13 Famous Curses That'll Make You Question The Supernatural And Logic

Remember the curses we used to spell out for each other in school? Some of them were so crass, they aren't even worth writing about. But you know what I'm talking about, don't you? Back then we would do everything we could to lay it off, particularly if we were superstitious.

But are you still superstitious? If yes, great. Reading these will be like digging gold. But if you're a part of the practical lot, like me, these might be a bit hard to digest. It's an intriguing read nonetheless, but finding logical reasoning behind these are nearly impossible. That, however, shouldn't stop you from giving these a try.

1. Curse of the Hope Diamond

hollywoodonthepotomac.com

This 112-carat gorgeous beauty was found in India, where it was supposedly stolen from the head of an idol in the 1600s, and the priests of the temple where the idol was housed cursed the stone. It was passed into the hands of King Louis XVI of France where it was worn by Princess de Lamballie and Marie Antoinette, who were both later beheaded along with Louis during the French Revolution. Many believe that whoever is in possession of the Hope Diamond will meet a gruesome death. Even the jewelers who kept the diamond in their shop died mysterious deaths. The diamond is currently on display in the United States.

2. The Madden Curse

seahawks.com

Weirdly funny (not for the players I'm sure), this is a one-of-its-kind video game curse. Although considered to be an honour, some NFL (American Football) players resent being on the cover of their famous franchise video game - Madden. Apparently, many athletes who have appeared on the cover of the Madden NFL game either have a horrible season afterward, or end up on the injured list, or completely fade into obscurity. Michael Vick (Madden 2004), Donovan McNabb (Madden 2006), Shaun Alexander (Madden 2007), Vince Young (Madden 2008), Brett Favre (Madden 2009), Troy Polomalu (Madden 2010) and Peyton Hillis (Madden 2012) all had unfortunate years after being on the cover. Weird, right?

3. The Kennedy Curse

corpsstrength.com

The Kennedy curse was 'set-off' with President Kennedy being assassinated in 1963. It was more like a brutal domino effect that followed. Robert Kennedy was assassinated five years later in 1968. Senator Ted Kennedy survived a plane crash, but later drove off a bridge that killed Mary Jo Kopechne, thus ending his presidential dreams. Robert Kennedy¡¯s son died of a drug overdose, his other son died in a skiing accident, JFK Jr. died in a plane crash (along with his wife and her sister) and most recently, Mary Kennedy, the estranged wife of RFK Jr., hanged herself.

4. The Poltergeist Curse

files.biography.com

One of the better horror flicks out there, the Poltergeist curse was pretty creepy. FOUR cast members of this horror franchise died in the six years between the first and third film. Real cadavers were used as props in various scenes, and that¡¯s what the curse is attributed to. So in case you were wondering how legit the film was, remember while filming, they were actually sh*t scared.

5. The Superman Curse

walls4joy.com

Perhaps one of the most famous curses of the lot. This curse began because the original comic book creators of Superman cursed their own superhero, after they were denied the rights and money to the character. The Superman curse remains one of the most infamous curses of modern times. George Reeves committed suicide. Christopher Reeve became paralyzed after falling from his horse. Dana Reeve, Christopher¡¯s wife and a non-smoker, died of lung cancer at the age of 44. Lee Quigley died in 1991 at the age of 14 due to solvent abuse. Margot Kidder (Lois Lane) suffers from bi-polar disorder. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were abused by DC Comics. Henry Cavill seems to have broken this jinx. An opportune moment to say *touchwood*?

6. The Kohinoor Diamond

Tim Graham/Alamy/ National Geographic

A lot like the curse of the Hope Diamond, but there's something else that sets it apart. Every time the Kohinoor has fallen into the hands of a female, it has resulted in bringing great fortune and luck in her life. But for every male who ever owned this diamond, a terrible death lay in the future. Guess that tells us why diamonds are a girl's best friend, right?

7. The 27 Club

hrhibiza.com

The fact that the 27 Club fell on number 7 is a pure coincidence (or is it?). The 27 Club refers to the really famous, and equally talented musicians who died at the age of 27, right from legends like Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison, all of who were very famous rock stars at their time, to the more recent Amy Winehouse, who drank herself to death. What is even more bizarre about this curse is that all of them (barring Amy perhaps) became famous at the age of 25, and then died two years later.

8. The Curse Of 0888-888-888

wikipedia

Some things are too bizarre to explain, but can't be ignored either. This one fits as an example. One doesn't really have cursed numbers, until and unless it's the wretched sales people who disturb incessantly. But an exception here is the phone number 0888-888-888. This phone number has been the number of many people throughout the 2000s, up until now, but every single person who has had the number has died. Some owners died of cancer, while others were shot to death or died in a gunshot accident. Is 888 the new 666?

9. The Iceman Curse

kinja-img.com

Back in 1991, the body of an iceman was discovered in the Alps. It was estimated that the body dates back to over five thousand years. But after his discovery, seven of the people who found him died over the course of thirteen years. Which would have been acceptable had they been of natural causes, but none of them were. For instance, one person died in a car accident, another was killed in an avalanche, another died from accidentally falling off a cliff, and another from a blood disorder. The Iceman curse is currently one of the most famous curses of modern times.

10. The Spider-Man Curse

blastr.com

Even though most of us only know of the Superman curse, it stands nowhere in comparison to the more recent Spider-Man curse. This one's not Hollywood though, it's Broadway (theatre), and involves the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark. Back in 2010, during rehearsals the first mishap took place when an actor suffered broken feet and a concussion after a failed catapult stunt. Later, the stunt double broke both his wrists. On the night of the first preview performance, one of the main actresses sustained a concussion when she was hit in the head by a rope. She left the show shortly thereafter. T.V. Carpio stepped in to replace her, but was sidelined for two weeks after sustaining neck injuries during an onstage battle scene. Then, in the most dramatic and widely publicised accident, a cord snapped during an aerial stunt, causing Christopher Tierney to fall three stories and crash into the orchestra pit. His injuries were severe - the actor fractured his skull, scapula, and elbow, in addition to breaking four of his ribs and three vertebrae.The most recent injury occurred on August 16, 2013 and involved a dancer¡¯s leg being mangled after getting caught in some machinery. To date, five actors have been hurt or maimed during the production. Apart from Tony Adams, the original producer who suffered a stroke and died before the supposedly cursed show opened on Broadway.

11. The Crying Boy painting

3.bp.blogspot.com

Nothing like a masterpiece, but this painting of a young boy was set on the walls of multiple homes throughout Europe. However, folk in many of the homes ended up being victims of fires and explosions. Even though the homes would be burned down to the ground, the Crying Boy painting was always found to be completely intact in the aftermath. What¡¯s even more bizarre about this ¡®supposed curse¡¯ is the fact that the painter claimed that he had made the painting of a wandering orphan whose parents had died in a house fire. Eerie. It gets better - even a priest had warned the painter that each home the boy was let into, was destroyed due to a fire one time or another. The painter didn¡¯t believe him and took the boy into his studio to paint him, but sure enough, his studio caught fire as well, and burned down, causing the painter to banish the orphan from his presence.

12. The Curse of the Dead Man¡¯s chair

2.bp.blogspot.com

This one dates back to the 18th century. Legend has it that anyone who dares sit on Busby¡¯s stoop chair will die soon after. It all started in North Yorkshire, back in 1702. Somehow, the town drunk, a man by the name of Thomas Busby, managed to marry the beautiful Elizabeth Auty. However, her father was vehemently opposed to the marriage, as he thought his daughter could do better. One day, Busby returned home to find his father-in-law sitting in his favorite chair. Auty announced he was there to take his daughter home. Like any reasonable man, he bludgeoned his father-in-law to death with a hammer and hid the body. But it wasn't about the daughter, it was about that chair, all along. As he was being led to his execution, he reportedly shouted that anyone who sat on his favorite chair would die. The inn where Busby lived with his wife was re-named the ¡°Busby Stoop Inn,¡± and the chair has supposedly claimed an untold number of lives over the past 300 years. In 1968, Tony Earnshaw took over the inn. Earnshaw was not a superstitious man; he initially dismissed the Busby curse as nonsense and the previous deaths associated with it as coincidences. But then people started dying on his watch. First, Earnshaw overheard two RAF airmen daring each other to sit on the chair. Both did, and both died in a car crash later that day. Then there was the group of builders who came into the pub at lunchtime and dared a young laborer to sit on the chair. The brave lad obliged, and that same day he fell off a roof and cracked his skull open on the concrete below. That was the last straw for Tony Earnshaw. He begged the Thirsk museum to take the chair off his hands, but only if they agreed to never let anyone sit on it. For nearly 30 years, despite many requests, no one has been allowed to tempt the curse.

13. The Curse of Sinatra

wikipedia

It is true, that sometimes you do feel like killing those annoying voices trying to emulate legendary songs on karaoke nights. But that's not to be taken literally right? Well, some say Frank Sinatra does in Philippines. And specifically with one song - 'My way'. At least six people have been killed while singing it at karaoke there over the last ten years. It would be crazy if these people had died in a supernatural way, but they didn't, they were murdered.

In one case, a 29 year-old was shot dead by a security guard because he thought the guy was off-key. In another story, the friend of one singer overheard the people at the next table commenting on how shitty he was, so the friend (an off duty cop) stood up and drew his gun on them, chasing them the hell out of the bar and forever convincing the man's family to not play "My Way" at family gatherings.

But this seems to be a purely Philippines-specific problem. Theories about the ability of "My Way" to trigger incandescent rage range from the song's ability to "evoke feelings of pride and arrogance in the singer", both of which karaoke fans of the far east view as reasons to level a murderous ass-kicking.

Oops, it ended at 13...