The Top 10 Cursed Objects from Horror Movies

5. The Button- Drag Me to Hell

The golden rule tells us to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Keep that in mind, because some foul deeds can come back at you tenfold. The button from Drag Me to Hell doesn’t seem especially villainous as far as cursed objects go. However, it has one hell of a curse on it, literally. The button acts as a homing beacon for an especially nasty demon known as the Lamia. Its modus operandi is to torment the owner for three days until their spirit is completely broken and then it comes to, well, drag them to hell. Nothing can stop the Lamia once its target has been chosen, which only makes the curse even more despairing. No matter how hard you might fight or who you might turn to, the curse must be seen through until the bitter end. Anyone who dares to intervene will face a similarly brutal fate. The good news is that you have to mess up pretty bad to be given this cursed object. So, just stick to the golden rule and you should be able to avoid it.  

4. The Lasser Glass- Oculus

I don’t think the movie Oculus got enough credit for just how horrifying it was when it hit theaters back in 2013. It received mixed reviews from critics, but after a recent re-watch, I found the mirror in it to be one of the most chilling cursed objects I’ve ever seen. No one knows where The Lasser Glass came from, but it’s left a slew of bodies in its wake, all of which died under mysterious circumstances. The mirror can skew a person’s sense of perception to the point that they are completely unaware of reality around them. It creates such perfect illusions that it’s impossible to tell what’s real anymore. All sense of time and space becomes so distorted that those under its influence commit horrible acts of savagery on themselves and those around them. The stories surrounding the victims of The Lasser Glass are terribly gruesome that I can’t imagine anyone wanting to hang it on their wall. Then again, I don’t understand half the things rich people spend their money on.   

3. The Lament Configuration- The Hellraiser Franchise

It takes a very special kind of stupid or psycho to mess around with The Lament Configuration. At first glance, it seems like a perfectly lovely little puzzle box. An artifact that would look great as a paperweight on someone’s desk. However, there’s much more to this nasty little box than meets the eye. French toy maker for Duc de L’Isle crafted the box in the 1800s for an aristocrat who was a bit too obsessed with dark magic. Oh, he was also a total sadist who relished performing acts that would make the Marquis de Sade blush. Once again, we see that what goes around comes around and the demons that L’Isle summons show him horrors that make his little hobby seem adorable by comparison. Now, whoever solves the puzzle not only opens the box but also a portal for the Cenobites to pass through. Trust me when I say that you do not want them showing up. I guess that just goes to show that some puzzles aren’t meant to be solved. 

2. Samara’s VHS- The Ring Trilogy

I don’t like to blame the victim, but Samara is kind of a jerk for making her horrible little avant-garde movie. Speaking as a film critic, I can attest to just how terrible it is. However, she didn’t stop at just being a terrible director. She then released it on VHS and sent it out into the world. Anyone foolish enough to watch it only has seven days to live before the ghost of Samara comes for them. Few cursed objects have as high a mortality rate as this little home movie, despite its lethality being well known. It’s a regular urban legend by the time The Ring begins, yet people still insist on watching it, only to act shocked when they get the call from Samara. The good news is that it’s on VHS, so it’s pretty much obsolete by this point. Just so long as no one does something stupid, like digitize the video and upload it to the internet… The moral of the story is when someone tells you an object is cursed, don’t call its bluff. 

1. Necronomicon Ex Mortis- The Evil Dead Franchise

Plenty of evil books have appeared in movies over the years, but the most iconic is Sam Rami’s incarnation of H.P. Lovecraft’s Necronomicon. Though its origin varies even within the Evil Dead franchise, rumor has it that the book was created by an ancient evil from a time when the Earth was shrouded in darkness and the seas were filled with blood. It’s filled with ancient ceremonies, catastrophic prophecies, and rituals to summon demons to the mortal realm. As if that wasn’t enough to convince people to stay out of it, the pages and binding were crafted from human flesh and human blood was used as the ink. At least it has the common decency to scream “STAY AWAY” at anyone who dares lay their eyes upon it. The thing is that folks in horror movies tend to ignore obvious signs like that with cursed objects. The horrors that the Necronomicon Ex Mortis is capable of unleashing make it the ultimate cursed object and one that I hope no one ever adds to their personal library.  

Honorable Mention: The Warren’s Occult Museum- The Conjurverse

If you are going to collect cursed objects, at least collect them responsibly. The Warren’s are probably the most qualified guardians on Earth when it comes to their personal vault of horrors. Every object in the room has ties to one of the paranormal cases they’ve investigated over the years, and it’s gotten quite full. Despite keeping it under lock and key, and having a priest come by to bless the room on a regular basis, it is still perhaps the evilest place on the planet due to just how much negative energy is contained inside. It would be impossible to pick just one cursed object from their catalog, but I still wanted to pay tribute to the collection by giving it an honorable mention on this list. Let’s just hope that all the trinkets are still safely locked away somewhere and won’t be showing up at any yard sales in the future. 

Shout-Out: The Basement- Cabin in the Woods

It’s hard to say whether the objects locked in the basement of that creepy old cabin in the woods are literally cursed or strictly symbolic. The one that is chosen by the intended sacrifices determines which horror will be unleashed upon them. However, those horrors aren’t just lurking beyond the veil in some sort of netherworld. They’re actually being held in a high-tech facility deep underground that raises the chosen monsters’ cage to the surface before opening up the door and ringing the dinner bell. While they might not be cursed themselves, they do unleash terrible fates upon anyone who looks too closely. That’s why they’re all getting a shout-out because I’m a firm believer that it’s better to be safe than sorry. 

Those are the most terrifying cursed objects I’ve encountered in horror movies. There are probably hundreds out there though, and I’d love to hear some of your favorites in the comments below. As always, I’ll be updating this list as new cursed objects make their big-screen appearance. So, be sure to check back from time to time in order to see how the rankings might change.