One of the houses on Carrer dels Mirallers in Barcelona city is often called the Demon house because of the rumors about what went on inside the house. According to the legends, it was a place where some stray priests dabbled in the occult, exorcism and possible demonic arts.
In the shadows of Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter you’ll stumble upon a street that harbors a chilling secret. Carrer dels Mirallers, a seemingly unassuming thoroughfare, hides a dark history that has fascinated locals and paranormal enthusiasts for centuries. Known as the Demon House, this enigmatic residence has long been shrouded in mystery, with tales of supernatural phenomena and eerie occurrences circulating among those brave enough to venture near.
The Legend and History Behind the Demon House
Carrer dels Mirallers, or Mirror Makers Street, is located in Barcelona’s historic Gothic Quarter, a neighborhood steeped in history and folklore. While the street where they used to make mirrors itself may not appear out of the ordinary, it is the stories associated with one particular house that have given it its ominous reputation. The Demon House on No. 7, as it is commonly known, stands as a testament to the dark and mysterious past of the area.
Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories from Spain
One of the buildings on Carrer dels Mirallers is adorned by the head of a woman, signaling that the house at number seven used to be a brothel back in its day. This connection to the world of vice and sin adds an eerie undertone to the already haunting atmosphere surrounding the Demon House. The building’s history as a den of debauchery only scratches the surface of the mysteries that lie within its walls.
The Home of Jacint Verdaguer
Another notable figure associated with the Demon House is Jacint Verdaguer, a famous and renowned Catalan poet living on the 4th floor. Verdaguer lived in the house for a period of time, and his presence has left an indelible mark on the building’s history. While Verdaguer was known for his literary contributions, he also had a penchant for dabbling in the supernatural.
Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories set in Haunted Houses from around the world.
In 1870 he decided on another path and became a priest. He was not a priest of the strictest sense of priests however and according to legends, he started to perform exorcisms on people and places.
The Exorcist Priest: Portrait of Jacint Verdaguer by Ramon Casas.
Jacint Verdaguer became acquainted with Father Joaquim Pinyol after a pilgrimage to the holy land that changed him completely. Father Pinyol was obsessed with demons he saw in the city. He founded the Oracion in the street and it became the center for exorcisms and the fight against the devil. And soon Verdaguer joined in.
Verdaguer was not a priest in the strictest sense, but according to legends, he started to perform exorcisms on people and places. The walls of the Demon House are said to have witnessed Verdaguer’s attempts to banish demonic forces from within. Whether these exorcisms were successful or not remains a mystery, but the stories surrounding Verdaguer’s involvement in the occult only serve to heighten the enigma surrounding the Demon House.
The Exorcisms on Carrer dels Mirallers
The exorcisms that have happened inside of the house, turned out to be quite brutal. They brought the sick into a room decorated like an oratory. They ran riot and the sick ended up eating morsels of glass and needles as they shouted about heaven and hell and everything that was there.
There were prayers and the next day the priests would mark their lips with a large medal and the people would take out the needles and everything else they had swallowed the day before.
The Haunted House on No. 7
Of all the houses on Carrer dels Mirallers, the number seven house holds a particularly sinister reputation. It is believed to be haunted by demonic spirits, and those who have ventured inside have reported chilling encounters and unexplained phenomena. The air inside the house is said to be heavy with an otherworldly presence, and visitors often feel an overwhelming sense of unease.
It is said that Verdaguer got too into the dark arts and managed to invoke a demon inside of the house in one of his scenes. It is said that it is still trapped in the house today.
The Enduring Allure of the Carrer dels Mirallers Demon House
The Carrer dels Mirallers Demon House continues to captivate the imaginations of locals and visitors alike. Its rich history, intertwined with tales of the supernatural, has earned it a place in Barcelona’s folklore. Whether you believe in ghosts and demons or not, there is no denying the eerie allure of the Demon House.
As you wander through the Gothic Quarter, take a moment to pause outside the Demon House. Listen closely, and you may catch a whisper carried on the wind or glimpse a fleeting shadow out of the corner of your eye. The mysteries of the Carrer dels Mirallers Demon House may never be fully unraveled, but that only adds to its enduring fascination.
To end his financial problems, Agustin Atzerias made a pact with the devil. To honor this pact, he adorned his house on Carrer Josep Torres No. 20 with demonic ornaments on the building.
The history of Carrer Josep Torres No. 20 dates back to the late 19th century when it was constructed by an industrialist named Agustin Atzerias that was about to do some strange things. Atzerias, a man known for his wealth and extravagant lifestyle, faced financial difficulties in 1892 that sent him and his lifestyle crashing down. Legend has it that desperate to regain his fortune, he made a deal with the devil himself.
Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories from Spain
According to the rumors, Atzerias sold his soul to the devil himself in exchange for money and riches to get back on his feet. Miraculously, he won the lottery shortly after making this pact and used the newfound wealth to complete the construction of Carrer Josep Torres No. 20.
The Demonic House: The House in Barcelona looks pretty normal from a distance, but if you look closer, you will see that the entire house is decorated in honor of the devil. // Source: Enric/Wikimedia
However, it is said that Atzerias’ success came at a great cost, as the house became a hub of paranormal activity and is to this day a haunted house filled with demonic powers.
The Barcelona Demon House quickly gained a reputation for its eerie occurrences that seemed to concentrate around this address. Locals reported hearing unexplained voices, footsteps echoing through the halls, and witnessing objects moving on their own. Many believe that the demonic ornaments adorning the facade of the house are a testament to the dark forces that reside within.
A Pact with the Devil: Allegedly the house is decorated this way because the owner made a pact with the devil in exchange for money. //Source: Enric/Wikimedia
The Mystery of the Demon House
One cannot help but be intrigued by the peculiar architecture and design of Carrer Josep Torres No. 20. The most striking feature of the house is the row of demon heads adorning its facade. These grotesque sculptures, with their twisted expressions and menacing features, have become an iconic symbol of the Barcelona Demon House.
Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories set in Haunted Houses from around the world.
The origins of these demonic ornaments are shrouded in mystery. Some speculate that Atzerias, in his desperation to regain his fortune, invoked the help of dark forces and dedicated the house to the devil. Others believe that the demon heads were merely a reflection of Atzerias’ eccentric personality and fascination with the occult.
The Enduring Allure of Carrer Josep Torres No. 20
Despite the passage of time, the Barcelona Demon House continues to captivate the imaginations of those who dare to explore its dark corners. Whether you believe in the supernatural or not, Carrer Josep Torres No. 20 offers a glimpse into a world beyond our own. It serves as a reminder that there are still mysteries left to be unraveled and secrets waiting to be discovered.
The House with the Demonic Art: if you take a stroll down Carrer Josep Torres No. 20 and look up, you can see that the house is decorated with pictures and ornament of the devil. Exactly why, we will never know, but people have claimed that there is a demonic force that haunts the building now. //Source: Enric/Wikimedia
A paranormal investigator’s dream, the South Bridge Vaults in Edinburgh have been investigated for its hauntings on many occasions and many have left with a feeling of having experienced something paranormal and ghostly in the dark.
In the late 18th century Edinburgh was a growing community with a limited space in the Old Town nicknamed Old Reeky because of the bad smell and old buildings. The city is built around seven different hills and there are five main bridges connecting the slopes and hills of the town. That is also the reason for the high rise buildings of Edinburgh were they chose to build on top of the old to utilize the uneven location of the city.
The people of Edinburgh started to utilize the spaces under the South Bridge in the Old Town to make more room for business. The spaces within the archers under the bridge are also known as the Edinburgh Vaults or Niddry Street Vaults as well as just the South Bridge Vaults.
Advertisements
They look like a series of chambers next to each other and are actually of the 19 archers underneath the South Bridge. It was supposed to be a place with respectable businesses, but ended up becoming some of the more haunted corners of the very haunted city.
The Cursed South Bridge
According to legend, the place was cursed already from the start. The South Bridge that was built to connect the old town with the new town was completed in 1788, and already at the opening of it the locals deemed it as cursed.
The South Bridge: The largest arch of the bridge, seen from the Cowgate.
It was seen as a grand opening and one of the respected Judge’s wives had been selected to be the first resident to cross the bridge as she was the city’s oldest resident. However, she died before the opening. To keep their promise to the elderly woman though, they decided she after all would be the first person to cross the bridge, although it was in her coffin.
The locals in Edinburgh were scared, now thinking that the bridge was cursed because of the unusual opening of the bridge. And looking back at all that happened on the bridge and in the vaults beneath it, perhaps it indeed was.
In the start, the South Bridge Vaults underneath the bridge were mostly used as taverns, workshops and as storage space for merchants. However it wasn’t long before the well respected businesses started leaving the area because of the poor facilities. The building of the bridge and the vaults underneath had been constructed on a low budget and even the construction itself had been rushed. Therefore they had taken no precaution to seal the surface against water and built it with porous limestone and the place became a damp and dark place which constantly flooded.
The Damp and Dark Underworld of the Vaults
No later than 10 years after the bridge and the vaults opened, respectable businesses like shoemakers, goldsmiths started leaving the area and those that could afford it relocated elsewhere as the murky vaults flooded and the sunlight never shone inside the South Bridge Vaults. It was a place no one wanted to be, and only those that had no other choice remained.
Advertisements
There was also a slum where the poorer people in town started to take over as the surrounding Cowgate area had developed into a slum during the industrial revolution. Crime, filth, poverty and murders were key words to explain the place as no sunlight came through.
More illicit businesses started to pop up in the area like brothels, shady pubs, gambling dents and illegal whiskey distilleries, turning the place into the red light district of the town.
The Legends of the Serial Killers Burke and Hare
A lot of horrible things happened inside these vaults during this time. Most of it, we will never know for sure. Legends however will be told. The South Bridge Vaults were where the body snatchers Burke and Hare were supposedly finding their bodies as well as killing them to sell them off to medical schools.
The Burke and Hare murders: The serial killings were sixteen murders committed over a period of about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland. They were undertaken by William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses to Robert Knox for dissection at his anatomy lectures. Here depicted in an etching of Burke murdering Margaret Docherty (also known as Margery Campbell) by Robert Seymour.
Although this legend is often passed down as fact, there is no actual evidence that the South Bridge Vaults was the exact place they got their bodies from, although very likely. The place to find poverty struck people and those that no one would miss if they suddenly ‘disappeared’ was inside the dark and damp vaults.
The Rediscovery of the South Bridge Vaults
At one point during the 1800s, exactly when is unsure, they emptied the vaults for people and started to dump tons of rubble in the vaults, sealing them completely off and making them inaccessible for the public and were kind of forgotten for a long time.
Advertisements
It wasn’t until the 1980s the tunnels to the vaults were rediscovered by a former Scottish rugby player named Norrie Rowan when he found one of the tunnels while he was renovating his flat. He spent the rest of his days excavating the vaults and rediscovering its history to make it accessible for the public once again.
The Ghosts of the South Bridge Vaults
There are many stories about who haunts the place today as the vaults have reopened and daily groups of tourists and paranormal investigators are taken down to the vaults to uncover the dark history.
Many people met their tragic fate on a daily basis down there in the vaults as well as suffered from horrible tragedies that affected the entire town. Like the Great Fire of Edinburgh that lasted for five days after it started in 1824 and took the lives of at least 13 people. There are many stories about victims that were trapped inside the chambers and suffered horrible consequences from then. Although there is no paper trail on this tale though.
There are many tourists that claim to have captured evidence of something paranormal going on, and they even make the newspapers from time to time. The same reports comes from the paranormal investigators that go down into the vaults and come back with what they see as proof of hauntings going on.
Advertisements
Here are some of the ghosts that are said to haunt the vaults until this date and have gathered enough reports to be a part of the haunted ghost tour in Edinburgh:
The Aristocrat
One of the first ghosts that people have reportedly seen over the years is that of the Aristocrat. He is said to be a rich gentleman with a tall black hat and a beard. He is not seen as the most angry spirit as he is known for grinning at visitors while leaning against the wall. People do have a tendency to feel uneasy in his presence though, according to those who claimed to have seen him.
The Happy Shoemaker
There is also a room that is believed to belong to a shoemaker from that time that is said to still practice his profession as a shoemaker.
He is described as a man in his 50s and is one of the ghosts that are said to be friendly and are often seen smiling and laughing by visitors while he happily carries on with his shoemaking while wearing an apron.
The Veiled Woman
In the room with the shoemaker known as The Room of the Cobbler, there is a meaner spirit though and is known as the veiled woman. She is believed to throw small stones at visitors as well. She is seen as a young woman dressed in black while wearing a veil in the north west corner of the Cobbler’s Room.
Women have also reported about feeling an intense rush of grief, anger and a sudden and unexplained abdominal pain, which has left many to believe it is a woman that lost her child in a horrible way and she is still grieving.
The Caretakers Room
In one of the chambers there are reports of a man sitting by the fireplace. He apparently looks like one of the more chill spirits in the place as well with a drink in his hand and legs stretched out. By his side he has a dog that is reported to brush up against people’s legs or sniff them.
Little Jack
Then there is the small boy named Jack or James that are often spotted in the Wine Vault. He is mostly seen as a blonde curly boy around 6 or 8 years old, wearing a blue suit with the classic knickerbocker trousers. Some sources want to connect him to a missing child case from 1810.
He is often playing with a red ball at times and is known to try to hold the hands of female visitors and likes to play around if there are children around. Allegedly, if he spots a person he doesn’t want to enter the South Bridge Vaults he will tuck their sleeves or coat when entering the Blair Street Corridor.
According to the guides down in the vaults, he is afraid of one of the more well known ghosts wandering the narrow alleys and small chambers. And that is that of Mr. Boots or also known as The Watcher.
Advertisements
The Watcher
Perhaps the most well known ghost in the South Bridge Vaults is that of The Watcher. There is a theory that he was a watchman and that is the reason he is known as The Watcher. Or maybe it’s because he always looks as if watching over something.
There are also alternative legends over the years that have tried to explain his presence, and many are also claiming him to be one of the slum landlords or even one of the body snatchers that hid his stolen bodies in the chamber known as The White Room. Today we can only speculate.
He is also called Mr Boots because of how many people in the vaults have experienced him. They can hear loud footsteps in The White Room or in the Niddry Street Corridor which is known as the most active place in all of the vaults.
His face has never been seen as it is hidden, blacked out or he is showing himself to the public with his back. He is supposedly this tall, slim and dark figure with a long flowing coat with his long hair in a ponytail. Sometimes he wears a hat and long boots. Sometimes he carries rattling keys and his breath smells disgusting of rotten teeth and whiskey.
People experiencing stuff within the vaults often get the feeling that he is trying to get them out from the narrow and claustrophobic spaces. Batteries on cameras die or malfunction when he’s present and he is known to push or pull people towards the exit as well as the phrase ‘Get Out’ has been heard on several occasions.
The Stone Circle
There are also rumors about an evil demon trapped inside one of the stone circles in one of the chambers. This is were the late Wiccan High Priest, George Cameron known as The Hermit set up his temple in the 90’s. It was in one of the vaults that have historic connection to the torturing of witches somehow.
According to him, he was trying to rid it from evil and built the stone circle which still stands today. He failed, however, to remove the evil that were supposed to be in the vaults and Cameron abandoned the room after he recommended to seal up the room to protect people from the evil within it. It is not sealed though as it is one of the stops on the tour through the vaults.
The Experience of the Hauntings
No matter the real story of the ghosts in the South Bridge Vaults and the true horror the people living there went through, the vaults itself are an interesting walk through time and history. And perhaps if you choose to go down into the dark chambers you too will hear the same that many claim to have on recordings and etched into their memories. The eerie sound of what can sound like children yelling and crying along with hushed voices and shuffling footsteps.
The last few years, K-dramas has certainly taken over much of the media the world consume today and that goes for the Korean horror TV-Series as well.
Although it is largely remembered from the overly romantic dramas with umbrellas in the rain and watching over people with a cold like they are on their deathbed, some more darker series has caught on. In fact one of the more famous k-drama must certainly be the zombie driven historical drama Kingdom that entered as Koreans first entry to the Netflix family. And since then, the gems keeps on coming. Here are ten of the more darker k-dramas out there.
Revenant |악귀 (2023)
This slow burn ghost story is based on Korean folklore. It follows a professor in folklore (Oh Jung-se) who can see ghosts that teams up with a young woman (Kim Tae-ri) after her father dies in what seems to be a suicide. But strange things starts to happen to her and it turns out she is possessed by a vengeful ghosts, and that the string of mysterious suicides that happens around them is something much more horrifying.
Strangers From Hell | 타인은 지옥이다 (2019)
With a top stellar cast of Im Shi Wan (Run On) and Lee Dong Wook (Goblin), this had to be an iconic duo. The series is a trippy Korean horror TV-Series quest for a poor writer to distinguish between what is and isn’t real as well to figure out his true friends he can trust is. When he moves into a cheap hostel, Eden Gosiwon, he has to deal with the truly creepy residents he has to share kitchen and bathroom with. But although he hates it, he endures it to he has enough money saved up to move to something better in Soul. But then he starts fearing for his life when strange occurrences keeps happening around him.
Advertisements
All Of Us Are Dead | 지금 우리 학교는 (2022)
This is another zombie series for Netflix that rose to the top streaming, even more so than the hit series, Squid Games. It is an adaptation of the popular webtoon of the same name and are now one of the biggest Korean horror TV-Series. A seemingly normal day at school that ends in an international disaster as a rabid zombie outbreak starts from the schools science lab. The student quickly learn that they are all on their own and must escape so not turn to one of the living dead. This is a gory series that doesn’t shy away from blood, violence and deeply flawed human beings with a twist on the zombie lore.
NB! Confirmed for more seasons!
Advertisements
Hotel Del Luna | 호텔 델루나 (2019)
A series that managed to balance the campy romantic side of classic k-dramas with the gory horror of ghost is Hotel Del Luna and not purely a Korean horror TV-Series. Although the plot is not that terrifying, some of the characters and ghosts in the hotel definitely are. Super Idol K-Pop star IU stars as the greedy CEO, Man Wol, for a hotel that only caters to the dead to help them cross the bridge to the afterlife. Chan Sung is forced to manage the hotel as his father sort of sold him of to Man Wol as a child. And together they have to manage the hotel together as well as solve the mystery as to why Chan Sung keeps reminding Man Wol of her ex that betrayed her many years ago.
Advertisements
Sell Your Haunted House | 대박부동산 (2021)
If nothing else, this is a great business idea. Ji Ah runs the company, Deabak Realty, specialising in selling haunted houses. A handy thing as she got her exorcism abilities from her mother (who btw haunts her daughter). She needs an assistant and meets the conman In Beom. He specializes in selling stuff that apparently exorcises ghosts, although it’s mostly junk. But together they team up to sell houses, exorcise vengeful spirits and deal with their pasts filled with sorrow in this action packed Korean horror TV-Series.
Advertisements
Bring It On, Ghost | 싸우자 귀신아 (2016)
The cuter entry on the list is Bring it on, Ghost. Although it contains its fair share of ghosts, gore and dead cats so it falls into the Korean horror TV-Series. The series certainly hit its audience, and there is already a Thai adaption of the series. A college boy works as an exorcist part time. On a job he faces a teenage ghost that he accidently kisses, making her regain some part of her memory she searches for in the afterlife. Together they try to piece together the mystery behind her death as well as the strange stuff happening around the college he attends.
Advertisements
Kingdom | 킹덤 (2019)
The mega series helped turn the tide for Korean horror TV-Series and certainly the interest in Korean zombies. A mysterious illness has befallen the king in a fictionalized version of Korea in the Joseon area. The illness of zombification is spreading throughout the kingdom and the crown prince travels out from the castle to solve the mystery behind his father’s ailment. Out there he finds a kingdom in disarray and hoards of zombies threatening the whole kingdom he was born to protect. With its two season wrapped story it looks like this is the whole of it, but with sidequel/prequel like movies like Kingdom: Ashin of the North, and the original cartoon with its specials, who is to say this is the end of the franchise?
Advertisements
Sweet Home | 스위트홈 (2020)
This monster flick is truly on testosterone with the most crazy characters and designs for monsters roams freely in this damp and shabby residential building. This Korean horror TV-Series is based on the famous korean webtoon. A strange virus that turns humans to monsters has taken over the world. In a residential building a reclusive teen lives in isolation. But as the dangers of the virus threathernes everyone around him, he must come out of his shell and help fight back for the human survival.
Advertisements
The Guest | 손 (2018)
A young shaman, Yoon Hwa Pyung, learns about the demon named “son”, (meaning guest) in this Korean horror TV-Series from 2018. The demon is a danger to everyone and leaves a trail of corpses. The young shaman meets up with a catholic guy and the daughter of a detective when their families are killed by a demon. Twenty years later they meet up again when the killings start once again. This time, to work together to bring down the demon.
Advertisements
Possessed | 빙의 (2019)
A classic detective meets a medium to hunt down criminals in this Korean horror TV-Series. They meet when the detective is working a case and he immediately takes an interest in her. With both of their abilities, they start to solve cases together. One of the more divisive shows as many watchers found the k-drama way to dark for their expectations and for some it was right up their alley. Decide for yourself.
Advertisements
Missing: The Other Side | 미씽: 그들이 있었다 (2020)
This is one of those rare cases were a k-drama actually gets a sequel with a second season confirmed. The first season started with a small village named Duon Village, that holds the spirits of missing and deceased people were they gather. A group of a fraud man, detective, a hacker and a mysterious man teams up to solve the mysteries behind the strange village and to find the missing people.
Advertisements
Night Watchman’s Journal | 야경꾼일지 (2014)
One cannot complete a k-drama list without a historical drama on the list from the Joseon period, that is the law! And here comes the Night Watchman’s Journal in as a ghostbuster story in hanbok in this Korean horror TV-Series. With the backdrop of the royal palace, a group of guys spends their time fighting demons and vengeful spirits as well as dealing with the living trying to usurp the king.
The legend behind cursed books and manuscripts have been feared and reported on since humans first started writing and reading, noticing something was wrong while flipping through its pages. Perhaps horrible things happened after reading it, or something strange happened while writing it. This is some of the cursed books and manuscripts throughout history.
How could a piece of writing be cursed? Letters of ink written on a piece of paper is seemingly could cause no harm. But the truth is that curses on paper was and to some extent, still is widely used, as curses goes. A book curse was a commonly employed method of discouraging the theft of manuscripts during the medieval period. Books and manuscripts was something of the most valuable things once upon the time. The use of book curses dates back much further however, to pre-Christian times, when the wrath of gods was invoked to protect books and scrolls.
Even today, we have modern poetry and written words that are said to be haunted when read out loud. Like the case with Tomino’s Hell — The Cursed Poem, that is said to bring death to everyone reading it out loud.
The earliest known book curse can be traced to King of Assyria from 668 to 627 BCE as he placed curses on many of his tablets he had carved out in stone. In the middle ages, many of these curses promised harsh repercussions would be inflicted on anyone who appropriated the work from its proper owner. Like this:
“If anyone take away this book, let him die the death; let him be fried in a pan; let the falling sickness and fever seize him; let him be broken on the wheel, and hanged. Amen.”
A much harsher penalty than today’s libraries fees. Some books we today have a better understanding over, some books are claims we can’t prove or disprove. And some, we don’t understand at all. Here are some of the cursed books and manuscripts.
The Voynich manuscript: Hidden knowledge or an elaborate hoax?
The Voynich manuscript is an illustrated codex handwritten in an unknown writing system. It is perhaps the most well known manuscript that no one knows how to read. And that is part of the mystery, as the author and content is part of the allure and the mystery behind these pages.
The vellum on which it is written has been carbon-dated to the early 15th century and may have been composed during the Renaissance in Italy. Some of the pages are also missing. making it difficult to decipher. It is also a theory that it’s made as a hoax, just a joke.
It is a weird piece of manuscript with weird stuff in it. Although we can’t read the text itself, the pictures is strange enough. Weird, naked women running around, botanical works and the likes.
And just as with any thing we don’t understand, the rumors of it being cursed and containing information not meant for us, spreads. And the mystery of the origins of the manuscripts continues to puzzle the experts.
Advertisements
The Untitled Grimoires – The Satanic Notebook from the High Priestess
Cursed books and manuscripts turns out to be very expensive. And this one was sold for $13,865 when auctioned off. These grimoires (a sort of spell book, or book of magic) was handwritten in a spiral notebook in the 60’s, so one of the more newer cursed manuscripts.
The author was the wiccan high priestess Persephone Adrastea Eirene and they came with warnings of a curse as well. But let us hope that the buyer were not scared for any curse. In the book it is written, both in English and in Theban (the ancient alphabet modern Wiccans use).
“To those not of the craft – the reading of this book is forbidden! Proceed no further or justice will exact a swift and terrible retribution – and you will surely suffer at the hand of the craft.”
Advertisements
The Codex Gigas – The Devil’s Bible
This cursed book named The Codex Gigas is also known as the Devil’s Bible because of a very unusual full-page portrait of the devil, and the legend surrounding its creation. As cursed books and manuscripts goes, this is one of the largest one.
The Devil’s Bible: A huge book, the Codex Gigas was supposedly written by a monk with the help of the Devil himself.
It is the largest extant medieval illuminated manuscript in the world and tests to recreate the work, it is estimated that reproducing only the calligraphy, without the illustrations or embellishments, would have taken twenty years of non-stop writing.
According to legend, the Codex was created by Herman the Recluse. The legend goes there was a scribe monk who broke his monastic vows and was sentenced to be walled up alive.
In order to avoid this harsh penalty he promised to create in one night a book to glorify the monastery forever, including all human knowledge. Near midnight, he became sure that he could not complete this task alone so he made a special prayer, not addressed to God but to the fallen angel Lucifer, asking him to help him finish the book in exchange for his soul. The devil completed the manuscript and the monk added the devil’s picture out of gratitude for his aid.
Advertisements
The Orphan’s Story – Historia del Huérfano
It took four hundred years after it was written to The Orphan’s Story got published. The Orphan’s Story or Historia del Huérfano as it is in its original Spanish, charts the progress of a 14-year-old Spaniard who leaves Granada and heads to the Americas to seek his fortune.
Historia del Huérfano: A tale of an orphan that is supposedly cursed.
When academic Belinda Palacios started working on the story she was warned about the curse that was over the book.
“When I started working on it, a lot of people told me that the book was cursed and that people who start working on it die I laughed it off but I was a bit apprehensive at the same time. It’s taken a while because the people who have worked on it have died – one from a strange disease, one in a car accident and another of something else.”
But so far, it looks like Palacios is safe, even after spending two years translating the old book.
Advertisements
The Book of Soyga – The Cursed Magicians Writings
The Book of Soyga, also titled Aldaraia, is a 16th-century Latin book on magic, one copy of which was owned by the Elizabethan scholar John Dee. After Dee’s death, the book was thought lost until 1994, when two manuscripts were located in the British Library. In addition to that, the book is also thought to be extremely cursed.
The Book of Soyga: John Dee supposedly wrote one of the most cursed manuscripts with the knowledge he got from the archangel Uriel.
Dee’s friend and fellow occultist, Edward Kelley, are said to have summoned the archangel Uriel and questioned him about the meaning of the final 36 pages of the book they were unable to decipher. This was just something they did, all in the queen’s favor.
The angel, who spoke through Kelley, claimed that the book was created when Adam entered Paradise. It could only be properly interpreted by Archangel Michael himself. Also, the angel stated that the book was cursed: anyone who deciphers the meaning of the coded tables would inevitably die two and a half years later.
As soon as it was announced that the Book of Sogya was found in the British library, cryptographers tried to decipher the meaning of its final 36 pages. It wasn’t until 2006, when historian and cryptographer Jim Reeds, gave an algorithm for solving the encrypted tables
He found that it had incantations and instructions on magic, astrology, demonology, lists of conjunctions, lunar mansions, and names and genealogies of angels.
And as far as we know, Jim Reeds is alive and well and not befallen to the cursed books and manuscripts.
The 2019 faux movie-within-a-movie type of horror has taken up interest again, the movie, “Antrum, the deadliest film ever made”. I can’t really remember that a so popular movie have fooled so many people since Blair Witch. Correct me if I’m wrong, but most of the trending now is challenging people to watch it, believing the intended myth behind this mockumentary-found footage type of movie. The premise of the cursed horror movie is of a real cursed movie from the 70s, now resurfaced. After watching it, jumping on the wagon a bit late, I couldn’t help noticing, what truly terrified me after watching. So after the initial hype has died out, and the truth is sort of “out there”, this is my take on it.
Spoilers ahead, so be warned.
Synopsis
The movie opens with a documentary type of style, talking about a horror movie from the 70s allegedly from the Soviet that caused the death of many many people, from casual movie goers to film festival leaders. It claims that it caused the death of 56 people in Budapest when it screened in a cinema that burned down in 1988. And also it injured and killed a woman in San Francisco in 1993 when someone laced the popcorn with LSD. Then it does a countdown of a clock, and the movie Antrum starts. Simple, but so effective. Then the “real” movie begins.
It tells the story of a teen sister and her kid brother, hiking. They recently lost their dog, and the boy is convinced the dog went to hell. So they travel to a place and try to dig their way to hell to get the dog back. They follow the instruction of a book the sister claims she got from a certain “Ike”. All told through a beautiful European art-house film from the 1970s filter, but with a horror twist in the cinematography. The rest of the movie is them battling hillbillies, what is dream, what is reality and the lurking shadows in the corner of their eyes. An honest discussion about what happens when one believes a lie.
Advertisements
Background of the “movie legend”
Of course, none of this is true, but it is some of the allure of the movie, and in my eyes, some of the social commentary the movie Antrum brings to the table, elevating it from mere horror-flick, to more of a drama with a purpose and moral. We learn halfway through the sister is behind it all, making the book, lying about meeting the devil and that it was all made up in order to help her brother, suffering from nightmares and the belief that the dog went to hell. But the fiction turns on her, making her lie true because of people believing in it.
Perhaps, it is a long time since a mockumentary was able to fool as big of an audience as it did. What is truly frightening is the way some with so many followers, like the teens on Tik-Tok, blogs and YouTube channels fuels this “found footage” story. Isolated, this is fun. Harmless lies we tell in the dark as we always have, as good horror intends to. It is also fascinating that even in the time of internet, were the truth is literary one google search away, people still believe the hype, the narrative, the story. On the other side, it is in these time of “fake news”, a bit sad of when we see how actual important news, fake as well as real, can be manipulated, believed and not believed in. But never mind that (puts the media education away) let’s look at how genius they did it (puts on horror loving hat):
For one, it is clear they put a lot of effort in making it be in the 70s. From the clothes, filming style, the grainy filter and color palette. Even down to that creepy CGI of the squirrel. A truly demonic entity that is.
As with other cult movies, they did something cool in the way they let the influencer who were fooled market the thing for them, making the viewing something of an event rather than just a standard movie night. Also it is something quite endearing about the collective watching of it that is only found in the horror community, I think.
Even with my obsessive googling, it took a couple of searches to truly find evidence of the falseness. Even down to the actors’ age was removed from their IMDb profiles, making it easier to keep up the belief. It is also cool about how it is finally a movie thinking more about the movie being bigger than the actors, not the other way around.
Advertisements
The terrifying thing about the movieAntrum
Is this a scary movie? In some regards, yes. Like the Blair Witch Project, it is the format that makes the scares, the legend behind it, the myth bigger than a simple movie. And the way the shaky camera movements from most found footage makes movies unpredictable and scary, it is the the overlaying of “cut in clips no one knows were came from” and the clip in of the sigils and Latin phrases making one question: Could it really be?
Is it truly “bad” enough to be believed in though? I think not, and I was sort of bothered about how perfect it all looked from a Soviet movie from the 70s. But then again, it did sort of look too rough to be a more “proper” movie. Also they spoke English, and none of the non-English speaking people can sort of believe that mash up. It just seems weird and sort of a very American thing to do, making it in English instead of just putting subtitles on.
What my main take of it was that it was more of a heart felt movie than a demonic one. I felt more sympathy for the siblings and believed in their relationship than I believed I was cursed by Satan after watching it.
Advertisements
It occurred to me mid movie, what scared me the most though. Even the myth, claims I would die few days after watching it, and that creepy demon between the trees, it was none of them though that made my heart race. It was the threat of people:
True, jump scares don’t really work on me in the long run, great costumes sort of blend in when watching as many horror movies as I do. But what never cease to scare me, are the threat of real humans. It never goes away. In the movie, not only do they have to fight of demonic entities, but some good old fashioned hillbillies, that does these random gruesome things like: fucking dead animals, boiling people alive, shooting children and wear antlers on a trucker hat. Yes, not really the most original or in depth type of characters. But when checking my pulse throughout the movie, it is sort of only in those scenes a steady rush of fear comes. I found that very interesting. That no matter how much of a supernatural, demonic myth, claiming it would take your life, nothing is as scary as the threat of real humans, wanting to do you harm.
And that is what really was terrifying about this cursed movie.
An online magazine about the paranormal, haunted and macabre. We collect the ghost stories from all around the world as well as review horror and gothic media.
