The Anguished Man
By Cole Herrold
When it comes to haunted objects, there
are countless cases. It seems that any old doll is haunted, or any thrift store
furniture has some entity attached to it. Yet most of these objects, even the
overly stated creepy doll, is underwhelming; they genuinely are not that
terrifying to see, but instead, it's usually the aura or presence of the spirit
within that gives those who see or encounter these vessels the chills. However,
while people will point to Annabelle or even Robert the Doll, who I personally
got to meet and have a slight experience with as the most terrifying haunted
object, there is one object to me that even without a backstory is instantly
terrifying this object is the Anguished Man Painting.
The Anguished Man Painting's origin is
shrouded in mystery, for we know nothing about who made it or why. Yet what we
do know about this cursed painting comes exclusively from Sean Robinson. Sean
Robinson is the current owner and researcher of the infamous painting, and he
details the painting's origins into his life from his Grandmother. His
Grandmother had rather reluctantly received the peculiar painting as a gift one
day. She instantly felt that the painting held some sort of energy to it but
proceeded to hang the painting up in her home. As the painting hung on the
walls, she was soon plagued by several bizarre sounds happening in the middle
of the night; thinking these sounds were nothing more than something typical
like the house settling, she thought nothing of it, that is until she began
seeing a dark man-like figure appear. This occurred for some time until the
woman could not handle the dark denizen anymore and realized that these
appearances occurred right after she was gifted the painting, proceeded in
covering the anomalous art, and placed it in the attic. After the painting was
confined to the attic, it appeared the entity was contained, and there much
like films like Prince of Darkness or Leprechaun, the evil was
contained, and it waited for the chance to be released once more.
Sean's Grandmother kept the painting
hidden in the attic, talking about it only occasionally over the twenty-five
years before her death. When Sean would ask her about it, she was hesitant to
talk and would only state its evil, but on one day, the elderly woman bequeathed
Sean with the small amount of information she was able to glean about the
painting. From what she could figure, the painting, which was made from a
canvas attached to a wooden frame, was made by an individual suffering either
from some mental illness or deliberately seeking to cause harm began to
conceive the painting through the work of oil paints however a new medium was
soon to be added as while he was working on his morbid masterpiece he began to
cut himself and would mix his blood with the oil paints adding to the
horrendous appearance and feel of the painting. Once the painting was done, the
painter ended up committing suicide and, in a sense, baptized it in its new
name, The Anguished Man.
All through the years, while Sean listened
to his Grandmother's tales, he was a skeptic; he never believed in ghosts,
faeries, or anything supernatural. All that would change when he was cleaning
out his Grandmother's attic and found the painting. He, in a sense of either
morbid curiosity or as a memento of his Grandmother and the tales she would
tell, ended up keeping the painting, taking it home, and kept the frayed
paint-cracking portrait in his basement, ultimately forgetting about it. All
this would change, however, when in 2010, when Sean, after realizing his
basement was flooding, headed down and rediscovered the painting and, in an
effort to save it, brought the macabre masterpiece upstairs and hung it in a
bedroom. This is when the phenomena once
more began. The family could hear the sounds of crying and scratching could be
heard with no discernable point of causation; physical abuse and strange
sensations of being touched were felt by his wife and child, and once more, a
tall, dark shadowy man would appear in Sean and his family's home. The figure
would appear to lean over near the foot of his bed and seemed to be like a
middle-aged man, but his features exactly were indiscernible.
Sean would later begin an attempt to
understand the phenomena associated with the painting. He would later upload
these videos to YouTube, and it is from these that a sort of timeline of the
phenomenon can be set up. His first video offers the background and details the
kind of phenomena the painting supposedly causes. The second video details his
first experiment, which involved him recording the painting for eight hours
over three nights, and on February 13, 2011, at 2:30 AM, he was able to capture
an EVP that sounds like a scraping sound. This would continue on the 14th
at 4:00 AM, but with one additional activity, a wide-open door to the right of
the painting slowly began to close. Sean claims that there were no drafts as
well as that every member of his family was sleeping, so there was no
discernible reason for the door to shut the way it did. On the 15th
of this session, at approximately 1:30 AM, there was recorded the sound of a
large bang, but upon further inspection in the morning, nothing was on the
ground that would indicate that something fell over.
During this time, the painting was moved
around Sean's house, and once the painting was moved back upstairs, his wife,
while in the bathroom one day, felt a hand brushing her hair. She instantly
thought it was her husband, but when she turned around to see if it was him,
she found nobody there. She instantly ran to tell her husband of what just
occurred, and he took note of it. On another particular day, Sean was walking
towards the steps to the upstairs of his house when he noticed a large fog-like
mist hanging on the upper floor thinking it was perhaps a fire he quickened his
pace and began clamoring up the steps, but as he approached the gray fog it
suddenly dissipated and there was no sign of anything burning. After all this
phenomenon and certainly the pleadings from his wife, he took the painting from
its current spot and locked it in the cellar where the activity once more
dwindled away.
About a little over a month later, once
more piqued with curiosity, Sean once more descended into the cellar and
grabbed the covered painting. This time he recorded the painting for seven
hours over the span of four days; during this session, however, he was able to
capture some bizarre video evidence of something possibly interconnected with
the painting. The painting was kept visible by one lonely light, and on
Wednesday, March 23, 2011, at 2:45 AM, Sean managed to capture strange white
rod-shaped and string-shaped objects that seem to appear from nowhere or travel
around on the camera. On the next day, at 2:15 AM, the objects seemingly
reappeared and at one point seemed to have become thicker and more vibrant in
color, whereas on the previous night, they appeared wispy and seemed to be
blurred. These bizarre blobish streaks reappeared on Friday at 4:45 AM and
seemed to be just as bold and vibrant as the night before, but the most bizarre
piece of the Friday footage occurred at 6:00 AM when a bizarre mass appeared
above the painting and seemed to descend down into it the mass even though it
is clearly smaller than even a child or baby does superficially bear an almost
human-like impression. During these events, everyone in the house was once
again asleep, and the curtains in the room where the painting was being held
were kept shut to avoid any potential glare from street or car lights. These
events captured on camera were not alone, for the family continued to feel a
strange sensation around the house, and the strange noises once more continued.
All of this would be secondary; however when during this timeframe, when the
painting was upstairs and the filming occurred, Sean's son fell down the
stairs. The boy, after rolling and tumbling down each step, collapsed on the
floor; his father rushed to his aid, where the boy was slowly recovering. His
father instantly asked him if he was alright, and the boy said he was but asked
if there was anyone else upstairs. His father said no, there wasn't, and the
boy simply looked at his father and said it felt as though I was pushed.
Several months had passed since Sean's
last research into the painting, and so in May, he decided to once more bring
the painting up from the cellar and record any phenomenon from 1-5 AM over the
course of five nights. On the first night, May 11, 2011, at approximately 3:00
AM, he caught what can only be described as gasping breaths and muttering that
seemed to be coming from the direction of the painting. The second night
apparently was fruitless, but on the third night, which was overly appropriate as
it was Friday the 13th, he caught some bizarre squeals at 2:30 AM,
and then on Saturday the 14th at 4:15 AM, he caught more of the same
gasps for breath, but this time it sounded even louder. All this would come to
a conclusion when on Sunday the 15th at 3:00 AM, an apparently full
torso apparition was caught on the camera; the figure was a gray blob that was
humanoid in shape and seemed to move across the painting in a large blur.
During the month of June, Sean continued
to still investigate the painting and continued to film for a few days around
the middle of the month. On June 16th at 3:25 AM, the painting which
was sitting on the bed leaning against the wall seemingly fell, and as the
camera rolled once more, one of the bizarre wispy lights appeared. The
manifestations during this time continued, and around this time frame, the same
banging sounds and scraping sounds would occur. These sounds were not alone;
however, as in the corners of the room, there were the sounds of crying that
could be heard in the darkest portions of the night, the family would also
experience senses of nausea, migraines, and nose bleeds that would seemingly
come from nowhere, and sleeping was difficult as whenever they could get to
sleep their dreams were filled with nightmares. Perhaps the final nail in the
coffin, however, was when the wife once again, while sleeping, felt a hand
brush through her hair. The wife, in a moment that clearly was a you can have
the painting or me situation, ultimately resulted in Sean, even though virtually
obsessed with the painting into putting it away in storage, only taking it out
on the rarest occasion to document.
While the painting was in storage, the
house was relatively peaceful, and none of the anomalous phenomena was
reported. However, word had soon reached out about the painting, and so
television programs came knocking to try and see if they too could experience
the phenomenon. Sean was more than happy to see what they could discover about
the painting and proceeded to get it out once again of storage only a few
months after putting it in. While the painting was out, Sean could not help but
see what he could possibly pick up on camera while he waited for the television
personalities to arrive, so once again, placing the painting in the room, he
recorded for six hours from 12 to 6:00 AM. He recorded the usual banging and
scraping noises which now to him have become relatively mundane, but then at
3:30, he recorded a small set of vaporous mist that seemed to rise up from
below the bed and disappear about at level with the painting.
From that point on, the Anguished Man
Painting went on tour. The painting was loaned out for research by various
paranormal researchers. Ian Lawmen and John Blackburn of Mysteria Paranormal,
who were some of the researchers who were loaned the object, took it to
several of the allegedly most haunted locations in all of the United Kingdom,
including Chillingham Castle in Northumberland County. On this particular
investigation which happened on May 18th, 2013, Blackburn and some
20 other ghost hunters who placed the painting in the dead center of the room.
John claimed that the room went frigid during a séance and that a large black
figure appeared in the middle of the circle that they formed. Blackburn began
asking the painting a series of questions that were aimed towards the painting,
and a large wooden bench began to bang on the floor, seemingly in response to
each question. Ultimately ending when the bench flipped upside down by an
unseen force. Blackburn would later claim that the events he witnessed that
night were the strangest he'd ever seen in his time as a paranormal
investigator.
During these sessions, Blackburn felt that
there were two spirits attached to the painting, one a human spirit by the name
of David, who he would later commune with on other investigations, and a darker
spirit. Blackburn would later do a live show with the Anguish Man that can be
found on YouTube where the painting allegedly faces Blackburn when he asked it
a series of questions. The painting, throughout this questioning, would
occasionally move to lift up on its right side when answering questions. Yet,
some of the actions might have been caused by subconscious effects similar to
the planchet use of an Ouija Board.
In 2016 rumors spread that the Anguish Man
Painting was on sale. Sean would later refute these claims even though several
copies have since been reproduced for sale on eBay. Sean would later reveal the
authentic painting in an update video in 2016 and would later comment on events
about the Anguish Man painting in a 2017 video “That he feels like it’s a
burden to carry. Until he can find out what’s wrong with it. Or What he can do
with it”. Since then, La Brea Pictures had planned on doing a film about the
painting titled Anguished, which was to be directed by
American-Finnish director Til Ricks. Yet as with many film concepts and plans,
nothing has happened with this film, and instead, it has been left behind in an
era whereas other haunted artifacts like Annabelle and Robert the Doll have
since developed franchises. Since then, the Painting has remained locked up
with Sean carefully guarding over it until something can be decided with what
to do with the peculiar painting.
Thus ends at least from what is recorded
the tale of The Anguish Man Painting. I will be the first to admit that I'm
perplexed by this case. The painting is absolutely unsettling to look at, but
much upon my other research into haunted objects when I have the chance to view
them in the flesh, I wonder if the paranormal feeling or effect could simply be
caused by the association with the story. I'm more fascinated when people are
drawn towards an object which they then once they keep it or purchase it begins
a haunting. The Anguish Man is unique because Sean clearly seems to be obsessed
with it, going so far as to put his family in danger as the entity(ies) cause
both physical and psychological damage on all of them if Sean's accounts are to
be believed. There is some speculation that Sean and his wife are now divorced,
which many feel is because of the painting; this does lead to some credibility,
but I'll get to that later.
Hauntings are perhaps the easiest things
to fake that people can instantly feel are real. Some fishing lines attached to
a door or chair, for example, can easily give the appearance of poltergeist
activity. Cryptid encounters are slightly harder to pull off as one needs a
slightly realistic suit or prop that could look like a biological animal,
thereby making them the most difficult to hoax even with the use of CGI. So,
with entities like ghosts, there's countless pages of examples of hoaxes. This
case skeptically speaking could be one watching Sean's footage; all of the
footage could be explained as a fishing line on the door to close or someone
behind the camera making noise. The images of lights or figures could be a
variety of things from insects near the lens caught in the frame as they move,
making them look indistinct for the small figures, and for the larger blob, it
could have been a person running across the room appearing blurred by the
camera. There are tons of reasons why it could be a hoax or at least some
misidentification of a natural phenomenon.
While there are tons of reasons as to why
it could be a hoax, there's also the chance that if we believe Sean's claims,
he's telling the truth. Looking at it from someone who has spent some time
investigating ghosts, cryptids, and UFOs, I think what Sean is doing is a great
thing; if there's a phenomenon its important to research it not only to
validate your claims but also on a more scientific approach to help add to data
to a mystery that most scientists do not accept as plausible. With that said, for
the most part, there seems to be very little reason for Sean to perpetrate a
hoax his wife seemingly left him; he has not raked in the dough in the same way
the Lutz's did with the Amityville Horror case, even with the failed movie
deal, there's been no attempt to sell the painting or gain any sort of
financial gain from the ordeal, in fact outside of the world of the internet
he's not exactly famous in the same way the Warrens or any modern paranormal researcher
who has published consistently is.
Now, if this is a real case, my one true
lament is the lack of actual scientific research done on the painting. If this
object is as active as it seems to be, it would be the perfect object for
scientists to observe and so research on to validate the existence of a
potential entity. To me, this object, if given to a proper institution as a subject,
could change the meaning of paranormal research. Most scientists' number one
issue with the paranormal is that it is not a testable science. One cannot test
a ghost in a lab; however, with a possessed artifact, that's the closest thing
one can come to. If an object like the Anguished Man was kept in an institution
under surveillance and tested, thereby possibly answering some of the claims of
what is reported.
I, however, do not think this would ever
happen; however, I do offer some advice for Sean in future research of the
painting to help alleviate his claims. The first of which is to give a clear
view of the surroundings in which the object is in. The room where the painting
resides in is focused primarily on the bed, and so while this gives a straight
and focused view of the object, it sort of does not show the full room on the
off chance that a string is used. This could help validate his claims and stop
skeptics from pointing towards it. The same goes for showing Sean leaving the
room as well as showing that no one else is in the room too. Another feature
would be just having the entire footage as evidence that nothing was faked.
Even if it was as a backup file on a website or something similar for those to
officially validate the claims. Just honestly, something more thorough and
longer would be infinitely more helpful, even though I know at certain moments
it can be an unrealistic ideal.
The Anguished Man painting is a mystery
that I'm sure will last for just as long as Annabelle or Robert or any of the
classic haunted objects that have become collected in the public zeitgeist. I
have a strong suspicion that this case is a true encounter as when viewing the
few interviews with Sean that have occurred, he does seem to be genuinely
disturbed by his encounters and that they are authentic. However, as with most
paranormal cases, I cannot say for certain, and so time will only say until
then; we can only wait with bated breath as Sean investigates his paranormal
portrait, hopefully giving us the answers we so desperately want.
Works Cited:
Spookiest Objects By Terrance Zepke
Barkan, Jonathan “The Haunted Painting
‘The Anguished Man’ is Becoming a Movie” Bloody Disgusting. May 12,
2016. https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3390926/haunted-painting-anguished-man-becoming-movie/.
Accessed October 2, 2021.
Rigney, Todd “The Anguished Man, the
World’s Most Haunted Painting, Is Not for Sale” Dread Central. September
7, 2015. https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/124421/the-anguished-man-the-worlds-most-haunted-painting-is-not-for-sale/.
Accessed October 2, 2021.
“The True Story Of This Chilling Painting
Will Give You Chills” Unexplained Mysteries. YouTube. March 9, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8FXChwoNzs.
Accessed October 2, 2021.
Enigma Paranormal Events. YouTube. youtube.com/channel/UCjL5UmGChTCTiJDhgsHZ4Rg.
Accessed October 2, 2021.
The Anguished Man. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/user/MrModnation.
Accessed October 2, 2021.
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