You’ve all experienced this sort of thing: you buy a box of pop-tarts for the morning, get home and go to bed. You hear a rattling sound from the kitchen and go downstairs to investigate only to find your tasty, frosted breakfast treat floating in mid air over an open portal to hell which has opened up on the linoleum flooring. Congratulations, you just purchased some haunted pop-tarts. Here’s a list of some less breakfast-y haunted and cursed objects.

Top 10 Creepy Cursed Objects

10 The Swansea Devil

How far would you go if you missed out on getting a job? Would you anonymously post one-star reviews about the company that snubbed you? Maybe you’d stalk and harass the guy or gal who got the job instead of you? Maybe you’d set a creepy carving of Satan opposite the company building with a curse that foretold the destruction of the place? Too far? Not for the snubbed architect in 1890’s Swansea, South Wales who was denied the chance to rebuild a church—that is exactly what he did.

The story goes that when famed architect Sir Arthur Blomfield beat a local architect for the contract to rebuild the ancient St Mary’s church in the centre of the town, the local man was incensed. A few years later he purchased an old row of cottages that stood opposite the new church, tore them down and built a large red brick building there, placing a statue of a smiling devil on its edifice. The aggrieved builder then placed a curse on the church, proclaiming that it would soon be destroyed and the devil would look upon the rubble and keep smiling. During the blitz, Swansea was targeted by the Luftwaffe, St. Mary’s took a direct hit, allowing the cure to be true. Now the Devil is a quirky landmark in Wales’ second city, peeping out at shoppers from a window at the Quadrant Shopping Centre.^[1]

9 Man Proposes, God Disposes

A bizarre, possibly supernaturally influenced suicide takes place on a college campus. What would you expect the note the victim left behind to say? Maybe ‘The voices told me to do it’. Perhaps ‘The Devil made me do it’? what about ‘The Polar Bears made me do it’?

This cursed painting, painted in 1864 by Edwin Henry Landseer, is often hidden from view by faculty at Royal Holloway, University of London in order for superstitious students to complete their exams. One tradition holds that anyone sitting directly in a sight line with the painting will fail their exam. Another legend states that one unlucky student locked eyes with one of the ravenous Polar Bears, went mad and committed suicide after scrawling the phrase ‘The Polar Bears made me do it’ on their exam paper. Even though the curse is unlikely to be ‘real’, nobody can doubt that trying to concentrate on an exam when two blood-thirsty bears tuck into a meal of frozen polar explorers is a tough ask.^[2]

8 Letta the Doll

A quick Google image search of ‘Real Annabelle haunted doll’ or ‘real Robert the haunted doll’ throws up the rather disappointing result of two, rather plain-looking kids’ toys. Their reputation is what terrifies, as well as their ascension to the top of horror pop culture. Letta, on the other hand, looks utterly monstrous.

Legend has it that this awful looking thing was made for a little gypsy boy over 200 years ago. Unfortunately, (probably in a fit of blind terror) the boy drowned, his soul becoming trapped forever inside the creepiest looking doll ever made. What are the chances, eh? Letta now resides in Australia, going on tours around the land down under with its owner, Kerry Walton.^[3]

7 The Chained Oak

This ancient Oak Tree near the village of Alton, Staffordshire, England is undoubtedly one of the scariest looking trees you’ll ever look at. Covered in huge, rusted chains, it looks as though the tree may have once roamed around the forest, picking off wanderers who dared disturb its arboreal realm before the villagers captured it and chained it to his current spot.

The ‘real’ legend is just as frightening. Legend has it that the Earl of Shrewsbury who lived at the grand estate of Alton Towers (now a pretty decent theme park) was travelling back home one evening when his carriage was stopped by a lone beggar woman. The grubby old lady asked the Earl for a penny and, when he rudely dismissed her, cursed the Earl, stating that for every branch that fell from the old oak tree, a member of his family would perish. That night, a great storm ripped one of the limbs from the tree and, by the morning, one of the Earl’s family members had passed away horribly. The frightened nobleman then ordered that the Oak be bound in chains so that no more branches could fall.^[4]

6 Any Sweater given to a Partner

It must be hard being a knitting enthusiast…is a sentence nobody ever said. When it comes to keeping a healthy, long-lasting relationship many knitters feel that they are plagued by a curse that mandates they keep their hobby and their hubby as far apart as possible! The notorious ‘Sweater Curse’ is the notion that when a knitter decides to craft a gift for their significant other as a gift they all but guarantee that the relationship will come to a premature end.

As opposed to suggesting some supernatural origin to this jinx, the knitters of the world are a rational bunch, putting this perceived phenomenon down to a host of rational possibilities like: Bad timing -it takes an age to knit a whole sweater, ample time for a crappy relationship to die. Last Shot—the knitter knows subconsciously that the relationship is nearly over and thus embarks on a grand a huge amount of work culminating in (in knitting terms) a grand gesture. There are, of course, myriad other reasons, but the rule of thumb remains—it you love him/her, for God’s sake, don’t knit them a sweater!^[5]

10 Haunted Asylums With Extremely Dark Pasts

5 Merlin’s Oak

Our second hexed Oak and second entry from Wales. This one is related to the wizard Merlin from the Arthurian legend (the original Welsh versions, though, not the silly French version with a sword in a stone that, somehow, has the English as the good guys!)

The town of Carmarthen is, according to the signs when you enter by road, the oldest town in Wales. So old, in fact, it’s very origins have been linked to Myrddin (Merlin), giving rise to the town’s name Caerfyddrin (The Fort of Merlin). A large oak once stood in the town, believed to have been planted by the wandering wizard. A prophesy accompanied the ancient tree: “When Merlin’s Oak comes tumbling down, Then shall fall Carmarthen town”. When the tree did finally get removed after years of decay, the very next year the town suffered a train derailment and some of the most severe flash flooding recorded. A branch taken from the tree is still displayed in the local museum (perhaps keeping this beautiful town from a fiery apocalypse!)^[6]

4 Okiku

Weird looking doll? Check. Religious undertone? Check. Haunting and/or possession? Check. Inanimate object that grows human hair? Wait, what?

This doll, according to legend, was owned by a little girl on the Japanese island of Hokkaido who, as you’d expect, died and now resides in her favorite toy. When her family moved away from Hokkaido they left the doll with the monks of the Mannenji Temple. Little ‘Okiku’ still resides there, her bizarre ability to grow her hair on full display to worshipers and visitors. Some even suggest that if you look into her half-open, dead porcelain mouth you can see that her teeth are growing too. *shiver*^[7]

3 The Woman From Lemb Statue

Whenever a rotund, faceless statuette is unearthed in Europe, people seem to instinctively assume it is a fertility goddess. It must be, right? Look at the bulging ‘stomach’ reminiscent of a pregnant belly. The wide hips. The lack of facial features, elongated neck….truth is, we don’t know for sure what the significance of many of these pre-written-history idols is. What we do know is if you touch the ‘Woman from Lemb’, you’ll probably die. And all your family will too.

In a similar vein to many mummy-borne curses, this artefact is purported to have caused the deaths of a whole heap of curious antiquarians and collectors. The strange stone idol is now displayed at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh.^[8]

2 Haunted Ledger

A common element in tales of haunted or cursed objects is the consequences faced by the living for removing an artifact or item from its ‘rightful’ place, prompting supernatural forces to play havoc until it is returned. This usually involves a tomb, ancient temple or holy mountain. In the case of this haunted jewelry shop ledger, however, it seems all the spooky accountancy aid wanted was to be beside the seaside!

After the demolition of the ‘Shorland Fooks’ jewellers in the city of Brighton on England’s south coast, builder Tony Benyovits removed an old shop ledger book he had found hidden behind a brick wall. He took the interesting example of retail memorabilia back to his home in Maidstone, Kent (65 miles away). Soon enough, his family were being plagued by all manner of otherworldly phenomena: strange voices, ghostly apparitions and even strange images of people appearing in the family’s rug. One particularly uppity spirit informed Mr Benyovits’ daughter, Josephine, that the book needed to be returned to its hometown by the centenary of the first entry within its crumbling pages. Not wanted to anger these (I assume) long-dead jewelers, the family donated the book to Preston Manor—(reputedly) Brighton’s most haunted house—which is where it now resides.^[9]

1 Portrait of Delphine LaLaurie

The evils perpetrated by notorious New Orleans slave owner Delphine LaLaurie have been discussed many times on , quite rightly singling her out as one of history’s most evil women. It is no surprise, then, that the unspeakable crimes she committed have catapulted her into the realms of dark folklore and urban legend.

In the 1990’s, the residents of an apartment building which stands on the spot that LaLaurie’s infamous chamber of horrors once stood decided to pool their assets and brighten up the communal spaces with some nice new artworks. What better way could there be to achieve this goal than to commission local artist Ricardo Pustanio to paint them a portrait of a notable local celebrity. Who could this be? Louis Armstrong? Truman Capote? DJ Khaled…even though he wasn’t famous yet? No, they chose a lovely, cheery portrait of Madame Delphine LaLaurie. And, wouldn’t you know it, it turned out to be haunted! Cue a series of bone-chilling encounters with the ghost of LaLaurie, culminating in the portrait being taken down, covered up and stored away securely. Maybe pick a nicer subject for the communal art next time, perhaps a jolly picture of a smiling clown?^[10]

Top 10 Cursed And Haunted Household Items

About The Author: C.J. Phillips is an actor and writer living in rural West Wales. He is a little obsessed with lists.

For thousands of years, humans have worshipped and feared the power of curses. Whether brought on by wrathful god, spurned witch, or confluence of bloody history, curses have vexed hapless souls since the beginning of society. And whether any of these vengeful spells were ever real or just products of our innate tendency to fit patterns to events, it’s hard to deny their cultural impact. So much so that the word has taken on a second meaning in internet culture, referring to images, video, audio, etc., that is unusually disturbing and mysterious. These ‘cursed’ media become a special subset of memes, ones meant to disturb, scare, or challenge instead of amuse. 

This list looks at pieces of video and movies that show the whole range of curses: the allegedly supernatural curses that plague the unfortunate; the new, internet-styled cursed videos, which haunt psychologically instead of magically; and those that blur the line between the two. Here are 10 of the most cursed videos out there.

10 Internet – Rubber Johnny

This is one of the first cursed videos to haunt the early days of YouTube, and in those days, sneaking it into hidden folders and renamed URLs was a popular way to prank friends. Created as both an experimental art film and a music video for the song “Afx237 v.7” by electronic composer Aphex Twin, the film is wall-to-wall disgust and discomfort. 

The central focus is a deformed young man in a wheelchair, his head lolling about. He begins dancing to the EDM track while his chihuahua watches. But the blurred night-vision and quick editing with which the scene is presented takes any joy from the dance and makes the whole sequence erratic, nauseating, and disturbing.

9 Supernatural – The Japanese Kleenex Commercial

In 1986, a series of three commercials were released for Kleenex tissues. They feature Japanese actress Keiko Matsuzaka dressed in all white sitting on a bed of straw next to a young child dressed up as an ogre. On paper that sounds like just an odd creative choice and nothing inherently sinister. But then you watch the actual commercial. A haunting and vacuous love song plays in the background and gives the whole scene a deeply unnerving vibe.

Supposedly, many thought the song was actually a modern reworking of an ancient German curse. Many viewers called in to complain and the commercial was taken down. But on the air or not, the curse remained. It’s said that most of the commercial’s cast and crew passed away under mysterious circumstances, the lead actress birthed a demon baby, and thousands who merely watched the clip went insane. It only gets worse if you watch it at midnight…

8 Internet – My Dead Great Grandma’s Coffin in My Own Backyard

This one is chilling, not just for its content but because it is eerily plausible. In it, a man communicating only via ASL explains that his local cemetery is so mismanaged and unable to maintain its quality that he has decided to keep his great grandmother’s casket in his own yard. Above ground. Worse is that the video culminates in him opening the casket to reveal her partially decomposed body, which he then kisses. On the mouth. He kisses a rotten, decomposing corpse on the mouth. And it’s on video. This video. It’s hard to say more because seeing that is enough. More than enough. And it’s so disturbingly possible.

7 Supernatural – Atuk

There is no curse I take more personally than the curse of Atuk. That’s because, whether by curse or sheer misfortune, the end result is four comedy legends—maybe five—meeting an untimely demise. 

 The curse surrounds a movie script based on the Canadian satire novel The Incomparable Atuk. The book tells the story of how an Inuit moves to Toronto and gradually succumbs to its big-city temptations, becoming as greedy and snobbish as those he initially despises. When it came to adapt the picture for American moviegoers, a few big names in comedy were considered for the role.

First was John Belushi, who died months after being offered the part. Sam Kinison got the lead role next and died while attempting to rewrite the part. Next was John Candy, who died months after reading. Then came Chris Farley, and within months he was dead, too. Allegedly, Farley showed his good friend Phil Hartman the script, who also met his death shortly after. 

Now, that’s all way oversimplified and also easily explainable. The lead role exclusively went to overweight actors, most of who had drug problems. But it’s easier to rage at a curse than to accept that those five titans are really gone without reason.

6 Internet- Man gets lost in the catacombs of Paris

Though its authenticity is dubious, this clip is frightening. An extensive, labyrinthine network of tunnels known as the Paris Catacombs snake their way beneath the French city. Though about a mile of the structure is open for tours and the rest off-limits, thrill-seekers and ghost-hunters often find ways to break into the restricted sections and explore their dark passages. 

On a 2000 episode of the ABC Family show “Scariest Places on Earth,” alleged found-footage was shown that chronicled a lone explorer of the forbidden tunnels as he gets lost and disorientated in the dark. In the video, the man explores the tunnels calmly, but gradually he starts moving faster and faster and eventually drops his hand-held camera and sprints away. The camera keeps shooting after he’s out of sight, showing a dark, quiet tunnel that begs the question: did he simply lose his orientation and panic down there, or was he running from something?

5 Supernatural – The Hungarian Suicide Song

Alright yes, technically this curse lies within the song itself and not any particular video, but that also means that any video containing the song’s full, unaltered audio is a potentially curse-inducing experience. The song is “Gloomy Sunday” by composer Rezső Seress, but came to be known as the Hungarian Suicide Song. This is because, shortly after its 1935 release, as many as 20 suicides in and around Hungary were associated in one way or another with the song. 

In many cases, anecdotal reports from those closest to the deceased claimed that the suicide victims had listened to the song just before doing the deed. Though these rumors are unsubstantiated in most cases, it is worth noting that Seress, the song’s creator, also committed suicide years later. In addition, rumors notwithstanding, the popular Billie Holiday version of the song was indeed banned by the BBC for harming public morale.

4 Internet – Croatian Stalking Tape

This video purports itself to be actual found footage released by Croatian authorities to find the video’s authors. The footage shows two Croatian teens as they test out their new videocamera in a park. Eventually, they notice that a man seems to be following them around. The man is hunched and apelike, and he has a sack over his head. It would be oddly funny in any other context, but he comes closer and closer to the teens, eventually getting right next to them. They run into a nearby building and seem to have lost the man. Then they call an elevator and when it opens… the video cuts out with the two screaming.

3 Supernatural – Poltergeist

“Poltergeist” is horror movie royalty. Produced by Spielberg at his height, the film was released in 1982 to acclaim from both audiences and critics, and became a commercial success. The story centers around a suburban family who unknowingly make their home atop a Native American burial ground, and thereby find themselves the victims of a wrathful, ghostly curse. But, just as the movie’s curse escapes from the family’s TV, the real-life Poltergeist’s curse seems to have found its way out of the big screen and onto the set.

A number of cast and crew died mysteriously and unexpectedly. Heather O’Rourke, the young lead of the series, died unexpectedly at age 12. Dominique Dunne, who played O’Rourke’s older sister, was murdered within a year of the first film’s release. Julian Beck and Will Sampson both passed away shortly after finishing their work on the second film. Other creepy rumors about production persist, such as actual exorcisms occurring on set and real human remains being used instead of replicas in the first film’s infamous pool scene.

2 Internet – Video Dating Tape

This one, too, seems eerily plausible. You have to assume that it’s fake like most every other, but just the fact that you’re left to wonder makes it terrifying. The video comes from a VHS on which a man has recorded a video dating profile. In a Hawaiian shirt, and in front of a tropical background, he sits and introduces himself, explaining why he’d make an excellent romantic partner. It’s more sad and awkward than anything. But at one point, a sound comes from off-camera that distracts and enrages him. It sounds like a woman, perhaps gagged, moaning and screaming in pain and terror. He explodes, screaming at her to shut up and getting up to deal with her… and then calmly begins recording another take of his dating profile. It’s just subtle enough to prevent being immediately dismissed like more overt horror would be.

1 Supernatural – The Omen

Producer Harvey Bernhard said at the start of production for 1976’s “The Omen” that, “the devil was at work and he didn’t want that film made.” He may have been right. Only two months before filming began, star Gregory Peck’s son committed suicide. During filming, Peck’s plane was struck by lightning. Producer Mace Neufeld’s plane was also struck by lightning. Another bolt of lightning almost hit Bernhard himself. The IRA bombed the hotel Neufeld was staying at.

A plane originally slated to capture aerial photographs for the film, but which was rechartered at the last minute, crashed and killed everyone on board. An animal wrangler on set was mauled by a tiger and died from his wounds. An assistant to special effects supervisor John Richardson was decapitated in a car crash. Is that all coincidence? …yeah, almost certainly. But it’s hard to discount just how much tragic coincidence there was.

When Grease reached theaters in 1978, it was an instant hit. The movie was an adaptation of a popular 1971 musical, but nobody expected the film to be a big hit. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John captured the public’s hearts as leads Danny and Sandy. The supporting cast at Rydell High hit all the right buttons for moviegoers. Catchy songs and amazing costumes sealed the deal. Critics and fans alike loved the storyline.

Not long after its release, Grease became the highest-grossing musical film ever produced. By the end of 1978, its soundtrack was the second-best-selling album of the year. Even with the film’s success, it only garnered one Oscar nomination—the song “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” written specifically for the film.

Years later, the film still resonates. In 2002, the American Film Institute named Grease one of the 100 best love stories ever put on film. In 2020, the movie was picked for preservation by the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress. However, the movie’s cast hasn’t had such a smooth run after its release. So many tragedies have occurred around those who starred in the iconic film that it feels like the production was cursed. Here are ten tragic tales that happened to the stars of Grease in the years after its success changed their lives forever.

Related: Top 10 Actors Who Relived Their Worst Moments On Camera

10 John Travolta’s Terrible Losses

John Travolta enjoyed a great run in the 1970s. Saturday Night Fever and Grease made him a big star. Through the ’80s, Pulp Fiction and other films solidified his status as an A-lister. But off screen, Travolta struggled with two terrible family tragedies. In 1993, John and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, had their first child. A son that they named Jett—a sweet reference to John’s love of airplanes. Jett struggled with Kawasaki disease as a child. The disorder inflames the arteries and leaves sufferers at risk of asthma and seizures. For a long time, Jett overcame it. But in 2009, it all ended in the worst way. While the family was vacationing in the Bahamas, Jett had an unexpected seizure and hit his head on a bathtub. The fall led to his death at only 16 years old.

As bad as that tragedy was for Travolta, he suffered another horrible life-changing event a decade later. In 2018, Preston was diagnosed with breast cancer. The couple chose to keep her diagnosis a secret from the public as she worked with doctors to battle the disease. Sadly, less than two years later, it claimed her life prematurely too. In the summer of 2020, Travolta revealed on social media that Preston had succumbed to the disease. Sadly, the man made world-famous with iconic movie roles suffered two of the worst personal tragedies anyone can experience. Years before her death, Preston told a friend that she was going to marry Travolta one after seeing him on a movie poster for—ironically—Grease^[1]

9 Olivia Newton-John’s Valiant Fight

Olivia Newton-John enjoyed her status as a Hollywood “it” girl in the years after her starring role in Grease. Off screen, though, life threw her plenty of curveballs. For one, her father Brinley suddenly died of cancer in 1992. Weeks after he passed, Olivia herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. The timing was fortunate; she had been undergoing regular screenings, and doctors caught the cancer early. Days after her diagnosis, Olivia had surgery to remove the cancerous breast tissue. For years, it seemed like the surgery had been a success, and Olivia was destined to live long past cancer.

In 2013, though, the cancer returned with a vengeance. By 2017, it had metastasized. Olivia chose to keep her health burden private for years. Along the way, she underwent conventional cancer treatments to try to beat the disease again. She also used cannabis oil to manage her pain during particularly awful bouts. For five long years, she fought valiantly. Sadly, in August of 2022, she lost the battle and succumbed to the disease. Fans recalled her buoyant, bubbly personality on screen in Grease as Sandy, which made it all the more tragic to consider how hard she had to fight for her life for so many years.^[2]

8 Dinah Manoff’s Family Tragedy

Dinah Manoff earned herself loyal fans with a memorable portrayal of Marty Maraschino in Grease. She appeared in dozens of other television and movie roles throughout her long career, too, and even won a Tony Award for her theater work. But her life changed in 2017 when her son, Dashiell Mortell, died in a car accident. Dashiell had been set on following in Dinah’s footsteps into acting. He starred in theatrical productions through his high school years, including several under his mother’s direction. He even played a greaser at one point, earning rave reviews for his work in a school production of The Outsiders.

After high school, Dashiell enrolled at Washington State University. Once he got to campus, he began participating in theater productions there too. In 2017, he went home on a holiday break. Days later, he and four other students drove back to campus to prepare for the return of classes. The roads were icy from a recent snowstorm, and a prior wreck had snarled the highway. Mortell’s car collided with another vehicle that stopped suddenly amid the pile-up. A truck then collided with their car, pinning the young man. He perished in the accident. The tragedy changed the course of Manoff’s life. Heartbroken, she spent hours grieving with other families who had suffered a loss. She also poured her time into giving back by teaching acting and improv to women in prison.^[3]

7 Jeff Conaway’s Drug Downfall

Jeff Conaway was best known for playing Kenickie in the 1978 musical. He enjoyed other Hollywood successes, too, including a memorable role in Taxi. The fast life caught up with him, though. By the 2000s, he was struggling with addiction to cocaine, alcohol, and prescription pills. As his friends later explained, a back injury sustained on the set of Grease was what led to Conaway’s pain pill compulsion. Over the years, his pain worsened, and his addictions fell in line. Conaway’s habits became so bad that loved ones got him a spot on Celebrity Rehab with addiction expert Dr. Drew. Sadly, the TV appearance did little to stop the decline.

To Conaway’s credit, he battled his demons for years. The actor had multiple stints in rehab and underwent five back surgeries. He tried “so hard to get clean and sober,” his manager optimistically noted in 2011. But his back issues were so severe that he never could shake the opiate addiction that came with pain relief. In May 2011, Conaway was placed in a medically-induced coma amid a severe bout of pneumonia. Sepsis set in, likely compounded by his longtime opiate use. After 17 days in the intensive care unit, his family made the difficult decision to remove him from life support.^[4]

6 Didi Conn’s Parenting Challenge

Didi Conn played perhaps the most memorable supporting role in Grease. Her portrayal of Frenchy was perfect for the vintage feel of the film, and fans recalled her bubbly on-air persona for years after. In the 1990s, she adopted a baby boy named Danny. But soon after her life-changing foray into motherhood, challenges began. As a two-year-old, Danny started experiencing severe sensitivity to sound. Pediatricians chalked it up to a case of the “terrible twos,” but Conn didn’t buy it. Over the next few years, the sound sensitivity got worse. Eventually, a specialist determined Danny was on the autism spectrum.

That diagnosis came in 1994, years before autism was well understood by the general public. Because of that, Conn struggled to find medical experts who could help her son. Over the years, Didi and Danny both struggled through adversity while dealing with his sensory issues. Thankfully, as he grew, pediatricians and specialists found therapies that worked to manage his autism. Conn was so moved by the ordeal that she filmed a pilot for a television series about a child with autism. The show wasn’t picked up by networks, but she later released it as a short film.^[5]

5 Dennis Cleveland Stewart’s Sad Death

Dennis Cleveland Stewart was an “out” actor in New York City through the 1970s. That was a difficult time to be gay, though, and Stewart lived quietly. His acting career took off around that time too. His pock-marked cheeks earned him the nickname “Crater Face.” The memorable look brought him character actor fame. First, Stewart got moviegoers’ attention as a featured dancer in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in early 1978. Later that year, his star shone the brightest when he was cast as Leo Balmudo in Grease. Four years later, he took on the role once more in the musical film’s sequel. But as fast as his star rose, it waned. Stewart never found the same level of artistic success and played out a string of similar characters.

Off screen, the gay man tried to be cautious and discreet with his relationships. After a long time in New York, he moved to Los Angeles in 1993. The move west wouldn’t lead to a career resurrection; it was already too late for that. The naturally shy Stewart was seriously sick with HIV. He didn’t reveal his status to many people in his life, but close friends knew. Sadly, early in 1994, he succumbed to AIDS just a few months shy of his 47th birthday. His ashes were scattered at sea.^[6]

4 Annette Charles’s Cancer Battle

Annette Charles played the bad girl Cha-Cha DiGregorio in the iconic film. She enjoyed many successes in the theater world too. But as talented as she was on screen, film parts only came sporadically after Grease. Instead, Charles found her place in life teaching college students. The actress, also known as Annette Cardona, became a popular professor at California State University, Northridge. For years, she taught Chicano studies to eager college students in the Los Angeles area. Many of them weren’t aware of her acting background. Still, they adored her passion for academic work and responded to her desire to improve their lives. She was so successful as a professor that she transitioned beyond undergrads and worked with many Ph.D. candidates.

Sadly, in 2011, that all ended abruptly. Early that year, the beloved professor entered the hospital with what she thought was a bad case of pneumonia. Doctors ran tests and determined she had lung cancer. The disease progressed very rapidly from there. A month after she entered the hospital, Annette passed. She was 63 years old. In the aftermath, colleagues from the college mourned her sudden death. “I cannot imagine life without Annette,” said fellow CSUN professor Renee Moreno. “My life is forever changed in knowing her, and the world is a little less without her.”^[7]

3 Sid Caesar’s Long Period of Suffering

If there’s one Grease actor who was a star long before the film, it was Sid Caesar. The renowned comic actor had been a TV mainstay on Your Show Of Shows and other productions for years. But by the time Grease hit theaters, his star had begun to wane. It wasn’t so much his on-air opportunities that faltered but Caesar’s lifestyle away from cameras. In 1980, he gave a chilling interview describing himself as emotionally broken. Surrounded by hangers-on and people trying to leech away his entertainment earnings, Caesar was depressed, miserable, and in poor health. In fact, in the same year Grease was released, the comic infamously collapsed in the middle of a stand-up performance. For the star, that period right around the surge of Grease proved to be the lowest of his many lows.

After the on-stage scare, Caesar became determined once and for all to shed his addictions to alcohol and prescription pills. He cut out the drugs and jettisoned unscrupulous doctors and members of his entourage. By 1982, he was clean and released his autobiography Where Have I Been. He carried on for three decades after that, finally becoming healthy and happy. When he died in 2014 following a short illness, he was deservedly hailed as a comic legend.^[8]

2 Eddie Deezen’s Disturbing Decline

Eddie Deezen may not have had a big part in Grease, but he was memorable all the same. The character actor played the ever-nerdy Eugene Felsnic in the film. Complete with a quirky get-up, big glasses, and a bowtie, he perfectly sold the part of the high school’s nerd. Away from the cameras, though, Deezen has long struggled with mental health issues and legal troubles. In 2021, the actor caught the attention of cops in Maryland after he was arrested at a restaurant. Cops were called to deal with his disturbance, and when they arrived, he reportedly threw plates at the officers before being detained.

Sadly, Deezen was back in the news in April 2022. Cops in Cumberland, Maryland, claimed he pushed his way into a nursing facility in the city. Once there, he tried to force his way into one of the residents’ private rooms. When staffers stopped him, Deezen refused to leave. When police were called out, they recognized the actor from previous run-ins. He had apparently entered the facility multiple times in the months before. This time, he was arrested for trespassing and burglary. Deezen’s problems deepened in August when a judge ruled he was mentally incompetent to face trial on those charges.^[9]

1 Alice Ghostley’s Lonely Death

Alice Ghostley wasn’t meant to be a star. The small-town girl dropped out of the University of Oklahoma as a young woman. She claims she didn’t look the part of an actor, either. “My nose was too long, I had crooked teeth, I wasn’t blond,” she once told a newspaper reporter about how limiting her looks had been in entertainment. “But I also knew I’d find a way.” And find a way she did. Ghostley became an exceptional character actor. She won a Tony Award for her theater work and enjoyed TV turns on Bewitched and Designing Women. When she appeared in Grease, popping up in that iconic film as Mrs. Murdock, the auto shop teacher, it was icing on the proverbial cake.

For 52 years, she was married to fellow character actor Felice Orlandi. The pair had a wonderful life together, by all accounts. It ended sadly in 2003 when Orlandi died, though. Ghostley was alone for the first time in five decades. Sadly, she was also going through an awful experience with her health. In her waning days, the actor suffered a series of increasingly-severe strokes. She was also diagnosed with colon cancer. All alone and unwell from the ailments, Ghostley passed on in 2007.^[10]

Even if you’re prone to superstition, you might find the idea of a cursed film laughable. Yet some productions have been so wrought with bad luck it has seemed like the only logical explanation to some. But whether or not you are a believer, you might want to count yourself lucky for not being involved in the following ten movies.

10 The Exorcist (1973)

The 1973 horror classic The Exorcist caused quite a stir amongst cinemagoers upon release based on its merits alone. But the strange incidents surrounding the film, including several on-set injuries, a fire, a motorcycle accident, and a lightning strike on a church, have also led to many labeling it as cursed.

People have also linked the film to several deaths, the most notable being that of actors Jack MacGowran and Vasiliki Maliaros, who both passed away before the film hit the big screen. In addition, several cast members would also report losing family members around the time of the film’s shooting.^[1]

9 Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

This 1955 coming-of-age drama explored the so-called moral decay of America’s youth. However, there was seemingly just as much delinquency behind the scenes of Rebel Without a Cause as anything that made it to the screen, including a real-life fight between acting hopefuls perpetrated by the director Nicholas Ray and a love triangle between Ray, Natalie Wood, and William Hooper.

However, rumors of a curse linked to this film didn’t spring up due to shenanigans, but tragedy, with each of the movie’s three leads suffering an early grave. First, James Dean passed away at 24 due to a car crash only weeks before the film arrived in theaters. Then, years later, a 37-year-old Sal Mineo was murdered outside his apartment, and Natalie Wood mysteriously drowned in the waters off Santa Catalina Island at 43. Also, supporting actor Nick Adams who went on to achieve a degree of fame, died young due to a drug overdose.^[2]

8 The Crow (1994)

The Crow was to be the launching pad for the career of Brandon Lee, Bruce Lee’s son. But unfortunately, the film would be his last, following a now infamous fatal accident on set, which saw Lee shot by a real bullet instead of a blank. However, while Lee’s death was the most tragic event linked with the film, it was not the only bad luck the cast and crew suffered.

Things arguably started to go wrong after the pre-production crew received an anonymous voicemail telling them not to make the film because ‘bad things would happen.’ Sure enough, on the first day of shooting, a crew member suffered severe burns and later lost his ears when his crane hit a power line. Then the “Storm of the Century” hit the southeastern U.S., causing complications, delays, discontent, and sickness for the cast and crew. All in all, the fact the movie made it to the screen is perhaps nothing short of a minor miracle.^[3]

7 The Poltergeist Trilogy (1982-1988)

If this list is going to teach you anything, it is that horror films are seemingly the most susceptible to apparent curses. And here we don’t just have one classic of the genre, but a whole trilogy that people claim to be cursed. And again, a series of deaths, two of which were unexpected, in this case, involving no less than four cast members, lies at the heart of the matter.

Dominique Dunne, who portrayed Dana Freeling, was the first to meet a tragic fate after her former partner murdered her on her driveway in 1982. Then, Julian Beck, who played the evil preacher Kane in Poltergeist II, took his own life in 1983 after a long battle with stomach cancer. Next, Will Sampson, who played the Native American shaman Taylor, passed away during surgery in ’87. Finally, Heather O’Rourke, who played Carol Anne, the focal point of the Poltergeist series, tragically passed away at the age of twelve from an intestinal abnormality.^[4]

6 The Wizard of Oz (1939)

There’s no denying that The Wizard of Oz will live on as a landmark moment in cinema history. But despite its commercial success, some believe the film is cursed, due to the number of serious accidents that occurred on set, from an exploding broomstick injuring a stunt double to broken wires causing the actors playing the winged monkeys to come crashing to the ground.

Elsewhere, Margeret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch, experienced second and third-degree burns to her face and hands after fire used for special effects caught on to her. Meanwhile, Buddy Ebsen, the original tin man, suffered poisoning due to costume designers using pure aluminum dust to create his makeup. And that scene where Dorothy and her friends fall asleep while snow falls from the sky? That was mineral asbestos falling on the actors.

According to Judy Garland, who played Dorothy and later struggled with depression and substance abuse, there was plenty of mental and psychological abuse on and off the set too. And then there are the urban legends, such as the false claim that a munchkin hanged himself during filming. But in reality, the curse behind The Wizard of Oz was nothing supernatural but a combination of neglect and ignorance on the studio’s part.^[5]

5 The Omen (1976)

This horror classic tells the story of a couple who adopt a child that, as it turns out, might be the son of the Devil. But while it is beloved by some, some would argue that making a film about such a story was tempting fate. And they might have the evidence to back this up.

The bad luck began a month before filming commenced when lead star Gregory Peck’s son ended his own life. Later, when Peck was heading to London for the film, his plane was struck by lighting. Amazingly, the same thing happened to executive producer Mace Neufeld only a week later. And that wouldn’t be the only aviation problem, as a plane that many of the crew were originally meant to board ended up crashing.

Other events connected to the film include the director’s hotel being bombed by the IRA, lions killing a zookeeper in a safari park the day after footage for The Omen was shot there, and a rottweiler attacking a stunt performer. However, perhaps the most shocking incident allegedly connected to the curse would occur to special effects director John Richardson and his assistant Liz Moore when they were involved in a car crash. John, the man behind The Omen’s infamous decapitation scene, survived. Unfortunately, however, his assistant was herself decapitated.^[6]

4 Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

Another film that plays upon the concept of an (in this case, unborn) antichrist and is supposedly cursed is Rosemary’s Baby. And rumors of said curse arguably began with the murder of director Roman Polanski’s wife, Sharon Tate, at the hands of the Manson family in 1969. Her murder followed the death of composer Krzysztof Komeda, who suffered a tragic fall from a rock encampment. Years later, John Lennon was shot outside of the Dakota, where Rosemary’s Baby was filmed, which some have also attributed to the curse.

Beyond these deaths, others have linked the film’s “curse” to the downward spiral of those involved backstage. For some, such as producer William Castle and original novelist Ira Levin, the stress of being involved with such a controversial film wreaked havoc on their personal lives and mental health. Elsewhere, producer Robert Evans was not only convicted of cocaine trafficking but became linked to the high-profile murder of Roy Radin. And then, of course, there is Polanski’s fall from grace that, in the wake of his wife’s murder, saw him indulge in substance abuse and become linked to multiple acts of depravity.^[7]

3 The Superman Franchise (1948– )

The superman curse is a hex so strong that it seemingly cursed an entire franchise. And if we’re going by the number of people affected, it’s clearly one of the most potent. The Superman curse has, if believed, been proven liable to jinx anyone even remotely involved in the Superman movies, from backstage staff to actors to producers. However, if one particular group is at high risk, it is the actors who play the title character.

The curse seemingly began with the first live-action Superman, Kirk Alyn, who struggled to find work after taking on the role. Then George Reeves, who portrayed the capped hero in the 1951 film, died just days before he was set to be married. Next, Lee Quigley, who played the baby Superman in the 1978 film, died of a heart attack at fourteen. And Christopher Reeves became the most high-profile victim of the alleged curse following a horse-riding accident that left him paralyzed.^[8]

2 Atuk

Now for a film so cursed that it never got made. Based on the book The Incomparable Atuk, Atuk tells a “fish out of water” story about an Inuit living in New York. But whenever someone tries to make the film, they keep running into the same problem: the actor tipped for the lead role suddenly dies.

John Belushi was the first name to be attached to the movie before dying due to drug intoxication, with the script lying on his coffee table. Sam Kinison actually made it on to set to play the lead before production was shut down. He later died tragically when a drunk driver hit his car. Next, John Candy got hold of the script and showed interest before dying of a supposed heart attack. Finally, Chris Farley showed an interest before dying after a four-day, drug-fueled bender at 33.^[9]

1 A Confederacy of Dunces

A Confederacy of Dunces seems to be suffering from the same curse behind Atuk. It’s another movie based on a book that tragedy and bad luck have prevented from being made. First, John Belushi signed up to play the lead role before dying of a drug overdose. Then John Candy and Chris Farley suffered the same fate.

A version of the film set for release in 2005, starring Will Ferrell, was moving ahead nicely. But while Ferrell survived the alleged curse, the production didn’t. Not only was one of the film’s financers murdered by her husband, but Hurricane Katrina rolled in to destroy many of the film’s needed locations.^[10]