The world is a pretty scary place if you know where to look, especially when it comes to the paranormal and haunted objects. Now, you might be thinking, that’s the stuff of movies and creepy pastas, but you’re wrong. There are actual objects out there that are legitimately cursed and have the body count to prove it. In most cases, after they’re done destroying a family or two, they’re passed along to someone else to cause more havoc.
Makes you want to never buy something slightly used on craigslist or eBay again, or accept that ‘family heirloom’ from your ancient great aunt.
Just saying…
Anna Baker’s Wedding Dress
This is more of a sad haunted curse than a scary one, but it’s no less chilling. Anna Baker was the daughter of the rich iron magnate Ellis Baker. Anna had the misfortune of falling in love with an iron worker at her dad’s factory, and even went out had had a wedding dress commissioned. When her father found out, he had the worker run out of town and forbid Anna to marry someone of a lower class. She spent the rest of her life in her room, heartbroken and alone.
She died in 1914, and when the Baker mansion was turned into the Baker Museum in the 70’s, Anna’s dress was put on display. Since then, strange things started happening. People have reported strange voices, sounds and movement. The most common instance of the supernatural however, is that the dress dances; slowly and tenderly, like a heartbroken woman dancing alone in her room, imagining what could have been.
The Anguished Man
This is the name given to a scary painting that is owned by Sean Robinson of England. He says that he found the painting in his grandmothers basement when he was a kid, and became obsessed with it, watching it for hours. When his grandmother died, she left it to him and he brought it to his home. The the spooky stuff began.
Suddenly he and his wife started hearing weird noises, doors shut on their own, and other paranormal events took place. It got so bad that he recorded a time-lapse video to catch the painting in the act, and he wasn’t disappointed. There’s some spooky shit going on.
When he researched the painting, Sean found out that the painting was completed by an artist hours before he committed suicide, and even supposedly mixed his own blood into the paint.
The Busby Chair
We all have favourite chairs in our home or at our local, but I’d never think of cursing it so that no one could sit in it after I was gone. But that’s what Thomas Busby did in 1702, right before he was executed for strangling his father-in-law for sitting in his chair. According to local legend, right before he finished his last meal at his local pub, he said, “May Sudden Death come to anyone who dare sit on the chair.”
Since then, anyone who’s sat in the chair (63 in total) at the pub has died under mysterious and tragic circumstances. It’s gotten so bad that to prevent accidental (or even intentional suicide by curse), the pub gave the chair away to the Thirsk Museum, who promptly hung it from the ceiling to prevent anyone from sitting there.
The Woman from Lemb Statue
As far as haunted objects go, this one is pretty messed up. According to the popular legend, the statue was recovered in 1878 and it was assumed to have been carved in 3500BC. No one knows what the statue is supposed to be, but it’s assumed to be a female Goddess of some sort. However, she wasn’t a nice goddess.
The statue was first possessed by a Lord, who perished with his 6 family members under mysterious circumstances over the next 6 years. The last remaining family member sold it, and it was purchased by a man named Ivor Manucci. Within 4 years, his whole family died mysterious deaths. A total of 2 more owners and their families lost their lives to the statue until it was donated to the Royal Scottish Museum in Edinburgh, where the man who handled the statue put it in a glass case, then died within the year.
Now, no one touches it.
James Dean’s Car
James Dean was all about his customized 1955 Porsche Spyder, calling it his “Little Bastard.” And a bastard it was. When Sir Alec Guiness saw the car, he could sense the evil and told him that he’d be dead in a week, and a week later Dean had his fatal accident. Then when the wreck was brought to the mechanics, it fell on one of them crushing his legs. When the car’s new owner sold the ending and drivetrain to two racers, one lost control and hit a tree, dying instantly. The other was injured when his car locked up and he rolled it.
It didn’t stop there; a thief who tried to steal parts of the remaining wreck was fatally injured. The car was then donated to a safety exhibit of the California Highway Patrol. Soon after, the exhibit caught fire. They tried it again, only this time, the wreck fell on a student, breaking his hip. Finally, a truck driver who was transporting the wreck to the exhibit, was found crushed to death somehow by the wreck.
Thankfully, no one knows where it is now.
The Myrtles Plantation Mirror
The Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana is no stranger to paranormal activities. It’s one of the most famous haunted houses in the US and an inspiration to a lot of horror films. While there are a lot of spooky items in the inventory there, the scariest of them is probably the Plantation’s mirror. Apparently, when you look into the mirror, other faces stare back at you.
According to legend, the mirror is haunted by Sara Woodruff and her two kids, who all died. As the mirrors weren’t covered at the time of her death (according to some spiritual beliefs), the spirits of Sara and her kids found a new home in the mirror dimension.
The Dybbuk Box
A Dybbuk box is a popular object in the Jewish tradition, meant to contain an evil spirit. This particular one, started it’s life as a wine cabinet, then took on a sinister role. It was bought at auction in Portland, and supposedly belonged to a 103 year old Jewish woman to survived the Holocaust, but somehow, had summoned a hateful spirit and trapped it in the box. The man who bought it, initially gave it to his mother, who died shortly after from a stroke, with her last words being “HATEGIFT.” When it was returned to him, he started having dreams about an old hag. He tried giving it away but no one would take it. He then put it on eBay and someone bought it; Jason Haxton, who was the Director of the Museum of Osteopathic Medicine, who not only had nightmares, but began coughing up blood and developed a skin disease.
He contacted some Rabbi’s, who were able to find a way to seal the Dybbuk permanently in the box, and it hasn’t been heard from since.
The Crying Boy Paintings
The Crying Boy Paintings got widespread popularity due to the coverage they received in the British newspaper The Sun. The paintings were a series of 65 different paintings of tearful boys that were painted by Italian painter Giovanni Bragolin. No one knows why he painted them and where they came from or who the artist even was, but in the 1980’s there was a report in the paper that there had been several devastating house fires that claimed lives, and while the entire structure burnt down, only a picture of the crying boy remained unscathed.
Whether it’s a coincidence of the pictures are haunted, we’ll never know, but I’d be inclined to avoid putting this thing in my house.
The Hands Resist Him
Whether the painting is haunted or not is still up for debate, but it’s pretty creepy nonetheless. This painting was created by Bill Stoneham in 1972, and shows a young boy standing near a window, with a life-sized doll. Behind him, is a glass door with hands that are reaching for the boy. At some point after the painting was completed, legends started to spring up.
According to the first owner, the boy and the doll would move within the painting. Sometimes they’d disappear, or the hands would change positions; coming closer or disappearing all together. Some others claimed that the boy and his doll would step out of the painting and stare at people while they slept.
Either way, I don’t want to look at it anymore.
Robert the Doll
In 1896, the rich Otto family in Florida was celebrating the birthday of their son Robert who was turning 4. One of the servants got him a gift, a large doll in a sailor suit, who was cursed. Robert named his doll Robert too and no one thought anything of it until weird stuff started happening.
People reported seeing Robert talking to the doll in dark rooms, giggling hysterically and often, it’d be accompanied by a deep baritone voice. Any time anything went missing or was smashed, the doll was blamed. Eventually, Robert the Doll was placed in the attic, where he was seen moving from window to window.
When a new family bought the house in 1976, the first person to find the doll ended up fainting with fright, saying that the doll spoke to her and told her it was going to kill her. It was then donated to a Florida museum, behind a glass window. Signs ask that before photographing, one should ask Robert for permission. There are also letters attached to the glass from people who didn’t ask, and are now requesting to be released from the curse.
I’m sure someone asked him for this picture, right?
Annabelle the Doll
Thanks to the movie The Conjuring, this doll is pretty popular, and 100% real. Annabelle was a gift to a daughter going to college in 1970. Both the girl and the roommate reported finding the doll in different positions and room in their house, and even found papers with childish writing on it. They reached out to a psychic who claimed that the doll was possessed by the spirit of a girl named Annabelle, who died in a fire, and that the spirit was benevolent. A male friend disagreed and thought the doll was sinister.
He was found the next day, strangled and scratched, with only Annabelle in the room. The girls reached out to Ed and Lorraine Warren, who were paranormal investigators, and they discovered that the doll was a conduit for demons.
After two exorcisms didn’t work, they doll was placed in the Warren’s occult museum, behind a glass that warns people not to open it.
H/T Topibestlist
