![]() ![]() The homeowner set the china on a window sill and promptly forgot about them. The bundle was buried under a thin layer of dirt and damp, decayed leaves that must have blown under the porch for decades. Our fascination with the spirit world seems to know no price.įrom listing: “All three pieces were found wrapped in a wad of old newspaper under the porch of a house dating from about 1910. The best outcome, of course, would be if I ignored all the warnings given in the listings quoted below and passed on these goods to the next curse-curious eBay buyer. I did take the haunted teacup to upstate New York, then dreamed my room was inhabited by a Slimer-style ghost. So far, nothing good has happened (it is 2018, after all), but nothing catastrophic has happened either. The box is still sitting in my house, its contents spilling out. It has certainly been good for fictional stories about the curse of the Pharaohs-the idea that people who upset ancient Egyptian tombs will face deadly consequences-the Mummy franchise is now on its two dozenth film since 1932. It was good for an otherwise-unremarkable 1972 painting called The Hands Resist Him, which sold for more than $1,000 after someone claimed to see the painted figures move. It’s been good for the cursed Hope Diamond, which is said to bring death and heartache to whoever possesses it (“I like to pretend the thing brings good luck,” an American buyer of the diamond once stated). What is the appeal of owning cursed items? If history has taught us anything, it’s that the legend of a haunted thing is good for business. I wanted to tell him there were six cursed objects in the vehicle.ĮBay has a range of cursed, haunted, or just downright spooky objects for sale, and as part of my job at Topic, I purchased a range of items to photograph that had been labeled “haunted.” Using that label has turned out to be a weirdly successful way to sell old dolls, or shoes, or mirrors, or a “ spirit bra.” The company forces sellers to label their haunted goods as “entertainment,” lest someone actually feel ripped off by the lack of awful occurrences that follow the purchasing of a clown mask. It was all very pleasant and normal, but every pause made me nervous. The driver helped me load the box into the trunk, and on the hour-long ride home we made conversation about the MTA and rent in New York City. It was too big to take onto the subway, so I called a car. The cardboard box was about three feet long by four feet wide and sealed in at least three layers of packing tape. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |