Beware Curb Side Treasures

By M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
Have you ever driven by furnishing and belongings left at the curbside, which seem too good to be true? Why would anyone give these things away for free, you ask yourself. If you knew the answer you would peel out, and just watch the items grow smaller in the rear-view mirror. Lastly, you would sigh in relief.

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Cursed painting left by a dumpster

THE LADY IN THE TURBAN
In 2018, Mel Hamilton found a painting of a woman with a turban, next to a commercial bin on a Brighton (UK) street. It had a broken frame, which she assumed was the reason why it was thrown out.

She soon came to suspect that it had been discarded for darker reasons. She reframed it and everything in her life "took a turn for the worse".

Mel left with her clothes, her dog and the painting, when her relationship with her partner ended. At that point she was so drawn to it, she decided not to leave it behind.

It was signed with what appears to be the name "Shoansizaw Ekele" and the date 1973. This might possibly be a Nigerian name.

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Mel Hamilton who found a cursed painting that haunted her for 3 years.

Soon after moving into a new apartment, her old but healthy German Shepherd dog died unexpectedly. That's when she started to experience the "dark and unexplainable" activity that would haunt her for three years.

Doors would open and shut by themselves, the TV would change channels without the aid of a human. Once she awoke when she heard the jingling of keys opening her door.

She said, "I would hear the door handles move and the keys go in and out. This overwhelming darkness was awful and I was alone. It very quickly became apparent that something was amiss. Everything was going wrong, everything."

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Signature and date on the back of the canvas

Plants and flowers would die soon after she brought them home.

She came to believe a dark entity had attached itself to her when she was the most vulnerable. She was battling alcoholism, and when she tried to tell others of her experiences they dismissed it as her being drunk.

She lived in Ramsgate and said, "Things got really, really unbearable. There was so much activity that I didn't want to live there. The energy in it was just so bad and so dark. I was a nervous wreck and covered in crosses. I went to a meeting and tried to sound rational but nobody believed me."

Three years later, her son threw the portrait out and the ill fortune stopped. She became sober, started a relationship with a new man, and felt comfortable in her home. The conclusion was inevitable; the harbinger of the dark activity was the portrait.

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The haunted portrait of Capt. McKeever

THE CAPTAIN'S PORTRAIT
Like many haunted places, especially those visited by the public, it's only after hours that the unusual starts to occur. Such is the case at the Corned Beef & Co. in Roanoake, Virginia.

The source of the disturbances according to the employees is a portrait of Captain Andrew McKeever.

Present day the warnings are heeded, so the picture is only dusted, but never moved. Why? Because if you do, than the ghost will start following you around. Some believe just being around the portrait will provoke the captain.

He flicks lights on and off, others have heard the activity in the billiard room when the restaurant is closed, voices heard in another room and their name being whispered.

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Capt. McKeever with a captured Fokker c.1919

The general manager has said, "A girl that was hanging Christmas lights around the captain, she actually touched the painting; she cut her hand pretty bad that day at Corned Beef. The people that touched it and tried to clean it, they saw shadows walking around; things would get knocked off the countertops."

Captain McKeever was a WWI Canadian two-seater flying ace who, in conjunction with his gunners, was credited with 31 victories. All but two of those triumphs were over German Albatros D.V fighters.

Once the war ended, he wanted to stay close to his passion, and he accepted a job as a manager for an airfield at Mineola, New York. Ironically after so many close calls during wartime, before he could start work, he was involved in an auto accident in his home town of Listowel. He broke his leg, complications set in, and he died of cerebral thrombosis on Christmas Day, 1919. He was 26 years old.

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Cursed painting of two dolls on eBay c.March 2022

THE TWO DOLLS
In March, 2022, a painting of two dolls  was posted on eBay. Like many similar items, they're put for sale either for the notoriety or fear. The man who bought it said the item ruined his life. Using the pseudonym of Dan Smith,  he describes himself as a "collector of weird things" and a visit to a flea market is when he came across the innocuous looking painting. The woman who was selling it warned him away.

Either she was wanted a clear conscience, or she used the oldest but best sales pitch to use on collectors. It worked and he bought the painting.

His description on eBay was:

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BEWARE CURSED Vintage Painting Dolls Art Creepy Eerie WARNING 1967.

The woman at the flea market warned me before buying this and I will warn you – no good can come from this painting. I didn’t think much of it at the time and just assumed she was one of those oddball dealers hawking their wares for cheap.

As for the painting, it looked adorable, with two innocent-seeming dolls portrayed in it… but she was right - don’t be deceived.

I don’t know whose cursed blood was mixed in with the paint to create this piece, but its powers are strong.

Initials and date on painting

Once he got the painting home, he was visited by biblical-type manifestations. He had an insect infestation, his once healthy hamster died, and he lost sleep. He suffered from "sickness, loneliness, sleeplessness and uneasiness", and believes that the only recourse left to him was to get rid of the creepy picture. He noted the only difference in his life before it took such a dark turn was the purchase of the painting.

He said he didn't destroy it, for instance with fire, but he feared it could "easily unleash the evil... and make things ten times worse?" He didn't want to risk this, but instead decided to sell it to someone who doesn't believe in curses, or someone who does but is attracted to it, just the way he was.

Further information on the listing was:

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For the details on the piece - it comes with the frame, it is dusty since I never got around to cleaning it off after hanging it. As for that artist, it is signed with the initials MNP 3-67. Of course, that could also just stand for something like 'Many Nightmares & Phobias,' which is what the artwork leads to. I'm starting the auction at $50, which is what I paid for it but am hoping it goes for more to make up for everything I've been through. But before you bid... you've been warned!

Lest you think your chance of buying a creepy painting off eBay is lost, fear not, these were offered in September, 2023: