Jinxed Realms: Unraveling 50 Curious Tales of Curses

The Hapsburgs, once a powerful family, were believed to be cursed by ravens due to their ancestors' massacre of the birds at their castle. Supernatural ravens, known as Turnfalken, were said to appear before or during the family members' deaths, including Marie Antoinette's execution. After Francis Joseph, a Hapsburg king, executed his son for taking part in a failed Hungarian uprising, Countess Karolyi allegedly cast another curse against him. Tragedies during Francis Joseph's reign included the deaths of his wife and son, as well as the murder of his nephew, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which resulted in the Hapsburgs' downfall.

27. The notion of a curse transferring from one family to another is based on the belief that the Kennedy Curse followed Jackie Kennedy when she married Aristotle Onassis in 1968. According to this theory, the curse led to the untimely death of Onassis' son Alexander in a plane crash in 1973, and subsequent misfortunes befell the Onassis family. This included Aristotle's first wife's suicide, his own death, and the financial decline of the Onassis empire. While the remnants went to Christina's daughter Athina, she has, so far, avoided the infamous curse, living in relative obscurity in Brazil.

28. In the 12th century AD, the Knights Templar, a powerful organization in Europe, amassed wealth during the Crusades and were rumored to have found King Solomon's lost treasure. Jacques de Molay, who became the order's leader in 1292, faced betrayal by King Philip IV of France, leading to the Templars' downfall. Before his execution in 1314, de Molay cursed his enemies, prophesying the deaths of Pope Clement V and King Philip IV within a year and the erasure of Philip's line, which unfolded with the deaths of both leaders and their descendants by 1328.

29. The superstition known as "The Superman Curse" asserts that anyone associated with the franchise is jinxed. George Reeve's suicide, Christopher Reeve's paralysis, and the creators of Superman not gaining any profits have all been attributed to the curse.

30. In ancient times and still in modern Ireland, a woman lifting her skirts held a powerful curse, highlighting the enduring significance of this superstition.

Within 13 years of the 1991 discovery of the 5,000-year-old Iceman in the Alps, seven mysterious deaths of those involved occurred as a result of fatal car accidents, avalanches, and other non-natural causes. Some deaths occurred while individuals were discussing or researching the artifact, adding an eerie coincidence to the sequence of fatalities. The circumstances surrounding these deaths have fueled speculation and intrigue in connection with the ancient find.

32. When the Kassam Stadium in Oxford was built, the soccer team lost 13 of their first 17 matches, leading to people claiming the stadium was cursed, and the bishop of Oxford had to perform an exorcism to lift the curse.

33. Grigori Rasputin, a Siberian peasant, gained influence in the Romanov palace by claiming to heal the Tsarina's hemophiliac son. After surviving multiple assassination attempts, Rasputin allegedly sent a prophetic letter to the tsar, warning of dire consequences if he were killed. Less than a year later, the Romanovs, including the tsar, his wife, and their children, were brutally murdered, sparking speculation of a curse attributed to Rasputin.

34. The heavy metal band Black Sabbath originally started wearing crosses to ward off a curse. After denying an offer to play at Stonehenge, the Satanists hosting the event claimed to have cast a curse on the band.

35. Macbeth superstition states that if anyone says the name "Macbeth" outside of rehearsals or a performance in a theater, the production of the play will be cursed.

Cobalt (as in cobalt blue) is named after the German word for goblin, Kobold. It got the name because cobalt hinders the extraction of silver and emits toxic fumes when burned, leading to the deaths of several miners. Mine-dwelling goblins were blamed for leaving behind these 'cursed' rocks.

37. Tourists in Australia often try to take pieces of Ayer's Rock (Uluru) home with them, despite its cultural and spiritual significance to the Aboriginal people. However, those who do often experience misfortunes subsequently send the pieces back, with the administrators of the national park around Uluru receiving around one package a day containing returned fragments. The reported misfortunes range from illness to romantic breakups to death, creating a belief in a curse associated with taking pieces of Ayer's Rock.

38. Chief Niwot's curse, placed on the lands around Boulder, Colorado, in the 19th century, revolves around the curse of love. Chief Niwot foresaw that people attracted to the beauty of the Boulder Valley would want to stay, leading to conflicts and the undoing of the land's beauty. The curse proved effective, as settlers decided to stay, bringing about more conflict and murder, and Chief Niwot himself died in the aftermath of a massacre. The curse persists today, with people still drawn to Boulder, capturing the hearts of visitors for better or worse.

39. The Kennedy Curse refers to a series of unfortunate events that have befallen the Kennedy family, leading some to attribute it to a curse. Notable incidents include the assassinations of brothers John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy while in office and John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s death in a 1999 plane crash. Other instances cited as evidence of the curse involve Rosemarie's lobotomy, Joseph's death in World War II, Edward Jr.'s leg amputation at age 12, and Michael's fatal skiing accident.

40. In 2016, archaeologists discovered an ancient well near Liverpool that was believed to be cursed. A priory of 12 monks looked after the well, which had ties to the medieval cult of St. Anne and was associated with healing wells. In the 16th century, a dispute over well ownership led to a curse by the priory's Father Delwaney, resulting in his own sudden death, financial losses for the rival Hugh Darcy, and the latter's tragic demise at the bottom of the well a year and a day later.

In 2010, Romania's Senate rejected a proposed law that would have taxed witches and fortune tellers due to fears of being cursed for it.

42. Emperor Sutoku, the 12th-century ruler of Japan, abdicated and became a monk. He copied scriptures for the imperial court, but thinking they were cursed, the court refused to accept them. Feeling bitter, he cursed them upon his death, and his spirit was blamed for causing future unrest in the country.

43. Due to a tense dispute with the nearby abbey over irrigation water, the town of Trasmoz in Spain is the only one that the Catholic Church has officially cursed and excommunicated. The excommunication has never been revoked.

44. Robert Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's eldest son, was close to or directly present at all three presidential assassinations that happened during his lifetime. He swore off presidential events as a result, fearing his presence meant a president would die.

45. Rosacea, also referred to as The Curse of the Celts and primarily affecting people of Northern European descent, is actually an evolutionary adaptation that ancient Celtic people developed to fight off bacteria during seasonal periods of low ultraviolet levels.

The Stadium Sponsorship Curse claims that companies naming major North American sports venues faced financial setbacks. Several sponsors, like Conseco Inc., went bankrupt, contributing to a $321 billion market value loss for the Stadium Sponsor Stock Index. The curse was linked to corporate ego and poor financial performance in competitive industries.

47. Rosemary's Baby, a film associated with the concept of an unborn antichrist and believed to be cursed, had rumors of a curse stemming from the murder of director Roman Polanski's wife, Sharon Tate, by the Manson family in 1969. The deaths of composers Krzysztof Komeda and John Lennon, along with tragic events for those involved behind the scenes, are often linked to the film's curse. Producer William Castle and novelist Ira Levin faced personal and mental health struggles, while producer Robert Evans dealt with legal issues and became connected to a high-profile murder, and director Roman Polanski's life took a tumultuous turn after his wife's murder, involving substance abuse and depravity.

48. The Cassandra metaphor occurs when valid warnings are dismissed. The Greek god Apollo gave Cassandra the gift of prophecy, but she refused his love, so he placed a curse that nobody would believe her. She was left with knowledge of future events that she could not alter or convince others of.

49. The Omen, a horror classic, revolves around a couple who adopt a child believed to be the son of the devil, and the film is often associated with a series of ominous events. Lead star Gregory Peck's son's suicide a month before filming, Peck's plane being struck by lightning, and other aviation mishaps are connected to the film's production. Additional incidents include the director's hotel bombing, a zookeeper's death after shooting at a safari park, a rottweiler attacking a stunt performer, and a tragic car crash involving special effects director John Richardson and his assistant Liz Moore, the latter of whom was decapitated.

50. The "resource curse" is the phenomenon of countries with an abundance of natural resources having less economic growth, less democracy, and less development than countries with fewer resources.