A British woman bought a portrait of a young girl at a thrift store and now claims the photo is cursed, reports mirror.nl.
Zoe Elliot-Brown, aged 36, saw an artwork by an unknown artist at the Hastings Advice Representation Center in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, a month ago.
At the same time, the seller warned Zoe that the painting might be cursed, revealing that a previous buyer of the same artwork had returned it to the shop stating “it ruined my life.”
Out of curiosity, Zoe snapped a photo of the painting on her smartphone and shared the photo with her 68-year-old mother, Jane Elliot-Brown. Her mother seemed entranced by the painting.
She immediately began urging Zoe to purchase the painting. Zoë gave in to her mother’s persuasion and paid £20 for the artwork. But as soon as she introduced it to her house, strange events began to take place.
When Zoe entered her home and placed the painting in the living room, their dog named Cilla jumped up and started growling at the artwork. Cilla deliberately kept her distance and did not go near the photo. Subsequently, Zoe’s mother’s health deteriorated sharply. She alternated between fever and chills, requiring her to wear four sweaters to keep warm.
At the same time, Zoë’s mother seemed fascinated by the painting. She stared at it all the time and even stroked the painted girl’s cheek. During the night she heard strange knocks coming from the room where the picture hung, despite no one being in the room.
Zoe managed to convince her mother that the painting contained negative energy and was cursed. However, Jane firmly defended the painting and did not want to part with it.
“I have never seen my mother desire something so intensely. She was fascinated by it, but not in a positive way. She guarded it. She often looked at it. She ran her fingers over the cheeks of the painted girl and polished the surface, although the painting did not need to be polished.”
“Every time I said to throw the painting away, she became extremely irritable. It turned into a kind of family heirloom for her, something she started to cherish.”
“My mother flatly refused to get rid of the painting. I think it’s a bit like the magical power of the Lord of the Rings ring. It definitely works in an attractive and charming way, it seems to draw you towards it.
“My mom was a bit like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings,” says Zoe.
Jane herself says that it seems to her that the painted girl is very unhappy and that she stroked her to comfort her. She also does not attribute the deterioration of her health to the purchase of the painting.
At the same time, she admits that there were several cases when someone seemed to knock on the door, and when she opened it, no one was on the threshold.
One day Jane got so sick that she passed out in the bathroom. Zoë called 911, but her mother refused to go to the hospital and was eventually left home.
One morning, Zoe entered the living room to find her mother standing and caressing the painted girl’s cheeks. And the mother could not remember how she got into the living room and what she did at night.
“It was strange behaviour, especially for my mother. She couldn’t remember anything that had happened last night. My mom is still very weird and distracted and doesn’t want to talk about it.”
And then something even more terrifying happened. Zoe and her friend Ben went for a walk on a hill during a thunderstorm and suddenly saw a “creepy black figure” suddenly appearing in front of them.
They don’t know if this has anything to do with the painting, but they immediately ran back in fear. Zoey decided to get rid of the cursed painting and ended up taking it to the same store where she bought it.
And when she drove to the store, she saw that someone had put a screw in one of the car’s tires, brand new. She gave the painting to the seller, but then changed her mind and took it back.
She didn’t want anyone else to buy the painting and get hurt as a result. Now Zoe only wants to give the photo to someone who understands damn things.
Now the painting is kept in Zoya’s house in a box filled with sage (it is believed that sage helps against evil spirits).
She also hung sage in every corner of the house, although Zoya’s mother was very unhappy about this.
“I thought if I knew my luck some idiot would go get it and try to burn it, and I don’t really want to be left behind with the rest of what the hell is going on. Technically, I was the last owner. [I want it] handled well. […]”
