13 Hecka Haunted Objects From Around The World
As the consumerist little apes that we are, there’s simply nothing we love more than Stuff. Who doesn’t love to have a little trinket, especially if said trinket is shiny? Now, our love for objects intersects with our love for a good tale and superstition in the case of objects that we’ve decided are cursed or haunted. Though dolls, paintings, and jewels seem to corner the market on creepiness, there’s no shortage of objects that we’ve decided are the work of the devil. Here’s 14 of them.
Robert The Doll
Let’s kick it off with a classic: the haunted doll. If you’re a demon or a spirit, and you’re looking for a suitably unsettling home to occupy, a doll of any description is an excellent choice. Even on the best of days, in bright direct sunlight, dolls are pretty creepy. This is not the best of days. Robert was a life-size doll of a boy dressed in a sailor suit given to Robert Eugene Otto, who ended up banished in the attic after strange happenings including my favorite, the family hearing a man’s deep voice talking to Gene when he was alone with Robert.
Thomas Busby’s Chair
Anyone over 30 can happily extol the virtues of a comfortable chair. Thomas Busby was certainly attached to his favorite chair, enough so to strangle his father-in-law when he found him sitting in it in 1702. This is widely considered to be an overreaction. Busby was then executed for the murder, and reportedly, some of his final words were “may sudden death come to anyone who dare sit in my chair.” Message received, dude.
Annabelle the Doll
Most people are familiar with Annabelle now via her Hollywood turn, starring in self-titled horror movies. They are, in fact, based on a real doll. Though they upped the doll’s creepy factor by turning her into one of those porcelain-faced nightmares, unlike the actual Annabelle, which is a Raggedy Ann doll, the original one is still plenty upsetting. Rumors were that the doll was possessed by the ghost of a dead girl named Annabelle, but paranormal investigators called in by the original owners shared the good news: there wasn’t a ghost in the doll at all, but a demon PRETENDING to be a dead girl to steal souls. Just a big misunderstanding!
The Dybbuk Box
A dybbuk is a malicious spirit in Yiddish folklore, which also sounds like a Yiddish word for one fingerful of cream cheese. A box filled with cream cheese would be vastly preferable to the actual reported contents of this box, which is the aforementioned malicious spirit. The box, which was designed to store wine, was purchased at an estate sale after the death of a 103-year old woman who warned to never open the box. Unfortunately, that’s the best way to get a new owner to open the box, and the man who did experienced a variety of upsetting and tragic events that led him to list the box on eBay.
Anna Baker’s Wedding Dress
Another popular genre known to create curses, that of unrequited love, is responsible for the haunting of Anna Baker’s wedding dress. When Anna Baker was forbidden by her father to marry the love of her life because of his low social standing, she vowed, and followed through on her vow, to die alone. The wedding dress she’d bought before being denied happiness is said to move around her house, which is now a museum.
The Anguished Man Painting
The haunted painting known as “The Anguished Man” doesn’t even need to get into the paranormal to be disturbing, since the details of its creation are upsetting enough. Purportedly painted partly with the blood of the artist, immediately before his suicide, there’s about zero chance this painting turned out to be anything BUT deeply haunted. Some people have reported strong feelings of nausea when looking at the painting, but to be fair, this is all pretty gross.
It feels a little weird to call this an “object” since it is a once-living man’s corpse, but hey, perhaps that’s a statement on the fleeting nature of life. Otzi is a mummy, nicknamed for the Otzal Alps where he was discovered in 1991. He’s also none too happy about having his burial place disturbed, if you’re to believe the tales, which include 7 people connected to Otzi experiencing decidedly unpleasant circumstances.
Basano Vase
Legend goes that this silver vase belonged to a bride who was murdered while holding it on her wedding night. It was passed through her family before showing up in 1988 for sale with a note that said “this vase brings death.” Death or not, there were buyers who couldn’t pass up a deal. Unfortunately, those buyers kept dying. I mean, it said it right on the box.
James Dean’s Porsche
Nicknamed “Little Bastard”, this is the Porsche 550 Spyder that James Dean was killed in just a week after purchasing it. Apparently, the bad juju from his death abounded and permeated all of the car’s parts–the engine and transmission were put into race cars, both of which then crashed, and it was notorious for falling on people trying to repair or service it.
”The Hands Resist Him”
Another painting here to upset you, this is one of the more famous haunted paintings in the world, sometimes known as the “Haunted eBay Painting.” The painting is a little unique in that the original painter and story are wholly pedestrian. Artist Bill Stoneham painted it using a photograph of him as a child. However, owners who claim that the children inside move around and even leave the painting might find it a little less charming.
Tallman Bunk Beds
Bunk beds are already plenty scary to any anxious child worried about rolling off in the middle of the night to an untimely death. These particular bunk beds, though, came with a little extra occult oomph. The Tallman family, as many haunted families are, were the victim of a great deal: $100 for a pair of bunk beds. They only got about half a year of use out of the beds, though, since the side effects of hearing disembodied voices, seeing shadows, and even the ghost of an old woman led them to bury the things in a landfill.
Myrtle Plantation Mirror
If human suffering is one of the ingredients in a haunting, America’s plantations should be chock-full of apparitions. Myrtle’s Plantation in Louisiana is already known as one of the most haunted places in the world, and a particular mirror there is thought to be particularly ghostly. The original owner and her children are trapped inside, according to legend.
Delhi Purple Sapphire
A story straight out of an Indiana Jones movie, and one that he’d be happy to know ends with the artifact in a museum, is that of the Delhi Purple Sapphire. Also known as the Cursed Amethyst, it was stolen from the Temple of Indra and brought back to England by a man named Colonel Ferris, which seems like a great way to get saddled with a curse. Once removed from its rightful place, it’s brought nothing but despair to every owner until finally being donated to a museum, and even then, the man who drove it to the museum reported driving through a horrific storm.
