Bill Stoneham originally painted ‘The Hands Resist Him’ in 1972 and finished it in 1974, but ‘The Hands’ was found in February of 2000 by a brewery owner from California. The couple purchased ‘The Hands’ from eBay for a whopping $1,025.

Name

Stoneham originally named the painting “The Hands Resist Him” but it is also known to the eBay world as ‘the haunted eBay painting’.

Physical Description

The Hands painting is done on a 24 by 36’’ canvas in brilliant oil paints; the piece features a young boy and a doll-like girl standing in front of a window with a sea of disembodied hands reaching out from behind them.

Origin

Stoneham created this piece off of a photograph of him and a neighbor when they were kids. Stoneham said “There are memories, echoes of all the life within a place…The hands are the ‘other lives’, the glass door is the veil between waking and dreaming. The girl/doll is the imagined companion or guides through this realm.’’ He was quite shocked to learn of the stories attached to his piece of art. Stoneham went on to paint sequels to ‘The Hands’ and also keeps a personal note on his studio’s site, Stoneham Studios, addressing the painting’s story.

Mythology & Lore

In 1974 ‘The Hands’ was bought from Stoneham’s gallery show by Feingarten; it was purchased for actor John Marley for his role in The Godfather movie. Between 1978 and 1984 three men who were very close to “The Hands Resist Him’’ died; Seldis in 1978, Feingarten in 1981, and Marley in 1984. Twenty-six years later Stoneham would hear of his painting again as it resurfaced in a 2000 eBay listing. The selling family wrote their experience with the painting as a horror story only bested by Stephen King; as well as adding the photos of the painting “changing”. The family set up motion-sensitive cameras in their daughter’s room after she claimed the children in the painting were fighting and coming out of the painting. The camera showed the boy crawling from the painting, just as the 4-year-old claimed. BBC reported in 2002 the ‘last two pictures purport to show the doll coming to life’, and forcing the boy to leave the painting at gunpoint.  Some viewers of the painting’s ad on eBay also reported supernatural experiences after viewing “The Hands’’ piece for a long period. The reports claimed to experience disembodied voices, feeling hot air blown across them, feeling violently ill or fainting, hearing screams, being grabbed, blackouts, losing mind control, and many other concerning experiences.

Kim Smith bought the painting in 2000 off eBay for $1,025 after “Hands” had racked up a large legend on the internet. She reported the bizarre happenings started at the first email to bringing the piece home. She was asked to show the painting many times, the most memorable was in 2007. About a dozen men ranging in age from 14 to 60 came, Smith recounts “Twenty seconds passed, and just silence and then someone said, ‘that’s creepy’”. Smith turned down many offers, even a 6 figure one, and kept the painting because of the mystique it holds.

Today the painting rests in storage at the Smith’s Gallery in Grand Rapids, Mich; where it awaited filmmakers for its chance at the big screen. To this day Stoneham still receives messages weekly about “The Hands Resist Him”. Many share their stories and experiences after viewing it and some pry deeper hoping to have questions answered. Stoneham went on to paint 3 sequels to “The Hands” that carry the story and lore on. The first is “Resistance at the Threshold’’ (2004), then “Threshold of Revelation’’ (2012), and finally “The Hands Invent Him” (2017).

Modern Pop-Culture References

Movies

• Velvet Buzzsaw (2020)

Is there anything we missed about “The Hands Resist Him”? Let us know in the comments section below!

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The original dating of the chair is unknown, however, in the early 1950s, the Glatzel family came into possession of it.

Name

The Devil’s Rocking Chair

Physical Description

The chair is simple in style having a columned back, rounded arm ends, and two beige cushions for seating comfort.

Origin

Who built the chair and where it originally came from is still unknown to this day, but its origin began when an American family, the Glatzel, came into owning the rocking chair.

Mythology & Lore

What started as begin a simple household piece of furniture soon became the center of a tragedy for the Glatzel family, and became one of America’s most notorious exorcisms. The youngest member of the family, David Glatzel, was believed to be possessed by a demon in the summer of 1980. He claimed to be having nightmares of a man with black eyes, thin animal-like face, jagged teeth, pointed ears, horns, and hooves was visiting him. After seeing him visibly shaken by these nightmares the family noticed his behavior change, he was becoming more withdraw and quiet. Hoping to get David out of this “depression” the family sent him to live with his sister and her fiancée, Debbie and Arne Johnson. This however led to more nightmares about the dark-eyed man coming for David’s soul. Scratches and cruises began appearing on the boy’s body while he was sleeping, unexplainable noises began in the attic, and soon after David reported seeing the beast while awake now.

This beast-like man seemed to only be seen sitting in the family’s rocking chair by David, the family would see the chair rocking back and forth on its own. Fearing the worst, the Glatzel family called a priest to bless the house, which seemed to make things much worse. The unexplained sounds in the attic were growing stronger, David’s visions increased, as well as the boy hissing and speaking in tongues to his family members. During the night he had strange seizures every 30 to 45 minutes which caused the family to watch him constantly though-out the night. The rocking chair was now moving about the house on its own, disappearing and appearing in different rooms or places, even levitating on numerous occasions.

The Glatzel’s now fully believed the Devil was battling to steal their son’s soul, the family turned to Ed and Lorrain Warren who began regularly visiting the home. Multiple exorcisms were performed on David, who was sitting in the rocking chair. There were many witnesses to the rocking chair moving on its own, jerking, and even levitating on numerous occasions during these exorcisms. During the final exorcism, David was freed of the demon, however, Arne Johnson was said to be takin over by the demon. David showed signs of improvement and his behavior was becoming regular again. Johnson had started to show similar behavior changes as David once did. He ended up killing his landlord, Alan Bono, with a pocketknife and stood trial 8 months later. His plea was not guilty due to demonic possession was the first time in American legal history; however, it didn’t work to his favor. The jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and served 5 years out of the 10- to 20-year sentence.

Since the 1980s tragic events, the chair sat in storage and causing problems within the Glatzel family. Anyone who sat in the chair was stricken with sciatica or abnormal back problems, some were lesser cases others required surgery. Today the Devil’s Rocking Chair is at Zak Bagan’s The Haunted Museum, where it is displayed as safely as it can be. The museum workers have reported large numbers of experiences within its walls; terrifying some and attaching others closer in.  

Modern Pop-Culture References

Television Series

• Ghost Adventures (2016)

Is there anything we missed about The Devil’s Rocking Chari? Let us know in the comments section below!

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There is no set year of discovery for the Dybbuk Box as Jewish tails have mentioned it many times through-out various text and from various years. In 1914 a Yiddish play, The Dybbuk, embodied the tail of how the box came into existence, and horror culture has used it ever since. The famous eBay box was auctioned in 2003 which led to the widespread story we all know today surrounding this box.

Name

Dybbuk Box also spelled Dibbuk

Physical Description

The Dybbuk is said to be a disembodied malicious demon that possesses a living person’s soul to gain domain in the mortal world. The box that held the Dybbuk is an old-style wooden wine box that contained various bottles and jars of wine and trinkets.

Origin

                The Dybbuk Box comes from Jewish lore and dates back to the horror story from the Holocaust. There are many tails of these “cursed boxes” through-out time, but the most famous and well-known tale came in 2003. The owner of a furniture shop in Portland Oregon, Kevin Mannis, listed the box on eBay with a fantastic horror story to go with it.

Mythology & Lore

                The famed story of Mannis’s box entails a 103-year-old Grandma bringing the box to America while escaping the Holocaust. When she pasted in 2001 the family sold the box among other things at a yard sale to help with the costs of laying her to rest. Mannis was very interested in the box and was instructed to never open it. Once the box was at his furniture shop strange things began to happen and even caused an employee to quit. The light bulbs would flash and shatter, strange smells, nightmares, doors slamming and moving, as well as a general dark feeling seeming to follow the box. He opened the box to investigate, he found two wheat pennies, two small locks of hair, a statue engraved with Hebrew letters, dried rosebuds, a golden wine cup, and a black cast iron candlestick holder. He gave the box to his mother who died shortly after from a stroke, then the box was giving to other Mannis’s family members who all returned it report the same paranormal experiences he had.

In 2003 the box hit eBay after Mannis couldn’t bare keeping it any longer, Jason Haxton eventually won rights to the box in 2004 with a winning bid of $280. He soon fell victim to the unnerving wrath of the box which lead him to seek help from a Jewish Rabbi to reseal the box and burying it. Haxton recovered his box for a cameo on Ghost Adventures and later went on to publish a book about his experience with the Dybbuk Box.  Now many Dybbuk Boxes are flooding the eBay and Etsy markets with a wide range of prices and tales going along with their demons; however, not all of these boxes are REAL demon holding Jewish boxes many people have found fakes as they become an “in trend” item.  

Modern Pop-Culture References

Books & Literature

• The Dibbuk Box (2011)
• A Dybbuk: Or Between Two Worlds (2017)

Movies

• The Dybbuk (2011)
• The Possession (2012)
• Dybbuk Box: The Story of Chris Chambers (2019)

Television Series

• Ghost Adventures (Season 1, Episode 1)

Is there anything we missed about Dybbuk Box? Let us know in the comments section below!

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Allegedly the cabin was built in 2014 as part of a Halloween attraction on an orchard.

Name & Location

“The Devils Toy Box” and “Farmer Grave’s Haunted Orchard.” The cabin is located North of Louisiana on an old farm possibly near or in Alexandria. The secondary name Farmer Grave’s Haunted Orchard also implies it is on “Farmer Grave’s” farm.

Physical Description

The cabin is described as a windowless one room shack and on the inside the walls, floor, and ceiling are all mirrors

Origin

The shack was allegedly built as part of a halloween event that the farm had done each year. In 2014 Farmer Grave decided to add a new feature to the event and he created the “Devil’s Toy Box” at that time.

Mythology and Lore

Going inside the mirrored room is said to have driven several people insane. There are reports of individuals coming out kicking and screaming beyond reasoning. Several people believe the room can summon the devil himself.

Apparently, no one could last longer than five minutes inside the room. There was even a large timer set up beside the building that showed the current occupant’s length of stay under a second clock displaying the longest recorded time up to that point, which maxed out at four minutes and thirty-seven seconds before the attraction finally closed. The man who managed to last that long (Roger Heltz, age 52, father of three) had been reduced to a wide-eyed mute. To this day, he still hasn’t said a word.

Thought Catalog

Modern Pop-Culture References

None known at this time

Tritone

Tritone’s love of horror and mystery began at a young age. Growing up in the 80’s he got to see some of the greatest horror movies play out in the best of venues, the drive-in theater. That’s when his obsession with the genre really began—but it wasn’t just the movies, it was the games, the books, the comics, and the lore behind it all that really ignited his obsession. Tritone is a published author and continues to write and write about horror whenever possible.

puzzleboxhorror.com

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These manuscripts were believed to be written in the early 1900s as their first library appearance was around the 1920s.

Name

Untitled Grimoires or Persephone’s Grimoires

Physical Description

Two hand-written spiral-bound books that look like the ones we have today, they are worn down and have a few tears and rips to some pages but ultimately maintained a good condition to this day.

Origin

The books originated when a Wiccan High Priestess called Persephone Adrastea Eirene recorded her family’s spiritual history of being an American witch of Swedish and English ancestry.

Mythology & Lore

These manuscripts record Persephone’s “witchy” history that she reworked all through her adult life incorporating her mother’s grimoire into them as well. The first book contains around 250 pages of spells, incantations, curses, and enchantments, as well as corresponding information on gems, planets, rites, potions, and even exorcisms.  The second book includes around 150 to 200 pages of alchemy and chemistry recipes, cures, perfume and balms, nerve tonics, and even hairspray recipes. The first book is believed to carry the “curse” heavier than its counterpart, as Persephone’s spells are believed in Wiccan culture to contain more power than most other records due to the embodiment of herself within them.

Originally the books belonged to Alice Monseratt, the wife of Israel Regardie, who moved to the UK in the 1920s to work with famous occult writer Aleister Crowley. Later on, they both went on to work with the Golden Dawn Order and printing their works and publications as occultism raised into the modern world. Though Monseratt did little reporting on the cursed lore over these books, she did make notes as to why she and others within the Order believed the curse carried some serious weight. She made a note to an inscription warning all those who reading it, “To those not of the craft- the reading of this book is forbidden! Proceed no further or justice will exact a swift and terrible retribution – and you will surely suffer at the hand of the craft”. This was written in not only English but other languages as well to ensure the reader be heavily warned to keep away.

Another reason these books have picked up the cursed lore is their association with famous occult writers and the Order’s they studied under. During the time the books originally sold to Alice Monseratt most occult or “witchcraft” beliefs were highly looked down upon by society. As main occultism practicer’s record being threatened and harassed out of their towns and communities. These spell books made front-page news yet again when they sold for 13,865$ from AbeBooks.com to an unknown buyer. To this day copies of the Untitled Grimoires can be bought from M Benjamin Katz Fine Books and Rare Manuscripts in Toronto. They still come with a high warning for all none believers within Wiccan or Pagan believes to shy away from them because of the cursed lore within and surrounding their pages.

Is there anything we missed about The Untitled Grimoires? Let us know in the comments section below!

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15^th century.

Name:

Basano Vase

Physical Description:

Silver vase

Origin:

Unknown (probably Napoli, Italy)

Mythology and Lore: 

The first account comes from a small town north of Napoli, Italy in the 15th century. According to the legend, a young bride was given the vase before her wedding. Sadly, she never made it down the aisle as she died the night before her wedding. Whether her death came as a result of murder or natural causes are not known.

The vase was supposedly given to a family member. That family member died shortly after receiving the vase. The vase was passed to another family member and that person also died shortly after receiving it. The vase was then passed to a few more family members and they also died after getting the vase. The family realized that the vase and subsequent deaths were linked. With this realization, they decided to hide it away so no one else would come in contact with it. It stayed hidden away until 1988.

 With its resurface, came the cloud of death that consumed its owners. According to the legend, the vase was dug up by a young man from an unknown place. The vase allegedly came with a note that read “Beware, this vase brings death.” The note was disregarded, and the vase was put up for auction anyway. The vase was sold to a pharmacist. He died three months later. His family then sold it to a surgeon. The surgeon didn’t believe in curses or the paranormal. His skepticism did not protect him from the curse. He died at the age of 37, two months after buying the vase.

Then the vase was sold to an archeologist who wanted to add the vase to his collection. A few months later the archeologist died from an unknown infection. By this time the vase had gotten a deadly reputation, but the family was still able to sell it. The curse was felt by the new owners and they too tried to sell it but by then the reputation of the vase was well known. No one would take the vase, so the family threw it out of their window. It struck someone. While they were fined for littering, the family refused to take the vase back. The officer who fined the family wanted to put it in a museum, but no museum would take it. Eventually, the vase was hidden away again.

The Basano vase is believed to be one of the most cursed objects in the world. While this may be true, the validity of these claims can not be tested as the whereabouts of the object are currently unknown. Allegedly the vase was disposed of in a lead tomb. The tomb is buried in a secret location. It is believed that the tomb is buried on consecrated land but that is not known for sure. Whether the vase is real or not is not known. Guess we’ll have to wait until another young person digs it up again.

Modern Pop-Culture References

None known

Is there anything we missed about the Basano Vase? Let us know in the comments section below!

Tritone

Tritone’s love of horror and mystery began at a young age. Growing up in the 80’s he got to see some of the greatest horror movies play out in the best of venues, the drive-in theater. That’s when his obsession with the genre really began—but it wasn’t just the movies, it was the games, the books, the comics, and the lore behind it all that really ignited his obsession. Tritone is a published author and continues to write and write about horror whenever possible.

puzzleboxhorror.com

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This manuscript was originally written between 1608 and 1615 by Martín de León y Cárdenas, a Spanish Augustinian traveler. Throughout history, multiple people have tried to have the manuscript printed but ultimately did not have success until recently.

Name

Orphan’s Story or Historia del Huérfano

Physical Description

The first draft was a 328-page manuscript slightly yellowed, slightly worn and aged, and missing a few pages. It is hand-written in a decorative style reflective of the Golden or Imperial age.  The new age print takes on a more modern bound look, featuring artwork from the original manuscript on the front, yet a rather plain book front past that.

Origin

The original manuscript was dated back to the Golden Age of Spain, around the 1600s

Mythology & Lore

This story was about a Granada orphan who traveled to the Spanish empire in the Americas to seek his fortune. Along the way, the protagonist spends time in the high society of imperial Peru, the slave-filled mines of Bolivia, as well as witnessing Sir Francis Drake’s assault on Puerto Rico in 1595.

It was first set to appear in 1621 under the pen name of Andrés de León but never made it to the press due to the presidential atmosphere at the time in Sicily. The manuscript then sat in the Hispanic Society of America until 1965 when a Spanish academic, Belinda Palacios, rediscovered it. Palacios learned many attempts to publish The Orphan’s Story had happened, giving rise to rumors that malevolent energy lurked among the almost 400 pages causing the people working on it to die. In an interview with The Guardian, Ms. Palacios commented on the reported deaths “One from a strange disease, one in a car accident and another of something else.” Palacios also heard from other Professors she was working with to publish the book, one specialized in colonial letters from the Andean regions and Mexico, who was named Raquel Chang-Rodriguez. Chang-Rodriguez’s letters describe how Antonio Rodriguez Monino and William C. Bryant both died before finishing their editions of the book and is why the manuscript is believed to be cursed or bewitched.

Modern Pop-Culture References

Books & Literature

• Historia del Huérfano (2019)

Is there anything we missed about The Orphan Story? Let us know in the comments section below!

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First discovered to be haunted in 1970.

Name

Annabelle, also referenced as the Annabelle doll.

Physical Description

Despite her being reinvented on screen as a creepy porcelain doll, Annabelle is actually a plain-looking Raggedy Ann doll with the traditional red yarn hair, large black button eyes, and a white dress with blue frill trimmings.

Origin

Annabelle is a particular haunted object, so her manifestation only occurs within the doll in question which originated in the United States. She now resides in The Warren’s Occult Museum, which has been permanently closed.

Mythology and Lore

Annabelle’s story begins in 1970 when a 28-year-old nurse received the Raggedy Ann doll as a gift from her mother. She began to notice the doll changing positions, crossing its legs and arms, lying on its side, and even standing upright, as well as finding parchments on the floor with various messages written on them, such as, “help me, help us, help Lou.” The girls reported seeing the doll begin appearing in completely different rooms and leaking blood.

Visiting guests also reported the doll strangely staring at them, deep scratch wounds, and the feeling of being strangled. They eventually turned to a medium for help, who informed them the spirit was of Annabelle Higgins a seven-year-old who had been found lifeless in the field upon which their apartment complex was built. The girls let Annabelle’s young spirit inhabit the doll, only to find things getting much worse, as she was looking to take a human host.

Lou described one event with the doll, in which he stated that he heard noises within one of the bedrooms. Upon entering the room, he found Annabelle tossed on the floor and as he got closer, he was cut and began to bleed from his chest. Seven distinct claw marks, three vertically and four horizontally were burning his chest. They reported having healed within two full days after said event. The three ended up calling Father Hegan who reached out to Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Warrens’ conclusion was that this was an inhuman spirit rather than a young girl.

Ed and Lorraine took Annabelle with them to be safely kept at their museum of occult objects–both Ed and Lorraine felt the doll’s effects through travel as their car would stall or swerve off the curved roads. Though the Warrens’ only report the doll having killed one man who was said to challenge the doll, main stories have come about from visitors at their museum. One of the more famous stories about this doll is a motorcyclist that visited the Warrens’ museum and touched Annabelle despite the obvious posted warnings around the case. The motorcyclist died in a horrific crash shortly after being asked to leave the museum.

The doll is forever locked in a glass cabinet in the Warrens’ artifact room at their occult museum, with a cross on top of it, the Devil tarot card for protection, and warnings in place to keep visitors out of harm’s way. There are reports that it is regularly blessed by Roman Catholic priest/holy men, but sparse evidence has been provided on the rituals themselves. A few holy men have reportedly experienced car accidents and other weird occurrences after leaving the museum and dealing with the doll. Lorraine Warren now looks after Annabelle as well as the other occult collection to this day, despite the museum’s closure.

Modern Pop-Culture References

Movies

• Annabelle (2014)
• Annabelle: Creation (2017)
• Annabelle Comes Home (2019)

Is there anything we missed about Annabelle? Let us know in the comments section below!

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