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Writer's pictureCandace Nola

Haunted Locations: North Yorkshire, UK



Welcome to weird Wednesday where we explore the darkest corners of the globe, searching for the mysterious and unknown. Today’s haunted object is known as the “Chair of Death” or “The Killing Chair of Thomas Busby.”


This 300-year-old chair is currently displayed in a museum, hung from the ceiling, high above sitting position so that nobody can use it.


According to the stories, in 1702, Thomas Busby took the life of his father-in-law/partner in crime after he sat in Thomas’ favorite chair at the pub. This was after an argument about Thomas’ wife, Elizabeth.


This was too much for Busby, who was tried and hung. His last wish was to visit his favorite chair on the way to the gallows. He laid a curse saying that anybody who sat in his chair would die a horrible death.


Must be one comfy oak chair.


The curse manifested quickly. The many and varied people who sat in this chair all died within hours of resting their buttocks. All manner of freak accidents and sudden heart attacks all have occurred as people sat in the chair or very soon after. It was said that many of the victims that did not die immediately, experienced weird bouts of itching, confusion, paranoia and even hauntings prior to their own untimely demise.


The curse became so intense that the chair was donated to a museum in 1972 and thus (hopefully) ended the curse, but of course, the chair hangs more than five feet in the air, effectively preventing anyone from being able to sit in it.


You can learn more at the links below:



*Originally posted on the House of Stitched Blog in Fall 2022. Research credit to Dark Rose.


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