16 Objects and Locations Believed to Be Cursed

From haunted chairs and cursed cars to mummies and eerie paintings, these so-called cursed items are thought to bring misfortune, catastrophe, or simply bad luck to anyone who comes into contact with them.

1. The Crying Boy Paintings

On September 4, 1985, the British tabloid The Sun published an image of a sorrowful young child, headlined ‘Blazing Curse of the Crying Boy!’ The article recounted the story of a couple from South Yorkshire whose house had burned down due to a chip pan fire. Yet, the portrait of the crying boy that hung on their wall was miraculously unharmed. The husband’s brother, a firefighter, reported that he and his colleagues had repeatedly discovered other copies of the painting—also untouched—amidst other house fires.

The article sparked a media storm, with The Sun fueling the frenzy by reporting on similar fires, both recent and historical. It turned out there were dozens—possibly even more. The Sun also speculated on the origin of the curse. Roy Vickery, a folklore expert, suggested that perhaps the artist had mistreated his muse, and the fires were his 'revenge.'

It wasn’t just one crying boy. At least two different artists had created numerous works featuring tearful boys and girls. As folklore scholar David Clarke later noted, “The only common factor among these various paintings was that they were all cheap, mass-produced prints sold in large quantities by English department stores during the 1960s and 1970s. The pattern of fires reflected the popularity of these prints within working-class communities in the north.”

However, the public wasn’t particularly interested in rational explanations at the time—even when a fire department official stated that the paintings were fire-resistant due to their hardboard backing. One veteran firefighter’s wife offered a different theory: “I always say it’s the tears that put the fire out.”

After receiving countless inquiries from people asking what to do with their crying boy paintings, The Sun instructed readers to send them to the tabloid’s office. In just six weeks, 2,500 paintings arrived. The Sun burned them in a celebratory bonfire, which was later covered in a Halloween article titled “The Sun Ends the Curse of the Crying Boy for Good.” A firefighter overseeing the event sarcastically remarked, “We all waited for the sound of muffled sobs, but all we heard was the crackling of paintings burning.”

2. Robert the Doll

Before Annabelle, there was Robert, a 40-inch-tall terror created by the German toy company Steiff. A single glance into Robert’s beady, sinister eyes is enough to convince anyone that he's trouble. But here’s the tale: In 1904, in Key West, Florida, the doll was given to 4-year-old Robert Eugene Otto, known as Gene. Some versions of the story claim it was a gift from Gene’s grandfather, while others suggest it was cursed by a resentful maid before being given to the young boy. It’s also possible the maid cursed it after Gene’s grandfather had already presented the doll to him.

Whatever the truth, Robert the Doll, dressed in a sailor suit that belonged to Gene, quickly became his malevolent counterpart. According to legend, whenever Gene’s parents would find his furniture overturned or his toys destroyed, Gene would simply say: “Robert did it.”

Gene grew up, became an artist, married, and later moved back to his childhood home, renaming it “The Artist House.” His wife, Anne, was not particularly fond of Robert, so Gene set up a new home for the doll in the attic. Locals claimed that Robert would change positions on his own and watch passersby from the window. Those who entered the house reported hearing footsteps and laughter coming from the attic.

This strange phenomenon continued even after Gene’s passing in 1974, when the estate—including Robert—was transferred to Myrtle Reuter. She tolerated the eerie events for two decades before finally donating Robert to the Fort East Martello Museum. To this day, he resides there, bringing misfortune to those who don’t show him the proper respect, only to receive letters from those same visitors seeking forgiveness.

Robert also recently served as the inspiration for a series of horror films. The tagline for the first one, titled Robert and released in 2015, reads: “He wants to be your best friend … Forever.”

3. The Conjure Chest

The Conjure Chest (also known as the Conjured Chest) is a dresser with a chilling body count of about 16. According to legend, an enslaved man named Remus crafted the chest for his master, Jeremiah Graham, in Kentucky around 1830. Dissatisfied with Remus’s work, Graham brutally beat him to death. Remus’s friends then cursed the chest by scattering dried owl blood in its drawers.

Unaware of the curse, the Grahams filled the drawers with clothes for their infant, who tragically died shortly thereafter. Over the next 140 years, the chest was passed down through the family, bringing death or serious injury to anyone who used it. In the mid-20th century, Virginia Cary Hudson Cleveland witnessed the death of her firstborn child and another child’s battle with polio. A son was stabbed at school, and a son-in-law died suddenly after being rushed to the hospital with appendicitis. A neighbor died from an accidental shooting. All had used the chest.

To break the curse, Cleveland sought help from her maid, Sallie. Together, they followed a series of steps, including obtaining a dead owl and boiling willow leaves. Sallie said that if either of them died afterward, it would mean the curse had been lifted—and months later, Sallie tragically passed away.

When Virginia’s daughter inherited the chest, she wisely decided not to use it. In 1976, she donated the cursed chest to the Kentucky Historical Society, where it remains today.

4. Carl Pruitt’s Grave

In late 1930s Kentucky, a carpenter named Carl Pruitt allegedly discovered his wife in flagrante delicto with another man. In a fit of rage, he strangled her with a chain before taking his own life. After he was buried far from her, some children reportedly noticed what appeared to be the outline of a chain on Pruitt’s tombstone. One child threw a rock at the stone, only to be strangled to death on the way home when his bicycle chain came loose and wrapped around his neck.

After the boy’s mother attacked the tombstone with an axe, she too was strangled—by her own clothesline. The tombstone, however, remained mysteriously intact. A farmer who fired at the stone accidentally startled his horses, causing him to be strangled by his reins. You may be catching on: Anyone who disturbed Pruitt’s grave met their end by strangulation.

According to legend, Pruitt’s vengeful spirit claimed a few more victims before the cemetery was leveled by strip-miners in the late 1950s. However, the historical evidence supporting this tale is quite weak: When Jason Bunch of Cult Nation conducted an investigation, he found no records of any such deaths, and two local historians had never even heard the story. A Carl Pruitt did indeed die in 1937—but in Washington, D.C., and it appears that this same Carl Pruitt was buried in North Carolina.

But just to be cautious, you might want to avoid defacing any tombstone bearing the name Carl Pruitt. Or, really, any tombstone at all.

5. Ötzi the Iceman

In 1991, hikers discovered a mummified body protruding from a glacier in the Ötztal Alps, which lie along the border of Austria and Italy. It turned out to be a middle-aged man who had been murdered with an arrow more than 5000 years ago. The man became known as Ötzi the Iceman, and his discovery sent shockwaves through the field of prehistoric research.

Fourteen years later, Australian molecular archaeologist Thomas Loy, who had extensively studied Ötzi, died at 63 of natural causes. It was Loy who uncovered traces of blood from several other individuals on Ötzi’s body and suggested that he likely died following a violent confrontation.

For some, Loy’s connection to the Iceman was simply an interesting detail in his obituary. For others, it seemed like more evidence that Ötzi’s body carried a deadly curse.

The ominous events surrounding Ötzi began the year after his discovery, when 64-year-old forensic pathologist Rainer Henn died in a car crash. Henn had been the one to move Ötzi’s remains into a body bag and was on his way to lecture about the Iceman when the tragedy occurred.

Soon after, mountain climber Kurt Fritz died in an avalanche. He had arranged the helicopter mission to retrieve Ötzi from the mountain. Then, Rainer Hults, who had filmed the recovery, succumbed to a brain tumor at the age of 47.

Between 2004 and 2005, the Iceman was said to have claimed three more lives in quick succession. First, Helmut Simon, one of the hikers who discovered Ötzi, tragically fell 300 feet down a mountain. Then, archaeologist Konrad Spindler, one of Ötzi’s primary researchers, passed away from complications related to multiple sclerosis. In October 2005, Thomas Loy became the last “victim.”

However, many others have come into contact with Ötzi since his discovery in the ‘90s and survived. Today, you can visit the Iceman in person at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Italy.

6. The Bronze Lady

Have you heard the tale of Sleepy Hollow? Not the one with the Headless Horseman, but the one about the Bronze Lady, who’s far easier to find than that ghostly rider. She’s a bronze statue situated in New York’s Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, the final resting place of Washington Irving himself. Officially named *Recueillement*, or *Grief*, the Bronze Lady was commissioned by the widow of Civil War general Samuel M. Thomas after his death in 1903.

According to the story, Thomas’s widow wasn’t satisfied with the statue because its expression appeared too sorrowful. In response, sculptor Andrew O’Connor Jr. made a new head for her. However, when he presented it, he called the original head a “monstrosity” and smashed it right in front of her.

Despite her displeasure, Mrs. Thomas decided to install the original statue to stand vigil over her late husband’s grave. In the years that followed, visitors to the cemetery at night began to claim they could hear faint sobs coming from the Bronze Lady.

As time went on, superstitions grew and spread, especially among the local children. Anthony J. Marmo, who grew up in the area during the 1970s, shared his memories with *The New York Times* in 2000: “If you knocked on the general’s tomb door and peeked through the keyhole, you’d have a bad dream that night. Of course, it always worked. There was another one where, if you slapped her face, sat on her lap, and spat in her eye, she’d haunt you forever. There was always one daring kid who’d do it.”

7. Delhi Purple Sapphire

Deep within the confines of London’s Natural History Museum rests the Delhi Purple Sapphire, which is, in fact, an amethyst.

The gemstone’s cursed tale supposedly began during the Indian Mutiny of 1857, when it was stolen from a temple in Kanpur and smuggled to England by a colonel in the Bengal Cavalry. Misfortune soon followed him and his heir, who passed it along to a polymath named Edward Heron-Allen in 1890. Heron-Allen, too, faced hardship and ultimately threw the gem into the Regent’s Canal around 1903. However, after a dealer returned it to him months later, Heron-Allen gifted it to a singer who had pleaded for it. He later remarked, “The next time she tried to sing, her voice was gone, and she has never sung since.”

After reclaiming the cursed amethyst and fearing it might ruin his infant daughter’s future, Heron-Allen locked it inside seven boxes and placed it in a bank vault. Along with the gem was a letter detailing its cursed history. He wrote, “This stone is thrice cursed, stained with blood, and dishonored by all who have possessed it.”

The letter also specified that the amethyst should remain in the vault for at least 33 years after Heron-Allen’s death. It did not.

Less than a year following his death in 1943, Heron-Allen’s daughter donated both the amethyst and the letter to the Natural History Museum. Since then, the curse seems to have remained dormant—if it ever existed at all.

Heron-Allen’s letter is the only detailed record of the gem’s curse, but he also published a short story in 1921 titled “The Purple Sapphire.” The tale bears a striking resemblance to his letter. Some historians from the museum speculate that he might have purchased the gem and invented the curse himself to add a layer of authenticity or intrigue to his story.

8. The Little Mannie

Another unsettling object possibly taken from its place of origin is a small, 3-inch-tall stone head known as “the Little Mannie with his daddy’s horns.” Discovered by a cleaning lady in a basement in Manchester, England, the artifact led local scholars Tony Ward and Pat Ellison-Reed to investigate the site, uncovering signs of a peculiar ritual.

As Manchester Museum curator John Prag later documented, “Around it was a circle of candleholders… and within this circle, they discovered remnants of chicken and hare bones, ivory counters used for scoring billiards, and other offerings, including a ‘mother figure’ whose head had been accidentally broken off.”

While the Little Mannie strongly resembled Celtic stone heads, it was generally assumed to be one. However, when it was displayed at the Manchester Museum in 1991, a visitor recognized it as a nomoli, a type of figurine from Sierra Leone. Although the Mende people of Sierra Leone unearthed and named these figurines, they are believed to have been crafted by an earlier indigenous group known as the Sapi, described by 15th-century Portuguese traders.

While the Mende people traditionally use nomoli to ensure bountiful harvests and good fortune, the Little Mannie seems to have brought only misfortune to those in Britain who came into contact with it. Manchester Museum staff experienced a series of accidents—car crashes, bike accidents, burglaries, broken zippers, and other mishaps. In an attempt to appease the statue, Ellison-Reed even took some hairs from her own head and wrapped them around it, believing, as Prag later recalled, that the statue would now become “much warmer and friendlier.”

It remains unclear whether this gesture had any impact on the Little Mannie’s behavior—or who originally brought the figurine from Sierra Leone to Manchester.

9. James Dean’s Little Bastard

On September 23, 1955, James Dean encountered Sir Alec Guinness at a restaurant and proudly showcased his Porsche 550 Spyder, affectionately called “Little Bastard.” In his autobiography, Guinness described the car as ‘sinister.’ He warned Dean, ‘Please never get in it… If you get in that car, you will be found dead in it by this time next week.’

Exactly one week later, Dean was found dead after a crash in the same car. But the story didn’t end there. Dr. William F. Eschrich, a surgeon and occasional racer, salvaged parts from the wrecked Porsche and gave some to his friend, Dr. Troy McHenry. After installing them into their own vehicles, both men crashed during a race in October 1956. Eschrich survived, but McHenry did not, sparking rumors of a curse.

The remaining parts of Little Bastard were sold to George Barris, the car customizer who had worked on the 1949 Mercury Dean drove in *Rebel Without a Cause* (1955). Barris went on to create iconic vehicles like Adam West’s Batmobile and the Munster Koach. Over the following years, the Spyder was allegedly linked to a series of strange events: a garage fire while the car was inside, two tires blowing out when placed on another vehicle, and thieves getting injured while attempting to steal parts from the car.

Since Barris himself was the one to publicize these incidents, some people believed the curse was just a clever marketing gimmick. When Barris later claimed that the car mysteriously disappeared in 1960, skeptics felt vindicated, suspecting Barris had orchestrated the whole thing—or at least a good part of it.

The car has been missing ever since, but one piece is accounted for: The transaxle, one of the parts Eschrich had recovered, was bought by *Ghost Adventures* host Zak Bagans in May 2021 for $382,000. Bagans planned to display it at his Haunted Museum in Las Vegas.

10. Busby’s Chair

If you visit the Thirsk Museum in North Yorkshire, England, you’ll likely notice a distinguished oak chair mounted a few feet above the floor. This is Thomas Busby’s Chair of Death.

One version of the tale behind this chair goes like this: In 1702, Thomas Busby murdered his fellow criminal Daniel Auty after a dispute, which may have involved Busby’s wife, who was also Auty’s daughter. Some stories suggest the two men fought because Auty dared to sit in Busby’s prized chair at a local tavern. As Busby was led to his execution, he was granted one final visit to the pub, where he cursed, ‘May sudden death come to anyone who dares sit in my chair!’

And from then on, so the legend goes, sudden death befell anyone who dared sit in Busby’s chair. The first reported incident occurred in 1894 when a chimney sweep was found hanged after sitting in it. World War II pilots who sat in the chair during their visits reportedly died in combat. In the 1970s, a delivery man died in a car accident shortly after trying the chair. In 1978, the pub’s landlord donated it to the Thirsk Museum with a strict instruction for it to be displayed suspended above the floor.

Museum curator Cooper Harding confirms that Busby was indeed executed for the murder of Auty, but their dispute was over a gold counterfeiting scheme, not Busby’s wife. There’s no evidence that Busby was married to Auty’s daughter. Additionally, furniture historian Adam Bowett points out that the chair is partially machine-turned and likely wasn’t made until after 1840. If Busby did curse a chair, it was probably not the one displayed in the museum.

Despite all the evidence, Harding wouldn't take any chances with the Chair of Death. As he told The Northern Echo in 2014, 'I’m not superstitious, but I wouldn’t sit in it because if I did and was knocked down by a car, everyone would say it was down to the chair.'

11. The Hope Diamond

The story of the Hope Diamond is thought to begin in an Indian mine, where it was likely unearthed in the 17th century. Originally weighing over 112 carats, the massive diamond was eventually cut down over the years as it passed through various hands. It was owned by French and English royalty, a prominent banking family, an heiress, and jewelers like Cartier and Henry Winston Inc. Before being donated to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958, it was displayed worldwide. Valued at an estimated $350 million, it is also believed to carry a curse.

The 45.52-carat, bluish Hope Diamond is said to bring unimaginable misfortune to anyone who dares to wear it. Those rumored to have fallen victim to its curse have suffered disgrace, divorce, suicide, imprisonment, torture, financial ruin, or even decapitation. One unlucky soul was allegedly torn apart by dogs, while another met a grisly fate at the hands of a French mob.

Skeptics argue that the curse is nothing more than a marketing tactic designed to increase the diamond’s allure and value. Jeffrey Post, then curator in chief of the National Gem and Mineral Collection at the Smithsonian, told NPR in 2009 that Pierre Cartier may have helped spread the tale. In the early 20th century, Cartier was attempting to persuade heiress Evalyn Walsh McLean to purchase the diamond, and 'she was known to be interested in diamonds or other pieces of jewelry that had stories, that had histories associated with them,' Post said. 'So it’s pretty clear that Pierre Cartier, if he didn’t completely make up the story, certainly embellished the story to get her interested.'

12. The Basano Vase

According to legend, a silver vase crafted in the 15th century was given to a bride on the night of her wedding near Naples, Italy. Tragically, she would never reach the altar, as she was murdered that very evening while clutching the vase. From there, the vase was passed down through her family, with each new owner meeting an untimely death. Eventually, the family chose to hide the cursed vase away.

In 1988, the vase resurfaced with a note that read, 'Beware… This vase brings death.' However, when the Basano Vase was auctioned for $2,250, the ominous note was left out of the description. The pharmacist who purchased it died within three months, and subsequent owners faced similar fates until the curse seemingly went dormant. A desperate family eventually called the police to take the vase away, and it has not been seen since.

13. The Hands Resist Him Painting

A chilling tale of cursed art surrounds a painting featuring a young boy and a female doll standing before a window. Titled The Hands Resist Him, the painting was created by California artist Bill Stoneham in the early 1970s. 'I used an old photo of myself at age five in a Chicago apartment,' Stoneham explained on his website. 'The hands represent the “other lives.” The glass door is that thin veil between waking and dreaming. The girl/doll is the imagined companion, or guide through this realm.' According to Stoneham, both the gallery owner where the painting was first exhibited and a critic who reviewed it died within a year of viewing the work.

The painting was once owned by The Godfather actor John Marley (who sold it before his death in 1984). In 2000, it appeared on eBay, accompanied by claims of a curse. The anonymous sellers stated that they had discovered the painting abandoned behind an old brewery. Shortly after bringing it home, their young daughter claimed the figures in the painting moved at night and even stepped out of their frame to cause mischief around the house. They even posted photos as proof. The tale of the curse helped push the auction bid to $1025.00.

14. The Terracotta Army

In 1974, seven farmers in China were digging a well for their village when they unintentionally uncovered the 2200-year-old Terracotta Army—thousands of intricately detailed sculptures that had been hidden for centuries as part of a grand tomb.

This incredible discovery brought great fortune to China, attracting scholars and hordes of tourists. However, for the seven farmers who made the find, it resulted in nothing but tragedy. The Chinese government claimed their land, demolishing their homes to properly excavate the army, leaving the farmers and their village financially devastated. Three of the seven farmers died painfully, unable to afford medical treatment, as one survivor recalled to The Daily Mail in 2007. Some attribute their misfortune to government negligence, while others associate it with another infamous cursed tomb.

15. King Tut’s Tomb

The tomb of Tutankhamun, the final resting place of the young 19-year-old pharaoh, is perhaps the most famous cursed tomb in history. Anyone who entered, whether they were a thief or an archaeologist, is said to have been struck with misfortune, illness, or even death, all due to the legendary curse of the pharaohs. While belief in this curse existed long before the tomb's 1922 discovery by Howard Carter, it was the excavation that truly brought the legend to life.

The first casualty was the canary Carter had bought shortly before discovering the tomb. Some believe it was devoured by a cobra, a symbol of Egyptian royalty, while others claim it was simply given away. Shortly after, Carter’s financial supporter, Lord Carnavon, died when a mosquito bite became infected. The deaths of several others linked to the excavation were also attributed to the curse. However, some skeptics argue it was mere coincidence, or perhaps a dangerous fungus from within the tomb that caused these deaths.

16. The Phone Number +359 888 888 888

It may sound like the plot of a low-budget horror film, but there’s a chilling legend surrounding the phone number +359 888 888 888. The number, first issued in the early 2000s, is said to bring death to its owners. The first victim was the CEO of a Bulgarian mobile phone company who succumbed to cancer at the age of 48. This was followed by two criminals—a mafia boss and a cocaine-dealing real estate agent—both of whom were “gunned down.” All three died within a span of four years. The number was eventually deactivated, but the company that owned it refused to provide an explanation for its removal.

This story is based on an article from 2016 and an episode of The List Show on YouTube.