‘Cursed’ painting that went viral for being haunted ’causes havoc’ at tourist attraction

A tourist attraction claims it has had a spell of bad luck after buying a “cursed” painting that was twice returned to a charity shop for being “haunted”.

Owners of the London Bridge Experience and London Tombs bought the spooky portrait of a young stern-faced girl for £1,600 on an online auction.

But since picking up the painting both the attraction and its staff claim to have experienced instances of bad luck such as the car picking up the painting breaking down, the person picking up the painting dislocating his shoulder, a “dark-clothed figure” wandering around, and water suddenly appearing on the painting.

The painting went viral in August after it was pictured in an East Sussex charity shop with a warning on it saying: ‘She’s back!! Sold twice and returned twice! Are you brave enough?’

The painting had initially been donated to the Hastings Advice Representative Centre in St Leonards-on-Sea.

It was then bought by a woman for £25, but two days later she brought it back as it “scared her”.

James Kislingbury, manager of The London Bridge Experience, in Tooley Street, said: “When this painting came up for sale it seemed fitting that we’d bid for it.

“I went to pick it up from Hastings and on the way back my car broke down unexpectedly. We then put the painting up in the attraction and water appeared to run down the face of the girl in the picture, which was really bizarre.

“Then we started to experience problems – like our WiFi stopped working. We got a team in overnight and they couldn’t find a problem. One security camera at the back of venue didn’t work for three days for no reason, and then oddly came back on at 3.30am on a staff member’s phone.

“All the TVs in the attraction went down and again the tech team came in and couldn’t find a reason for them not working, then our washing machine broke down.

“Other spooky things included one of our staff members opening up and seeing a black-skirted figure, but there was no one else here.

“A pool of water suddenly appeared on the floor but we are under a bridge so we wouldn’t normally see anything like this. The bar manager in our venue Slammers saw lights flashing and staff members having a meeting in the bar suddenly had blocks falling off the wall.

“I went on a holiday to get away from it all and dislocated my shoulder in a freak accident on a water slide and on my way home someone died on a ferry I was on and my flight was delayed. I really do think I’m cursed.”

Despite the bad luck, the attraction has decided to keep the picture – which now stands in the entrance to The London Bridge Experience – up for its Halloween celebrations.

Pictured top: The “cursed” picture now displayed at The London Bridge Experience (Picture: The London Bridge Experience)