The Blair Witch Research Paper
The Blair Witch is a legend that dates back to the 1700’s and is said that she haunts the Black Hills Forest located just right outside of Burkittsville, Maryland. It all starts back in the year 1785 when an Irish-born woman known as Elly Kedward was accused of witchcraft by the children in the village. It is unknown if there was even a trial, Elly Kedward was then brought into the woods and tied to a tree in the dead of winter. When villagers went out to find the body, they were shocked to see not one sign of the corpse. It was assumed that when she died of exposure she was then eaten by the wild animals of the forests. The villagers didn’t think much of it until the children who accused her started vanishing, the townspeople then picked up
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and deserted the town too terrified to utter the name Elly Kedward.
No more incidents occurred in the town until the mid 1900’s when children started to disappear.
One day a hermit known as Rustin Parr went into town and kept repeating the phrase “I am finally finished.” Mr. Parr brought authorities to his house in the Black Hills Forest and in the house, officials found evidence of severe torture and homicide. A little ways outside of the house, officials found seven graves, and when dug up they found the bodies of seven children. When Parr was asked about it he claimed that an old woman spoke to him and told him to kill the children. Many believe it was the Blair Witch who convinced him to commit those evil deeds.
The Blair Witch has no true nemesis, she only goes after those who decide to wander her forest during the night. She shows the campers/wanderers no mercy. In the 1999 film The
Blair Witch Project her enemies were 3 college students who went out to the forest to research the legend. The 2000 film Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 the victims were 4 civilians who after watching the 1999 movie were fascinated in the legend and decided to go camp in Rustin Parr’s home in the Black Hills Forest. Finally in the 2016 film Blair Witch tells the tale of 6 people, one of them being the brother of one of the victims of the 1999 story, decide to go out into the woods with hopes of finding the 1999 college students. None of them were shown mercy by the witch. As mentioned earlier, anyone who dares to enter the forest, automatically becomes the witch’s
enemy.
The Blair Witch tends to only come out during the dead of night. She won’t attack at first, she likes to play mind games with her victims. She tortures them psychologically by hanging stick figures around campsites and building little piles of rocks to start building fear in the minds of the campers. The witch is said to have multiple different powers that are expressed throughout the stories that have been told. She is able to manipulate time throughout the forest, she can make sure the sun does not rise or she can make it seem as if you have been trapped in the forest for multiple days on end even if you have only been there a few days. Environmental manipulation is also a power that the witch has, she is able to manipulate the forests and change the pathways without anyone knowing causing explorers to get lost and become stuck in her own personal maze. The witch also contains the power of dark magic which is expressed in the 2016 film when one of the stick figures is broken, one of the campers drops dead of a broken spine, which is an obvious sign of voodoo magic. Finally, the witch is able to make the victims have hallucinations. One of the most famous examples of that power is when the victims walk into Rustin Parr’s home they will see a hallucination of one of their missing friends facing a corner.
The story of The Blair Witch is one of the most mysterious ones due to how no one has actually physically seen her since before she died when she was still known as Elly Kedward. To this day no one has survived the merciless ways of The Blair Witch, she sure is one to cover
up her tracks well. She was most certainly a true monster in the way that she is not afraid to kill or psychologically torture anyone who gets in her way. So take caution the next time you decide to go into a forest that is supposedly haunted, you’ll never know if you’ll make it back out alive. Finally last but not least, beware of The Blair Witch.
and deserted the town too terrified to utter the name Elly Kedward.
No more incidents occurred in the town until the mid 1900’s when children started to disappear.
One day a hermit known as Rustin Parr went into town and kept repeating the phrase “I am finally finished.” Mr. Parr brought authorities to his house in the Black Hills Forest and in the house, officials found evidence of severe torture and homicide. A little ways outside of the house, officials found seven graves, and when dug up they found the bodies of seven children. When Parr was asked about it he claimed that an old woman spoke to him and told him to kill the children. Many believe it was the Blair Witch who convinced him to commit those evil deeds.
The Blair Witch has no true nemesis, she only goes after those who decide to wander her forest during the night. She shows the campers/wanderers no mercy. In the 1999 film The
Blair Witch Project her enemies were 3 college students who went out to the forest to research the legend. The 2000 film Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 the victims were 4 civilians who after watching the 1999 movie were fascinated in the legend and decided to go camp in Rustin Parr’s home in the Black Hills Forest. Finally in the 2016 film Blair Witch tells the tale of 6 people, one of them being the brother of one of the victims of the 1999 story, decide to go out into the woods with hopes of finding the 1999 college students. None of them were shown mercy by the witch. As mentioned earlier, anyone who dares to enter the forest, automatically becomes the witch’s
enemy.
The Blair Witch tends to only come out during the dead of night. She won’t attack at first, she likes to play mind games with her victims. She tortures them psychologically by hanging stick figures around campsites and building little piles of rocks to start building fear in the minds of the campers. The witch is said to have multiple different powers that are expressed throughout the stories that have been told. She is able to manipulate time throughout the forest, she can make sure the sun does not rise or she can make it seem as if you have been trapped in the forest for multiple days on end even if you have only been there a few days. Environmental manipulation is also a power that the witch has, she is able to manipulate the forests and change the pathways without anyone knowing causing explorers to get lost and become stuck in her own personal maze. The witch also contains the power of dark magic which is expressed in the 2016 film when one of the stick figures is broken, one of the campers drops dead of a broken spine, which is an obvious sign of voodoo magic. Finally, the witch is able to make the victims have hallucinations. One of the most famous examples of that power is when the victims walk into Rustin Parr’s home they will see a hallucination of one of their missing friends facing a corner.
The story of The Blair Witch is one of the most mysterious ones due to how no one has actually physically seen her since before she died when she was still known as Elly Kedward. To this day no one has survived the merciless ways of The Blair Witch, she sure is one to cover
up her tracks well. She was most certainly a true monster in the way that she is not afraid to kill or psychologically torture anyone who gets in her way. So take caution the next time you decide to go into a forest that is supposedly haunted, you’ll never know if you’ll make it back out alive. Finally last but not least, beware of The Blair Witch.