M is for . . .

 

Image Source: John Tenniel [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Mirror.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? Who could forget this famous question from Snow White? (Well, actually it's "Magic mirror on the wall...", but never mind.) Then there's Through the Looking Glass, which has another adaption coming soon to a theatre near you.

Mirrors can heal. When someone looses a limb, they might experience great pain from the missing part. Mirrors can be used to give the illusion that the missing limb is there, and the patient will feel relief.

Mirrors can distort reality. If you stare at yourself in a mirror in a room without a lot of light for several moments, you will hallucinate distortions. (Just don't say, "Bloody Mary" three times. I mean it.)


 by ForestOwlEnt

Do mirrors show you your true self? Hardly. Hold up a book or other writing to a mirror. It's reversed. (Who could forget what REDRUM spells backwards in Stephen King's The Shining?) So technically, you don't see yourself in a mirror the way people see you. Want to know what you really look like to the world? Position two mirrors at 90 degree angles, and look at your reflection from the join. Heck, you could buy this True Mirror from Amazon, if you have 200 bucks to spare.

True Mirror sold on Amazon

Mysterious things are mirrors and reflections. In The Mirror People, Crystal Collier creates an alternate universe in which your mirror image may be up to no good at all. You can enjoy this creepy tale in the anthology Parallels:Felix Was Here to be released on May 3. 

(Information on mirrors adapted from Listverse.com 10 Crazy Facts About Mirrors.)

Do you find mirrors frightening? Or just the image they reflect back?