Orphan’s Story

Categories
Horror Books

 Date of Discovery

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



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

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The Devil’s Toy Box – Louisiana

Date of Establishment

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

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Untitled Grimoires

Categories
Horror Books

Date of Discovery

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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