Your cat won’t stop staring at your old
grandfather clock. As the seconds tick by, its gaze becomes more
intense. It’s as if it sees something you can’t,
some malevolent force that lurks around the old timekeeper. They say animals can sense energies that humans
can’t, and house pets are often the first warning sign that a haunted or cursed object
is inside your home. As it ticks closer to the hour, is your cat
trying to protect you from a cursed clock? No, your cat just wants to get that bird when
it pops out. That antique grandfather clock your great-aunt
left to you might not be cursed, but the same can’t be said for the objects that follow. These real cursed creepy objects from around
the world brought fear, illness, danger, and even death to those unlucky enough to encounter
them. Our haunted world tour begins in Louisiana,
in the famous Myrtles Plantation. Known as America’s most haunted house, this
Antebellum-era plantation is known for its ghost stories and is rumored to be built on
a gravesite of Native Americans and be haunted by the spirits of slaves who died there. But hanging on one wall is the eeriest object
in the old manor - the cursed mirror of Myrtle Plantation. Mirrors are long believed to have supernatural
powers, and many legends circulate that people’s souls can get trapped inside. When the plantation was owned by Clark and
Sara Woodruff, Sara and their daughters succumbed to Yellow Fever. At the wake, one of the mirrors wasn’t covered,
and eyewitnesses to this day claim they can see the souls of the three trapped inside. A darker version of the legends claims Sara
and her children didn’t die of illness - they were murdered by a slave who was abused by
Clark and tried to poison him. Today, Myrtles Plantation is one of the biggest
historic tourist attractions in Louisiana, as guides give frank tours about the often
cruel history of the grounds. The mirror is one of the biggest destinations
for visitors, as many crowd by hoping for signs of the ghosts that supposedly exist
within. People have claimed to see figures moving
around behind them when no people are there, or ghostly handprints appearing in the mirror. Although many plantations have bloody and
tragic histories, few have as many ghosts as Myrtles Plantation Another cursed object hanging on the walls
brought fiery doom to those unlucky enough to possess it in the United Kingdom. In the 1950s, an Italian artist named Giovanni
Bragolin became successful for his series of mass-produced paintings known as Crying
Boys. These up-close portraits of young children
crying were a low-cost option for those who wanted to hang a piece of professional artwork
in their homes. But Essex firefighters sifting through the
ruins of destroyed homes consumed by accidental blazes soon discovered a disturbing pattern. In the ashes, they would frequently find a
Crying Boy painting - completely intact, even as everything around it was burnt to cinders. Investigations showed the fires had different
causes, including cigarette burns and faulty wiring. But as the fires became more common, paranoia
around the paintings grew. The newspaper The Sun went so far as to organize
mass bonfires of the paintings. British writer Steve Punt investigated the
curse, coming up with an explanation that the paintings had been treated with fire retardant
and fell face-down when their strings were burnt, allowing them to survive. But others speak of another explanation. Who were the children Giovanni Bragolin painted? An urban legend circulates of him painting
the children of a Spanish orphanage that burned down after World War II. Bragolin died in 1981, but copies of his paintings
are still available for auction online. Would you like one hanging in your house? What is a Dybbuk Box? When writer Kevin Mannis attended an estate
sale, he wasn’t expecting to find himself in the middle of a haunted mystery tying back
to one of history’s greatest crimes. He purchased what looked like a simple wine
cabinet that belonged to an elderly Holocaust survivor named Havaleh. Purchased in Spain after the war, the box
was kept in Havaleh’s sewing room and never opened. When he found out about its history, Mannis
approached Havaleh’s granddaughter to ask if they wanted the family heirloom back - and
was told in no uncertain terms that they never wanted to see it again. The mystery intrigued Mannis, and he cracked
the wine cabinet open. There he found a collection of odd objects
- two pennies from the 1920s, two locks of hair bound with twine, a wine goblet, a dried
rose bud, a candle holder, and a small statue with the word “Shalom” inscribed on it. It made no sense to Mannis, but things would
soon become terrifyingly clear. Mannis soon started having horrible nightmares
of an old hag stalking him, waking up from his sleep with a start. Odd smells he would describe as a combination
of cat urine and jasmine flowers came out of the box. He wanted it out of his house and gave it
to his mother as a birthday present. That same October 31st, she suffered a stroke. Mannis looked up past owners of the box and
learned that they all had similar experiences, down to the same terrifying dreams. He put the box up on Ebay and it went through
a long list of owners, who all experienced growing health problems and nightmares. It was eventually sold to Professor Jason
Haxton. Although Haxton started coughing up blood
and developing skin problems after he opened it, he was determined to solve the mystery. Haxton contacted Jewish religious authorities,
who immediately identified the source of the curse as a Dybbuk, a malevolent and angry
spirit in Jewish mythology. They studied the objects within and performed
a secret ritual to seal the spirit up in the box. With the wine cabinet safe again, Haxton donated
the box to popular ghost hunter Zak Bagans, who displays it in his museum. There it sits, safely behind glass - as long
as no one opens it again. Our next cursed object takes us to Hollywood,
as one of the greatest tragedies in celebrity history left a lasting hex. James Dean was one of Hollywood’s first
superstar teen idols, starring in eight films from 1951 to 1956, most famously Rebel Without
a Cause. But his rebellious heartthrob persona wasn’t
just an act - Dean was a reckless young man with a fondness for fast cars that proved
to be his undoing. He had a hobby as an amateur race car driver,
but Warner Brothers banned him from racing when he was filming. He was practicing for an upcoming race after
his last film wrapped in 1955 by driving his Porsche 550 Spyder, nicknamed “Little Bastard”. Shortly after he was ticketed for speeding,
Dean crashed into a Ford Tudor passing through an intersection and died instantly. One of Hollywood’s brightest young stars
was snuffed out in an instant, but the curse of the “Little Bastard” was just beginning. A wrecked car that a celebrity died in is
a hot item, and an enterprising car designer named George Barris planned to strip the high-end
car for parts. But as soon as he purchased the wreck, disaster
seemed to follow. When unloading the car, it slipped out of
the holding equipment and fell on a mechanic, crushing his legs. That didn’t stop Barris from breaking the
car down and selling its parts for other vehicles, but the curse didn’t disappear when the
car was dismantled. The doctor who bought the engine was killed
in a car accident not long after, and the man who bought the transmission barely escaped
death in another wreck. The tires blew out simultaneously when placed
on another vehicle. When the remaining shell of the car was being
transported for scrap, the truck crashed, killing the driver. But the shell was never found in the wreck,
having been stolen by a passing criminal. With no more parts available, the curse of
the Little Bastard seemed to be over - but that shell is still out there. The Maori people of New Zealand were proud
warriors who entered battle wearing ornate carved masks, designed to intimidate their
enemies. Legends said that any man who died while wearing
the mask would leave his soul behind in it. The masks of the fallen were proudly displayed
in memorial falls, but a disturbing pattern soon emerged. While the men, children, and older women who
visited the memorials saw no ill effect, the pregnant women who stood in front of them
had a higher rate of pregnancy loss or health complications. The Maori Priests who supervised the memorial
issued a warning that no pregnant women should visit the masks. A collection of the Maori masks stands today
in Te Papa, a Wellington-based museum dedicated to the heritage of the Maori people. The artifacts are acquired through negotiation
with local tribes, and the tribes can impose conditions to ensure their cultural practices
are respected. That’s why even today, the display of Maori
masks has a warning telling pregnant women to stay away from the display. While feminist groups protested, the tribal
leaders defended their stance. Maori belief in curses and evil spirits is
still strong, and many people approach the ancient warrior masks with caution - just
in case the spirits they believe are contained within are still restless. Those who like horror movies undoubtedly know
the cursed doll Annabelle, with her unblemished porcelain skin and creepy stare. But few people know that the doll is real,
and still lives today at the occult museum of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine
Warren. The real Annabelle isn’t a porcelain doll,
but a classic Raggedy Ann rag doll. The supernatural phenomena around her, however,
is no less chilling. Annabelle’s story begins in 1970 in Hartford,
Connecticut when a young nursing student named Donna received the doll as a housewarming
gift from her mother. But soon she realized this was no ordinary
doll. She would leave it in one place before leaving
for work, and come home to the doll in a completely different position. Donna and her roommate Angie would find strange
messages saying “Help me, help us” scrawled around the house. The doll soon became a menacing presence in
Donna’s house. At times, it looked like its eyes were leaking
blood. A male friend fell asleep on their couch,
and then claimed to have woken up covered in scratches. They didn’t own a cat. Donna and Angie hired a medium to see if the
doll was possessed, and the seance revealed that the apartment was haunted by a little
girl named Annabelle Higgins who died at seven years old. When the medium gave Annabelle permission
to possess the doll, things only got worse. Donna called in the Warrens, famous paranormal
experts, and they brought a priest to perform an exorcism. The Warrens took the doll home with them,
and on the drive back their car started malfunctioning. Ed threw holy water on the backseat to quell
the doll’s malevolence, and they were able to get the doll safely to their museum of
paranormal objects. It sits there today, in a glass case with
a warning sign - “Warning, Positively Do Not Open”. But even locked up, many believe the doll
is still dangerous - a foolish biker tapped on the glass while visiting the museum, and
died in a motorcycle crash immediately after leaving. Most visitors give the raggedy old doll a
wide berth. The most famous cursed object of all time
isn’t a belonging that can move from owner to owner. Everyone knows where it is, but only a brave
- or foolhardy - few dare to go inside. It’s one of the most famous archeological
finds of all time - KV62, or the tomb of the young pharaoh King Tutankhamun of Egypt. The circumstances of Tut’s short life led
to many rumors of curses, but the legends took on new life when the tomb was rediscovered
by British Egyptologist Howard Carter in 1922. He became world-famous for his discovery,
but bad luck soon followed him and his crew wherever they went. The first to die was a member of the expedition
- Carter’s canary that led their way into the tomb. Eyewitnesses say it was eaten by a Cobra - a
snake that represents Egyptian royalty in ancient scripts. Carter’s financial backer, Lord Carnarvon,
died soon after when a mosquito bite developed into an infection and he quickly deteriorated. Carter died of cancer in 1939, but future
expeditions also led to mysterious deaths. By 1935, over twenty deaths were blamed on
the curse of Tutankhamun. These ranged from on-site accidents, to infections,
to illnesses contracted after returning home. Scientists were skeptical that a curse lay
over the tomb, pointing out that the tomb had been sealed for thousands of years and
could have contained diseases and fungi that modern humans were very vulnerable to. But whether a natural illness or an unnatural
curse on those who tread on the Pharaoh’s tomb was to blame, scientists became more
hesitant to enter the famous tomb and today its contents reside in the Egyptian Museum
in Cairo. Now people can see Tut’s treasures safely
behind glass - without possibly venturing into one of the most cursed places on Earth. Do any objects in your home have a dark history
surrounding them? Have you ever noticed something moving out
of the corner of your eye when they’re near? If you don’t feel like sleeping after hearing
these stories of real creepy cursed objects, why not watch some more videos on The Infographics
Show instead? Check out this video over here, or this video
instead for more real tales of terror and suspense, and as always don’t forget to
like, share, and subscribe. Thanks for watching, and see you next time!
