Most of this information is taken from the book âThe Readers Digest Book of Strange Stories and Amazing Factsâ copyright 1975, revised 1976. I apologise for any inaccuracies, please remember this is just for fun.
The first recorded victim of the curse, at least according to legend, was a Hindu priest who fell under its spell 500 years ago soon after it was mined. He stole it from the forehead of an Indian temple idol but he was caught and put to death by torture.The diamond turned up in Europe in 1642 in the hands of French trader-smuggler Jean Baptiste Tavernier.He made enough money from selling it to buy himself a title and an estate. Then his son got so badly into debt through gambling that Tavernier was forced to sell everything he owned. Bankrupt, he headed back to India to remake his fortune, only to be torn apart by a pack of wild dogs. (Though this is disputed and some believe the official story that he lived to the age of 84 and died of natural causes but whereâs the story in that?)The gem reappeared in the possession of the French King Louis XIV, The Sun King.He had the diamond cut from itâs original 112.5 carats down to 67.5 carats.
From around 1985 onwards, a series of mysterious house fires were brought to the attention of the general public, following the discovery that in each case, the buildings and all their contents were completely destroyed apart from a painting – the âCrying Boyâ, which remained unscathed. In the years that followed, some 40-50 cases were recorded in which a housefire had destroyed everything except for the picture It became known as the âCurse of the Crying Boyâ, and even made headline news at one point.
The picture itself was a portrait painted by a Spanish artist of an orphan. It is said that his studio burnt to the ground, and the boy was later killed in a car crash. The picture is one of the first to be mass produced in the UK, there are several thousand of them in circulation, but the curse still appears to apply to all the copies. It is said that the curse will only effect someone if the owner of the painting becomes aware of it. Some psychics have claimed that the painting is Haunted by the spirit of the boy it depicts.
Nightmare Death Syndrome is a phenomenon reported among certain men of Thailand, who are apparently being killed in their sleep by spirits known as âwidow ghosts.â These are said to be the ghosts of particularly sexual womenwho met a violent death. Now, theyâre out to kill men and take their souls as husbands.
A widespread panic over the widow ghosts broke out in northeastern Thailand in 1990. Since the ghosts only attacked men, some young Thai fellows took to wearing lipstick and nail polish in bed in order to trick the spirits into thinking they were actually women. Yet the main strategy for warding off the ghosts was penises hung around the neck or in close proximity to the sleeping man.
Most were carved from wood, some more crude than others. Some artistic types added testicles made of coconuts, and pubic hair made from fishing nets. The residents of Ban Thung Nang Oak were very proud of their giant communal phallus, which was almost a meter (3 ft) long and had a red tip.
One couple crafted an entire scarecrow with the relevant appendage, and hung a sign around its neck that read âwidow ghost hunter.â In one village, there were rumors that the ghosts had finally acquired enough husbands, and the spirits were going to start seeking out female companions as well.
Thereâs actually a proper explanation for these ghost attacks, which have caused hundreds of deaths over the years. Autopsies revealed that the men had died due to poor nutrition. Many lived on a diet of nothing but sweet rice, which led to overproduction of insulin and a bunch of nutrient deficiencies. Combined with stress, the awful diets were enough to kill men in their sleep.Â
Necromancy is a form of magic involving communication with the deceased â either by summoning their spirit as an apparition or raising them bodily â for the purpose of divination, imparting the means to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge, or to use the deceased as a weapon, as the term may sometimes be used in a more general sense to refer to black magic or witchcraft.
Through the Middle-Ages, as divination -a direct undertaking of spiritual manipulation for gain, and a classical example of the ancient definition of necromancy- became known as a demonic practice, by way of the growing influence of the Roman Catholic teachings.Â
Somewhere between the gilded era of the round table knights, the misinformation of Catholic heresies and the superstitions passed on through the 17th centuries, the modern idea of necromancy became a fantastic tale of spiritual reanimation, of directed possession and of demonic worship.
This mannequin has been in a store window in Chihuahua, Mexico for the past 75 years. Pascualita also has a very unique urban legend behind her. Many believe that she is not a mannequin, but the perfectly preserved corpse of the previous ownerâs daughter.
Sonia Burciaga, a shop worker says, âEvery time I go near Pascualita my hands break out in a sweat. Her hands are very realistic and she even has varicose veins on her legs. I believe sheâs a real person.â
Other stories include Pascualita chaning positions on her own, her eyes following you around and the usual superstitions that come with haunted maannequins.
The Colchester Overpass, a location allegedly haunted by an axe wielding âbunny manâ
The myth of the bunnyman is so well permeated that the Colchester Overpass is known locally as âThe Bunny Man Bridgeâ. The origin of the legend is believed to have come from two incidents in October 1970. USAF Cadet Robert Bennett was with his fiancee near Colchester Overpass in their car when they noticed something moving just outside the rear window.
Within minutes, the front passenger window shattered and a figure dressed all in white was stood beside the vehicle. Their assailant yelled at the couple about their âtresspassingâ before disappearing. A hatchet was found on the ground near the car and is believed to have been what the man used to break the car window. When interviewed by police, Bennett swore that the man was in âa white suit with long bunny earsâ.
The second incident happened within days of the first when security guard Paul Phillips approached a shadowy figure two days before Halloween in 1970. Phillips stated when he approached the man it became clear he was in a âbunny costumeâ and armed with a long-handled axe. Phillips stated the bunny man began swinging his axe and yelled at him that he was âtresspassingâ and to âget out of hereâ.
The Fairfax county police investigated both incidents but were unable to find any suspects. Within the following weeks, police received over 50 reports of bunny man encounters but all remain unconfirmed.
The local legend alleges that the bunny man was a former resident of an insane asylum which once existed in Clifton, Virginia. It is said that the asylum was shut down and one prisoner managed to escape as he was transferred to another institution. This prisoner was supposedly Douglas J. Grifon, incarcerated for murdering his wife and children on Easter Sunday.
The legend continues that locals began to find skinned carcasses of rabbits hanging in and around Colchester Overpass. A police search ensued until Grifon was caught at the overpass at which point he threw himself in front of an oncoming train.
Local historian Brian Conley (who has extensively researched the bunny man) disputes this myth however, stating:Â âthere has never been an asylum for the insane in Fairfax Countyâ. Conley believes the only two authentic encounters were by Bennett and Phillips.
Despite this, the bunny man remains a popular local legend, so much so that since 2003 authorities have had to begin controlling access to the area around Halloween as hundreds of visitors head to the active train line in hopes of seeing the bunny man.
According to a thread, some tried to explain it as capillary action. But that doesnât explain the fact that it happened for only a couple days and then never again. (Source)
Feeding / offering food and drinks to statues is an important part of hindu religious ceremonies. So if all the cultureless dicksacks in the comments could shut the fuck up i would greatly appreciate it.
Iâve looked into this kind of extensively and Iâve yet to find a proper explanation for why this happened. It happened literally all over the world, and there is zero scientific explanation for why. There are theories, but they donât explain everything.
This is, incidentally, why I donât discount stories of faeries and gods and all kinds of shit like that. There are some things in the universe that are simply beyond human understanding.Â
The Jian Seng was found in 2006 in Australian waters. It was inoperable, had no crew, and sported a broken tow rope. No damage or obvious signs of piracy were evident. What was most baffling, however, was that the ship was apparently unregistered, nobody had reported a large missing ship that had broken free of its tow, and nobody claimed the ship when it was found.Â
Huacachina is a tiny town in southern Peru, an hour away from the Pacific coast. The town is a collection of resorts and restaurants around a blue-green laguna surrounded by huge sand dunes. One can sand board there and ride in a four-wheel-drive dune buggy.Â
Legend claims every year a mermaid living in the laguna takes one man.The legend stems from the yearly drownings. People speculate that the cause of the frequent drownings is swimmers muscles cramp when the warm water on the top of the oasis mixes with cooler water below. (Source)Â
đ„ There is beauty in destructionđ„ 