Ominous Origins: The Crying Boy Painting

Can objects become cursed, and could a mysterious painting really have been responsible for countless tragedies in the 80s? Tune in to find out! (16 min) (7.10.20)

Welcome to the Ominous Origins Podcast, a Horror Shots production. If you were previously a fan of the Horror Shots Podcast, this is the same great show with the same compelling content focused on myth, mysterious creatures, unexplained events, spooky stories — and even some of the strangest and most disturbing true crime stories. As always, our goal is to entertain, but also to enlighten with short, well-researched episodes on a variety of fascinating topics.

I hope you enjoy the show. If you would like to show your support, reviews on iTunes or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts are always greatly appreciated and help out so much. You can also comment on this post right here on Morbidly Beautiful and use the social share buttons to spread the word. Finally, you can check out my Redbubble store for some some great merchandise, including the new logo for sale on a variety of things!

THIS WEEK’S EPISODE:

From the curse of the Bambino, to the real life Annabelle doll that inspired the horror films, we’ve all heard stories of curses — whether it be in spooky campfire tales or even those personal stories that  hit closer to home. For example, maybe there’s an intersection you won’t drive through or a chair in grandpa’s house that gives you eerie vibes. 

In the 1980s, another notorious cursed object was making headlines: a portrait of a young crying boy. By itself, the painting wasn’t really newsworthy. But it’s how these (yes, multiple) paintings of the young crying boy were discovered that was truly fascinating.

While it’s not been reported just how many of these mass-produced paintings were found among the wreckage of a burned home, they were numerous. If that wasn’t weird enough, these paintings were the only objects left intact in the entire home. Yeah, that’s strange right? Even more strange was the fact that the artist of the painting was also shrouded in mystery, and the details of just who was responsible for this artwork remained unclear. 

The lore of the curse truly took hold in the mid-80s when The Sun, a British tabloid magazine, reported that this painting, or the subject of the painting, a crying orphaned boy, caused the houses it hung in to burn to the ground. Many speculated that it was revenge for abuse or mistreatment, or that the boy in the painting became an orphan because he accidentally burned down his family home, causing all those inside to die — except him.

From the murmurs of fire officials, to the tabloid reporting, the curse of the crying boy painting took off in the U.K., and it culminated in a massive bonfire. According to The Sun, 2500 copies of the paintings went up in flames, effectively putting an end to the curse… or not? You’ll just have to listen to the episode to find out!

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Note: If you want to catch up on previous episodes, you can find them all at https://www.horrorshots.com/podcast.