Cursed Artifacts

A 45.52-carat deep blue diamond said to carry a curse that brings misfortune and death to its owners. Originally stolen from a Hindu statue, the gem has left a trail of tragedy across centuries.

A wine cabinet said to contain a dybbuk — a malicious spirit from Jewish folklore. The box was sold on eBay in 2001, and every owner since has reported nightmares, health problems, and paranormal activity.

A Raggedy Ann doll that paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren claimed was inhabited by a demonic entity. The doll allegedly moved on its own, left written messages, and attacked a visitor.

A series of paintings by Giovanni Bragolin depicting crying children. In 1985, British tabloids reported that homes containing these paintings had burned down — yet the paintings themselves survived unscathed.

A life-sized doll given to artist Robert Eugene Otto as a child. Robert claimed the doll was alive and blamed it for mishaps. Visitors who photograph Robert without permission reportedly suffer accidents and misfortune.

A silver vase allegedly given to a bride on the eve of her wedding. She was found dead clutching it. Every subsequent owner reportedly died within months. The vase was eventually buried in an undisclosed location.

A painting by Bill Stoneham depicting a boy and a female doll standing before a glass door, with disembodied hands pressing against the glass from the other side. When the painting was listed on eBay in 2000, the seller claimed the figures moved at night and the boy would leave the painting entirely.

A 5,300-year-old natural mummy found in the Alps in 1991. Within years of the discovery, seven people connected to the find died under unusual circumstances — including the forensic examiner, a mountaineer who helped carry the body, and a journalist who filmed the recovery.

A large amethyst stolen from the Temple of Indra during the Indian Mutiny of 1857. Its first British owner went bankrupt and suffered mental illness. He passed it to a friend who committed suicide. It was eventually donated to the Natural History Museum with a note warning never to open the box it came in.

A chair belonging to murderer Thomas Busby, who was hanged in 1702. Before his execution, he cursed the chair, declaring that anyone who sat in it would die. The chair hung in a pub for centuries. An alarming number of people who sat in it died shortly after.

Rudolph Valentino, the greatest film star of the silent era, purchased a silver ring with a silver-set tiger's eye stone from a San Francisco jeweler in 1920. The jeweler allegedly warned him not to buy it. Valentino wore it to the premiere of The Young Rajah. The film was a critical and commercial failure — the only genuine bomb of his career. He stopped wearing the ring. Within months, his marriage collapsed. He put the ring back on for The Son of the Sheik. He died six weeks after filming completed, at 31 years old. His manager, who inherited the ring, died within the year. The ring passed to actress Pola Negri, who suffered a severe illness. She gave it to singer Russ Colombo. He was shot dead in a freak accident by a friend who thought the antique pistol was unloaded. It passed again, and again, the pattern held.

In 1988, a man in Los Angeles purchased a small carved wooden figure from an estate sale. The figure depicted a woman in a long dress, arms crossed, with hollow eyes. That night, he dreamed of a woman standing in his room. Not threatening. Just standing. The dream recurred every night for three weeks. He gave the figure to a friend. The friend began having the same dream. The figure passed through four owners over the following decade, each one reporting identical experiences: a woman standing at the foot of the bed, arms crossed, watching. Not malevolent. Attentive. When one owner locked the figure in a storage unit, the woman still appeared in dreams — standing now in a small room with concrete walls. The owner retrieved the figure, and the woman returned to standing at the foot of the bed. Nobody knows what she is watching for.

When the Perron family moved into their Rhode Island farmhouse in 1971, they found among the previous owner's possessions a small antique music box. It played a simple tune — five notes, repeating. The family matriarch, Carolyn Perron, began winding it and leaving it on the kitchen table. Within weeks, she reported feeling watched. Then physically touched. Then, during a family séance intended to investigate the activity, she was reportedly seized by a force that lifted her chair and spoke through her in a voice that was not hers. The case attracted paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, who concluded the farmhouse was home to a demonic entity connected to a woman named Bathsheba Sherman who had once owned the land and was rumored to have practiced witchcraft. The music box was identified as the focal point.

In January 1988, the Tallman family of Horicon, Wisconsin appeared on the local news. They had purchased a used bunk bed set from a secondhand store for their children. Within weeks of setting up the beds, their children began having nightmares so severe they refused to sleep. The family reported seeing a glowing apparition near the beds. The temperature in the children's room dropped dramatically and inexplicably. The father, Allen Tallman, reported being confronted by a dark figure outside the house that spoke to him. One child was found repeatedly sleepwalking, walking to the beds and climbing in despite being moved to another room.