10 Most Haunted Objects From Around the World

Yes. There are talking dolls, moving paintings and screaming chests.

Haunted objects have been the source of many horror movie for decades. Even those who don’t believe still wonder why these objects exist.

We look at 10 of most popular haunted objects that are considered to be the scariest in the world plus the history behind them! Are they really haunted? Or is there a scientific explanation?

1. The Famous Annabelle Doll

The Annabelle Doll is one of the most popular haunted objects from the 21st century that it has become an inspiration for horror movies.

During 1970 a young college student named Donna was given an old Raggedy Ann doll from her mother. Her mother had found the doll at a second-hand store and gave it to Donna as a gift. Donna lived with roommates named Angie and Lou. Immediately after seeing the doll, Lou thought of it as evil.

Strange happenings began in their apartment. It started with Annabelle slightly moving positions and jostling about every now and again. Soon enough the doll started appearing in different rooms and moved all by herself. Lou began having horrible nightmares about the doll crawling up his legs and choking him at night. Finally, Donna decided to consult a medium to figure out what was going on.

They found out that the apartment is placed on what used to be a property where a young girl was found dead in a field. The spirit of the girl has latched to the doll. The happenings continued to worsen causing harm to the students. They asked for the help of a priest who in turn called on Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Warrens took possession of the doll and built a locked case for Annabelle.

2. The Hands Resist Him, A Haunted Painting

The ‘The Hands Resist Him’ was painted by Bill Stoneham in 1972.  The painting was based on himself when he was five years old. The painting was purchased from an art gallery by the actor John Marley of The Godfather. When he died, the painting went missing for years.

In 2000, the painting came up for sale on Ebay. The description stated that although they (the current owners) thought the painting was a wonderful piece of art, it freaked out their daughter. They claimed that the boy and doll in the painting would fight.

The Ebay listing got over 30,000 views and was soon sold. Today it is in a secure storage facility in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This painting is known to affect everybody who views it, even online. Right now.

3. The Tallman Bunk Beds

Yes, you read that right, a set of haunted bunk beds.  In 1987, couple Alan and Debbie Tallman purchased the set of bunk beds at a local second-hand store in Horicon, Wisconsin. They placed the set of bunks into the basement until they had finished painting the kid’s bedroom.  Once the bunks were placed into the kids room, they knew something was wrong the very first night.

One of their sons got a cold out of nowhere and was seriously ill.  The radio in the bedroom started turning itself on and off and the Tallman’s daughter claimed to see a ‘Witch’ standing over her on the bottom bunk who had long black hair and glowed like fire.  Stranger and stranger happenings occurred in the home whilst the bed was there, doors opening and slamming, lights turning on and off, and it progressed to the family hearing whispers from the walls.  The family employed a Pastor to come into the home to ‘Cleanse’ it of the presence.  The activity did die down for a little bit, but then returned with a vengeance.

When Alan Tallman heard a voice telling him to ‘Come Here’ and enticed him into a burning room, before telling him ‘You’re Dead’.  Blood started to ooze from the ceiling of the home and there was apparently a ‘Hole to Hell’ in the basement.

The Tallmans removed the bed and burnt it – and the happenings stopped.

Image Via WhatCulture.com

4. The Crying Boy Painting

‘The Crying Boy’ was a mass produced painting by Italian artist, Giovanni Bragolin. This painting is said to be haunted. Many families purchased this painting and displayed it in their homes. Each house that had this painting burnt to the ground.

After a fire fighter claimed that he had attended 15 homes that contained the Crying Boy Painting, did the ‘Curse’ come to light.  The Sun, a popular newspaper in the United Kingdom went crazy with the story of the curse.  Some specific fires included:

• A woman in Surrey’s home burnt down six months after owning the painting.
• A Pizza store in Norfork was destroyed by fire – the only wall that wasn’t burnt, was the wall with the painting.
• Two sisters who lived in Kilburn had a major fire after purchasing the paining.  One of the sisters claimed that during the fire, the painting swayed backwards and forwards on its own.

The curse was so widespread that mass-bonfires of the paintings were organised to dispose of them.

There were many theories about why this popular paining was cursed.  Some thought that the child was a Gypsy child who’s family had placed a curse on the artist.  Others said that the child had died in a fire and his spirit was embedded in the painting.

However, testing on the paintings undertaken by the Buiding Research Establishment found that the varnish used on the painting contained fire-retardent.

5. The Wedding Dress of Sorrow: Anna Baker’s Wedding Dress

Elias Baker is a wealthy man. He was an iron master from Pennsylvania, US and acquired a huge contract to supply iron countrywide. In 1894, Elias built The Baker Mansion. He lived there with his wife, Hetty and their children. They had two sons and one daughter, Anna.

Anna Baker fell in love with a local steelworker. Her father was disgusted and forbid the marriage because a steelworker was low class. Anna was forbidden to marry her love. Anna had chosen a highly extravagant wedding gown for her big day, and it sat in her cupboard.  Anna spent the rest of her life in her room, bitter and twisted, heartbroken and alone.  She often danced around the mansion in a trance, whilst wearing the dress. She never got married and died an old maid in 1914.

Annie Baker’s Wedding Dress sways and dances on its own accord, like a young girl admiring herself in a mirror. The Baker Mansion is now a Museum run by the Blair County Historical Society which is where the haunted wedding dress still remains, in Anna’s old room.

6. The Conjure Chest

Skilled craftsman Hosea was a slave on a large plantation near Frankfort in Kentucky US. The plantation owner was Jacob Cooley, a hard man that didn’t treat his family or slaves well.  When his wife was pregnant with their first child, he ordered Hosea to make a chest for the child’s room.

The chest was beautifully crafted, however, Jacob Cooley was not happy with the result. So he beat Hosea to death. The other slaves were outraged at the treatment of their fellow slave. They banded together with a ‘conjure woman’ who practised her magic in the old country. The slaves and the conjure woman ‘cursed’ the chest – and all those that owned it.

Even though Jacob ‘despised’ the chest, he still put it in his unborn child’s room. His son was born and soon died just a few days after his birth. His second son who also had the chest in his room was stabbed to death by his personal servant. The chest was then inherited by Jacob’s third son, John. John’s wife was aware of the curse and stored the chest in the attic. The chest was passed from family member to family member, all who either died tragically or their children were taken before their time.

Eventually, the chest went to a relative called Virginia Hudson – who consulted an old friend of the family about the cursed chest. The woman she consulted, Annie, happened to be a conjure woman. Annie told Virginia that in order to lift the curse on the chest, three conditions must be made:

• Someone would have to give Virginia a stuffed dead owl, unprompted.
• A pot filled with leaves from a Willow tree would have to be boiled from sunrise to sunset, with the own sitting nearby.
• The remaining liquid in the pot would have to be poured into a  jug and buried under a flowering bush, with the jug’s handling facing East towards the morning sun.

Annie died the following summer after all three conditions had to be made, and apparently, the curse was lifted.

7. The Busby Murder Chair

The story begins in 1972 when the murderer Busby falls in love with a young girl who he wishes to marry, though the girl’s father does not approve of him.

One late night Busby and the girl’s father began to argue. Busby was full of rage because the man had been sitting in his favourite chair. Busby murdered him, and he was eventually sentenced to death. Before Busby was executed he sentenced anybody to death if they sat in his favourite chair.

Incidents were reported of people being killed after sitting in his chair. It is said to this day if you sit on the chair terrible things will happen to you. Death, injury and even reports of being thrown from the chair.

After the execution, the inn was renamed the ‘Busby Stoop Inn’, the chair can still be seen on display at the Inn.

8. The Haunted Mirror of the Myrtles Plantation

The Mirror of the Myrtles Plantation is known to haunted by 3 ghosts.

In the 1800s a slave named Chloe murdered the lady of the plantation along with her two daughters. Chloe baked a cake that contained poison and fed it the three members of the family.

Chloe stated that she only intended to make them ill but others believed she had aimed to kill them all. The legend is that the three members of the family are trapped inside the household mirror. This mirror has had sightings of a mother and her two children seen from behind the mirror, hand marks, shadowy figures and faces were seen though the mirror, too.

9. The Anguished Man Painting

This painting was made by a man who mixed the paint with his own blood before killing himself. The painting is said to hold the spirit of the painter and can make people become overwhelmed with feelings of grief, fear and aggression. Read more about it here!

10. The Haunted Chairs of Belcourt Castle

The Belcourt Castle is a Gothic Style Mansion located in Newport, Rhode Island and is known to have the many haunted objects.  The Castle was built by an American Socialite and Politician, Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont.

Strange happenings occurred in the Castle as soon as it was completed.  The worst was the two chairs that seemed to have ‘Spirits’ that haunted those that sat upon them.  This is according to reports from the workers, visitors and descendants of the owners who have seen and have had creepy experiences. It is said that a monk statue holds a ghost that appears only in the room of the statue or around its location, the owners moved the statue into the chapel and the ghost stopped appearing. A screaming Japanese suit of armour was reported by the castle’s piano tuner and also by a cook who noticed lights were turning on and off in the kitchen but when she tried to turn them back on a blood curling scream happened behind her back.

Although there are so many strange occurrences, it is the chairs placed in the Belcourt Castle are said to be the most cursed. They are tied down in the room to stop them from moving about the area. The story behind the chairs is unknown so it is hard to explain why they are haunted.

What do you think?

Do you think these objects are haunted? Or do you believe science has an explanation behind it?