I agree with the post that said the narrator is the one who killed Mary in his “dream”.
I just want to add a couple thoughts on “That which you fear the most will meet you halfway”:
The very first line of the song is “She lived on a curve in the road”, and the line “That which you fear the most…” is, partially, a callback to this first line & also the way Mary’s “hands flew from her side” when offered a ride in the car - Mary is either simply terrified of cars - possibly because she’s Crazy, or, maybe she had a “vision” or a sense or something other foresight regarding her own death by Automobile. What Mary “fears the most” is her death by car, and it “met her halfway” because A) Mary already lived on the curve in the road, and she was likely terrified just waiting for some drunken kids to plow into the house of Mary. Hell, she may have even had a Vision of the narrator - her foreseen killer - and that’s the reason Mary’s “hands flew from her side” when offered a ride by him. Another minor reference to what actually kills Mary as well as what seems to be the fear of the adults of the town that maybe they have a juvenile delinquency problem or just some rowdy kids who like to party and pull dangerous stunts; or just the fear of the owner of the country store of being robbed or having customers keep driving past because rowdy kids are hangin out lol)is the “No L-O-I-T-E-R-I-N-G allowed; Take a bottle, drink it down….pass it around”; there’s much dread lying around in ‘Crazy Mary’. You need to make a couple leaps or assumptions, but it can be pieced together.
I agree with the post that said the narrator is the one who killed Mary in his “dream”.
I just want to add a couple thoughts on “That which you fear the most will meet you halfway”:
The very first line of the song is “She lived on a curve in the road”, and the line “That which you fear the most…” is, partially, a callback to this first line & also the way Mary’s “hands flew from her side” when offered a ride in the car - Mary is either simply terrified of cars - possibly because she’s Crazy, or, maybe she had a “vision” or a sense or something other foresight regarding her own death by Automobile. What Mary “fears the most” is her death by car, and it “met her halfway” because A) Mary already lived on the curve in the road, and she was likely terrified just waiting for some drunken kids to plow into the house of Mary. Hell, she may have even had a Vision of the narrator - her foreseen killer - and that’s the reason Mary’s “hands flew from her side” when offered a ride by him. Another minor reference to what actually kills Mary as well as what seems to be the fear of the adults of the town that maybe they have a juvenile delinquency problem or just some rowdy kids who like to party and pull dangerous stunts; or just the fear of the owner of the country store of being robbed or having customers keep driving past because rowdy kids are hangin out lol)is the “No L-O-I-T-E-R-I-N-G allowed; Take a bottle, drink it down….pass it around”; there’s much dread lying around in ‘Crazy Mary’. You need to make a couple leaps or assumptions, but it can be pieced together.