Stacey Graham - Haunted Stuff: Demonic Dolls, Screaming Skulls & Other Creepy Collectibles

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

Haunted Stuff: Demonic Dolls, Screaming Skulls and Other Creepy Collectibles 2014 by Stacey Graham.

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First e-book edition 2014

E-book ISBN: 9780738741116

Book design by Bob Gaul

Cover design by Percolator Graphic Design

Cover image: Shutterstock.com/147014423/Jakub Krechowicz

Editing by Ed Day

Interior Images Beth Bartlett, LaMishia Allen, Library of Congress, Lucy Cheung, Stacey Graham, and Theresa Apple

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Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

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Manufactured in the United States of America

Contents

: How We Interpret Ghosts

: Demonic Dolls and Creepy Collectibles

: Restless Bones

: Haunted Housekeeping and Frightening Furniture

: Out of Pocket Experiences

: Spooky Seas

: Betwixt and Between in Haunted Hotels

: Tinseltown

: Jinxes

: How did our ancestors protect themselves from ghosts?

Introduction

Finding a one-of-a-kind antique doll in a garage sale is a great feeling, until you bring it home and it asks you for a glass of water. Haunted objects quietly invade our homes through auctions, yard sales, shady antique dealers, and the most insidious of all: grandmothers. Items inherited through the generational shifting of silverware may take on a darker side if a relative has attached herself to an oyster fork after her death.

What creates a haunted object? What saturates something that has no soul so that it carries with it the pain of a broken heart or the violence of a death? Call them cursed or call them blessed, these items frequently bump into our lives, creating phenomena that cant be explained by the cat. Haunted portraits, chairs that doom people to horrible deaths, or dolls that you thought only existed in bad moviesthe mundane creates its own horror through the memories forced on it by former owners and passed on to new ones. You may think twice before hitting the next garage sale.

So how does an object become haunted? Is it likely that a ghost has wiggled its way between molecules and is embedded within the fibers of an object because it cant bear to be without it? Possibly. The first law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created nor destroyedit can only be transferredso one theory about what we call a haunted object is simply that energy is being deposited onto an item instead of it floating around the ether and popping up at inopportune times, such as on your way to the fridge at midnight. The energy leaves a residue that enables the object to present itself to people sensitive enough to pick up on its shenanigans in the way of movement, talking, feelings of doomyou get the picture. An item may also be used as an agent for the spirit to manipulate, such as a chair being thrown across a room, but does that mean the possesion is possessed, or merely in the right place at the wrong time?

Other objects such as roads, houses, and waterways may also be haunted through the transference of a great emotional experience. While we may tend to think of a haunted item as something we can keep in our pockets or hidden under the bed, these larger objects may be dipped in that same paranormal goo and have just as much of a story to tell as a haunted doll.

Why are the living drawn to ghost stories of haunted objects? Were curious. Not just about what happens after death but to discover the answers to the real mystery of why an object becomes haunted. Does every portrait have a backstory? Does every bed have a memory of those who slumbered? Why do some items manifest in paranormal activity while others dont make a peep? If its any comfort, paranormal researchers are still watching and waiting to learn more about the interactions of the otherworld with the living. As we creep closer to the truth, however, we need to ask ourselves if were comfortable with the answers well find. So keep that nightlight handyjust in case.