Ghost Map

EN PL

Curses

Cursed objects

The Annabelle doll locked in a case marked 'Do not open', Robert the Doll in Key West to whom visitors write letters of apology, the chair in Thirsk hung from the ceiling so nobody could sit in it, the Hope Diamond or The Crying Boy painting – 'cursed' objects are a phenomenon of our times. Behind them there is often a catchy story, clever marketing or a plain run of bad luck, but people still prefer to keep their distance.

cases
12
years
350–2026

Disputed: 1 Legend: 9 Explained: 1 Hoax: 1

  1. 4th century

    1. c. 350 Cursed objects · Disputed The Cursed Ring of Silvianus The Vyne near Basingstoke, Hampshire, United Kingdom A Roman gold ring and a lead tablet cursing a thief – a story that may have inspired Tolkien's One Ring.

  2. 18th century

    1. 1702 Cursed objects · Legend Busby's Stoop Chair – the Dead Man's Chair of Thirsk Thirsk Museum, Kirkgate, Thirsk, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom Before his execution the murderer Thomas Busby supposedly cursed his favourite chair. Today it hangs high on a wall in Thirsk Museum so nobody can sit in it.

  3. 19th century

    1. 1850 Cursed objects · Legend The Koh-i-Noor – a Diamond Unlucky for Men Jewel House, Tower of London, United Kingdom Legend says the Koh-i-Noor brings misfortune to any man who owns it. Since 1850 it has therefore been worn only by women of the royal family.
    2. 1889 Cursed objects · Legend The Unlucky Mummy of the British Museum British Museum, Room 62, London, United Kingdom A painted coffin lid of an Egyptian woman was said to bring death and disaster – even, rumour had it, the sinking of the Titanic. The museum has denied it all.

  4. 1900–1909

    1. c. 1904–present Cursed objects · Legend Robert the Doll of Key West Fort East Martello Museum, Key West, Florida, United States A doll in a sailor suit said to giggle and change its expression. Visitors to the Key West museum write it letters of apology.

  5. 1910–1919

    1. 1911 Cursed objects · Legend The Hope Diamond National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian), Washington, D.C., United States A blue diamond that passed through the hands of Louis XIV, bankers and millionaires is said to be cursed. The curse story, however, was mostly a sales pitch.
    2. c. 1919–present Cursed objects · Legend Okiku, the Doll Whose Hair Grows Mannen-ji Temple, Kurisawa, Iwamizawa, Hokkaido, Japan A Japanese doll said to hold the spirit of a dead little girl. Its hair supposedly keeps growing, and the monks have to trim it.

  6. 1950–1959

    1. 1952 Cursed objects · Legend The Death Clock of the Hospicio Cabañas Hospicio Cabañas, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico A clock in a former Guadalajara orphanage was said to stop every time a child died. The nuns removed it in 1952.

  7. 1970–1979

    1. c. 1970 Cursed objects · Legend Annabelle the Doll Former Warrens' Occult Museum, Monroe, Connecticut, United States An ordinary Raggedy Ann rag doll that the Warrens locked in a case marked “Do not open.” Today it is the world's most famous “possessed” doll.

  8. 1980–1989

    1. 1985 Cursed objects · Explained The Crying Boy – the Painting That Would Not Burn Rotherham, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom In 1985 a British tabloid claimed that prints of a crying boy caused house fires and were the only things to survive them. Readers burned them in droves.

  9. 2000–2009

    1. 2000 Cursed objects · Legend “The Hands Resist Him” – the eBay Haunted Painting Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States The eBay sellers warned that the figures in the painting left the frame at night. Tens of thousands viewed the auction, and the painting became an internet legend.
    2. 2003 Cursed objects · Hoax The Dybbuk Box Zak Bagans' The Haunted Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States A wine cabinet sold on eBay, said to trap a malicious spirit from Jewish folklore. Its creator admitted that he made the whole thing up.