Mirrors - Why are they scary?

[Famine]

Because they don't lie.

Oculus was a great movie :)

[J.L.]

When I was a kid I remember staying up late one Saturday night watching a movie full of short stories, very twilight zone-ish (I think it was called amazing stories or something like that) One story was about a horror author who, every time he looked in a mirror, saw a masked man sneaking up behind him. Whenever he actually turned to check behind him he saw nothing. Toward the end every reflective surface the guy looked in showed a man coming up behind him getting ready to strangle him but when he actually looked there was nothing there.

I was pretty young but it took me weeks to get over watching that movie, I was terrified every time I even got near a mirror, always expecting to see the same creepy dude getting ready to kill me.

[Marie]

In movies, like Bloody Mary, the mirror is suppose to show "Mary" as you chant her name three times. After seeing that movie I was creeped out a little. Sometimes Dracula movies have mirrors as the vampires do not show a reflection. That old saying "mirrors are windows to the soul" sums it all up as supposedly the "soul" is captured by looking into the mirror.

[Marie]

John wrote: "Marie wrote: "In movies, like Bloody Mary, the mirror is suppose to show "Mary" as you chant her name three times. After seeing that movie I was creeped out a little. Sometimes Dracula movies have ..."

Did I get that mixed up? Oops sorry. :(

Well it sounded good! lol

[Justin]

They let you see into yourself and sometimes that can be true horror.

[Shay]

The only thing that freaked me out about mirrors aschild was Bloody Mary. Also seeing something standing behind you when you look into the mirror, still does freak me out from time to time. The movie Mirrors still haunts me, the part where his sister is in the bathroom and her reflection stays in the mirror when she turns away to take a bath.

[Justin]

Shay wrote: "The only thing that freaked me out about mirrors aschild was Bloody Mary. Also seeing something standing behind you when you look into the mirror, still does freak me out from time to time. The mov..."

Great points. The whole Bloody Mary thing has always been scary whether you believe in it or not. The movie Mirrors is quite freaky I know after I saw it I was hesitant to look in a mirror for a few hours lol.

[Matthew]

Someone told me the bloody Mary story when I was in 4th grade. Every since then they've been scary to me. Plus I've watched too many horror movies. Mirrors are like portals to another creepy dimension to me.

[J.J.]

Mirrors could break and you could get hurt on the broken glass...that's pretty scary. :D

Candyman keeps coming up, but what could be scarier than finding out the person in the next apartment could just remove their mirror to watch you taking a shower?

[Dennis]

In the 1945 movie "Dead of Night" one the stories was about a mirror that reflected events from another time. Very freaky!

[Gerhard]

When I'm up at night in the dark, I will never look into a mirror. Sometimes I can feel the urge getting stronger, but I resist it. You never know what might be staring back at you!

[Jeanine]

All that Bloody Mary, Piggy, Candyman, etc. is just too much for me. I don't necessarily believe in those spirits, but what scares me the most is what my imagination will see. When I have to use the restroom in the middle of the night, I run like mad back to bed and never look behind me.

[Carrie (brightbeautifulthings)]

I can pretty much attribute my unease about mirrors to my friends playing Bloody Mary when we were kids. I could do seances, Ouija board, enact my fake funeral, play Cat Scratches and Sandman, but I was never brave enough for that one. I still don't like walking by mirrors in the dark or having them in my room while I sleep.

I lived in an apartment for a year with a vanity set into the wall. The window would "tick" at night if it wasn't closed right, but it took me weeks to figure that out. I was too afraid to look at the mirror because I thought it was my reflection tapping on the glass to get out.

I found Aja's Mirrors very creepy, but Oculus just seemed like a cheap imitation. I didn't really care for it.

[[deleted user]]

Interestingly, looking into mirrors in the dark has been reported to cause minor halucinations in some people, usually of having someone else's face.

[Carrie (brightbeautifulthings)]

I can see why it would. That would make a great story.

[Jon]

When my father was young, he attempted an initiation into the Rosicrucian spiritual movement, which involved staring into a mirror in the dark while holding a candle. Similar to the description way down below on this thread, I think it symbolized a doorway into an alternative understanding of reality. But something spooked him, and he never completed the initiation. Hmm...

[Karen]

If ou've ever watched "Prince of Darkness," you'll know why I have very few mirrors in my house!

[M.E.]

Karen wrote: "If you've ever watched "Prince of Darkness," you'll know why I have very few mirrors in my house!"

Loved that movie!