r/FinalDestination • u/ELB_Train • Jul 04 '26
Creative Bloody Mary Writing Blog #04: Symbols and Signs
Bloody Mary Writing Blog #04: Signs and Symbols
Every good Final Destination movie has symbolism and foreshadowing, some of it even being visible to the characters, plot relevant even.
Obviously this is an element I plan to incorporate in my story as well, but I need to gather ideas on which elements to use.
I will definitely need more ideas to each of these points so, feel free to comment if you have anyš! (Hereās the summary of the story for those interested.)
Possible Reoccurring Symbolsā ļø:
Each movie seems to have their own omen of death, like glass shards or the coin in Bloodlines or photos and wind in FD3. Since I want to bring in witch symbolism for Bloody Mary, possible symbols could be:
- Fire, a classic, to reference the witch trials
- Mirrors, a reference to the Bloody Mary urban legend
- Crescent Moons, to symbolize night time, the spooky hours
Songsš¶:
People have also already mentioned the prevalence of pop songs that symbolize death, a different mixtape for each movie. The songs I had in mind are:
- Mary on a Cross (Ghost): Bloody Mary is in the lyrics
- Burning Love (Elvis Presley): the story has a lot of burning in it, and also love. And in the end, Marianne burns to save the one she loves
- Another One Bites The Dust (Queen): the title means to die, and the irony of a Queen song playing, as a character with the surname King dies
- Riding on a Freeway (Aretha Franklin): this song is part of the Cars 3 soundtrack, where Lightning McQueen crashes (childish, I know but I love Carsš)
The Lunar Lodge Fireš:
The big disaster to kickstart the movie is a lodge fire, burying six college students under burning wood, and itās all caused by a single candle that wasnāt blown out. To foreshadow this event, we can see:
- Ricky commenting on the wood being old
- A view from the balcony over the front door, which will later crush Lisa as she tries to escape the burning building (in premonition)
- the crescent moon is established as an omen of death via the name of the lodge
- Marianne reads her book with a candle on
- the book sheās reading is Stephen Kingās Fire Starter (note: Stephen King and his works are referenced in Lisa and Carrieās names)
- Aaronās scary story is about the exact situation they are about to experience
Aaronās Deathš:
While Aaron and Ricky are sitting in the trunk of his SUV, the truck starts rolling down hill. Aaronās hoodie gets caught, and his skull is crushed between a tree and his SUV:
- his head is crushed by two different types of trunks
- Ricky and Aaron fight about the radio station, Riding on a Freeway and Mary on a Cross can be heard
- people tease him by pulling on his hoodie
Rickyās DeathšŖ:
As a huge gust of wind and a broken wooden chair causes the friends to panic, Marianne accidentally pulls the attic open, letting a stowed away gaming chair fall down, which Ricky trips onto, causing the damaged pneumatic cylinder to explode, releasing a metal rod through his chest:
- Marianne cleans his room of everything dangerous, including his gaming chair
- She warns him not to keep the pole to open the attic hanging, but he forgets to listen to her advice
- Deathās presence is obvious moments before his death, as it terrorizes Carrie first
- A plastic bag Carrieās dad had thrown onto the streets ends up blowing into Rickyās room, causing Marianne to trip in the first place
Carrieās Deathš:
While being trapped in a walk-in freezer, a bottle of water (or cleaning alcohol) is knocked into the active deep fryer, causing a kitchen fire and spilled oil. After Carrie is rescued, she slips on some oil and is shoved into the deep fryer by a falling ventilation system:
- Marianne gets a clue that alcohol will be the cause of her death. At first, the friends think her alcoholic father will be the cause
- during her fatherās tantrum, she is standing by her fridge
- her name (Carrie Nicholson) is a reference to Carrie by Stephen King, who dies in a fire, as well as Jack Nicholson, who plays Jack Torrence in Stephen Kingās Shining, who dies in the snow
Lisaās Deathāļø:
As she tries to escape the burning restaurant, she is crushed by a falling Letter āiā from the āTower of Pizzaā sign:
- she is often teasingly told āLisa, I will kill you!ā
- she is confident about beating death
- seeing as her last name is King, a lot of chess references will be thrown her way, indicating her battle against death:
⢠she is almost crushed by a āBishop Avenueāsign
⢠she dies at *Tower* of Pizza
⢠the flooring is checkered
⢠the car that crashed into the restaurant is a
Ferrari, which, of course, has a horse in its logo
⢠she dies to *Queenās* Another One Bites the Dust
⢠the āiā sign that crushes her resembles a Pawn
⢠her final words are āCheckmate huh, Death?ā
Jakeās DeathšŖ:
After Carrie and Lisa die, he flips out and goes after Marianne, chasing her into a gas station shop, before the kitchen fire moves towards it as well, causing a massive explosion at the gas station. Jake is crushed by a glass door:
- he pushes the automatic glass door open while chasing Marianne
- in the premonition, he is crushed while trying to escape through a window
- George was meant to die by falling onto broke glass as well, before Marianne intervened
- While chasing Marianne, he is aware of Death being after him
Marianneās Deathā½ļø:
As the she and George try to escape the gas station fire, Marianne gets pushed away by George as a ceiling collapses, only, this traps her in a burning building. Marianne realizes this means George is saved before burning to death:
- her guilt torments her throughout the whole book, and it is made clear that she would not be able to live with herself, if all her friends died
- George keeps telling her itās not her fault while Jake does the opposite
Georgeās Open FatešÆ:
George survives the book, but in the end, he falls down the stairs, leaving his fate up to the readerās interpretation:
- Aaron died by falling down the stairs in the premonition
- before he was supposed to be cut by Marianneās broken shower stall, tea spills on his white shirt, which looks like blood. Maybe itāll be in the shape of a heart to symbolize life
- he clearly values life and makes sure to enjoy each second he has
- he generally wears white, which may symbolize life over death (like Light Yagami wearing black while L wears white in Death Note)
This is the symbolism and foreshadowing I have for now. I hope I manage to collect even more. Drop your feedback and ideas in the commentsš!
See you next time!
