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Scottish Sunday

Curse Of The Omen... and other Hollywood Hexes

From The Omen to The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby there are tales of fatal accidents, devil worship, doomed planes and car crashes … Barry Didcock looks at some of the most cursed films of all time and finds a Poltergeist-style gumbo of death, disaster and hard-to-explain events. Is this a trail of satanic hexes, or do we just want to believe?

Late night, an empty road, a car. A man and a woman speed towards a head-on collision which will kill one of them and burn an unforgettable image into the mind of the other. It sounds like the pitch for a movie but, while film is at the heart of it, this story is very real indeed.

The place is Holland, the year 1976, the date August 13 – a Friday, as bad luck would have it. The man is designer John Richardson, currently working on Richard Attenborough’s second world war epic, A Bridge Too Far, but most recently employed as special effects consultant on supernatural chiller The Omen. The woman is Liz Moore, his assistant. In a few moments she’ll be dead, cut in half when the car’s front wheel slices through the chassis and into the passenger seat. Richardson will survive to tell the tale – and quite a story it is too.

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Hexing Hollywood Hotels

While the curse of films may be intriguing, the belief in supernatural forces extends beyond the set. Some hotels have their fair share of eerie tales, adding to the fascination of horror enthusiasts and paranormal investigators alike.

The Stanley Hotel - Estes Park, Colorado

Known as the inspiration for Stephen King's novel, "The Shining," the Stanley Hotel is notorious for its paranormal activity. Guests have reported seeing ghostly figures, hearing unexplained noises, and feeling an eerie presence throughout the hotel.

Cecil Hotel - Los Angeles, California

The Cecil Hotel gained notoriety due to its dark history of mysterious deaths and criminal activity. The infamous serial killer Richard Ramirez, also known as the Night Stalker, stayed at the hotel during his killing spree. Additionally, several suicides and unexplained deaths have occurred within its walls.

The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel - Los Angeles, California

Despite its glamorous reputation as a celebrity hotspot, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel has its share of haunted tales. Many guests have reported encountering the ghost of Marilyn Monroe, who is said to haunt her former suite.

Whether these stories are a result of supernatural occurrences or simply the result of vivid imaginations, they add to the allure of these hotels as destinations for thrill-seekers and those fascinated by the paranormal.

London

Manchester

Bournemouth

Dublin

Llandudno

Chester

Wembley

Alton (Staffordshire)

Lynton

York

Belfast

Durham

Great Yarmouth

Exmouth

Lymington

Broadstairs

Ullapool

Wrexham

Enfield

Whitley Bay

Chepstow

Bridgend (Wales)

Woodstock

Redditch

Newton Abbot

Bewdley

Birkenhead

Seaford

Shepton Mallet

Okehampton

Wimbledon

Banchory

Ryde (Isle of Wight)

Cardiff

Norwich

Swansea

Looe

Sheffield

Ascot (Berkshire)

Edinburgh

Brighton

Liverpool

Birmingham

Bristol