Don’t Look into the Mirror at Midnight

Nationality: Vietnamese
Age: 25
Occupation: PhD Candidate
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 3/23/2020
Primary Language: Vietnamese
Language: English

Main Story: 

The following is transcribed between myself and the informant, from this point forward the informant will be known as TT and I will be MH. 

TT: There is this thing in Vietnam where you can’t look into mirrors at midnight. 

MH: Is that like a Bloody Mary reference? 

TT: What do you mean?

MH: Well there is a theory if you look into a mirror at night with the lights off and say Bloody Mary three times she will appear next to you. The “she” being a young girl covered in blood and the assumption is that she murders you I think. 

TT: Oh no, haha. That’s scary. Well, this is similar I guess. If you look into the mirror at midnight exactly then you can get transported to the other side because a portal opens up. 

MH: Is the other side like a spirit world? Like a heaven or hell situation or something different? 

TT: It’s like a spirit world. I’m not fully sure exactly where the myth came from, like if it is christian or not, but I’ve always been told it’s like a waiting room between everything. So maybe kind of non denominational? 

Background: 

The informant grew up in south Vietnam. He remembers a lot of the culture there being surrounded in superstition. This is one of the ones that he still thinks about, and he still doesn’t look into mirrors at midnight because of this. He claims that even though he’s a scientist by trade some things are better left untested. 

Context: 

The informant and I are friends, and the conversation happened organically while I was talking about some of my favorite ghost shows and spooky things. I then asked him if he had any prominent ghost stories or warning tales growing up. 

My thoughts: 

Mirrors seem to always draw some sort of attraction for the paranormal. Like broken mirrors bring bad luck, your fractured image can cause your mind to fracture or a demon to present itself to you etc. I am not sure when this first started, but there is always mystery with mirrors and what is looking back at you (is it really you?) and I find it interesting to see that this spans across cultures all over the world.