You've heard of Haunted Houses.... Have you heard of Haunted Objects?
The Haunted Cane
In December 2004, the first "ghost" was sold on ebay. A woman from Indiana placed for auction grandpa's cane because her son believed it was haunted with his ghost. (Ebay doesn't allow auctions of intangible items, such as ghosts, however the woman was selling the physical cane that the ghost seemed to inhabit) In case you're wondering, the cane sold for $65,000 to Golden Palace Casino, to be part of a traveling tour which already includes a Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich.
Annabelle The Haunted Doll
Touted as one of the most unusual cases of a possessed object, Annabelle the doll was originally bought from an antique store and given to a young woman by her mother. After a short time, the girl and her roommate started noticing strange things about the doll. First they noticed small movements, which grew to bigger movements and eventually they found the doll changing rooms entirely! About a month after receiving the doll, they started finding small messages, which looked to be penned by the hand of a child, and they all stated some variation of “help.” Not only were they strange notes, but they were also found on parchment paper, which neither of the roommates kept in the house. Then one night, the girl came home to find that the doll appeared to be covered in blood, and she sought the help of a spiritual medium. The medium came in and confirmed that the doll was possessed by the spirit of a 7 year old girl named Annabelle. After this, the doll was investigated by Ed and Lorraine Warren, who called a priest in and determined that the doll was not really possessed by a spirit, but instead by a demonic entity who was looking to acquire a human host. The doll is currently locked up in the possession of the Warrens, on display in their small paranormal museum.
Screaming Skulls
The tales of screaming skulls seem to be most familiar to Britain, with many of the more famous stories originating there. Some of the stories are enough to send chills up your spine! One of my favorites is that of Burton Agnes Hall in East Yorkshire. Anne was a young maiden who was fatally stabbed. On her deathbed, she had her sisters promise that they would remove her head and keep it in the great hall of their manor. The sisters ignored her plea, and upon the completion of the great hall, it was filled with strange moaning and odd sounds. Finally, the sisters could take it no longer and they went out to the family vault and retrieved the skull, finally placing it in its desired resting place. Sometime later, a servant who did not believe the story went so far as to throw the skull out onto a passing wagon, causing the horses to rear in fear, and all the pictures fell from the walls in the great hall. Needless to say, it was returned and later bricked up in the wall to protect it and keep it in its rightful place. If you would like to read more about screaming skulls, check out this great website.
Haunted Bunk Beds
Purchased at a second hand shop, these are not your everyday bunk beds. Since the Tallman family found them and put them in their children’s bedroom, a slew of bad events started happening. The children fell ill, the radios started taking on a life of their own and objects started moving around the house. The doors around the house would bang open and shut, the family heard voices and the entire family was scared of the haunted happenings in the house. The last straw was when a skeptic relative was staying over and saw something strange. The family finally moved, destroyed the bunk beds and never looked back. They have since been haunting free and the house remains spirit free to this day.
Robert the Doll
Once owned by painter Eugene Otto, the doll is allegedly cursed. Otto got the doll as a gift in 1906 from a servant who was supposedly skilled in black magic. Neighbors reported seeing the doll moving from window to window. Otto would scream at night and claim the doll turned over furniture. When he died in 1974, the doll fell into the hands of a 10-year-old girl who also screamed at night and claimed that the doll tried to kill her. Robert is now in the Fort East Martello Museum and Gardens in Key West, Fla., where guests can take a picture with him. A word of warning: you must ask nicely, or Robert will curse you.
The Dibbuk Box
The definition of a Dibbuk box is a wine cabinet which is haunted by a restless evil spirit called a Dibbuk. It is mainly believed to be folklore, however there are some odd stories of Dibbuk boxes throughout time. This one became famous after it was listed on ebay. It had belonged to a woman who had recently passed, who had been a Jewish survivor from a concentration camp during WWII. When she immigrated to the US, this dibbuk box was one of the only items that she brought with her. She had warned her family to never open the box, that they would be harmed and she asked to be buried with the box. This was against their religious belief, however, and the granddaughter ended up selling the dibbuk box to an antique dealer. Once it was in his possession, strange things started happening in his shop. The antique dealer did what any good chap would do, he gave the box to his mother. Within a few days, she suffered a major stroke. He then attempted to gift the box to others, but everyone always returned it, either because they did not like the box or they felt something evil coming from it. It was sold on ebay, and presumably, the antique dealer finally had the peace he wanted.
"The Anguished Man"
This painting is just plain creepy. It doesn’t really need a spooky story to have it send chills down your spine, but it does anyway. The story that was told to the owner was that the artist who created the painting mixed his own blood in with the paint and that he killed himself shortly after completing it. Voices and weeping sounds were abundant, along with shadowy figures roaming the house. The current owner has taken some video to back up his claim, see if you believe it for yourself.
The Cursed "Chair of Death" Kills All Who Sit in It
In 1702, a convicted murderer named Thomas Busby was about to be hanged for his crimes. His last request was to have his final meal served at his favorite pub in Thirsk, England. He finished his meal, stood up, and said, "May sudden death come to anyone who dare sit in my chair."
The chair remained in the pub for centuries, with many a brave man daring one another to sit in it. It could be coincidence, but during times of war it was noted that soldiers that sat in his chair did not return. After a long string of deaths that were tied to people who had sat in the chair, the owner of the pub donated it to a local museum in 1972. The museum has the chair on display hanging up on the wall so that no one is able to sit in it and suffer the same fate.
The Women from Lemb Statue
Nicknamed “The Goddess of Death,” The Women from Lemb is a statue carved from pure limestone that was discovered in 1878 in Lemb, Cypruss. The item dates back to 3500 B.C., and is believed to represent a goddess, similar to a fertility idol. The statue was first owned by Lord Elphont, and within six years of having the statue in his possession, all seven of the Elphont family members had died from mysterious causes.
Both of the next two owners, Ivor Manucci and Lord Thompson-Noel, also died along with their entire families just a few short years after taking the statue into their homes.
The fourth owner, Sir Alan Biverbrook, died as well, along with his wife and two of their daughters. Two of Biverbrook’s sons remained, and though they weren’t big believers in the occult, they were scared enough by the sudden and strange deaths of four of their family members that they decided to donate the statue to the Royal Scottish Museum in Edinburgh, where it remains today.
Shortly after the item was placed in the museum, the chief of the section where the statue dwelled suddenly died as well, though no museum curator will admit that the statue may have supernatural properties. No one has handled the statue since that first museum worker who passed away, and the item is safely under glass and protected from human hands.