puppets at toys r us

number 15. “elmo goes insane”: “kill james”. that’s what a talking elmo doll began tosay at random one day in lithia, florida. the mother was changing the batteries forher toddler’s toy when she noticed that it was saying her son’s name and instructinghim to die. the “elmo knows your name” doll is supposedto plug into the computer, learn your child’s name and say “hi”. it is definitely not supposed to learn theurge to kill. fisher price manufactures the dolls, and theycan offer no explanation as to why this one

elmo doll is bent on wanting to kill james. they asked the family to return the doll sothat it can be studied and better understood. by this point, young james had begun to repeatthe phrase himself. number 14. “apologizing to australia”: ayers rockis a famous natural landmark in australia that brings in 250 thousand visitors fromaround the world each year. it is also home to the native aboriginal population,otherwise known as bushmen. unfortunately, a lot of people want to disrespectthe sacred site by taking a piece of rock back home with them.

and when i say “unfortunately”, i meanfor the tourists, and not for the local tribes. that’s because every year hundreds of apologetictourists mail their stolen rock fragments back to australia. as their letters show, a large portion ofthem say they have been cursed with bad luck ever since they brought the souvenir back. complaints of family deaths, divorces, andillnesses are the top three common side effects of removing the rocks from their natural habitat. by mailing the rocks back, cursed touristshope they can reverse the damage that they have so foolishly brought upon themselves.

even though the natives tell them not to takethe rocks in the first place, tourists have been ignoring them since the 1970s. some people just have to learn the hard way. number 13. “curse of the irish”: australia is notthe only place with cursed rocks. the blarney stone in ireland is known to bringgood luck to anyone who kisses it, but this logic does not apply to the rest of the castle. if you want to take a piece of the blarneycastle home with you, you’ll get a curse instead.

much like ayers rock, regretful tourists oftenmail their stolen stone fragments back to ireland with letters of apology explaininghow they have been cursed. one of these people is linda kelly from southcarolina. she explains that she bought a rock from blarneycastle at a yard sale for $1. its previous owner was a priest who had diedalone and in misery. when she took the rock home, her life changedimmediately, and not for the better. first, kelly felt extremely depressed forno explainable reason at all. she also had employment problems right awayeven though she was usually excellent at her job.

soon she started hanging around the houseall the time and could not seem to even move. when she received a huge late notice in themail for a bill she knew that she had already paid, she decided to mail the stolen pieceof the blarney castle back to ireland. she started to feel better right away andknew she made the right decision. otherwise, kelly was sure that she would haveended up like the unlucky priest before her. number 12. “the worst phone number in the world”:while this one is technically not a physical object, it is still cursed and brings badluck to all who come across it. i’m talking about a mobile phone numberthat is so dangerous, nobody in the world

will accept it. that’s because every single person who hasbeen given this phone number (0888-888-888) has died. vladimir grashnov was the first to go in 2001. this ceo of a bulgarian company called mobiteldied of cancer when he was only 48. next was a bulgarian crime mafia boss namedkonstantin dimitrov . he was given the cursed number and killed by a hitman at a restaurantsoon after. a cocaine drug lord named konstantin dishlievgot the number next. he was shot outside of a restaurant immediatelyafter.

police suspended the number for a bit to investigate,but the bulgarian phone company decided to pull the number for good. it’s out of service for everyone’s safety. number 11. “cursed in china”: in 1974, a team ofseven peasant farmers came across a priceless discovery in their small village of yang. as they were working the earth, one of themspotted a tiny head sticking out of the ground. they could tell the object was extremely oldand were afraid to touch it at first, but one of them wanted cigarette money so he brokea piece of it off to take back to town.

that is where their troubles began. the farmers told others about what they hadfound, and soon archaeologists came from all over to dig the relics out. in total, over 8 thousand miniature figureswere recovered. these figures were made out of a clay-likesubstance called terracotta . this was a complete replica of the ancient chinese army, and thesefigurines had been buried with the first emperor of china to protect him in the afterlife. they were more than 2 thousand years old andextremely valuable, but also quite cursed. the 7 peasants who found the terracotta armysuffered horribly.

instead of making any money, their farmlandwas taken from them by the government and their homes were destroyed to make room forgovernment gift shops and museum exhibits. some of the peasants died at an early age,and the rest of them now sign books in the museum for next to no pay. almost all of their village believes thatthis is payback for disturbing the great emperor’s cursed army. number 10. “robert’s in the attic”: if you haveever watched chucky from the child’s play movies, then you should know about the actualdoll that inspired him.

this doll is named robert, and instead ofwearing overall suspenders and having long red hair, this doll sports a creepy sailorsuit, black eyes and holes all over its face. the doll’s original owner was a young boywho was also named robert, but went by the named of gene instead because eugene was hismiddle name. many people believe that the sailor suit robertwears is a real one that gene himself used to wear. gene loved the doll so much that he absolutelyrefused to part with it even after becoming an adult. instead, the doll went with him everywhereuntil he died in 1974.

a woman named myrtle reuter soon bought theproperty and found robert the doll still inside. her 10-year-old daughter remembers that thedoll was alive and she believes to this day that he constantly plotted to kill her. she and other visitors recall hearing footstepsin the attic where robert stayed along with giggling. he would also move to different areas of thehouse on his own. by 1994, myrtle decided she had enough anddonated robert to a museum. you can view him in key west, florida foryourself if you ever feel like you need a new friend.

number 9. “king tut hates your pets”: king tut wasan egyptian ruler who died at the age of 19. although he did relatively little during hisnine years as pharaoh, his cursed tomb has made him immensely famous years after death. here’s what happened. british explorers seem to love sticking theirnoses in the most haunted places in the world, and in 1891 howard carter figured he wouldcontinue the trend. he went to egypt and poked around there foralmost three decades until he finally came across tut’s tomb in the early 1920s.

you would think that they opened the coffinand there tut was, but that’s not exactly what happened. first, they opened the coffin and found asmaller coffin inside. inside of that was an even smaller coffin,and inside of that was a third coffin that was made of gold. king tut was inside. lord carnarvon accompanied howard to the tomband was responsible for funding the excavation. all of his pets died and he himself died ofa mosquito bite shortly thereafter. the technician who x-rayed king tut died,a wealthy visitor who wanted to see the tomb

died, and another member of howard’s teamis thought to have somehow died of arsenic poisoning. howard himself did not die, but it is saidthat a cobra ate his pet canary on the same day that he found the tomb. number 8. “donna’s doll”: donna was turning 28years old and going to school as a nursing student in the year 1970. her mother got her a raggedy ann doll to keepher company while she was away at college. it would soon prove to become the worst giftshe had ever received.

donna and her roommate would come home tofind the doll in different positions all around the house. sometimes its arms were folded and other timesit was found learning against a chair. sometimes the raggedy ann doll would evenbe kneeling. if you’ve ever seen a raggedy ann doll before,you’d know that it was impossible for donna to put the doll in a kneeling position withoutit falling over, so they really had no idea what to make of this. things only continued to get worse. somebody started leaving short messages aroundthe house that said things like “help us”.

her roommate’s fianc㩠claimed to have beenattacked by the doll on two separate occasions. when donna came home to find spots of bloodon the doll’s hand and chest, she contacted a paranormal investigation team for answers. the two investigators, named ed and lorrainewarren, determined that the spirit of a young girl named annabelle higgins was to blame. she had been killed and her body had beenfound in the exact same area where donna now lived, except it was just a bare field back. donna and her roommate gave annabelle permissionto live inside of the doll, and they gave it to the warrens for safekeeping.

the doll possessed by annabelle is now ina paranormal museum owned by the warrens, and she is still causing trouble. according to them, one visitor in particularwould not stop mocking annabelle. he challenged her to bring him harm and sheaccepted. according to the warrens, on his way home,the man hit a tree while riding his motorcycle and did not survive. number 7. “the salty ghost”: there’s a hauntedmansion in newport, rhode island with two very haunted chairs.

the belcourt mansion was built in 1894 byoliver belcourt, who was just basically some rich guy who wanted a place to show off hishuge collection of medieval stuff. unfortunately, when you put a ton of old armor,books, and other antiques under the same roof, you sometimes wind up with a completely hauntedestate. that’s exactly what happened, and the placeis now home to two old haunted salt chairs. if you are wondering what a salt chair is,it’s basically a chair that was made especially for the person who was sitting closest tothe salt during meals. salt used to be a precious resource a longtime ago, and so sitting by the salt was a big enough deal that you got a special chairfor it.

apparently, whoever was in charge of the saltback then still lingers around the chairs to this day, and they don’t want to giveup their position as head of the table. visitors who sit in either the two salt chairsreportedly feel anxious, ill, or even like they are being electrocuted. one of the chairs even shot out a bolt oflightning in front of 70 witnesses, the mansion’s owner says. another time, a person was launched 6 feetacross the room when they tried to sit down. oftentimes, visitors who are brave enoughto take a seat say that it feels like there is already somebody sitting there.

there’s also a haunted helmet that screamson its own and a fixed mirror that casts a moving reflection, but we like the ghost whothrows people on the floor most. number 6. “the iceman cometh”: otzi is the nameof a prehistoric caveman who was preserved by the cold climate of the italian alps. many scientists believe he was a shepherdwho was murdered by other cavemen for his animal herd, which could be why his very bodyitself appears to be cursed and out for revenge. for whatever reason, he just can’t seemto stop killing almost everyone who disturbs him.

otzi was discovered in 1991 by two germantourists. one of the tourists, a man named helmut simon,would later die in almost the exact same spot he made the discovery at years later in 2004. he fell to his death during a freak blizzardthat no one had seen coming. he is far from alone. the person in charge of the rescue team forhelmut seemed to be punished for interfering. he died of an unexpected heart attack by age45 – just one hour after helmut’s funeral. otzi is believed to have claimed many otherlives through accidents and mysterious illnesses. the first archaeologist who ever looked atotzi died.

the head of the forensic team that examinedotzi died as well. the mountain climber who brought the forensicteam to otzi died. and as for the man who filmed otzi while hewas being removed from his grave . . . he lived. just kidding. he died of brain cancer. don’t mess with otzi. number 5. “the hot seat”: daniel awety was a 17thcentury english crook who liked to make counterfeit

coins for a dishonest living. his illegal operation was going well untilhis partner in crime, a man named thomas busby, fell in love with his beautiful daughter,elizabeth. this caused a riff to form between the twomen, and in 1702, thomas beat daniel to death with the very same hammer that daniel usedto forge fake coins. thomas was sentenced to death for his crime. on his way to be hung, he asked to stop atthe local pub for a drink. while sitting in his favorite chair, thomasannounces that this seat is officially cursed, and anyone who sits in it from this day forwardwill die most unpleasantly.

people might have laughed it off at the time,but it seems that thomas was not playing around. local townsfolk say that thomas’s cursehas claimed the lives of 63 people since then, but only a small portion of them have beenofficially documented. in 1967, two pilots from the royal air forceeach sat in the chair, and they both died in a fatal car crash that same night. years later, a brave mason decided to temptfate and take a seat, and he, too, fell to his death that very afternoon. other instances include a roofer who had aroof collapse from under him, a cleaning lady who soon died of a mysterious brain tumor,and a delivery man who died in a car crash

just within one hour of sitting in the cursedchair. the chair is now suspended high up on a wallin a museum . . . just so nobody sits on thomas’s favorite chair and activates thomas’s favoritecurse. number 4. “the ‘little bastard’”: james deanwas a 1950s actor who was basically seen by many as the coolest person on earth at thetime. his favorite car, however, is almost equallyas famous as he was, but for completely different reasons. james dean’s souped-up porsche 550 spyderwas nicknamed “little bastard” because

it looked like one mean car on the road. but even when it was off the road, it wasstill trouble. when james dean had the car in the shop toget it upgraded, for example, the car jumped off the trailer and broke the mechanic’sleg. one day alec guinness , who is the same guythat played obi-wan in the star wars movies, was hanging out with james dean. he told dean that he would be dead in thatcar within a week. sure enough, dean wrecked seven days laterin a fatal accident. but his car wasn’t through with humanityyet.

the same mechanic who had his leg crushedlater sold some of the parts from james dean’s car. he sold the engine and drivetrain to two racecardrivers, and they each had two separate accidents in the same race. one overturned their vehicle and seriouslyinjured themselves. the other hit a tree and died. both of “little bastard’s” tires weresold too, and they both blew out at the exact same time, nearly costing the driver theirlife. then thieves broke into the mechanic’s garageone day to try and steal car parts.

when they came across dean’s car, they bothseriously injured themselves. one managed to rip their arm wide open. number 3. “no hope for you”: the hope diamond isa huge 44-carat gemstone that was found in a seventeenth century mineshaft in india. according to legend, it was stolen from agroup of priests who went on to put a curse on it to get their revenge. ever since then, anyone who possesses thediamond, from historic figures of royalty to simple mailmen, has experienced great misfortune.

king louis the 14th bought the gemstone andsoon died of gangrene. all of his biological children also died exceptfor one. one of his assistants wore the hope diamondfor a special event. a little while later this assistant was exiledfrom the country. louie the 16th was given the hope diamondand he supposedly let his wife wear it. she was the queen of france, marie antoinette,who would later have her head chopped off during the french revolution. the list of people who died or were injuredwhile owning the hope diamond goes on and on.

a dutch jeweler was killed by his son, a greekdealer drove off a cliff and killed himself and his entire family, a rich woman had herentire family die off one by one, and even the poor deliveryman wasn’t spared. in 1958, james todd dropped the hope diamondoff at the smithsonian museum. by 1959, he had gotten into two differentcar accidents. one crushed his leg, and the other gave hima head injury. his wife died, his dog died, and half hishouse burned down. number 2. “india’s dark secret”: the hope diamondis not the only cursed gem from india.

the delhi purple sapphire was first recoveredfrom the temple of indra by british explorers in 1857. in the hindu religion, indra is the most powerfulgod of them all, and as everyone was to soon find out, also probably the last god you’dever want to anger. an englishman named colonel w. ferris broughtthe gem back with him. soon afterwards, everyone in his family hadhealth issues and lost their money. when a family friend held onto the delhi purplesapphire for a bit, they committed suicide. over 30 years after its discovery, a writernamed edward heron-allen eventually acquired the gem.

he was not a superstitious man in the slightest,but after experiencing a rash of bad luck, he passed it onto his friends to see if thealleged curse would continue. one friend became extremely ill from a numberof different health complications, and another friend who was a singer lost her voice forever. the gem seemed to go after a person’s verylivelihood, taking away whatever they enjoyed in life the most. by this point, edward had seen enough of thegem’s destructiveness and threw it into a canal to rid himself of it once and forall. imagine his surprise when a gemstone dealershowed him the same delhi purple sapphire

that he had thrown in the canal shortly thereafter. it had found its way back to him. edward bought the gem on the spot, thoughexactly why is unclear. maybe he wanted to keep other people safefrom its curse. maybe he was accepting his fate. either way, he eventually donated it to amuseum because he was going to have a daughter and he wanted her nowhere near the thing. by the way, museum workers have suffered horriblehealth problems both times that the sapphire has been transported.

number 1. “the passion of the curse”: in 2004, melgibson directed the passion of the christ, a movie which reenacts the biblical eventsleading up to the crucifixion of christ and his resurrection. the movie received a lot of criticism forits touchy subject matter, and some people believe that god himself gave it two thumbs-downby cursing the entire set. mel gibson chose jim caviezel to play jesuschrist. during his role, all kinds of accidents happenedto him. jim got pneumonia, dislocated his shoulder,and even had a huge chunk of flesh taken out

of him during the whipping scene. but then there’s the lightning, too. while filming one scene, lightning struckjim straight in the head. when an assistant named jon mikalini ran outto check on jim, lightning struck him, too. unbelievably, this was the third time thatlightning had hit the set – jon the assistant had been struck once before. during an interview with the christian broadcastingnetwork, jim says that he knew lightning was going to hit him a full four seconds beforehe was struck. something inside of him felt that it was coming.