All language subtitles for The UnXplained Special Presentation s01e05 Dark Forces

af Afrikaans
ak Akan
sq Albanian
am Amharic
ar Arabic
hy Armenian
az Azerbaijani
eu Basque
be Belarusian
bem Bemba
bn Bengali
bh Bihari
bs Bosnian
br Breton
bg Bulgarian
km Cambodian
ca Catalan
ceb Cebuano
chr Cherokee
ny Chichewa
zh-CN Chinese (Simplified)
zh-TW Chinese (Traditional)
co Corsican
hr Croatian
cs Czech
da Danish
nl Dutch
en English
eo Esperanto
et Estonian
ee Ewe
fo Faroese
tl Filipino
fi Finnish
fr French
fy Frisian
gaa Ga
gl Galician
ka Georgian
de German
el Greek
gn Guarani
gu Gujarati
ht Haitian Creole
ha Hausa
haw Hawaiian
iw Hebrew
hi Hindi
hmn Hmong
hu Hungarian
is Icelandic
ig Igbo
id Indonesian
ia Interlingua
ga Irish
it Italian
ja Japanese
jw Javanese
kn Kannada
kk Kazakh
rw Kinyarwanda
rn Kirundi
kg Kongo
ko Korean
kri Krio (Sierra Leone)
ku Kurdish
ckb Kurdish (Soranî)
ky Kyrgyz
lo Laothian
la Latin
lv Latvian
ln Lingala
lt Lithuanian
loz Lozi
lg Luganda
ach Luo
lb Luxembourgish
mk Macedonian
mg Malagasy
ms Malay
ml Malayalam
mt Maltese
mi Maori
mr Marathi
mfe Mauritian Creole
mo Moldavian
mn Mongolian
my Myanmar (Burmese)
sr-ME Montenegrin
ne Nepali
pcm Nigerian Pidgin
nso Northern Sotho
no Norwegian
nn Norwegian (Nynorsk)
oc Occitan
or Oriya
om Oromo
ps Pashto
fa Persian
pl Polish
pt-BR Portuguese (Brazil)
pt Portuguese (Portugal)
pa Punjabi
qu Quechua
ro Romanian
rm Romansh
nyn Runyakitara
ru Russian
sm Samoan
gd Scots Gaelic
sr Serbian
sh Serbo-Croatian
st Sesotho
tn Setswana
crs Seychellois Creole
sn Shona
sd Sindhi
si Sinhalese
sk Slovak
sl Slovenian
so Somali
es Spanish
es-419 Spanish (Latin American)
su Sundanese
sw Swahili
sv Swedish
tg Tajik
ta Tamil
tt Tatar
te Telugu
th Thai
ti Tigrinya
to Tonga
lua Tshiluba
tum Tumbuka
tr Turkish
tk Turkmen
tw Twi
ug Uighur
uk Ukrainian
ur Urdu
uz Uzbek
vi Vietnamese
cy Welsh
wo Wolof
xh Xhosa
yi Yiddish
yo Yoruba
zu Zulu
Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:01,100 --> 00:00:05,460 An elaborate mansion built to ward off evil spirits. 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:10,060 A forbidden tomb guarded by a deadly curse. 3 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:16,680 And an amusement park that became a playground for the souls of the dead. 4 00:00:19,420 --> 00:00:25,180 You know, from time to time it feels like there's an unseen evil energy 5 00:00:25,180 --> 00:00:28,560 that shrouds the world we live in. 6 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:35,740 Ominous tombs, abandoned amusement parks, and cursed objects can all raise 7 00:00:35,740 --> 00:00:41,360 hair on the back of our necks and make us wonder if something sinister is at 8 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:42,360 play. 9 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:45,800 But is that just a figment of our imagination? 10 00:00:46,100 --> 00:00:52,420 Or is it possible that our fears are justified and that dark forces lurk 11 00:00:52,420 --> 00:00:53,920 all around us? 12 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:58,160 Well, that is what we'll try and find out. 13 00:01:13,890 --> 00:01:15,090 Samarkand, Uzbekistan. 14 00:01:16,310 --> 00:01:22,410 Near the center of this ancient city in Central Asia is a mausoleum known as Gur 15 00:01:22,410 --> 00:01:23,410 -e -Amir. 16 00:01:23,850 --> 00:01:30,410 It is also known as the Tomb of the King because inside its magnificent dome 17 00:01:30,410 --> 00:01:35,270 lie the remains of one of the most feared rulers in history, 18 00:01:36,590 --> 00:01:38,350 Tamerlane the Great. 19 00:01:40,110 --> 00:01:41,570 Tamerlane was... 20 00:01:41,930 --> 00:01:47,010 often credited as being the last of the great Asiatic conquerors in the mold of 21 00:01:47,010 --> 00:01:48,010 Genghis Khan. 22 00:01:48,490 --> 00:01:55,330 He started off basically as a minor tribal leader, and then he embarked upon 23 00:01:55,330 --> 00:02:00,530 a 35 -year career of constant war and conquest, 24 00:02:00,870 --> 00:02:07,150 during which he's often credited with exterminating 5 % of the world's 25 00:02:07,150 --> 00:02:08,150 population. 26 00:02:09,190 --> 00:02:14,790 Tamerlane was very adept at psychological warfare and putting his 27 00:02:14,790 --> 00:02:15,790 the wrong foot. 28 00:02:16,550 --> 00:02:21,670 His most chilling battlefield signature was the erection of large numbers of 29 00:02:21,670 --> 00:02:24,050 towers around the city he'd just conquered. 30 00:02:25,830 --> 00:02:31,550 And these towers were made up from the decapitated heads of the victims of the 31 00:02:31,550 --> 00:02:32,550 latest conquest. 32 00:02:33,610 --> 00:02:38,410 A really awful warning to anyone else who might think about rebelling. 33 00:02:39,330 --> 00:02:43,170 This is the fate that awaits you if you even think about any opposition. 34 00:02:43,990 --> 00:02:46,610 I will destroy you and destroy your city. 35 00:02:47,530 --> 00:02:52,010 In 1405, Tamerlane died of a fever at the age of 69. 36 00:02:52,870 --> 00:02:57,970 By that time, his empire stretched from Siberia to the Mediterranean Sea. 37 00:02:59,010 --> 00:03:03,870 But some claim that even in death... Tamerlane wasn't finished exerting his 38 00:03:03,870 --> 00:03:10,270 power on the world because his tomb is believed to be protected by a deadly 39 00:03:10,270 --> 00:03:11,270 curse. 40 00:03:12,470 --> 00:03:17,370 Certain people attain that level of, you know, absolutely terrifying, vicious 41 00:03:17,370 --> 00:03:18,370 person. 42 00:03:19,530 --> 00:03:23,190 Something is evil in them. So when they die, whatever it is that makes them 43 00:03:23,190 --> 00:03:25,110 evil, a lot of people think they'll exist. 44 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:30,920 And where would it be? It would be wherever the body is. So in the tomb of 45 00:03:30,920 --> 00:03:36,920 Tamerlane would be this evil presence that's now still terrifying in his 46 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:43,780 For centuries, Tamerlane's tomb was untouched by archaeologists for fear of 47 00:03:43,780 --> 00:03:45,660 unleashing the dark forces inside. 48 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:51,100 But 80 years ago, his tomb was finally disturbed. 49 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:54,920 And there are those who believe that it set off a chain of events. 50 00:03:55,690 --> 00:03:58,110 that changed the course of history. 51 00:04:01,770 --> 00:04:04,370 June 20th, 1941. 52 00:04:06,370 --> 00:04:12,390 Under the orders of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, Russian archaeologists 53 00:04:12,390 --> 00:04:16,250 Tamerlane's mausoleum and open his tomb. 54 00:04:17,290 --> 00:04:21,470 Stalin was interested in the clues behind Tamerlane's greatness. 55 00:04:21,899 --> 00:04:27,940 Tamerlane was such an incredibly powerful man whose career had been one 56 00:04:27,940 --> 00:04:29,160 bloodshed and savagery. 57 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:33,720 And Stalin wanted to send a very strong message that he was a 20th century 58 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:34,720 equivalent. 59 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:40,920 When the expedition arrived on site, they were told, Tamerlane's tomb has 60 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:42,940 remained undisturbed for centuries. 61 00:04:43,820 --> 00:04:48,780 And not to open the tomb, that if they did, something terrible would happen. 62 00:04:51,820 --> 00:04:58,280 Of course, the expedition proceeded to open the tomb, and this very 63 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:05,020 powerful smell of frankincense, of rose oil and camphor suddenly burst 64 00:05:05,020 --> 00:05:06,940 forth and enveloped the expedition. 65 00:05:07,700 --> 00:05:12,180 Some of the members of the expedition believed that it was the smell of a 66 00:05:13,740 --> 00:05:17,160 There are supposedly two inscriptions on the tomb of Tamlein. 67 00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:19,860 The first inscription reads, 68 00:05:38,820 --> 00:05:45,520 The body was 69 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:50,460 removed. And it was taken back to Leningrad, where the remains were being 70 00:05:50,460 --> 00:05:54,180 studied at that point in time. One of the things that was in the paper was a 71 00:05:54,180 --> 00:05:58,980 picture of a Soviet archaeologist holding the skull of Tamerlane. 72 00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:05,740 And in the article accompanying this, there is a reference that there were 73 00:06:05,740 --> 00:06:08,080 locals who were disturbed about this. 74 00:06:11,260 --> 00:06:13,140 On June 22, 1941. 75 00:06:13,900 --> 00:06:18,680 Two days after Tamerlane's tomb was opened, Russia was hit with a surprise 76 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:21,240 attack by Germany, its supposed ally. 77 00:06:22,180 --> 00:06:28,180 Over three million Nazi troops marched into Russia in the most massive invasion 78 00:06:28,180 --> 00:06:29,180 in history. 79 00:06:29,540 --> 00:06:33,260 Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union without any warning. 80 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:39,400 Up until then, there had been a pact of non -aggression, so this came as quite a 81 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,120 surprise to the Soviet Union. The Nazis... 82 00:06:42,670 --> 00:06:47,750 called the Surprise Attack Operation Barbarossa. And they were very swift and 83 00:06:47,750 --> 00:06:53,510 overwhelming in their attack, and they managed to get very far into the Soviet 84 00:06:53,510 --> 00:06:59,230 Union rather quickly, causing great devastation and loss of life to the 85 00:07:00,550 --> 00:07:07,130 Hammer Lane's body is removed from its tomb on the 20th, and the Eastern Front 86 00:07:07,130 --> 00:07:10,050 erupts in flames two days later. 87 00:07:13,130 --> 00:07:15,170 Remember, there was a curse. 88 00:07:15,590 --> 00:07:22,490 Whosoever will disturb my tomb will unleash an invader worse 89 00:07:22,490 --> 00:07:23,490 than I. 90 00:07:24,670 --> 00:07:30,050 So a lot of people would say the synchronicity between the removal of 91 00:07:30,050 --> 00:07:36,130 Tamerlane's body from his tomb and the launching of Operation Barbarossa 92 00:07:36,130 --> 00:07:38,190 isn't an accident. 93 00:07:40,430 --> 00:07:46,190 As German troops continued to overpower Russian forces, Stalin's advisors began 94 00:07:46,190 --> 00:07:50,730 to question if the curse of Tamerlane's tomb had been unleashed. 95 00:07:52,150 --> 00:07:57,070 They urged him to return Tamerlane's remains to Uzbekistan in the desperate 96 00:07:57,070 --> 00:08:00,350 that it would turn the tide of battle. 97 00:08:01,810 --> 00:08:05,310 And to their astonishment, it worked. 98 00:08:06,349 --> 00:08:09,510 Tamerlane's remains are put back in in December 1942. 99 00:08:10,450 --> 00:08:14,510 But the whole course of the war at the Eastern Front changes. 100 00:08:14,870 --> 00:08:21,730 And from that point on, it's just one long nightmare retreat for the Germans 101 00:08:21,730 --> 00:08:25,050 back to Berlin in April 1945. 102 00:08:26,830 --> 00:08:31,970 Is it possible that returning Tamerlane's remains to his tomb broke 103 00:08:31,970 --> 00:08:34,309 that triggered Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union? 104 00:08:35,309 --> 00:08:38,789 For many, the evidence is hard to ignore. 105 00:08:40,770 --> 00:08:45,210 I think for those who subscribe to what we call the curse of Tamerlane, there 106 00:08:45,210 --> 00:08:46,730 are these two great coincidences. 107 00:08:46,970 --> 00:08:51,190 Coincidence one, the tomb is opened against all the objections of the 108 00:08:51,210 --> 00:08:53,450 Hitler invades the Soviet Union. 109 00:08:54,910 --> 00:08:59,590 Coincidence number two, Tamerlane is reinterred with full burial rites. 110 00:08:59,950 --> 00:09:01,110 Hitler is defeated. 111 00:09:01,350 --> 00:09:02,550 It comes full circle. 112 00:09:03,290 --> 00:09:09,150 Two coincidences or two proofs that the curse was absolutely for real. Take your 113 00:09:09,150 --> 00:09:10,150 pick. 114 00:09:17,030 --> 00:09:18,910 Mercer County, West Virginia. 115 00:09:21,790 --> 00:09:28,050 Here on the bank of Lake Shawnee stands the abandoned remnants of what was once 116 00:09:28,050 --> 00:09:31,650 a simple, wholesome family amusement park. 117 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:41,020 Opened in 1926, the park thrived for decades until it was abruptly closed in 118 00:09:41,020 --> 00:09:42,020 1966. 119 00:09:42,740 --> 00:09:48,660 According to local historians, the reason for the closure was that what 120 00:09:48,660 --> 00:09:54,860 as a playground for children became the site of numerous tragic and disturbing 121 00:09:54,860 --> 00:09:55,860 incidents. 122 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:04,640 In the 1940s, a little girl was riding a swing, and a soda delivery truck 123 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:06,520 delivered soda to the concession stand. 124 00:10:09,620 --> 00:10:13,400 And whenever he did, he backed up into the path of the swing and it killed the 125 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:14,400 little girl. 126 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:18,360 They tried to play it down because it was the child getting killed. 127 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:24,540 She wasn't the only child killed here. There were several kids that drowned. 128 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,920 One was a really sad story, and I would hope it wouldn't happen nowadays. 129 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:36,620 A mother brought her 9 -year -old here and dropped him off to go swimming, and 130 00:10:36,620 --> 00:10:41,680 she went on her merry way. She came back when the park was closing, and she 131 00:10:41,680 --> 00:10:42,680 couldn't find her son. 132 00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:48,060 And they looked for the son until 10 o 'clock at night when they found him. 133 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:54,080 His arm was stuck in the drain of the swimming pool, and it had sucked him in, 134 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:56,220 and he couldn't get out, and he had just drowned. 135 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:02,620 There was another incidence where there was a family out on an outing. 136 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:08,020 They was riding a canoe in the lake. The canoe overturned, and a little boy 137 00:11:08,020 --> 00:11:09,020 drowned in the lake. 138 00:11:12,900 --> 00:11:17,440 Before its doors were closed, six children had died in the park. 139 00:11:18,670 --> 00:11:21,490 And that might have been reason enough for the park to remain closed. 140 00:11:21,990 --> 00:11:23,090 But it didn't. 141 00:11:24,130 --> 00:11:29,850 In 1985, local resident Gaylord White purchased the property with hopes of 142 00:11:29,850 --> 00:11:30,850 reopening it. 143 00:11:33,230 --> 00:11:38,370 In the 1950s, Gaylord, my husband, worked here when he was in high school. 144 00:11:39,050 --> 00:11:40,730 He fell in love with it. 145 00:11:41,210 --> 00:11:45,250 So that was his wish, that someday he would own the park. 146 00:11:46,220 --> 00:11:51,340 And somebody had sent us word that the heirs had finally decided they were 147 00:11:51,340 --> 00:11:52,340 to sell it. 148 00:11:52,820 --> 00:11:54,060 That's how we bought it. 149 00:11:55,100 --> 00:11:58,520 We wanted to have a children's ride park. 150 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:08,160 For years, locals believed that the park was haunted, maybe even cursed. 151 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:14,400 Then, in the late 1980s, the White family made some curious discoveries. 152 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:21,940 We started finding a lot of pottery and Native American tools and arrowheads, 153 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:23,520 stuff like that. 154 00:12:24,340 --> 00:12:28,760 So we stopped doing the bulldozing. We called Marksville University. 155 00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:33,440 They put together an archaeological team that would come down to the park. 156 00:12:33,980 --> 00:12:35,720 They started uncovering bodies. 157 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:40,920 So that's when we knew we had a Native American burial ground on the property. 158 00:12:43,980 --> 00:12:48,480 I know that one of the burial sites was a Native American 14 -year -old girl, 159 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:54,820 and the belief is that she died from giving childbirth because the child was 160 00:12:54,820 --> 00:12:55,940 buried next to her. 161 00:12:59,540 --> 00:13:05,840 A series of tragic deaths at an amusement park built on the site of a 162 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:07,060 American burial ground? 163 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:09,160 A coincidence? 164 00:13:10,260 --> 00:13:13,060 As far as paranormal investigators are concerned, 165 00:13:14,220 --> 00:13:15,620 Not a chance. 166 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:22,320 The first time I stepped foot on Lake Shawnee Amusement Park, I felt like I 167 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:23,320 being watched. 168 00:13:23,660 --> 00:13:28,340 It was an ominous, just negative feeling. 169 00:13:31,220 --> 00:13:35,160 I don't necessarily believe that places are born bad. 170 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:42,860 I believe that things have to occur for a place to become negative in nature. 171 00:13:44,619 --> 00:13:48,600 People said whenever they come to the park that they see the swings move on 172 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:52,880 their own, or maybe they see an image of the little girl that's riding the 173 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:53,880 swings. 174 00:13:57,540 --> 00:14:02,580 Seeing only one swing move, when I look at it, no one else sees it, or it stops 175 00:14:02,580 --> 00:14:05,020 as soon as someone else is looking, that's pretty scary. 176 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:08,180 More than scary, it's unexplained. 177 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:15,040 We tend to be scientists now. All of us, we know everything that's going on. And 178 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:18,660 when you see something that you don't understand, it gets to be creepy. 179 00:14:20,300 --> 00:14:21,880 Millions of people have had these experiences. 180 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:26,340 Not just hauntings, but all sorts of ESP experiences and related experiences. 181 00:14:26,900 --> 00:14:30,500 These are questions that science should be looking at very carefully and 182 00:14:30,500 --> 00:14:34,500 closely. And to say, oh, it's mass hallucination, or it's this kind of 183 00:14:34,500 --> 00:14:38,240 explanation, without looking into the experience itself, either the singular 184 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:39,240 the general patterns. 185 00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:42,560 It's not scientific. It's highly unscientific. 186 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:49,040 Is Lake Shawnee Amusement Park home to deadly powers that are simply beyond our 187 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:55,180 understanding? Or is it possible that just the thought of dark forces is all 188 00:14:55,180 --> 00:14:56,520 that's needed to give us a fright? 189 00:14:57,220 --> 00:15:03,200 Perhaps clues can be found by investigating a vast mansion that many 190 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:07,320 haunted by the souls of restless gunslingers. 191 00:15:13,030 --> 00:15:14,030 Strange. 192 00:15:16,690 --> 00:15:17,690 Macabre. 193 00:15:20,430 --> 00:15:21,430 Disturbing. 194 00:15:23,810 --> 00:15:29,950 In San Jose, California, stands one of the largest and most bizarre private 195 00:15:29,950 --> 00:15:32,210 residences in the United States. 196 00:15:32,750 --> 00:15:39,010 Known as the Winchester Mystery House, this 24 ,000 square foot Victorian 197 00:15:39,010 --> 00:15:41,230 mansion contains an astonishing 198 00:15:42,390 --> 00:15:48,850 160 rooms, 17 chimneys, 47 fireplaces, 199 00:15:49,030 --> 00:15:55,590 two basements, three elevators, and more than 10 ,000 200 00:15:55,590 --> 00:15:56,610 panes of glass. 201 00:15:57,370 --> 00:15:59,370 And those are just the ones we know about. 202 00:16:00,510 --> 00:16:02,070 But why? 203 00:16:02,750 --> 00:16:05,230 Well, the Winchester Mystery House is a very special place. 204 00:16:05,450 --> 00:16:07,270 It was built with no master plan. 205 00:16:07,930 --> 00:16:12,190 but there are a lot of architectural oddities that remain a mystery as to why 206 00:16:12,190 --> 00:16:13,190 they're here. 207 00:16:13,750 --> 00:16:18,570 Most buildings start with some drawings, some blueprints, some documents that 208 00:16:18,570 --> 00:16:21,630 say, this is what it's going to look like when it was finished. 209 00:16:22,010 --> 00:16:24,610 That building looks like they made it up as they went. 210 00:16:25,130 --> 00:16:29,490 There are doors that open to 12 -foot drops outside. 211 00:16:30,030 --> 00:16:32,710 There's doors that if you step through them, you'll land in a kitchen sink on 212 00:16:32,710 --> 00:16:33,710 the first floor. 213 00:16:34,050 --> 00:16:37,110 It's almost like an Escher picture in some ways. 214 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:44,080 The mastermind behind this architectural jigsaw puzzle was Sarah Winchester, the 215 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,820 widow of a man who manufactured the Winchester repeating rifle. 216 00:16:48,700 --> 00:16:54,760 It was famously known as the gun that won the West because it could kill more 217 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:59,420 people faster than any gun previously invented. 218 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:04,839 The Winchester rifle was special because it could fire up to 15 rounds without 219 00:17:04,839 --> 00:17:09,599 being reloaded, which was very different from most of the smoothbores used in 220 00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:14,380 the Civil War, which were, you loaded it, you fired one shot, and that was it. 221 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:18,180 So you could imagine the advantage that you would have being able to shoot round 222 00:17:18,180 --> 00:17:20,099 after round after round without reloading. 223 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:26,980 When Sarah's husband died in 1881, she became the heir to his massive fortune. 224 00:17:27,540 --> 00:17:28,700 Three years later... 225 00:17:29,020 --> 00:17:34,640 She began construction on a mansion that would take 38 years to complete. 226 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:40,660 She just added things on as she had a great idea. So everybody had to listen 227 00:17:40,660 --> 00:17:45,080 say, oh, okay, you want a large ballroom up there? And then they'd figure it out 228 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:46,080 as they went. 229 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:51,120 Even to this day, they're still finding new rooms and new features to this 230 00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:56,660 house. Was Sarah just working off of her whims? Was she just an eccentric, crazy 231 00:17:56,660 --> 00:17:57,660 lady? 232 00:17:57,830 --> 00:18:01,270 Or is there some other unknown explanation that we have yet to 233 00:18:03,250 --> 00:18:08,730 It is suspected that one reason Sarah kept building and building around the 234 00:18:08,730 --> 00:18:13,610 clock for 38 years is that she was trying to protect herself from all the 235 00:18:13,610 --> 00:18:16,150 souls the Winchester rifles had killed. 236 00:18:18,090 --> 00:18:24,230 Perhaps, it was thought, if the house was built as a giant maze, the ghosts 237 00:18:24,230 --> 00:18:26,310 would never be able to find her. 238 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:33,260 The story is that Sarah Winchester went through a long period of grief. She 239 00:18:33,260 --> 00:18:38,580 unfortunately lost a child only weeks old, and she lost her husband to 240 00:18:38,580 --> 00:18:42,800 tuberculosis. And she started wondering, why are all these terrible things 241 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:47,660 happening to me? And what was common at the time was to seek out a medium or a 242 00:18:47,660 --> 00:18:49,320 spiritualist for guidance. 243 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:55,700 And that person said that The karma of the gun that won the West and all these 244 00:18:55,700 --> 00:18:58,640 terrible things associated with this firearm is kind of haunting you. 245 00:19:01,360 --> 00:19:06,700 The spiritualist medium told her that in order to pacify these spirits who were 246 00:19:06,700 --> 00:19:10,520 very offended at having been killed by Winchester rifles, she needed to build a 247 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:13,100 house. And she should never stop building. 248 00:19:13,340 --> 00:19:16,780 And the idea also was that the constant sound of the saws and hammers would 249 00:19:16,780 --> 00:19:18,520 drive the bad spirits away. 250 00:19:19,980 --> 00:19:25,900 Some of the design features were specifically built to confuse evil or 251 00:19:25,900 --> 00:19:29,700 spirits. So if stairs led to the ceiling or if a door led to the outside, 252 00:19:30,060 --> 00:19:33,500 possibly they would be confused and leave the property. 253 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:42,180 Did Sarah Winchester spend nearly 40 years and the equivalent of more than 254 00:19:42,180 --> 00:19:46,540 million constructing a bizarre labyrinth of stairs? 255 00:19:48,130 --> 00:19:53,070 halls and doors, in order to keep the vengeful dead at bay. 256 00:19:54,390 --> 00:19:55,390 Perhaps. 257 00:19:56,670 --> 00:20:01,910 And for further evidence, some point to the fact that the house is filled with 258 00:20:01,910 --> 00:20:03,450 strange symbolism. 259 00:20:07,830 --> 00:20:12,530 An interesting symbol that you see all throughout the house is the symbol of 260 00:20:12,530 --> 00:20:13,530 sun. 261 00:20:13,540 --> 00:20:18,400 In astrology and astral theology, you have the idea of the zodiac, which is 262 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:23,360 have the 12 houses of the zodiac, and the number 13 is the sun at the front 263 00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:26,600 gates of the house. And on each gate, you have a symbol of the sun. 264 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:30,940 And the rays of the sun add up to 16 on each sun. 265 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:35,840 So when you put the 16 and the 16 together, you have the date that William 266 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:36,840 Shakespeare died. 267 00:20:37,550 --> 00:20:41,830 The two most cryptic windows, stained glass windows in the house are Sarah's 268 00:20:41,830 --> 00:20:42,830 ballroom windows. 269 00:20:43,030 --> 00:20:48,110 They're the only ones that have any text in them. And they're two quotes from 270 00:20:48,110 --> 00:20:49,310 different Shakespearean plays. 271 00:20:49,670 --> 00:20:53,110 And they read, wide unclasp the tables of their thoughts. 272 00:20:53,730 --> 00:20:57,110 And then the other one says, these same thoughts people this little world. 273 00:20:58,170 --> 00:21:02,250 We don't know exactly what that meant to Sarah. She took that secret with her to 274 00:21:02,250 --> 00:21:03,250 her grave. 275 00:21:03,750 --> 00:21:06,670 Sarah Winchester passed away September 1922. 276 00:21:07,420 --> 00:21:12,040 As you can imagine, there was great excitement to see this incredible home 277 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,940 everyone in the town had seen being built up over so many years. 278 00:21:15,180 --> 00:21:20,040 All the furnishings were sold anonymously at auction, but what was 279 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:22,400 large safe in the grand ballroom. 280 00:21:22,700 --> 00:21:28,600 Sarah put a safe in the grand ballroom, which is an odd place to put a safe, and 281 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:30,800 the safe itself is very odd. 282 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:34,220 It's basically you open up the safe, and then... 283 00:21:34,460 --> 00:21:37,860 You find another safe, and you have to open up another safe, and it's a safe 284 00:21:37,860 --> 00:21:39,040 within a safe within a safe. 285 00:21:39,660 --> 00:21:43,360 People were kind of mystified, like, what's in the safe? And they were hoping 286 00:21:43,360 --> 00:21:45,800 for maybe treasure, gold bars, or jewelry. 287 00:21:46,660 --> 00:21:51,480 After they finally got inside, they found just two things. No gold, no 288 00:21:51,580 --> 00:21:52,319 no diamonds. 289 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:57,480 A lock of hair from her baby Annie, who passed away just a few weeks old, and 290 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:01,320 the obituary of her husband, who passed away to tuberculosis very young. 291 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:03,860 A lock of hair? 292 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:05,900 And an obituary? 293 00:22:06,820 --> 00:22:11,360 It seems Sarah Winchester's motives for building such a strange and unsettling 294 00:22:11,360 --> 00:22:17,560 structure remain safely hidden somewhere in the never -ending house. 295 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:23,040 Ultimately, it's hard to say what secrets the Winchester Mystery House 296 00:22:23,300 --> 00:22:28,920 But one thing is certain. It was built to confuse unwelcome guests, whether 297 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:31,460 they're alive or dead. 298 00:22:33,390 --> 00:22:40,370 But there's another residence located in the state of Indiana that may 299 00:22:40,370 --> 00:22:46,770 be imbued with even darker forces. It's a home that many believe is the most 300 00:22:46,770 --> 00:22:48,650 evil place in North America. 301 00:22:55,030 --> 00:22:56,330 Cayuga, Indiana. 302 00:22:57,470 --> 00:22:59,590 February 16th, 2019. 303 00:23:01,499 --> 00:23:07,600 paranormal investigator Dave Spinks and his associate Haley Sharp have traveled 304 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:12,940 here to this small town to investigate a house that many consider to be the most 305 00:23:12,940 --> 00:23:15,700 evil place in North America. 306 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:21,800 Referred to as Willow's Weep, it has been the site of a series of gruesome 307 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:25,060 deaths since it was built in the 19th century. 308 00:23:34,860 --> 00:23:38,100 Brenda Johnson owns Willow's Weave. Hi, Brenda. Dave. 309 00:23:38,420 --> 00:23:43,360 She dismissed the rumors about it being an evil place and purchased it only a 310 00:23:43,360 --> 00:23:47,880 few years ago with plans to renovate it. This is my assistant, Haley. It's nice 311 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:48,579 to meet you. 312 00:23:48,580 --> 00:23:53,560 But recent events have convinced her that she may have made a terrible 313 00:23:54,500 --> 00:23:59,240 To this end, she's invited Dave and Haley to come and investigate the house 314 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:02,520 see if her strange experiences can be verified. 315 00:24:03,570 --> 00:24:04,950 So, how are you doing? 316 00:24:05,630 --> 00:24:07,490 I couldn't stand in here. 317 00:24:08,050 --> 00:24:11,970 Last night I was sick thinking about coming over here around this house. 318 00:24:12,410 --> 00:24:15,270 So tell us a little bit about the house, some of your experiences here. 319 00:24:15,610 --> 00:24:20,210 Well, when I bought the house, we started working on it, and then my son 320 00:24:20,210 --> 00:24:25,550 working on the ceiling. The boards come flying off at him and hurt him, and I've 321 00:24:25,550 --> 00:24:30,370 been scratched in there, six claw marks down my back, doors slamming on you, 322 00:24:30,490 --> 00:24:32,470 banging underneath the floors. 323 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:36,180 I understand there's been deaths in this house. Can you kind of go through those 324 00:24:36,180 --> 00:24:36,799 a little bit? 325 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:37,800 Yeah. 326 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:42,180 The man that built the house, he died in the bathtub. 327 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:47,420 There was two suicides and then another hanging. 328 00:24:48,340 --> 00:24:52,440 And I heard that three men had been poisoned. 329 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:57,880 About six months prior, before I bought it, there was a man that he committed 330 00:24:57,880 --> 00:24:58,880 suicide in there. 331 00:24:59,990 --> 00:25:01,490 He fell into the chair. 332 00:25:01,750 --> 00:25:04,850 And that's where they found him? They found him a couple days later, right? A 333 00:25:04,850 --> 00:25:06,490 week. A week? A week later, okay. 334 00:25:09,710 --> 00:25:12,790 Do you think what's in that house is evil? Yes, I do. 335 00:25:13,430 --> 00:25:15,150 Without a doubt? Yes, I do, without a doubt. 336 00:25:15,790 --> 00:25:19,550 If it wasn't evil, it wouldn't be hurting people. I don't think there's 337 00:25:19,550 --> 00:25:20,550 good in there. 338 00:25:20,670 --> 00:25:24,290 The house was built in the late 1800s, correct? 1890, yes. 339 00:25:24,670 --> 00:25:29,060 So, regarding the shape of the house, It's in the shape of a cross. 340 00:25:29,420 --> 00:25:30,420 Upside -down cross. 341 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:34,380 Strange. Yes, very strange. 342 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:40,660 Do you think the guy was into some weird stuff, like occult stuff, that built 343 00:25:40,660 --> 00:25:44,260 it? Why would you build a house like that if you wasn't into something? 344 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:45,720 Absolutely. 345 00:25:45,860 --> 00:25:48,280 So we're getting ready to go into this house and investigate it. 346 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:50,700 Would you like to join us? No, no way. 347 00:25:50,900 --> 00:25:52,780 Never go back in there again, ever. 348 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:54,880 All right, we're going to get in there and investigate. 349 00:25:55,260 --> 00:25:56,260 All right. 350 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:00,980 Here we go. All right. 351 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:05,480 Pretty heavy in here. 352 00:26:06,900 --> 00:26:07,900 Definitely. 353 00:26:10,500 --> 00:26:12,020 Well, where do you want to get set up? 354 00:26:12,300 --> 00:26:13,259 Right here. 355 00:26:13,260 --> 00:26:14,260 Okay. 356 00:26:14,420 --> 00:26:19,340 To see if the house might contain strange anomalies, Dave and Haley will 357 00:26:19,340 --> 00:26:23,800 temperature sensor, which can detect fluctuations in both temperature and 358 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:25,460 electromagnetic fields. 359 00:26:26,300 --> 00:26:29,340 All right, 41, 40 degrees, and it's going down. 360 00:26:36,620 --> 00:26:38,420 It really likes this area. 361 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:39,920 Yeah. 362 00:26:41,140 --> 00:26:42,180 It's going nuts. 363 00:26:43,780 --> 00:26:47,780 The temperature sensor has been dropping steadily by as much as 9 degrees. 364 00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:49,680 But why? 365 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:55,320 So this room is appearing to be pretty active so far. I mean, the whole house 366 00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:56,319 really is. 367 00:26:56,320 --> 00:27:00,080 But we've got a lot of hits right here on this device. 368 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:03,740 This is the chair that Brenda was talking about. 369 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:08,880 Yeah, look at the blood on it. It's a really sad, heavy feeling right here, 370 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:10,140 I was pitting my stomach. 371 00:27:11,300 --> 00:27:16,140 Almost immediately, the device started going off in the chair where the man who 372 00:27:16,140 --> 00:27:20,220 killed himself in the house several years ago was found in. 373 00:27:20,900 --> 00:27:21,900 Something there. 374 00:27:22,460 --> 00:27:26,180 Could the strange changes in the temperature of the house be caused by 375 00:27:26,180 --> 00:27:27,540 explainable force? 376 00:27:27,940 --> 00:27:32,360 A sudden drop in barometric pressure caused by the presence of a deep 377 00:27:32,360 --> 00:27:33,760 underground well, perhaps. 378 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:39,260 Or could it be caused by something else? 379 00:27:40,100 --> 00:27:42,580 Something that can't yet be explained. 380 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:45,840 I'm getting the sickness, the headache. 381 00:27:46,940 --> 00:27:50,320 Definitely something negative in here, in my opinion. 382 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:53,600 I agree. All right, so let's get out of here. Let's go. All right. 383 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:59,220 Dave and Haley are beginning to suspect that the stories of Willow's Wheat being 384 00:27:59,220 --> 00:28:04,280 an evil place might be based on more than fear and superstition. 385 00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:07,120 The house is scary. 386 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:09,420 I wouldn't want to be in this house alone. 387 00:28:10,500 --> 00:28:14,060 I'd say this house does have some evil in it. It does not give you a good 388 00:28:14,060 --> 00:28:17,320 feeling. It wants to suck the life out of you. 389 00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:24,340 I've been to many locations, and this one stands out above all of them so far. 390 00:28:25,140 --> 00:28:30,700 In my personal opinion, there are many spirits and entities in this house. 391 00:28:30,700 --> 00:28:35,840 are human spirits and possibly demonic spirits that influence the humans that 392 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:41,140 have lived in this house and quite possibly have caused them to harm 393 00:28:43,380 --> 00:28:48,100 Once outside, Dave and Haley give owner Brenda Johnson a report on their 394 00:28:48,100 --> 00:28:53,140 findings. But not before Dave makes Brenda a rather surprising offer. 395 00:28:53,420 --> 00:28:55,340 I know you really don't like this place. 396 00:28:55,540 --> 00:28:59,540 No. And I know that you want to get rid of it. Yeah. Because I'd like to 397 00:28:59,540 --> 00:29:01,000 purchase the house from you. 398 00:29:02,980 --> 00:29:03,980 Okay. 399 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:09,300 Yes. Dave is willing to be the next owner of Willow's Weep. All right. Thank 400 00:29:09,300 --> 00:29:10,199 you. Thank you. 401 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:14,860 I told Brenda if I owned this house, I could investigate it much further. 402 00:29:16,010 --> 00:29:21,530 and much more in -depth and possibly come to a conclusion as to what's 403 00:29:21,530 --> 00:29:23,270 the evil that lurks within its walls. 404 00:29:23,730 --> 00:29:26,150 That is, if something doesn't happen to me first. 405 00:29:26,430 --> 00:29:27,429 You too. 406 00:29:27,430 --> 00:29:28,990 Luckily for me, she agreed. 407 00:29:29,290 --> 00:29:31,230 She really couldn't wait to sell the place. 408 00:29:31,950 --> 00:29:36,990 Is it a good idea to investigate places like Willow's Weep in order to find out 409 00:29:36,990 --> 00:29:39,030 whether dark forces really exist? 410 00:29:40,450 --> 00:29:41,450 Perhaps. 411 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:45,940 But some people believe that it's better to simply avoid these locations at all 412 00:29:45,940 --> 00:29:52,300 costs. Like in the case of an abandoned island in Mexico, whose only inhabitants 413 00:29:52,300 --> 00:29:55,260 are thousands of eerie dogs. 414 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:02,960 Xochimilco, Mexico. 415 00:30:04,380 --> 00:30:06,240 Just south of Mexico City. 416 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:12,160 Dotted amongst the numerous tree -filled canals that run through this ancient 417 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:18,900 city are dozens of artificial floating islands known as Chiñapas. 418 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:26,100 But one Chiñapa stands out because the branches of its willow and cypress trees 419 00:30:26,100 --> 00:30:29,880 appear to be growing something rather unusual. 420 00:30:31,860 --> 00:30:36,460 The place is called Isla de las Muñecas, otherwise known. 421 00:30:37,150 --> 00:30:38,950 as the Island of the Dolls. 422 00:30:41,830 --> 00:30:48,550 The island is a forest -like enclave draped with thousands and thousands 423 00:30:48,550 --> 00:30:50,570 of ordinary dolls. 424 00:30:51,750 --> 00:30:56,630 Childhood playthings hanging from trees, vines, and branches. 425 00:30:56,890 --> 00:30:58,350 It's very eerie. 426 00:30:59,050 --> 00:31:05,830 These look like suspended living presences that are believed to ward off 427 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:13,960 It's a spooky living sculpture that some people say is cursed. 428 00:31:15,460 --> 00:31:22,440 And according to folklore, you can hear whispering and you 429 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:24,460 can hear little girls' voices. 430 00:31:24,860 --> 00:31:30,800 You can see the dolls' eyes blinking on their own, which is just terrifying. 431 00:31:32,380 --> 00:31:36,540 The only permanent residents of the island are the strange dolls. 432 00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:39,020 that have given the place a ghoulish reputation. 433 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:42,600 But who created this macabre spectacle? 434 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:44,600 And why? 435 00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:50,700 Well, according to local lore, the story began in the 1950s when the island was 436 00:31:50,700 --> 00:31:54,180 owned by a man named Julian Santana Barrera. 437 00:31:55,460 --> 00:31:59,940 Julian Santana Barrera came to live on the Chinampa. 438 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:06,620 And according to the stories, he came across a little girl. 439 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:09,220 floating in one of the canals. 440 00:32:09,580 --> 00:32:14,880 Barrera is devastated that he can't save the little girl and pulls her out of 441 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:18,140 the water and buries her on the island. 442 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:25,860 Barrera felt eventually that he was seeing the ghost of this girl walking 443 00:32:25,860 --> 00:32:27,680 his little Chinampa island. 444 00:32:28,980 --> 00:32:33,080 To try to make her happy, he hung some dolls in the trees. 445 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:40,540 And he hung more and more dolls up to appease the spirit of this little girl 446 00:32:40,540 --> 00:32:41,580 died tragically. 447 00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:48,540 We can think about what Barrera did as a talisman or a symbol 448 00:32:48,540 --> 00:32:52,200 that is used to protect. 449 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:58,380 All across the globe, you see these totems being used in this particular 450 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:02,380 There are stones and there are ornaments. 451 00:33:03,020 --> 00:33:06,100 that people hang in their houses, in their cars. 452 00:33:07,220 --> 00:33:13,300 Sometimes people carry them on their physical person, and the act is done as 453 00:33:13,300 --> 00:33:14,660 kind of protective gesture. 454 00:33:17,260 --> 00:33:23,040 Ultimately, Barrera hung thousands of dolls all over the island, not only to 455 00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:28,340 honor the memory of the young girl, but also to guard against a dark entity that 456 00:33:28,340 --> 00:33:30,120 he believed had caused her death. 457 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:35,360 An entity known as La Llorona. 458 00:33:37,100 --> 00:33:40,100 La Llorona is a tragic character. 459 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:49,140 She is the first native mother who gave birth to children from 460 00:33:49,140 --> 00:33:51,420 a conquistador, a Spaniard. 461 00:33:54,570 --> 00:33:59,950 The story says that her community rejected her because her children were 462 00:33:59,950 --> 00:34:05,390 Spaniard, and so she was shamed. She was so ashamed of this, in fact, that she 463 00:34:05,390 --> 00:34:08,090 went down to the river and she drowned her children. 464 00:34:10,190 --> 00:34:12,810 She immediately regretted this. 465 00:34:14,929 --> 00:34:18,969 Now she's the spirit that haunts lakes and rivers. 466 00:34:20,810 --> 00:34:27,110 La Llorona is a well -known myth all around Mexico. And so a man like 467 00:34:27,210 --> 00:34:33,210 who sees a child floating in the water, he almost certainly, at least for a 468 00:34:33,210 --> 00:34:36,570 moment, thought of La Llorona and that this is her children floating. 469 00:34:38,070 --> 00:34:43,389 Since Barrera's death in 2001, the island of the dolls has remained 470 00:34:44,949 --> 00:34:48,510 But locals continue to tell the story of the drowned girl. 471 00:34:49,290 --> 00:34:53,409 Many are convinced that there's an evil presence on this island. 472 00:34:54,090 --> 00:34:59,010 And as evidence, they point to the chilling circumstances of Julian 473 00:34:59,010 --> 00:35:00,010 death. 474 00:35:01,130 --> 00:35:07,590 After suffering from a fatal heart attack, his body was found in an 475 00:35:07,590 --> 00:35:08,590 location. 476 00:35:09,690 --> 00:35:10,690 Barrera dies. 477 00:35:11,290 --> 00:35:15,990 And not only does he die on the island, but his body is found in the exact canal 478 00:35:15,990 --> 00:35:18,050 where he found the little girl. 479 00:35:19,720 --> 00:35:20,720 Is there correlation? 480 00:35:20,980 --> 00:35:22,000 We don't know. 481 00:35:22,240 --> 00:35:29,060 But many people believe that if you are out at night by yourself, playing 482 00:35:29,060 --> 00:35:33,160 down by the river, that La Llorona will, quote -unquote, get you. 483 00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:50,520 about the aftermath of a local house fire. 484 00:35:51,520 --> 00:35:55,260 But, according to John Murphy, this is not your typical human interest story. 485 00:35:56,380 --> 00:36:00,680 Because, although the blaze burned the home and nearly everything in it to the 486 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:03,700 ground, one object did manage to survive. 487 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:09,540 A copy of a painting depicting the crying boy. 488 00:36:11,240 --> 00:36:15,860 I was told to go out and have a look at the fire, speak to the homeowners and 489 00:36:15,860 --> 00:36:20,140 see what has happened. I got there and it was a conventional chip pan fire. 490 00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:25,920 No one, fortunately, was hurt, but the house had been completely gutted. But 491 00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:30,440 extraordinary thing was that the print had actually survived the blaze. 492 00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:35,700 Initially, John thought that the painting's revival was a mildly 493 00:36:35,700 --> 00:36:39,680 tidbit, but not especially newsworthy on its own. 494 00:36:40,710 --> 00:36:46,130 That is, until a firefighter on the scene informed him that this wasn't the 495 00:36:46,130 --> 00:36:51,430 time that a copy of a similar painting had survived such a massive fire. 496 00:36:51,930 --> 00:36:57,330 When I was speaking to the fire officer outside the home on that Monday morning, 497 00:36:57,490 --> 00:37:01,490 he told me about his brother -in -law, whose house had also been destroyed by 498 00:37:01,490 --> 00:37:05,790 fire, and who also had a print of the crying boy in the house which survived. 499 00:37:06,370 --> 00:37:08,070 We had an interesting conversation. 500 00:37:09,720 --> 00:37:13,720 And he said, this is really, really strange. I have been on so many house 501 00:37:13,720 --> 00:37:18,000 recently where there has been this print in the house. 502 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:24,000 The houses where there'd been these fires, completely gutted, so hot, in 503 00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:28,420 that on the ground floor of one particular house, the plaster was 504 00:37:28,420 --> 00:37:29,019 the wall. 505 00:37:29,020 --> 00:37:35,480 And yet this particular print was hanging on the wall, absolutely 506 00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:43,460 I contacted my news desk, phoned through the story, so hence the story of the 507 00:37:43,460 --> 00:37:45,600 Curse of the Crying Boy print was born. 508 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:54,320 Dozens of homes ravaged by fire, and in every single case, a 509 00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:57,940 Crying Boy print had survived unscathed. 510 00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:00,860 But how could such a thing be possible? 511 00:38:01,560 --> 00:38:07,600 The story went viral after the son got hold of the story, and next thing... 512 00:38:07,930 --> 00:38:13,570 They ran telephone campaigns asking if their readers had got a print of the 513 00:38:13,570 --> 00:38:18,590 crying boy, and if so, had they experienced any disasters like house 514 00:38:19,570 --> 00:38:22,430 So that's where the rumour became alleged. 515 00:38:22,630 --> 00:38:27,910 But at that stage, there was no story to explain who the child was and why was 516 00:38:27,910 --> 00:38:28,910 he crying. 517 00:38:29,690 --> 00:38:34,010 The crying boy portraits are among a series of mass -produced artworks. 518 00:38:34,250 --> 00:38:39,470 that belonged to a genre known as big -eyed art, sold in British department 519 00:38:39,470 --> 00:38:45,470 stores in the 1960s and 70s. But in this case, who was the artist? 520 00:38:45,850 --> 00:38:51,210 And why was he or she so obsessed with painting the crying boy? 521 00:38:53,150 --> 00:38:59,030 In the 1950s, there was a Californian artist, Margaret Keane, who painted a 522 00:38:59,030 --> 00:39:02,890 whole range of children, and this became... 523 00:39:03,190 --> 00:39:06,850 big -eyed art, and it was something that was very popular in the 50s and 60s. 524 00:39:06,990 --> 00:39:12,070 Lots of European painters copied Margaret Keane's art style. 525 00:39:12,750 --> 00:39:19,590 Probably the best known was a series of 27 paintings by an Italian artist 526 00:39:19,590 --> 00:39:26,270 called Bruno Amadio, who was born in 1911, died in the early 1980s. And he 527 00:39:26,270 --> 00:39:29,710 classically trained, but he didn't make... 528 00:39:29,920 --> 00:39:34,260 much in the way of money. So in order to make money, he painted, in the style of 529 00:39:34,260 --> 00:39:39,040 Margaret Keane, lots of pictures of small children, sort of street urchins, 530 00:39:39,340 --> 00:39:45,840 crying girls, crying boys, and these sold to tourists in post -war Italy. 531 00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:51,080 He didn't want to be associated with these paintings because he just didn't 532 00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:55,640 think they were very good quality paintings. So he came up with a name, 533 00:39:55,640 --> 00:39:59,120 de guerre, Giovanni Bragolin. 534 00:39:59,530 --> 00:40:02,150 which was actually apparently his uncle's name. 535 00:40:02,430 --> 00:40:04,430 No one knew who this Bragolin was. 536 00:40:05,070 --> 00:40:10,630 It didn't have a biography in the way that many other well -known artists did. 537 00:40:10,690 --> 00:40:12,890 So there's that element of mystery. 538 00:40:14,130 --> 00:40:19,810 And one of the stories about the Crying Boy Curse is that the child in the 539 00:40:19,810 --> 00:40:24,810 painting is trapped inside the painting, and that the only way that the child or 540 00:40:24,810 --> 00:40:28,450 the spirit of that child can free itself is by setting fire. 541 00:40:29,050 --> 00:40:31,950 to its surroundings, and that's the way it escapes from the painting. 542 00:40:35,910 --> 00:40:40,630 Recently, forensic investigators studying the so -called Curse of the 543 00:40:40,630 --> 00:40:45,870 have raised a new possibility as to how the painting has come to survive so many 544 00:40:45,870 --> 00:40:50,510 house fires, and it has nothing to do with the supposed curse. 545 00:40:51,920 --> 00:40:55,600 There was some investigation done on these paintings and they were actually 546 00:40:55,600 --> 00:40:57,980 coated with fire retardant material. 547 00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:03,560 And that could just be the reason that they didn't burn and the other aspects 548 00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:04,700 the locations did burn. 549 00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:11,440 You plant an idea, whether it's in a newspaper, in a book, or via Twitter or 550 00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:17,480 Facebook, suggesting that there's something eerie or there's bad luck 551 00:41:17,480 --> 00:41:20,740 circulating around a particular object or painting. 552 00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:26,720 And you're almost guaranteed to get people saying, yes, I've had bad luck. 553 00:41:26,720 --> 00:41:29,920 that's exactly what happened in the 1980s with The Curse of the Crying Boy. 554 00:41:32,140 --> 00:41:33,940 So, what do you think? 555 00:41:34,700 --> 00:41:39,600 Are dark forces just a manifestation of human fears and nothing more? 556 00:41:41,680 --> 00:41:47,240 Or are we surrounded by invisible and malevolent energy that we don't fully 557 00:41:47,240 --> 00:41:49,700 understand? Well, until we know for sure. 558 00:41:50,890 --> 00:41:55,770 Perhaps it's best to listen closely when our instincts warn us about deadly 559 00:41:55,770 --> 00:42:01,150 powers that remain unexplained. 49504

Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.