Top 20 Creepiest Cursed Objects Ever
#20: “The Hands Resist Him” Painting
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Also known as the “eBay haunted painting”, “The Hands Resist Him” was painted in 1972. The artist, Bill Stoneham, was recreating a childhood photo of himself with a spooky touch, and the work took on a life of its own after it was listed on eBay in 2000. The sellers claimed that the painting was haunted in its eBay description, saying that it would move and that the image would sometimes twist and change. Many people posted accounts online that just seeing the picture on their computer or printing copies caused strange and frightening experiences. They’ve never been substantiated, but according to Stoneham himself, people who’ve come into contact with the painting have died ominously.
#19: Robert the Doll
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In the early 1900s, Robert Eugene Otto, known as Gene Otto, was given an eerie, life-sized doll, most likely by his grandfather – though accounts differ. Otto became obsessed with the doll, taking it everywhere and even speaking to it. Over 100 years old, Robert the Doll is now permanently on display at a museum in Florida, where he routinely causes mayhem. He’s supposedly broken up marriages and triggered car accidents. But don’t worry, it’s said that as long as you show Robert the respect he deserves, he’ll leave you alone. Or you could just avoid him and his weird dog completely.
#18: The Haunted Wedding Dress
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Curses are usually brought on by immense sadness or anger, or a combination of both, and this wedding dress is a prime example of that. It was the wedding dress Anna Baker intended to wear at a wedding she couldn’t wait to have. In love, excited and happy for what was to come - until her father shot that idea down - Anna never did get married, and she died in 1914. Located in Blair County, Pennsylvania, the house the Baker family lived in was turned into a museum, and guests often claim to see and hear the members of the family inside. The dress supposedly shakes intensely on nights with a full moon, threatening to break the glass cabinet in which it resides.
#17: Cursed Mirror of Myrtles Plantation
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You might not want to check yourself out in this mirror. The whole estate, found in St. Francisville, Louisiana, is reportedly haunted, but this mirror supposedly contains the spirits of Sara Woodruff and two of her daughters. It used to be standard practice to cover mirrors after someone dies... only, no one covered this one. The legend goes that Chloe, a slave owned by Sara Woodruff and her husband, Mark, plotted to get revenge. She baked a cake with extra poisonous additives for the owners. Only Sara and her two children ate the cake, resulting in their deaths. Their spirits were then transported into the only uncovered mirror. Visitors of the plantation often see the family in the reflection, as well as handprints of small children on the glass.
#16: Blarney Stone
For hundreds of years, the Blarney Stone – a large piece of limestone – has resided in Blarney Castle in County Cork, Ireland. Legend has it that if a visitor kisses the stone, they’ll be given “the gift of the gab”, letting them flatter their way through any situation. But if they get greedy and decide to take a piece of the stone for themselves, no matter how small, they’ll be cursed with misfortune until they return it. It’s been confirmed by the owner of the castle that every year, they receive parcels from cocky tourists forced to return what they took in the hope of lifting the curse.
#15: Little Bastard
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As far as curses go, a cursed car isn’t something you’d expect to hear about. The car in question is a Porsche 550 Spyder once owned by James Dean and nicknamed ‘Little Bastard’. The actor was involved in a fatal car accident with this vehicle, after which the working parts of the car were used to replace parts in other vehicles. But soon enough, reports began to surface about the cars that had Little Bastard’s parts becoming involved in horrific and often fatal accidents. Even thieves who had tried to steal the remaining parts were horribly maimed. Strangely, actor Alec Guinness - Obi Wan - had talked to Dean seven days before his death, telling the rebel without a cause: “If you get in that car, you will be found dead in it by this time next week”. His prophecy which ultimately proved true.
#14: Screaming Skull of Burton Agnes Hall
Built during the Tudor period, Burton Agnes Hall has been allegedly haunted by the ghost of Anne Griffith since its construction. Anne was one of the daughters of the man who built the house; she loved the building so much that after a violent mugging, her dying wish was to have part of her body entombed within the house. And which part did they choose? Her skull, of course. The skull supposedly remains inside the house’s walls to this day, though nobody is sure exactly which room it’s in. Attempts have allegedly been made to remove it in the past, and every time, Anne’s ghost makes so much noise the ghastly object has to be returned – or else.
#13: Haunted Doll
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This spooky Victorian doll has made numerous appearances on British daytime TV show “This Morning.” The doll’s owners allege that the toy is “possessed” and attacks people in the night. Unlike other cursed objects, it seems that you don’t have to do anything in particular to earn the ire of the doll – it’ll torment you relentlessly no matter what you do. Even when they’re in a TV studio surrounded by people, the doll still unsettles its owners. It later made a second appearance, where a spirit medium was consulted on whether it was genuinely haunted or not. The jury is still out, but that doesn’t make it less creepy.
#12: Hope Diamond
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A diamond the size of a walnut sounds pretty rad… until you find out that most of its owners died tragic and horrible deaths. There are many versions of this diamond’s origin story, but most say that the jewel was uncovered in India and sold into French royalty in the 1600s. Later stolen, it was then sold to the Hope family in 1800s London and eventually made it to the States, where it was finally locked up in the National Museum of Natural History in 1958. Confirmed owners of the Diamond include King Louis XIV through XVI, King George IV of the United Kingdom, the Hope Family, Sultan Abdul Hamid, and Pierre Cartier - while deaths said to be related to the stone's supposed curse have come in the form of wolf attacks, disease, murder, and suicide.
#11: The Golden Eagle
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This is the second cursed car on our list - and it won’t be the last! If you think Stephen King’s possessed car “Christine” was creepy … wait until you hear about the Golden Eagle. This 1964 Dodge is blamed for the deaths of at least 14 people. According to owner Wendy Allen, it was originally a police car, and three of the officers who drove it died in murder-suicides. Church-members later vandalized it, and all died horrible deaths. A teenager who was dared to touch it ended up killing his family and setting his house on fire. Or at least, so Allen claims. We’re not sure how much of this story is true, but it definitely leaves chills down our spine!
#10: Blucifer
Denver International Airport is about the last place you’d ever want to spend a layover, thanks in no small part to the ominous statue outside. The Blue Mustang, nicknamed “Blucifer”, is a 32-foot-tall blue horse with glowing, red eyes that has sown misfortune in its wake. The most notable casualty of Blucifer was none other than the sculpture’s creator, Luis Jiménez, who was killed in a freak accident when part of the horse fell on top of him. This, combined with the statue’s undeniably frightening appearance, has led to claims that it’s cursed. But so far, public petitions have been unsuccessful at getting it removed.
#9: The Surrey Ghost Car
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In December 2002, local police in England received a report of a speeding car veering off a road and crashing. When they responded, they found that things weren’t what they seemed: the crashed car was nowhere to be seen. Well, not until they dug a little deeper, and found a car buried beneath plants and weeds that had crashed and killed its passenger five months earlier. The story of the ghost car has become a local legend, and you’d better hope you don’t come across it late at night – it could scare you so much that you’ll be the next to crash.
#8: Tutankhamun’s Tomb
The thing with curses is that they don’t discriminate, and that’s apparent with the curse of the Pharaohs. Whether you’re a visitor, thief, or archaeologist, if you disturb the resting Pharaohs, be prepared for a life—albeit a short life—of misfortune. After archaeologists opened the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, many people died shortly after visiting it- beginning with aristocrat Lord Carnarvon who died of an infected mosquito bite within five months of the opening of Tut's tomb. With causes ranging from disease to murder and suicide, many attribute their deaths to the curse. Even the death of Howard Carter, who opened the tomb ten years prior to his demise, is considered to be caused by the curse.
#7: Ötzi the Iceman
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When he was discovered in 1991 in the Otztal Alps between Austria and Italy, tourists thought they had found the body of a mountaineer who had died not so long ago. Upon further investigation, it was learned that the body was actually a well-preserved mummy who lived around 3,300 BC. As fascinating as that may be, what’s perhaps more intriguing is that seven people linked to Otzi’s discovery and recovery have since died - and not all from natural causes. When the genitals of the Iceman appeared to be missing, people began theorizing that he was the victim of ritual sacrifice – however the shrunken organs were later found. Further tests determined that Otzi most likely died of blood loss after being tagged by an arrow to the shoulder, or a head injury administered around the same time... but that doesn't have quite the same sensational appeal.
#6: Chair of Death
Being wary of ancient tombs and jewels is bad enough, but now it seems we should also remember to watch where we sit… The infamous Chair of Death, also called Busby’s stoop chair and the Dead Man’s Chair, was cursed by convict Thomas Busby in 1702. Busby murdered his father-in-law for allegedly sitting in his aforementioned favorite chair. On the way to the gallows, he put a curse on the chair, dooming anyone who dared sit on it. The chair remained in a pub in North Yorkshire for centuries. During World War II, pilots frequented the pub but the ones who sat on the chair never returned from combat. The chair has apparently killed everyone who’s sat on it, with victims having haunting experiences such as paranoia, itchiness, and other unexplained occurrences before their deaths.
#5: The Anguished Man Painting
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This sinister portrait was given to Sean Robinson by his grandmother, who’d kept it locked up. He’s since shared images of it and stories about its curse with the public. According to Robinson, next to nothing is known about the painting’s creator, only that he supposedly committed suicide and some of his own blood was mixed into the paint. Robinson says the painting causes nightmares and paranormal activity for anybody sharing a room with it. While there have been suggestions that it was a publicity stunt to gain attention for an upcoming movie, such a movie has not surfaced, and the story has been investigated many times.
#4: The Dybbuk Box
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The inspiration for the 2012 film ‘The Possession’, the Dybbuk Box gets its appropriate name because it contains a Dybbuk, a malicious and restless spirit with the ability to possess the living. Originally belonging to a survivor of the Holocaust, many subsequent owners of the heirloom experienced bizarre and unexplainable happenings. Each of them has stated they either smelled cat urine or jasmine flowers coming from the wine cabinet, and that they endured horrific nightmares. It’s been on eBay a few times now, with one owner noting in the description that it burned out his lights and made his hair fall out- a claim that, if true, is likely to make it a hard sell.
#3: The Destiny Ring
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Rudolph Valentino was one of the most famous actors of the silent film era, starring in hit after hit to become a cinematic icon. But he tragically died aged just 31. Some years previously, Valentino had bought a ring from a California jeweler, despite warnings that it carried a curse. Many of Valentino’s last movies flopped, and he was wearing the ring on his deathbed. Pola Negri, Valentino’s lover, received the ring upon his death; she, too, fell ill and gave the ring to someone else. Most of the ring’s subsequent owners died in strange ways, and today it’s locked up in a bank vault where nobody can touch it.
#2: Annabelle
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During the first few weeks it spent in the apartment of two nurses-in-training and roommates named Donna and Angie, this doll was seemingly harmless. However, curious as to the unexplainable occurrences surrounding the doll, the women called in a medium to find out the story behind it. Sinister activities then reportedly manifested, with demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren explaining that they were dealing with a conduit to Hell and that the attached demon was looking to possess a living being. After a failed exorcism on the doll, The Warrens took Annabelle home, but it tampered with their vehicle in an attempt to kill them. After the doll was secured in their museum, a visitor reportedly challenged Annabelle. When he left, he abruptly lost control of his motorcycle and crashed into a tree, dying instantly.
#1: “The Crying Boy” Painting
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Okay, having one cursed object is more than enough. Mass-produce it, and now you’re asking for it. As one version of the story goes, artist Giovanni Bragolin, also known as Franchot Seville and Bruno Amadio, found a boy on the street crying and full of sorrow. Seville decided to paint the boy. A priest explained that the child had run away after seeing his parents killed in a fire. Anywhere the boy wound up, fires would soon follow. Seville distributed the paintings, but soon after, his studio was burnt down. Additionally, there have been numerous reports about homes in which the painting of the Crying Boy was hung having been burnt to the ground, with the painting itself coming out completely unharmed.
