Here is an effect I am working on. Can I get your opinions?

MARY
(Looking in a mirror) "Some hold to a concept that mirrors are portals between this world and the realm of spirits. This shows up in other beliefs, namely those surrounding funerals. It was common practice to cover mirrors in a house where a death had occurred until the body was taken for burial. Back in the days before funeral homes, corpses were washed by the deceased's relatives, dressed in their funeral finery, and laid out in coffins in the front parlor. Consequently, the dead would be in the house for days. It was believed if the dear departed caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror, his ghost would remain in the house because the mirror would trap his spirit. Legend, possibly. Superstition, very likely. But what if… what if legend and superstitions are tied in with reality? Would not we then believe?
Perhaps the most famous ghostly figure to appear is known as "Bloody Mary". (Look at picture).
Mary I of England was anything but a famed beauty, terrified of losing her looks -- she was a matronly, fortyish woman who had about as much sense of style as a dust mop. The idea of her bathing in the blood of slaughtered virgins to preserve her loveliness is ludicrous. She came by the moniker "Bloody Mary" because of this…peculiarly in her person. Where was Oil of Oley back then?
The method most often used in summoning the face in the mirror, in this ritual; is a mirror in a darkened room, lighting candles, and repeating three times "Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary!"
A warning, though: some people say that after summoning, if you walk by a mirror in total darkness; Bloody Mary will get you. The most common end result in the stories is that you'll see Bloody Mary's face in the mirror, and she'll try to hurt you somehow.
The attack could be scratching you with her fingernails or claws, tearing your face off with her teeth (some tales say she was a cannibal), attacking you with a knife, chopping off your head, pulling you into the mirror so you'll never escape, cutting out your eyeballs and stealing them, forcing you to cut your own throat, scaring you so badly that you die of fear or relentlessly haunting you in any reflected surface from that point on.
I knew I left my hall light on all the time for a reason. You’ll now have a new respect for the phrase “Mirror, Mirror, on the wall...”.
"Just for the fun of it, let's try something. (Light two candles). Would you be so kind as to give me a hand, miss? (Take out the mirror). Now would you please look into the mirror, and repeat after me. "Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary!" Hmm, nothing happened… let's have everyone help. "Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary!" (Pick up the picture) Guess it's just an Urban legend..Or is it? (Turn over the picture showing it bleeding).


Most magically yours,
WR

Anthony,

Much as I like the idea of giving the background on spirits trapped in mirrors, what I really love is the idea of having a participant look into a mirror by candlelight and invoke "Bloody Mary!" These are two different thoughts (Mary is not somebody whose soul was trapped in your specific mirror during funary rites, after all). So, my advice would be to ditch the factual background on funereal practices and concentrate on the invocation.

(For more about this legend, check out: http://www.mythology.com/bloodymary.html )

About the ending: it's anticlimactic, in my opinion. The theater of having somebody do the invocation is so powerful, it can't be topped with a bleeding picture (which doesn't jive for many of your audience who know this legend, anyway, since to them it is often "Mary Worth," not Queen Mary I).

Work on better ways to pay this off (seeing Mary in the mirror would be a good start), and you could have something truly devastating.

Good luck!

Perhaps I could rig a mirror, so the picture appears when one looks into it. No blood, huh? Bummer. My sources say two women were called Bloody Mary; Mary I and Mary Worth. I just like the bathing in blood idea.
WR

Depending on the amount of room, you could do a Pepper's Ghost routine for the image.

Forgive my ignorance but what is Pepper's Ghost?
WR

Know the ghosts in the ballroom of Disney's Haunted Mansion? That's the Pepper's Ghost illusion. Not a terribly practical method outside of certain stage applications, but effective in the proper place.

Okay, Anthony, here's an idea for you: do it as a seance effect in a dark room for a handful of sitters. After the preamble, your participant stares into the mirror through the light of a candle, says the name three times, and waits to see Bloody Mary. And waits. Suddenly, the candle goes out, plunging the room into darkness. When the lights come up, the mirror bears the participant's first name -- written in blood.

I knew you'd like the blood.

Pepper's Ghost is also known as "The Blue Room." Another use is "The Girl to Gorilla."
It could be done with candles, as light is the operative.

Beautiful idea, Neil. Thanks for the Blood!
WR

I was so bloody scared reading this thread! Okay; bad humour, so I apologize beforehand. I really liked Necromancer's idea, very creative!

WR,

If I may throw my hat into the ring, I loved your original storyline (name origination aside) but like Necromancer found the ending just a tad anticlimatic. Once again, just an opinion, no offence intended. I was hooked right until the end!

If we're talking about rigging mirrors, would it be possible to rig it to shatter - a totally controlled shatter using laminated glass perhaps for the obvious safety implications!

And then, using the main body of your story, have an ending with the glass shattering, you in the process sustain a "cut" to your finger/hand and cry out in pain!
When the picture of Mary is turned over and found to be bleeding, you finish by saying something like "Well, I did warn you.....Mary 'can' be quite spiteful!"

Just a little twist but one that may enhance the climax.

Hope it helps!

Best regards

Harry X

WR,
You seem to be mixing up two stories here to accomplish your end result.

The woman who bathed in the blood of virgins to preserve her beauty was the 16th century Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory.

Meanwhile, also in the 16the century, Mary I of England -- a staunch Catholic -- earned the sobriquet "Bloody Mary" by her persecution and execution of leading Protestants of the day -- like Thomas Cranmer -- who were described as "heretics".

Tread warily when you come up with a story line and be sure your facts are accurate; if they aren't, you will almost certainly be "called" by someone who DOES know the facts.

A rule of thumb (from Linking Ring magazine editor Phil Willmarth many years ago) might be:

Only include a story in a magic routine if you can discuss it (the story) intelligently afterwards with an expert in the field.

Note: YOU don't have to be an expert; just knowledgeable enough to show the expert you know what you are talking about.

I need a mirror that will shatter when I want it to or crack if you will. Is there such a thing? Where can one get it?
WR

For a mirror that will shatter; try making one from sheet sugar, sort of a candy making thing they do for break away bottles. You are basically making a lollipop without the stick, (get a cookbook or recipe from your mom on making candy to the hard crack stage). If you use a compact case, the back should be silver; (spray paint will do) with black behind the silver to give the mirror surface. If you have a small hole or two in the case with room to poke a small (file the point off) nail, you can punch it thorugh when the lights go out to make it break. The sugar can be sharp, so do not make it too thick....(replaces the bandaid...again); or smack it from the front with a ring. Let the bits fall out of the case if you do the lights out thing!

Ok, how about this:
Change the story so there's no lady in blood (for Peter). Stick to only one Bloody Mary. Drop the mirror/dead thing. Have them chant, looking into mirror, 3 times. The lights go out. The mirror shatters with person's name on it in blood or Mary's face. Turn it over, painting blood every where. Well, maybe not everywhere.
WR

WR,

Your idea is certainly worthy of consideration. When you mentioned both a mirror AND a picture, I felt sure you were thinking of using a device similar to a flap slate: The mirror is in a frame and is actually a "flap mirror," with a duplicate, but "bloody" picture on the reverse side of the flap, which covers a duplicate, but altered mirror. When the mirror is laid on the picture (similarly framed, so that the mirror and picture are like the standard two trick slates), the flap could produce both a message (or crack) on the mirror and a bloody picture.

Frankly, I would not use the above set-up. I might use a single "flap mirror." The flap would be a very thin mirror, with a flat black back matching a close-up mat, on which the flap could be secretly dropped when the mirror is place face down. The second mirror, initially hidden by the flap, could be "dressed up" any way you like. I like the severely cracked/shattered idea. I would also gimmick the flap mirror with that substance that appears when you breathe on it. A spooky message or even a ghostly image of Mary could appear on the flap mirror when a spectator breathes on it. You could even use a RED listo swami gimmick to personalize a message ("written in blood") on the flap mirror. After the message/picture appears on the flap mirror, you ditch the flap (when you turn the mirror face down) and ultimately give the framed mirror to the spectator to hold. When she turns it over, it is cracked or shattered.

There is a "scientific curiousity called St. Rupert's drops. Basically, they are tear-shaped drops of glass that have been improperly annealed and, thus, are under internal stress. You can rap one on a hard surface without damaging it, but break off the tip of its tail and it completely shatters.

At one time, small thick walled flasks, prepared in the same manner, were sold as a mental effect. The idea was that you tapped one with a hammer to show its solidity and relative sturdiness. Then you put it in a clear plastic bag and allowed an audience member to swing it against an imaginary brick wall. After a few swings, the flask shattered. I don't remember what the effect was called.

It's probably not practical but I wonder if the same thing could be done with a framed mirror. All you'd have to do is scratch it with a crystal of carborundum.

Well, it is a thought. I think.

Sid