Finally, a headline we can relate to: "Look into your magic mirror — through dreams."  From the Villanovan newspaper, 1977.  Speaking of dreams and mirrors, see our very own haunted mirror in action in our video about a lucid waking experiment gone wrong.

The devil, from inside a mirror, watches a man escape from the rheumatism spirit.  From The Devil's Bride by Milton H. Stine, 1910.

"That misty cloudlet in the mirror--those fearful eyes!"  From The Strand, 1908.

"She saw instead of her own face in the glass, the face of her dead Aunt Harriet!"  From The Wind in the Rose-bush and Other Stories of the Supernatural by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman, 1903.

"The reflection that met his gaze fairly took away his breath."  From Harper's Young People, 1887.

From Judge's Library, 1896.  See our explanation of how to tell if a mirror is haunted.  Previously, we saw this distorting mirror.

"The prince looks into the magic mirror."  From The Elf Maiden and Other Stories by Andrew Lang, 1914.

We peeked into the haunted mirror and gained a pupil.  (They say that when the teacher is ready, the pupil will appear.)  See our haunted mirror in action in our video about a lucid waking experiment gone wrong.

"The mirror was shattered into a hundred pieces."  From The Magic Mirror by William Gilbert and illustrated by John Menzies, 1907.

Haunted mirrors are to be avoided when you visit an antiques store (unless, of course, chancing upon such objects is your very purpose).  When consulted to appraise a mirror's hauntedness, the first thing we look for is imperfections in the glass or silvering.  Notice in the unretouched photographic illustrations how a peculiar mirror has a deformity that warps the face of any Narcissus who approaches it.  A thing of horror — and beyond question profoundly haunted.  A more subtle issue we look for is a discrepancy between what is reflected and what is actually in the room.  This requires very careful looking at details within both worlds, and it can be helpful to take photographs of the mirror world from as many angles as possible so as to study them at leisure.  We then look at the back of the mirror for a manufacturer's mark (for example, "Pairpoint Mfg. Co., Quadruple Plate, June 28, 1904"), and if such a mark is upside down, the mirror has been hung "inverted," making it more susceptible to negative powers.  Knowing some history about the mirror can be crucial; for example, had the mirror previously been in a room with a dying person?  For novices, perhaps the easiest method to determine a mirror's hauntedness is to look into it at night by candlelight.  There's little guesswork in such an approach—you'll know!

"She turned to face the reality of which the mirrored reflection had been so fearful."  From Miss Bouverie by Mrs. Molesworth, 1901.

Here's a spell for the back of a scrying mirror, from Crystal Gazing, Its History and Practice, With a Discussion of the Evidence for Telepathic Scrying by Northcote Whitridge Thomas, 1905.

From Die Bühne, 1925.

"For it is never the individual but life itself which shatters its own magic mirror."  From "Reflected Radiance" in Wayside Tales, 1922.

Here's a mirror imp from Judy, Or The London Serio-Comic Journal, 1875.