bad! I absolutely loved the movie Candyman by Clive Barker. It scared me when I was a kid but also fascinated me to learn more about the legend of Candyman and Bloody Mary.. All legends start somewhere and some stories are real. That’s what’s scary about Bloody Mary and Candyman.

When me and my friend said Bloody Mary three times in the mirror and the lights went out there definitely was a hesitation of what would happen next. All in all nothing happened except the excitement from our energy we put out there into the environment. Sometimes our minds are scarier than the legends. We humans like to go down the rabbit hole.

I’ve used mirrors on Paranormal investigations before and have had some Interesting results which documented some unexplainable evidence. It’s definitely an interesting world we live in but the curiosity is always there to search for more based on the ideas of scary stories. These things have intrigued humans for centuries.

Next time you go to bed or turn off your light remember to think twice before you say Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary,, Bloody Mary…You never know what door it might open to the other side.