I’m a Demonologist. That may be a revelation to some of you as I’ve never mentioned it before. There is a very good reason for that. In the true tradition of Ed Warren, I just proclaimed myself so. The next thing I intend to do is gather haunted objects I find in homes and other haunted locations and place them all in one location. It’s for the benefit of mankind after all. I have two choices as I see it, I can either keep this location secret and protect humanity from these harmful demonic entities that clearly pose a danger…or I could charge admission and let everyone take selfies.
Clearly, the choice is obvious. Please visit the gift shop on the way out. A few months ago, we were treated to this video of Annabelle (From the Warrenverse) being transferred carefully from one container to another. As the grandchild of a woman who sewed Raggedy Ann/Andy dolls, I immediately respect and fear her more, because she was clearly able to fetish souls to them, they are the obvious vessels.
I’ve discussed egregores and tulpas in previous articles, and I would make the case that if Annabelle wasn’t haunted, she certainly is now. We’ve empowered her as such. Belief is a tricky thing, all you need is a small seed and watch as it grows in ways you couldn’t imagine. Sometimes taking a life beyond your dreams, but in a purely magickal way, they are a focus to a wealth spell. Could they also be a tribute to the demon Clauneck or Mammon? (I’m a Demonologist remember?)
Another famous haunted museum is run by Zak Bagans of Ghost Adventures fame. Last night he posted this on Twitter:
To understand what a Dybbuk box is, we have to discuss the concept of a dybbuk. If we consult Guiley’s Encylopedia of Ghosts & Spirits:
In Jewish folklore, an evil spirit or doomed soul that possesses a person body and soul speaking through the person’s mouth and causing such torment and anguish that another personality appears to manifest itself. Such evil spirits have existed in Judaism since the earliest times, but they were called the evil ibbur (spirits) until the 17th Century. At that time the term dybbuk also spelled dibbuk was coined from the language of the German and Polish Jews. It is an abbreviation of two phrases dibbuk me-ru-ah (A cleavage of an evil spirit, and dub buk min ha-hiuzonim (dibbuk from the demonic side of man.)
Encyclopedia of Ghosts & Spirits, pg. 114
Fast forward to eBay of all places, circa 2003, and you would find the following listing. I’ve included the link because it is incredibly detailed and worth a read.
All of the events that I am about to set forth in this listing are accurate and may be verified by the winning bidder with the copies of hospital records and sworn affidavits that I am including as part of the sale of the cabinet.
During September of 2001, I attended an estate sale in Portland Oregon. The items liquidated at this sale were from the estate of a woman who had passed away at the age of 103. A grand-daughter of the woman told me that her grandmother had been born in Poland where she grew up, married, raised a family, and lived until she was sent to a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. She was the only member of her family who survived the camp. Her parents, brothers, a sister, husband, and two sons and a daughter were all killed. She survived the camp by escaping with some other prisoners and somehow making her way to Spain where she lived until the end of the war. I was told that she acquired the small wine cabinet listed here in Spain and it was one of only three items that she brought with her when she immigrated to the United States. The other two items were a steamer trunk, and a sewing box.
http://www.dibbukbox.com/story.htm
From there, the story continues in 2012, where the seller’s poor mother recounts her terrible experiences with the box (it should be noted that Mannix later admitted his mother gave “an oscar-winning performance” she did receive the box as a gift and she did have a stroke):
The box would pass through a few hands and be the subject of three films, But the box would take a whole new level of infamy when it was bought by Zak, who gives it a level of authenticity among certain circles. It even affected America’s Sweetheart, Post Malone, when he was a guest on an episode of Ghost Adventures: Quarantine.
The problem we have in today’s paranormal community is the lack of accountability in stories, folklore, and legends. In a truly scary way, when we put energy into something, it manifests. TikTok is infamous for this, as is YouTube, where you can often find unboxings of the Dybbuks that have been manufactured and sold as legitimate by unscrupulous companies. The only problem? No one seems to be aware of these boxes before Kevin Mannix. Even he will admit it….a year before Bagans bought it:
Zak of course finds it problematic that the creator of the item is calling out its true origin. I mean, it’s one of the prized possessions of his haunted museum! In a post from 2021, he was quoted as saying:
“The full real story of what I have done, and what has happened since – to the people around me, and the guy I sold the box to on Ebay, and Jason, and the people around him, and the people who simply have tuned into the dozens of radio broadcasts and podcasts where they have reported being afflicted with lesions and rashes is ALL REAL AND OUT OF MY CONTROL.”
I wanted to share all of this documentation for anyone who is interested in this story beyond a clickbait title. The evil powers this box contains are very real and that’s one thing Mannis, Haxton and I all do agree on. It doesn’t surprise me to hear that previous owners are still being affected.”
Zak Bagans – Ghost Adventures Crew (GAC)
If we subscribe to the idea of egregores and tulpas, then it is a concern from a magickal standpoint that if there was nothing connected to the box, there certainly is now, and like the golem of Jewish folklore, the creator is Zak Bagans, and the previous owners.
Another famous demon is the one known as “Zozo”. Another guest on Ghost Adventures is Darren Evans. To reach the beginning, we have to go back to 2009 and a posting from “True Ghost Tales”.
My name is Darren and I am from Tulsa, Oklahoma. I am currently 40 years old, and have held a fascination with the occult since an early age. I have had many bizarre experiences with Ouija boards and I am writing this as a warning to people that bad things can happen because of these “portals.”
Parker brothers doesn’t care if a demon possesses you, or if you come under some type of attack from something you know nothing about. The majority of people from The United States holds a skeptical view regarding the scientific evidence of spirits or ghosts, and many people who believe in these things also believe that it is for this very reason that ghosts and poltergeists occur here and exist “under the radar” so to speak. These Ouija boards are manufactured under the precept that they are mere “toys.” Let me tell you first hand that THEY ARE NOT TOYS, and should be used with strict caution, and probably should not be messed with AT ALL. Other countries take a more open minded view of spirits, demons, and ghosts, and many many cultures have based entire religions from these beliefs.
ZOZO – The Ouija Demon by Darren Evans
Evans goes on to tell the story of the demon ZOZO, and the misfortunes he had encountered after raising this demon from a spirit board. While he even mentions the ZOSO name similarity from Jimmy Page of Led Zepplin fame (Page, a notable magickian in his own right, was inspired by the symbol for Saturn, his ruling planet. ) From there, the legend built up as Evans gained more notoriety (including you guessed it, a movie in 2012: I Am ZoZo). In 2015, Evans would come on Bagans’ show and of course, Zak would try to make it sound like this recent story had origins beyond its inception.
Much like the Philip Experiment, when something captures the imagination, it becomes a stronger part of the tapestry and can manifest itself in ways the original creator could not imagine. In the case of Mannix, he made a spooky story to boost a yard sale find. In the matter of Evans, he would take what is effectively a creepypasta, and turn it into a lucrative story that made money. It is why both men are so protective of that story and dislike it when others make money off their work.
Many of these creations that we speak of now, were only brought into reality in the last two decades. From a box that contains a demon from Jewish folklore to a goatman haunting a forgotten graveyard in Red Ash. In the middle are the Zak Bagans of the world, making money off of your fears and beliefs.
If you want to know more about folklore and legends, go to the sources themselves. For the stories of the dybbuk, I found many Jewish TikTok accounts telling the real stories and asking that we stop perpetuating these false legends that are actually harmful to their culture. This should also apply to Indigenous creators who are trying to claim back the public’s fascination with skinwalkers and Wendigo.
Offline, one of the best resources I can recommend to paranormal researchers is reading books written before 2000. Omitted is the demon of technology and of retold legends for a modern audience. You greatly remove yourself from the culture of broadcast and internet material. While it may be easier to Google search a topic, you are getting a pre-Internet view of that same topic that is free of the modern trappings and feedback. Take it from me, I’m a Demonologist.
BYRD OF ILL OMEN 