The ancient Egyptians are well known for their supposed curses, but people have been cursing
objects, places and even people for as long as we know.
Most curses are no more than words or even rumours and usually no consequences ever come
to pass.
But here’s some documented cases of real life curses that actually took their victims
to the grave.
1.
We start of with a strange one.
When you think of curses you probably think of ancient hidden treasures or black magic.
I imagine you probably don’t think of the singer Frank Sinatra.
Known as the “My Way” killings, it’s a phenomenon witnessed in the Philippines.
Over the past ten years, an unusually high number of people have been killed whilst singing
Frank Sinatra’s My Way in karaoke bars in the Philippines.
One of the most well known cases was in 2007 when a 29 years old karaoke singer was shot
dead whilst singing “My Way” on stage.
The shooter’s excuse was that the song was being sung badly.
In total, over 10 separate killings in Filipino karaoke bars have been linked to the “My
Way” song.
And hundreds of other karaoke renditions have resulted in fights.
As a result many karaoke bars across the country have since banned the song from being sung.
2.
The Hope diamond is a stunning large blue diamond that was stolen from the eye of a
sculpted statue of the goddess Sita in India.
Legends tell of a curse that would befall the owner of the diamond, the curse foretold
bad luck and death to all that touched the diamond.
For centuries following its theft the Hope Diamond has supposedly caused misfortune to
all of its many owners.
There are numerous documented cases of such misfortune, but the most infamous include:
An innkeeper who bought the stone from India to Paris was torn to pieces by wild dogs in
Constantinople.
A son who stole the jewel from his father and later committed suicide.
A Russian Prince named Ivan Kanitovski who bought the diamond and was subsequently killed
by Russian revolutionists.
But whilst he was alive Kanitovski loaned the diamond to his lover who was then murdered
by Ivan himself.
The diamond was acquired by The Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. in 1958 and
has remained there, undisturbed, ever since.
3.
The 27 club is a morbid curse that seems to affect music legends.
Throughout history there have been a remarkably high number of musicians who died at the age
of 27.
Members of the club include Jim Morrison, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Janis
Joplin, Alan Wilson and Amy Winehouse, all of whom died prematurely at the age of just
27.
Either through alcohol, drugs, murder or suicide.
4.
King Tutankhamun’s curse is possibly the most famous curse of all time.
In 1922 an excavation backed by Lord Carnarvon famously discovered the hidden Tomb of Tutankhamun.
But less than six weeks after the discovery Lord Carnarvon was bitten by a mosquito and
died from infection.
In total 8 people who were involved with the excavation of the tomb died untimely deaths
shortly after.
5.
The Crying Boy was a painting by Bruno Amadio.
The painting was mass produced and was very popular in homes in Britain between the 60s
and 80s.
But it seems that whomever hung the painting in their home also brought a terrible curse
upon their house.
Because firefighters in the UK reported an alarmingly high number of houses burning down
that owned the crying boy painting.
But the weirdest thing about this mysterious painting is that when the firefighters examined
the rubble of the burnt houses, the crying boy painting remained unburnt, in pristine
condition.
Despite everything else being burnt to a cinder.
In all the cases of houses burning down, the eerie painting refused to burn.
This led to national newspapers reporting that the painting was cursed.
6.
The Basano Vase was created as a wedding gift in the 15th century.
But the bride was killed on her own wedding night, leading to rumours that the vase was
cursed.
The vase was then passed down through the bride’s family over several centuries.
Reportedly causing death for almost all of its owners.
Eventually a family member saw the unusual pattern of deaths associated with the vase
and locked it away.
The vase wasn’t found again until 1988 with a note inside that read, “Beware… this
vase brings death.”, but the new owner took no notice and sold it at an auction, he later
died, only a few months later.
The vase went on to cause the deaths of 3 more vase owners over the course of just a
decade.
At which point it was buried for good in an undisclosed location.
7.
But it’s not just objects that have been cursed.
Curses have been associated with a handful of hollywood blockbusters, where harm came
to the film crew during and after production.
including The Exorcist and The Poltergeist.
But the most cursed of them all was The Omen.
Shortly before filming even began, The Omen star Gregory Peck’s son killed himself.
Afterwards, on the way to filming, Peck’s plane was hit by lightning, so was the scriptwriter’s
plane and the executive producer’s plane.
During shooting, the hotel where the producers were staying was bombed by the IRA, and so
was a restaurant the directors and actors were scheduled to eat at.
Also a tiger handler that helped with the filming of The Omen was eaten alive by the
tiger.
But it doesn’t end there, after filming had finished, special effects consultant John
Richardson was involved in a car crash that killed his assistant.
And when Richardson scrambled out of the wreckage he looked up and saw a road sign that read:
“Ommen, 66.6km”.
Even the date of the crash crash was cursed, it took place on Friday the 13th of August,
1976.
There’s definitely something very sinister about that film.