Trending Now
Do you believe in curses?
I’m guessing that since you clicked on this article, you’re at the very least in the “unsure but curious” camp, right?
It can be hard to really say for sure that you believe in anything you can’t see or explain, but after reading about the eerie circumstances surrounding these 9 families, it might be even harder to say for sure that you don’t.
9. The House of Habsburg
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Not one, but two alleged curses hit the House of Habsburg before all was said and done.
The first began when Count von Altenbourg built a raven sanctuary where the Habsburg Castle was to go up, and when renovations began, the ravens didn’t approve.
The birds attacked members of the family, causing the family to turn around and evict the ravens, and everyone knows corvids hold a grudge.
Since then, a raven is always spotted before a tragedy befalls a member of the Habsburg family.
The second curse came courtesy of Countess Karolyi, whose son was slain among a group of rebels to the crown. Afterward, Francis-Joseph – the monarch who sanctioned the killing, lost his wife, his son, and then his nephew, Franz Ferdinand (which of course opened a whole other can of worms).
8. The Kennedy Family
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
This is one of the most well-known “cursed family” stories in America, and there’s no denying the Kennedy family has experienced more than their fair share of tragedy.
Joseph Kennedy Jr and Kathleen Kennedy Cavendish both died in plane crashes in the 1940s, Rosemary Kennedy was tragically hung with mental issues (and then a botched lobotomy) that led to her early death, and of course, JFK was famously assassinated during his presidency.
As if that wasn’t enough, his younger brother Robert was assassinated while running for office himself five years later.
And we’re not done.
Two of Robert’s children also died in tragic accidents in the 1980s and 1990s – a drug overdose and a skiing mishap. Then, in 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr died, too, in another plane crash.
There’s definitely something more here than coincidence, right?
7. The Agnellis
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
We don’t have any proof that the Agnelli family was cursed, per se, but there’s no arguing they’ve suffered more than their fair share of misfourtune.
Gianni Agnelli was born in 1921, and quickly became a wildly successful businessman as an adult. He was a primary shareholder in Fiat, his grandfather’s company, but it sure seems like a curse tagged along with his growing riches.
When he was a teenager, his father passed in a plane crash, and in 1952, Gianni himself almost died in a car wreck.
His brother Giorgio did die young, at the age of 35, as did his nephew (from cancer at 33) and his aunt passed away during childbirth around the same time.
His son took his own life in 2000.
Gianni himself died from cancer as well, in 2003.
6. The Grimaldis
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The Grimaldis became lords of Monaco in the 15th century, around 200 years after they were supposedly cursed by a witch in retaliation for acts committed by Lord Rainier I.
He allegedly attacked a young girl, who later became a witch and used her talents to curse every single Grimaldi to never find matrimonial bliss.
Princess Grace, the wife of Prince Rainier II, died in a car accident in 1982. Her daughter Stephanie survive the crash but never managed a successful romantic relationship during her long life.
Her other daughter, Caroline, was also unlucky in love. She divorced once, lost her second husband to a boating accident, then married again to a man with a bad reputation for being abusive (among other things).
I think I would avoid the altar if I was next in line!
5. The Hemingways
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
If you think writer Ernest Hemingway was the only person in his family tree to take his own life, think again, my friends.
It began (as far as we know) with Ernest’s father, Clarence Edmonds Hemingway, who took his own life in 1928. Ernest was 62 when he committed suicide, and his younger brother Leicester also took his own life in 1982.
Their sister Ursula died of an overdose in 1966, and Ernest’s granddaughter Margaux also overdosed at the age of 41.
4. The Von Erich Family
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Wrestler Jack Adkisson created his alter ego Fritz Von Erich in the 1950s, which is around the same time the family curse sparked to life. First, his young son died in a bizarre accident – he was knocked unconscious by a short circuit in their trailer park and drowned in a puddle where he fell.
Von Erich’s four remaining sons also suffered unfortunate ends, though a bit later in life – David died at the age of 26 due to sudden and suspicious medical issues and Mike suffered from intense mental health issues after he almost died of toxic shock syndrome.
He ended his own life at the age of 23.
Kerry Von Erich took his own life at the age of 33 after losing a foot in a motorcycle accident and their youngest, Chris, also ended his own life. He was just 22.
Jack himself died of multiple cancers and his wife, Doris, passed in 2015.
3. The Getty Family
Image Credit: Public Domain
It was 1957 when J. Paul Getty found oil in the Middle east, but all of the money in the world can’t save you from tragedy if it’s determined to call.
His oldest son and daughter-in-law took their own lives, and his grandson, J. Paul Getty III, was kidnapped. He survived that only to end up partially blind, paralyzed, and unable to speak after a drug overdose and stroke.
Another grandson, Andrew, also died mysteriously.
2. The Guinness Family
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Arthur Guinness was born in Ireland in 1725, and obviously began the beer crafting that would be his family’s legacy. He and his wife had 21 children – though only 11 made it to adulthood.
Yeah. 10 kids gone.
People began to blame a curse when many of his grandchildren began suffering from addiction and dying in odd and untimely ways.
Some ended up in institutions, while at least one – Lord Moyne – was murdered by extremists. Tara Browne, who was 21 and set to inherit the brewery, died in a car ccident and in one year, three members perished in accidents or by their own hands.
There are honestly too many overdoses to recount, but I mean…at least we have the beer, right?
1. The Rockefellers
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
John D. Rockefeller co-founded Standard Oil in 1870, which was the foundation of the family’s great wealth.
By the 1950s, though, rumors of a tragic curse began to haunt their hallowed halls when Winifred Rockefeller killed herself – and two of her own children.
10 years later, Michael Rockefeller died in New Guinea, possibly drowned and/or eaten by cannibals.
Nelson Rockefeller and his brother both died in 1979, and a century later, Richard Rockefeller died in a plane crash.
I think if I were them I would stay in one place.
Insane, right?
Kind of makes your family issues seem relatively easy and normal, right? At least to solve…
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}