top of page

Mom and Scary Mary of Abecid Manor

Alice, Ontario, Canada
July 2003

This isn't a story about me, but a story about my mother. This happened to her when she was in Russia, still in school. She didn't have me or my sisters yet. She was 17 years old when she had her first encounter, but she's still a skeptic. But I'm a sure believer. Anyways, on with the story.

My mother had a friend, let's call her "Katy", who invited her for a birthday party, along with a few other girls. "Katy" lived in a really old house in the country with her family. It was an old pale blue house called Abecid Manor. It was so old that it didn't even have an indoor toilet! You had to go into the backyard, around a rose bush and into one of two outhouses.

The day of the party, My mother arrived and the night went swell. There were tons and tons of people, some were friends of "Katy", and others were family. Everyone ate and danced and did what anyone would do at a birthday party. Then a few people left because it was getting late, but my mother stayed since she was sleeping over. Two other girls were also sleeping over, "Helen" and "Laurie".

My mother slept in a room with one of the other girls, "Helen". The room they slept in was small, but comfy. It had two seperate beds and a tall old wooden dresser with a bunch of boxes sitting on top of it. "Helen" fell asleep right away, but my mother had a hard time because the room was unusually cold and my mother had an uneasy feeling, as if a stranger was watching her. She knew that it wasn't "Helen". "Helen" never made you feel afraid when she looked at you.

The next morning, my mother awoke to a rustling sound. She opened her eyes just a crack. She could see that light was already pouring into the room through the window, spilling over the floor and walls. Then she looked over to the dresser, where the rustling sound had come from. She opened her eyes a bit more to see an incredibly thin young women with short dark hair just below her ears. She was wearing a black dress with a strange design on it. The woman was looking through the boxes that sat atop the dresser. She seemed very concentrated. My mother decided that it was nothing, and turned on her other side, away from the woman, to go back to sleep. But then suddenly her eyes popped wide open, and she felt fear wash over her. The room turned unbearably cold and it felt like someone had poured a bucket of ice over my mother. My mom couldn't move or hardly breathe at all. She knew it wasn't sleep paralysis because she had moved freely just a few seconds ago. But the feeling went away after just a few seconds and my mom slowly sat upright in her bed and turned to look at where the woman was. She was gone. My mother sat there for a few minutes, collecting herself. Then she got up to wake "Helen". She told her the story but made "Helen" promise not to tell "Katy" because my mom was afraid that her experience would scare "Katy". "Helen" was reluctant, but she promised and the two girls went to wash up and have some breakfast.

Later, at breakfast, "Helen" convinced my mom that it was only best to tell "Katy". They had already told "Laurie" and she agreed with "Helen" that my mom should tell everybody what happened. So my mom built up some courage and spoke out loud. She said, "You know the strangest thing happened to me. I saw a woman in my room this morning with short dark hair. She was re-arranging some boxes on top of the dresser. She was wearing this long black dress with a lacy design on it. Anybody know who she is?" Everybody stopped and stared at my mom like she had just confessed to murder. People dropped their forks (oh by the way all of "Katy's" family had come over for breakfast), some even sat back in their chairs and glared at my mom with some sort of anger. My mom sunk back into her chair and the rest of breakfast was quiet.

Later, "Katy" pulled my mom away from everyone else and told her that there had been a lot of strange things happening lately at her home- objects moving on their own, strange knockings on the walls, footsteps on vacant stairways, and voices. Also, "Katy" confessed that she no longer slept in that room because when she did she always awoke with bruises on her arms and legs, but didn't feel anything or anyone touch her in her sleep.

My mother decided to get some heads-up on the house, so she researched and later found out that many people lived in that house and that it was built the mid 1800's. One family lived there who had a very beautiful daughter named Mary. She had long dark hair and was slim, but not skinny. She was to be married but then her fiance died suddenly in his sleep. Mary was so devastated that she slowly began to stave herself. She cut her hair short just beneath her ears and then began to shut herself away from the rest of the world. Later, Mary went into the cellar and committed suicide by hanging herself. My mother also found out that Mary was a very curious girl and she hated being alone, but when her fiance died that all changed.

Before she committed suicide Mary began to capture cats and dogs and other homeless creatures and torture them in the room that my mother slept in. She would stave them and cut them and pull out their fur and so on. Mary also had a nick-name: Scary Mary. Neighborhood kids would call her that whenever they saw her out on the street hunting for animals. Mary would sometimes take knives out with her and cut the children who mocked her. My mother was so frightened by this that she never went back to Abecid Manor again.

Well that was my mom's story. Hope you enjoyed it! Oh and if either my mom or I have any other experiences, I'll be sure to send 'em in!

Alice, Ontario, Canada
00:00 / 01:04
bottom of page