Collection of the Accursed - Curses in Action

 Curses are interesting things.  Sometimes a curse is laid on them, and sometimes they just seem to have been cursed by God from the beginning.

Pretty much ANYTHING can be considered the result of a curse.  From the perspective of a Museum of Cursed Objects, the farther removed from encountering the object, the better.

Image Source

Consider the curse of Tutankhamen.  No one dropped dead upon entering the tomb.  While that would have been impressive, the curse apparently took its time to get to know the interlopers before knocking them off.  It took two months to kill the first, and ten years to kill the other eight it decided to kill.  None of them died in the same way, of course, and not everyone who entered died or took ill.  The Curse likes to keep people in suspense.

Robert the Doll is a great example of a haunted object that curses people!  The story goes that no one may take a picture of Robert without his permission.  Presumably, simply asking permission and then waiting a moment is good enough, since no one has ever claimed to hear him actually GIVE permission.

Robert the Doll., presumably photographed with Robert's permission

The walls around Robert's display are literally papered with letters from people begging Robert's forgiveness for taking his photo without permission.  People claim to have experienced everything form a flat tire to loss of a job or even the loss of a loved one as a result of the curse.

It's not clear to me how the story of Robert not liking photographs came about.  Perhaps someone at the East Martello Museum in Key West, Florida have some idea.  People do love to be part of something, and how great is it that this particular curse gives them a chance to become part of the exhibit?  The Museum sure seems happy to keep the letters flowing.

I really like the interactivity of having patrons ask permission from a doll before taking photos.  Some will do it, and others will take unauthorized photos to show how brave they are!  Just make sure the name of the haunt is plainly visible from any direction people might take photos from.  Probably can't hurt to "prime the pump" by posting a few letters begging forgiveness, either.  Just until the others start coming in...

Happy Halloween!