Social Media Is Buzzing With Haunted Objects
Recently it seems like every day I scan through social media there is some mention of one haunted object or another. It could be yet another haunted doll, this time making it all the way to ITV’s This Morning or the odd Facebook Live where we can tune in and watch random objects in poorly lit conditions.
If I am sounding a little on the sceptical side of things then please understand that it’s not because I disbelieve or even think these are all charlatans trying to make a quick quid, but more because of the sudden abundance of objects.
If you’re a regular reader of my blog then you may have caught some of my previous posts on haunted objects as these are not a brand spanking new phenomenon, in fact they’ve probably been around for a very long time indeed.
Check my posts on Ghosts in the Machine and What The Heck is a Haunting Anyway!
So, why then has there been a recent boom in haunted objects recently? Perhaps the movie industry is to blame for this with recent releases of a movie that features the origins of the Warrens most famous haunted object Annabelle the doll. I first encountered Annabelle in the book ‘The Demonologist’ which documented the ‘extraordinary career of Ed and Lorraine Warren’. Annabelle had a chapter all to her self, similar to the beginning of the film ‘The Conjuring’ and what an interesting chapter that was. It wasn’t long before she received her own film and now another depicting her origins or ‘creation’.
Above is the actual Annabelle locked away in the Warren’s Haunted Object Museum in the States, but as you can see this Doll appears a lot more like something you may happily give to a young child rather than the scary evil looking thing we see in the movies. I’m sure we all know why that is, right?
Although the many objects collected by the Warren’s probably do appear to make up the majority of what many Ghost Hunters these days remember, there are much more out there and they date much further back.
Don’t Forget Ouija Boards
One particularly interesting object that has often been associated with being haunted is that of the Ouija Board. The Boards are of course seen by many as divination tools, portals to evil places by others and well a toy by sceptics that feel its more likely the boards user is moving the planchet. However you also often hear stories about the boards housing evil entities and by using the board you could release those entities to do harm. Hang on a minute that sounds a little like those scary dolls too!
Interestingly enough I’m pretty sure that Ouija Boards housing evil spirits is something that has also developed from the movie industry too. I am no expert and if I am wrong please correct me, but didn’t the Exorcist plot line include a few problems created by a naughty Ouija Board spirit? More recently we had Paranormal Activity 1 or 2 or 6, there were a few of those after all. Specifically we also had a horror film that was called ‘Ouija’, so pretty damn sure that was telling us no good would come of using one.
The psychology of the Ouija Board though is fascinating in its self and probably deserves a post all by itself. Some swear by its use saying nothing bad has ever come of it, others maintain its evil and even fear it. Jayne Harris of HD Paranormal delivered an interesting Facebook Live on it tonight (24th August 2017) to be fair, so check that out.
What are your thoughts on the Ouija Board? Perhaps I should conduct a few experiments on this?
The Crying Boy
In case you’ve never heard of it before the ‘Crying Boy’ is painting which is believed to be cursed and often causes harm to those that choose to hang it on their wall. Now I’ve not looked into this particular object in detail and only heard the stories in passing, so not going to go into detail here, but I believe it causes fires. What’s particularly odd is that the print itself seems to survive these blazes carrying the curse onto the next victim. That needs some experimentation for sure right? I wonder where I can get my hands on the picture? Actually, I’m renting and not sure my insurance covers haunted objects!
Below are a couple of pictures I have pulled from the internet on this little blighter.
What I found interesting about both of these stories is that they are different pictures. Granted they are both crying boys, but they are different. This immediately highlights a simple factor to me, this isn’t an association with a specific object like the Dolls, but more like a connection with a piece of information.
Again forgive me as I have not researched this in detail and I am theorising on the data I have. However I would guess that these pictures (the two above let’s say) dont carry the title ‘The Crying Boy’, but they are both obviously pictures of a crying boy. The question I would have to ask to victims of the apparent fires would be simply; were you aware of the curse of the picture prior to purchasing it and hanging it on your wall. If they were aware and made the purchase for that very reason then this could help us to understand why the fires may have occurred in the first place. Now bear with me on this one and as ever keep an open mind.
What if let’s say the very knowledge of this information and belief in the curse or even simple interest is enough to actuate it into reality. Okay that might be an okay answer from a probable spiritual perspective as it could be said that is giving the picture energy to start the fire perhaps. We are back on that belief thing again! Let’s tackle a probable scientific route too. What if the knowledge of the pictures history and curse creates something psychological that leads to the fire stating. I’m not saying that the victims started the fire, but perhaps their being super-vigilant to the possibility of fire because of the picture actually caused a fire. Sounds strange right? Well not if you’re aware of Murphy’s Law, which basically says anything that can go wrong will go wrong. There’s also the variation of this, which we grew up with in my house Sod’s Law. Sod’s Law is similar to Murphy’s, but says the worse probable outcome will occur, in this case a fire. More simply and logically though its also likely that there are hundreds if not thousands of these prints out there, but in a select few circumstances were the same where a random fire occurred and the print survived. Firstly, as only the print survived this would be seen as an oddity and comparisons would be looked for and once found you have the curse of the crying boy. It’s also likely that because of the location in the building where the print was hung, it escaped fire damage.
Now these are just ideas, brief thoughts if you like. That’s what Psi Theory is all about. In order to properly look into this I will have to do further research, perhaps that’s another post too.
Are Objects Really Haunted?
Can we really say that singular objects are haunted? It often can seem that way cant it? Especially when they carry extremely interesting and convincing stories, some even with a little anecdotal evidence that appears to support their haunting.
I have previously mentioned on other posts that I often see haunted locations and haunted objects in a similar light. This hasn’t changed in the slightest. We often seem to happily accept that somewhere is haunted or an object could be haunted too. Perhaps its that we would all like to believe that there is something beyond death for each of us or perhaps because we would like to feel that our loved ones which have passed may still be with us in some form.
Here’s my take on haunted objects in relation to my own theories.
Not unlike haunted locations that have numerous cues that allow our unconscious minds to begin seeking information, a kind of ‘googling’ of the mind and collective unconscious if you like. Haunted objects can do similar. Their appearance for example may allow us to link into other information telepathically that’s out their in the minds of others. The very appearance of the object is a cue for example and then of course there’s whatever information we already know about it. These things could all be elements that allow us to telepathically obtain the information that is associated with the object in question. A process often referred to as psychometry or at least very similar perhaps.
In regards to those objects which appear to move by themselves or even cause harm somehow, these could be more of a trigger for Psychical behaviour. Perhaps we are moving them with our minds similar to the concept of telekinesis, but unconsciously because we believe there is an associated haunting. That’s ruling out natural cause of course and I bring up natural cause for good reason. I watched a documentary once that showed how many believed that an ancient Egyptian artefact in a museum was haunted because during the nights it would turn around to face in the opposite direction. However instead of jumping to this claim, some clever science types done two things; 1) placed a camera to capture the movement and, 2) setup a device to monitor localised vibrations. They had a theory you see that localised vibrations were just right to effect this particular artefact due to its location and mass. Sure enough the clever clogs were correct. The camera captured the artefact gradually turning around throughout the night slowly and this was supported by the measurement of localised vibrations. You see sometimes there’s a very real very logical reason.
Are haunted objects really haunted, sure they are. Problem is our understanding of what the term ‘haunted’ actually means I think. In that our understanding of the source of the paranormal activity becomes very important. After all it may not be the afterlife that is amazing us by contacting us, it may be our connection with each other which allows this transference of information. A supernormal connection that in time may help each of us understand more about ourselves and our fellow man.
Ashley Knibb 
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