Bloody Mary...
Bloody Mary is a ghost or witch featured in English folklore. She is said to appear in a mirror when her name is called three times or sometimes more while in a dark room, depending upon the version of the story, often as part of a game or dare.
One of the more common ways participants attempt to make her appear is to stand before a mirror (usually in the dark) and repeat her name 3 times, though there are many variations including chanting more than 3 times, chanting at midnight, spinning around, rubbing one's eyes, running the water, or chanting her name thirteen times with a lit candle. In some versions of the legend, the summoner must say, "Bloody Mary, I killed your baby." In these variants, Bloody Mary is often believed to be the spirit of a young mother whose baby was stolen from her, making her mad with grief, eventually committing suicide. In stories where Mary is supposed to have been wrongly accused of killing her children, the querent might say "I believe in Mary Worth." This is similar to another game involving the summoning of the Bell Witch in a mirror at midnight. The game is often a test of courage and bravery, as it is said that if Bloody Mary is summoned, she would proceed to kill the summoner in an extremely violent way, such as ripping their face off, scratching their eyes out, cutting their head off, driving them insane, bringing them into the mirror with her or scratching their neck, causing serious injury or death. Some think if she doesn't kill the one who had summoned her then she will haunt them for the rest of their life. Other versions tell that if one chants her name thirteen times at midnight into a mirror she will appear and the summoner can talk to a deceased person until 11:08a.m., when Bloody Mary and the dead person asked to speak to will vanish. Still other variations say that the querent must not look directly at Bloody Mary, but at her image in the mirror; she will then reveal the querent's future, particularly concerning marriage and children.
Bloody Mary Worth is typically described as a child-murderer who lived in the local city where the legend has taken root years ago, somewhere in the west. There is often a specific local graveyard or tombstone that becomes attached to the legend and a destination for legend trips.
On the other hand, various people have surmised that the lore about taunting Bloody Mary about her baby may relate her tenuously to folklore about Queen Mary I, also known as "Bloody Mary," whose life was marked by a number of miscarriages or false pregnancies.
Speculation exists that the miscarriages were deliberately induced. As a result, some retellings of the tale make Bloody Mary the queen driven to madness by the loss of her children.
The mirror ritual by which Bloody Mary is summoned may also relate to a form of divination involving mirrors and darkness that was once performed on Halloween. While as with any sort of folklore the details may vary, this particular tale encouraged young women to walk up a flight of stairs backwards, holding a candle and a hand mirror, in a darkened house. As they gazed into the mirror, they were supposed to be able to catch a view of their future husband's face. There was, however, a chance that they would see the skull-face of the Grim Reaper instead; this meant that they were destined to die before they married.
Divination rituals such as the one depicted on this early 20th century Halloween greeting card, where a woman stares into a mirror in a darkened room to catch a glimpse of the face of her future husband, while a witch lurks in the shadows, may be one origin of the Bloody Mary legend.
Boogeyman...
A
bogeyman (also spelled
bogieman,
boogeyman or
boogieman) is an amorphous imaginary being used by adults to frighten children or "leaders" to frighten adults into behaving. The monster has no specific appearance, and conceptions about it can vary drastically from household to household within the same community; in many cases, he has no set appearance in the mind of an adult or child, but is simply a non-specific embodiment of terror. Parents may tell their children that if they misbehave, the bogeyman will get them. Bogeymen may target a specific mischief — for instance, political upheaval, a bogeyman that punishes children who suck their thumbs — or general misbehaviour, whichever need serves the interests purpose best. In some cases, the bogeyman is a nickname for the devil.
Bogeyman tales vary by region. In some places, the bogeyman is male; in others, female, and in others, both.
In some Midwestern states of the United States, the bogeyman scratches at the window. In the Pacific Northwest, he may manifest in "green fog". In other places, he hides or appears from under the bed or in the closet and tickles children when they go to sleep at night. It is said that a wart can be transmitted to someone by the bogeyman.
Sack Man :
In many countries, a bogeyman-like creature is portrayed as a man with a sack on his back who carries naughty children away. This is true for many Latin countries, such as Spain, Portugal, Brazil and the countries of Spanish America, where it referred to as
el "Hombre de la Bolsa",
el hombre del saco, or in Portuguese,
o homem do saco (all of which mean "the sack man"). Similar legends are also very common in Eastern Europe, as well as Haiti and some countries in Asia.
In Spain,
el hombre del saco is usually depicted as a mean and impossibly ugly and skinny old man who eats the misbehaving children he collects. In Brazil,
o homem do saco is portrayed as an adult male, usually in the form of a vagrant, who carries a sack on his back (much like Santa Claus would), and collects mean disobedient children to sell. In Chile, and particularly in the Southern and Austral Zones, is mostly known as "El Viejo del Saco" ("The old man with the bag") who walks around the neighbourhood every day around supper time. This character is not considered or perceived as a mythical or fantastic creature by children. Instead, he is recognised as an insane psychotic murderer that somehow has been accepted by society which allows him to take a child that has been given to him willingly by disappointed parents or any child that is not home by sundown or supper time. In Honduras, misbehaving children fear "El Roba Chicos", or child-snatcher, which is very similar to "Hombre del Saco".
The
Hombre del Saco actually existed, being the man who, during the 16th and 17th centuries, was in charge of collecting orphan babies in order to take them to the orphanages: he would put them in a huge bag or in wicker baskets, and carry them all through the province collecting more children. Most of them usually died before reaching the orphanage due to the lack of care and the obviously insalubrious conditions in which he transported them. French writer Victor Hugo wrote about this job in his
The Man Who Laughs, describing it as the starter of the Spanish bogeyman myth.
In Armenia and Georgia, children are threatened by the "Bag Man" who carries a bag and kidnaps those who don't behave. In Bulgaria, children are sometimes told that a dark scary monster-like person called
Torbalan (Bulgarian: "Торбалан", which comes from "торба", meaning a sack, so his name means "Man with a sack") will come and kidnap them with his large sack if they misbehave. He can be seen as the antipode of the Christmas figure Dyado Koleda (Bulgarian:
Дядо Коледа; corresponding to Father Christmas). Usually, he is known to children as the family partner of Baba Yaga although this is based on folklore analogy. In Hungary, the local bogeyman, the
mumus, is known as
zsákos ember, literally the person with a sack" (in which he takes away children). He is often mentioned together with the "rézfaszú bagoly" (literally meaning "copper-penis owl"); as in "The mumus/rézfaszú bagoly will take you away".
In Turkey,
Öcü (less often called
Böcü) is a scary creature carrying a sack to capture and keep children. In the Czech Republic, Silesia and Great Poland, children are frightened by the
Bubak (in Polish,
bebok, babok, or bobok) or
hastrman (Bugbear, scarecrow, respectively) who is also portrayed as a man with a sack. He also, however, takes adults, and is known for hiding by riverbanks and making a sound like a lost baby, in order to lure the unwary. He weaves on nights of the full moon, making clothes for his stolen souls, and has a cart drawn by cats. In Russia, Ukraine and Belarus,
buka ("бука"),
babay ("бабай") or
babayka ("бабайка") is used to keep children in bed or stop them from misbehaving. 'Babay' means "old man" in Tatar. Children are told that "babay" is an old man with a bag or a monster, usually hiding under the bed, and that it will take them away if they misbehave (though he is sometimes depicted as having no set appearance). In the Netherlands, Zwarte Piet (Dutch for "Black Pete") is a servant of Sinterklaas, who delivers bags of presents on the 5th of December and takes naugthy kids back in the now-empty bags. In some stories, the Zwarte Piets themselves were kidnapped as kids, and the kidnapped kids make up the next generation of Zwarte Piets.
In Haiti, the Tonton Macoute (Haitian creole for "Uncle Gunnysack") is a giant, and a counterpart of Father Christmas, renowned for abducting bad children by putting them in his knapsack. During the dictatorship of Papa Doc Duvalier, certain Haitian secret policemen were given the name
Tontons Macoutes ("Uncle-Gunnysacks") because they were said also to make people disappear.
In North India, children are sometimes threatened with the
Bori Baba or "Father Sack" who carries a sack in which he places children he captures. A similar being, "Abu Kees" (ابو كيس), literally "The Man with a Bag", appears in Lebanon. In Vietnam, misbehaving children are told that
ông ba bị (in the North - literally mister-three-bags) or
ông kẹ (in the South) will come in the night and take them away. In Sri Lanka, elders frighten misbehaving children with
Goni Billa, a scary man carrying a sack to capture and keep children. In the Western Cape folklore of South Africa,
Antjie Somers is a Bogeyman who catches naughty children in a bag slung over his shoulder. Although the name is that of a female, Antjie Somers is traditionally a male figure (often an escaped slave who fled persecution by cross-dressing).
Cuco
El Cuco, (also
El Coco and
Cucuy, sometimes called
El Bolo) is a monster common to many Spanish-speaking countries.
In Spain, parents will sing lullabies or tell rhymes to children, warning them that if they do not sleep,
El Coco will come and get them. The rhyme originated in the 17th century has evolved over the years, but still retains its original meaning. Coconuts (Spanish:
coco) received that name because their brownish hairy surface reminded Portuguese explorers of
coco, a ghost with a pumpkin head. Latin America also has El Coco, although its folklore is usually quite different, commonly mixed with native beliefs, and, because of cultural contacts, sometimes more related to the bogeyman of the United States. However, the term
El Coco is also used in Spanish-speaking Latin American countries, such as Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Argentina, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Chile and Uruguay, although there it is more usually called
El Cuco, as in Puerto Rico. In Mexico and among Mexican-Americans,
El Cucuy is portrayed as an evil monster that hides under children's bed at night and kidnaps or eats the child that does not obey his/her parents or go to sleep when it is time to do so. However, the Spanish American bogeyman does not resemble the shapeless or hairy monster of Spain: social sciences professor Manuel Medrano says popular legend describes
El cucuy as a small humanoid with glowing red eyes that hides in closets or under the bed. 'Some lore has him as a kid who was the victim of violence ... and now he’s alive, but he’s not,' Medrano said, citing Xavier Garza's 2004 book
Creepy Creatures and other Cucuys."
In Brazilian folklore, a similar character called
Cuca is despicted as a female humanoid alligator. There's a famous lullaby sung by most parents to their children that says that the
Cuca will come and get them if they do not sleep, just as in Spain. The
Cuca is also a character of Monteiro Lobato's
Sítio do Picapau Amarelo, a series of short novels written for children, which contain a large number of characters from Brazilian folklore.
True Story - Boogeyman.
'This happened to me and my little cousin a few years back. I was babysitting for my aunt and I had just put my cousin to sleep. I turned around and began walking down the hall into the living room. I had just sat down when I heard my cousin screaming. I stood up and walked into the room where she was sleeping. I saw her, crying. I asked her why she was crying. She said what I thought was the boogeyman. "There's no boogeyman", I said, "just go to sleep". I left and twenty minutes later, this happened again. I went in the room and saw her crying. Then, I heard the crash. From inside the closet. My aunt's closet door began rattling. It was a big walking closet with a door and everything. The handle began turning back and forth and the door finally opened a crack. I picked up my cousin and we ran into my older cousin's room. I never told my aunt what happened. Even if I wanted to tell her, I don't know if I would. And since then they have moved and now live in New Mexico.'
The Candy Man
The story went that a freed-slave turned artist had an affair with a white man's daughter. He had his hand chopped off, dipped in honey, and then he was stung to death by bees. That's messed up enough as it is. Well, apparently if you stood in front of a mirror and said "Candyman" a couple of times he would appear behind you and kill you with his hook hand.
You say his name in front of the mirror and this guy with a hook appears...
apparently the source is the Bloody Mary Legend, which probably comes from an an old wive´s tale about saying the devil´s name out loud and it appearing (you could summon it).
In Mexico the CandyMan was an old person who offered candy to children and then took them, carved them with a hook or knife and dropped them back to their houses without organs or heads.
The story from 'www.scaryforkids.com/candyman
Candyman is an urban legend about the ghost of a slave who returns from the dead in search of revenge.
According to the legend, if you look into a mirror and chant the name “Candyman” five times, the Candyman will appear and kill you with his hook. For you see, the Candyman is a vicious killer with a bloody hook for a hand. He appears from the mirror, covered in blood and bees and with nothing but murder on his mind.
They say that years ago, Candyman was once a real man. Back in the days of slavery, Candyman was a black slave named Daniel Robitaille, who worked on a plantation in New Orleans. He was a talented painter and was chosen by the plantation owner to paint a portrait of his daughter.
But Daniel fell in love with the daughter of the white plantation owner. When the racist plantation owner discovered that his daughter and the slave were in love, he raised an angry mob and chased Daniel out of town.
Armed with pitchforks and a pack of dogs, they chased the poor slave across fields and streams. Finally, they caught up with the exhausted slave near an old barn. The evil men siezed Daniel and cut off his right hand with a rusty saw. Then they covered him in honey and threw him into a beehive.
The unfortunate Candyman was in terrible pain and died from his injuries, but not before he cursed the men who killed him and vowed to return and exact his revenge. They say his spirit would never rest and now his ghost walks the world for all eternity, appearing when his name is called five times.
So remember, you can say “Candyman” once, twice, three times or four. But never say it five times or you’ll be sorry!
The Candy Man (1992) Plot:
Helen Lyle is a graduate student conducting research for her thesis on urban legends. While interviewing freshmen about their superstitions, she hears about a local legend known as Candyman. The legend contains many thematic elements similar to the most well known urban legends, including endangered babysitters, spirits who appear in mirrors when fatally summoned, and maniac killers with unnatural deformities.
The legend states that while Candyman was the son of a slave, he nevertheless became a well known artist. Yet, after falling in love with a white woman who becomes pregnant, Candyman is chased through the plantation and when caught, has his drawing hand cut off and replaced with a hook. He is then smeared with honey (prompting the locals to chant 'Candyman' a total of 5 times- hence the 'say his name 5 times into the mirror'), stolen from a nearby apiary, and the bees sting him to death.
The legend also claims that Candyman is summoned by anyone who looks into a mirror and chants his name five times (similar to the Bloody Mary folkloric tale). Summoning him often costs the individual their own life. Later that evening, Helen and her friend Bernadette jokingly call Candyman's name into the mirror in Helen's bathroom but nothing happens.
While conducting her research, Helen enters the notorious gang-ridden Cabrini–Green housing project, the site of a recent unsolved murder. There she meets Anne-Marie McCoy, one of the residents, as well as a young boy named Jake, who tells her a disturbing story of a child who was horribly mutilated in a public restroom near the projects, supposedly by Candyman. While exploring the run-down restroom, Helen is attacked by a gang member carrying a hook who has taken the Candyman moniker as his own to enhance his own street credibility by associating himself with the legend. Helen survives the assault and is able to later identify her attacker to the police.
Helen later returns to school but hears a voice calling her name as she walks through a parking garage. Another man she encounters states he is the Candyman of the urban legend and because of Helen's disbelief in him, he must now prove to her that he is real. Helen blacks out and wakes up in Anne-Marie's apartment, covered in blood. Anne-Marie, whose Rottweiler has been decapitated and whose baby is also missing, attacks Helen and she is forced to defend herself from Anne-Marie using a meat cleaver. The police then enter the apartment and arrest Helen.
Trevor, Helen's husband, bails her out of jail the following day and leaves her in their apartment while he runs an errand. Candyman approaches Helen again and cuts the nape of her neck, causing her to bleed. Bernadette arrives at Helen's apartment and, too weak from the loss of blood, Helen is unable to stop Candyman from murdering her. Trevor arrives home and after it appears that Helen has murdered Bernadette, Helen is sedated and is placed in a psychiatric hospital pending trial.
After a month's stay at the hospital, Helen is interviewed by a psychologist in preparation for her upcoming trial. While restrained, Helen attempts to deny culpability in the murders and convince the psychologist that the urban legend is indeed true. After she summons Candyman, the psychologist is murdered by Candyman from behind and Helen is able to escape to her own apartment. There she finds Trevor with another woman, one of his students. Helen then flees to Cabrini–Green to confront Candyman and to locate Anne-Marie's still-missing infant.
Candyman predicts that Helen will help carry on his tradition of inciting fear into a community, and promises to release the baby if Helen agrees to sacrifice herself. Instead of holding his end of the bargain, Candyman takes both the baby and Helen into the middle of a massive junk pile which the residents have been planning to turn into a bonfire, intending to sacrifice both Helen and the baby in order to feed his own legend. However, the residents believe Candyman is hiding inside the bonfire pile and set it aflame. Helen manages to rescue the baby, but dies from burns in the process. Candyman also burns in the fire, leaving only his hook-hand behind.
After Helen's funeral, in which the residents of Cabrini–Green pay their respects and give thanks to Helen, Trevor stands before a mirror in the bathroom of their former apartment. He chants Helen's name in grief, summoning her vengeful spirit. Helen kills Trevor with Candyman's hook, leaving Trevor's new lover Stacey with his bloodied corpse as Helen becomes the embodiment of the urban legend.
