25 Artifacts Possessed by Evil Spirits

The Dybbuk Box has been dubbed the “world’s most haunted object,” It is even alleged to have cursed megastar Post Malone after he touched it. Even looking at pictures of this seemingly-normal box is said to leave people cursed. A dybbuk is an evil spirit in Jewish folklore. According to legend, a Holocaust survivor accidentally summoned the demon using a makeshift Ouija board. It has since plagued its subsequent owners with demonic nightmares and visions, and people reported seeing shadows, hearing noises, and smelling strange scents while feeling overwhelmed by dark energy. Currently on display in Nevada, the box inspired three films, including The Possession, which was plagued by inexplicable fires during production.

The Woman from Lemb Statue dates to around 3500 B.C.E. in Cyprus but its recent history dates to 1878 in Eastern Europe. The statue has been linked to so many deaths that it is called “The Goddess of Death.” The first owner in recent history was Lord Elphont, whose seven-member family all perished within six years of him receiving the statue. It was then purchased by Ivor Manucci, who died four years later, along with his entire family. The figure then went to Lord Thompson-Noel, who perished along with his whole family. The statue was missing for a while, but its next confirmed owner was Sir Alan Biverbrook, who lost his wife and two daughters. Biverbrook, who had two sons left, wisely donated the monument to the Royal Scottish Museum.

Probably the most famous entry on our list, the real story of the original Annabelle doll began in 1970 when her terrified owner asked Ed and Lorraine Warren to bring her to their Occult Museum for safekeeping after two failed exorcisms. Annabelle has never calmed down. According to Lorraine, she has been known to move and growl at visitors. One of the creepier tales surrounding the doll covers the time Donna, the doll’s original owner, got a note that said, “Save Lou,” her roommate. Lou claimed she woke up with seven claw marks on his chest after the doll choked her. Multiple people have stated that the doll can stand, levitate, and even produce droplets of blood. 

After purchasing bunk beds for their children in February 1987, Alan and Debby Tallman stored them in the basement before moving them upstairs. Terrifying unexplained phenomena occurred throughout the nine months the bunk beds were in the house. The radio would often change stations on its own, the children would grow ill, and when they slept in their beds, they would be plagued by what they believed to be a witch. The family enlisted the help of a priest, and the first failed exorcism occurred, leading to even more frightening experiences. Unexplained fires would occur, and foggy apparitions would appear before the family. They eventually sold the house at a massive financial loss and buried the beds in a landfill to rid themselves of the demonic activity.

The origin of the Devil’s Rocking Chair is unknown; however, it was passed down to the Glatzel family in the early 1950s. The chair is said to have been cursed by the Devil himself, and it remained a piece of furniture until the summer of 1980 when its evil became the focal point of one family’s tragedy. The ominous artifact formed part of one of America’s most infamous exorcisms, which included two demonic possessions and a murder. Its story has even found its way to Hollywood in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.

The mysterious Dark Mirror, which literally has a life of its own, is housed in the world’s only mobile museum of the unexplained. The museum acquired it from the original owner, who bought it at a psychic fair in the Columbus region. The same owner claimed to have seen disturbing visions while looking into the scrying mirror’s dark image. Visitors have also experienced disturbing sightings, such as their own deaths, when gazing into the reflecting glass.

Burton Agnes Hall has been engulfed in terrifying spectral events for centuries. A  possessed object, known as the screaming skull, has been directly linked to many unexplained events within the mansion’s walls. The skull is believed to belong to Katherine Anne Griffith, who died in the same house in 1620 after being attacked by highwaymen. Screams and slamming doors can often be heard throughout the mansion at night. Ghostly figures have also appeared to stalk around the skull at times, making unearthly noises and following anyone who comes near it.

The film, Velvet Buzzsaw, was made due to the paranormal activity surrounding The Anguished Man painting. The painting’s owner, Sean Robinson, inherited the work of art from his grandmother. According to her, the artist who created it mixed his blood into the paint and committed suicide soon after. Robinson has published footage of the painting on his YouTube account, where one can hear sobbing and moaning noises in his home at strange hours and see ghostly figures moving around inside the artwork. 

A Romanian man crafted a doll with human hair and what appears to be a brain for his young son. Unfortunately, while playing with the doll, the child drowned, and his spirit became trapped inside the doll. The man gifted the doll to one of his employees, who refused to keep it as he said it communicated with him. Subsequent owners stated that it usually begins to rain when the doll is taken out. When Letta is brought into a room, pictures fall off, and dogs bark and attempt to attack the doll. Letta has also been reported to move independently, shift positions while seated, and emit a pulse while held.

This mansion in St. Francisville, Louisiana, is known as one of America’s most haunted homes and the supposed location of up to ten murders. It also has a possessed mirror. The mirror was purchased by the house’s owners three or four decades ago and holds the spirits of Sara Woodruff and her children. Visitors at Myrtles Plantation have reported seeing ghostly faces and handprints in the mirror, and it features long drip marks that no cleaning can remove.

The Unlucky Mummy is not an actual mummy but rather the coffin lid of a high-status woman who lived between 950 and 900 BCE. The four young Englishmen who bought the mummy in Thebes in the 1800s all perished in tragic circumstances. Rumors of the possessed artifact spread, and in the early twentieth century, the unlucky mummy was featured in an essay written by journalist William Thomas Stead. Stead later became a passenger on the doomed Titanic voyage. It is reported that he told stories about the curse in the days leading up to the accident, with many believing that the mummy caused the ship to sink. 

While we’re on the subject of diamonds, the Hope Diamond is undoubtedly the most famous and cursed gemstone in history. This 45.52-carat stone has a long and illustrious history, accused of countless tragedies, such as beatings, stabbings, murder, insanity, and suicide. In fact, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette owned the fancy blue diamond at the time of their beheading.

The last private owner of the diamond, an American socialite named Evalyn McLean, lost her daughter to an overdose, her son in a car accident, and her husband left her for another woman. The trustees of her estate sold the Hope Diamond to Harry Winston, who later donated it to the Smithsonian.

The 186-carat Koh-i-Noor Diamond has brought death and destruction to all who owned it. Throughout history, the gem has passed through the hands of Hindu, Mongolian, Persian, Afghan, and Sikh rulers who fought bitter and bloody battles to claim it. Every prince who possessed the gem would eventually lose his power, if not his life. For nearly 500 years, the stone was passed around in bloody fights and brutal coups. According to historical documents, the British purchased the diamond in 1849 and presented it to Queen Victoria in 1850. The diamond has only been worn by women since then.

When a doll gets blamed for being the cause behind a musician’s ill health, Ozzy Osbourne, in this case, people take note. 

Robert the Doll is said to be the world’s most haunted Doll. A boy called Robert Eugene Otto received the Doll in 1904 as a gift. After a few days, he complained that the toy was knocking over his furniture at night, and staff could hear the boy conversing with the Doll and the Doll answering his questions. To this day, Robert the Doll is said to break people’s bones to force their cars to crash, change positions on his own, and change his facial expressions while listening to conversations around him. He has been linked to several accidents, broken bones, and deaths.

The painting “The Hands Resist Him” came up for auction on eBay in 2000. The seller explained that the paintings’ characters moved at night, sometimes even disappearing entirely. Along with the listing, the pair uploaded photographs showing the female doll pointing a gun at the boy. The BBC UK reported that people became violently ill or fainted, children screamed upon seeing the painting, and observers were gripped by an unseen entity. Take a closer look at the artwork if you dare.

After demolishing an old building in Brighton, Tony Benyovits discovered a very old shop ledger buried behind a brick wall and removed it. He took the ledger to his house in Maidstone, Kent. Within days, the family was plagued by weird voices, eerie apparitions, and even terrifying images of different people started appearing on the household rug. One apparition finally instructed the family that the book had to be returned to Brighton on the same date as the first entry within its fragmented pages. The book was given to Preston Manor, Brighton’s most haunted mansion, where it resides at present. 

Have you got a favorite chair in your house? Consider cursing it after you die so that no one else can ever sit on it again without dying. That’s what Thomas Busby did immediately before he was hanged in 1702 for strangling his father-in-law to death. Over 60 people who sat on the chair died unexpectedly, sometimes just hours after settling into Busby’s favorite chair. The Thirsk Museum had to suspend it from the ceiling in 1972 to prevent any other people from sitting down on it.

It is said that Jeremiah Graham requested a carved chest be made by one of his slaves for his firstborn child. Unsatisfied with the end product, Jeremiah beat the slave to death. To avenge the death, the other slaves sprinkled dried owl blood inside the drawers and placed a curse on it. Tragedy followed everyone whose clothing would be placed in the chest, and it racked up eighteen deaths, including the death of the woman who tried to break the curse. Today, the chest is kept in the Kentucky History Museum in Frankfort, where owl feathers remain in its drawers to keep the curse at bay.

Anna Baker fell in love in 1849, but her father forbade the marriage and drove her lover away. Anna died a resentful and heartbroken woman. Their Mansion was eventually turned into a museum where visitors can see Anna’s unused bridal gown. The garment is frequently seen rocking or forcefully shaking within its glass case. Other paranormal events can also be observed. Anna’s brother, David Baker, was killed in a steamboat accident in the winter of 1852. Today, screams can often be heard from the basement where David’s body was kept until the ground thawed enough for him to be buried. 

The Delhi Purple Sapphire, also known as the Cursed Amethyst, has brought its owners nothing but despair and destruction. It is believed that the amethyst was stolen from India during the 1857 Rebellion and passed through the hands of several deceased owners before ending up with Edward Heron-Allen, its final owner, where it continued to cause a trail of suicides, apparitions, disasters, and failed careers. He finally had the stone hidden away in his bank safe, within seven different boxes and ordered it not be removed until three years after his death. It is now housed in a vault in London at the Natural History Museum.

The Great Bed of Ware, built for King Edward IV in the 15th century, is cursed. Everyone who tried to sleep in the bed was kept awake by being pinched, scratched, bitten, and would wake up horribly bruised. Despite being carved for royalty, the bed spent decades being handed between Wear’s inns. Legend has it that carpenter Jonas Fosbrooke, who built the king’s bed, became so furious by the rude handling of his work that his soul attacked any commoner who tried to sleep in it. The bed is currently on display in London at the V&A.

Here are the facts: Giovanni Bragolin, an Italian artist, painted a picture of a crying boy that became unexpectedly famous in the 1950s and spawned a slew of copies. These copies would be found in houses that had burned down with absolutely no damage to them. Creepy right? The typically dependable British newspaper, The Sun, reported in 1985 that firemen claimed to have discovered these prints in various residences destroyed by fire… but the paintings were fine. According to reports, British firefighters were already so disturbed by the phenomenon that none would allow reproductions of the picture in their houses. 

A collection of possessed chairs can be found in Belcourt’s Gothic ballroom. Those who attempt to sit in certain chairs feel a surge of resistance, while others have described being actively forced out of them. Belcourt also has a shrieking suit of armor whose original owner was slain when a spear pierced the armor’s eye slit. The terrifying spirit of a monk dressed in a brown robe has also been seen in the mansion. Several photographs taken before Belcourt’s curators forbade photography revealed countless spirit orbs drifting through the halls.

The famous Terracotta Army is a must-see tourist destination for many travelers worldwide. However, initially, the residents of the village believed that the army should never be disturbed as a terrible curse resided in their midst that would bring ruin and the village’s downfall. Unfortunately for the villagers, excavations began in 1974. The farmers and the land they relied on were eclipsed by the government, businessmen, and third-party officials who wanted nothing more than to admire (and profit from) the warriors. The farmers received no compensation for their discovery. In fact, their 2,000-year-old village was acquired by the state and dismantled, only to be replaced with gift shops.

If you find a buried vase with a letter that says, “Beware… this vase brings death.” You’d put it back down, pile dirt on top of it, and get out of there right? Maybe not…

Apparently, the person who discovered the vase in 1988 tossed away the message and sold the vase to an auction house, where it was purchased by first a pharmacist, then a surgeon, followed by an archeologist, and two more, all of whom died in less than three months after acquiring the vase. According to the Italian newspapers, the vase was confiscated by authorities and reburied in an undisclosed place.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also find it fascinating to explore 25 Things You May Not Know About Exorcism