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Haunted Stuff: Demonic Dolls, Screaming Skulls & Other Creepy Collectibles

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Finding a one-of-a-kind antique doll at a garage sale is a great feeling--until you bring that doll home and discover it's haunted. Objects with restless spirits attached to them can quietly invade a home through auctions, antique dealers, estate sales, garage sales, and inheritance. This spooky collection examines a wide variety of haunted items, from screaming skulls to demonic dolls, and how they affect the owner's life. Haunted Stuff provides true accounts of possessed possessions, often found in the strangest places. Discover chilling stories of the island of haunted dolls, the tumbling coffin, Rudolph Valentino's cursed ring, and even the Queen Mary ocean liner--one of the largest haunted items of all. Experience these true accounts that will make you look closer at the antiques on your shelf . . . and wonder if that creepy doll just blinked.

240 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2014

10 people are currently reading
300 people want to read

About the author

Stacey Graham

12 books158 followers
Stacey is an agent with 3 Seas Literary as well as the author of four books and a rag-tag collection of short stories. You can currently find her scaring the pants off of readers with her latest book, Haunted Stuff: Demonic Dolls, Screaming Skulls, and Other Creepy Collectibles. She intends on returning the pants at a later date.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
Profile Image for Melina Souza.
357 reviews1,970 followers
October 10, 2020
Iniciei a leitura desse livro no dia 20 de outubro de 2019 e finalizei no dia 10 de outubro de 2020.

Comecei a ler em uma maratona de Halloween em 2019, mas como sou uma pessoa que se assusta fácil quando o assunto é assombração, acabei ficando um tanto quanto perturbada e decidi "esconder" o livro temporariamente na parte mais alta e funda da minha estante (Melina Tribbiani hehe).

Esse ano, decidi retomar a leitura desse livro durante a Maratona Literária de Halloween (MLH2020). Tinha parado na página 111 e não sei se fiquei menos medrosa ou se essa segunda parte do livro é mais tranquila. Só sei que esse livro não me tirou o sono como fez em 2019.
Profile Image for megHan.
604 reviews86 followers
November 9, 2014
This book was a lot of awesome fun to read. It begins giving you information about haunted items, hauntings, ghosts, and tips on investigating the paranormal. All very helpful and well written. It then goes on to give lots and lots of histories on specific haunted items, which was very enjoyable, especially the part about a certain doll that I just watched a movie on.

This would be a great book for people who write horror and ghost stories, a place to get ideas or just to read about some interesting hauntings. It also would be great for people who are either interested in purchasing a haunted item (even tells you where you can find them and how to go about doing it) or have found themselves with a haunted item or living in a haunted home. The investigation tips were cool and all easily done, as well as inexpensive.

Note: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. No other consideration was offered, expected or received.
Profile Image for Marcela de Oliveira.
17 reviews3 followers
December 11, 2019
The Brazilian-Portuguese translation by Darkside Books is terrible. Many grammatical mistakes, inconsistencies in every page, one or two non-existent words. The translation was clearly made in a rush and not ever revised, which is very shameful for the publisher and very bad for the translator himself.
The book itself is a fun and quick read, but very shallow, filled to the brim with funny or snarky remarks, always very unnecessary, about things I wish would have been treated with more respect or at least seriously. Almost as if the author, who supposedly works with the supernatural, was making fun of it and the people who believe or are interested by it. Although the book mentions many other works about the same subject, I feel like a quick Google search would give me much more detail about everything she briefly wrote about. Very frustrating.
Profile Image for Jillyn.
732 reviews
August 8, 2014
When I saw that this book existed, I knew that I needed to read it. I'm a frequent shopper at places like estate sales, thrift stores, and garage sales. When you frequent these sorts of places, or at least in my opinion, you get certain feels on older items. An item that comes to mind to me is a pink pearl necklace that I bought at an estate sale after the old woman who had lived there for decades had passed away. It hadn't bothered me much to buy the used necklace.... Until I held it in my hands. It felt... Sad. This was the first time, I think, that I'd ever experienced touching a non-living object and felt an emotional reaction to it.

So, when this book popped up on my radar, my ears (metaphorically of course) perked up, realizing that hey, I'm not the only one who has felt something like that. I needed to learn more. I was not at all disappointed when I got to reading Haunted Stuff. Stacey Graham takes you around the world and tells true story account of haunted objects and places with believable research and citations and first-hand accounts. This book is written in a very well-researched manner, but in such a tone that inspires a bit of humor and that puts me in mind of telling ghost stories around the campfire.

This book is fascinating, and if you're like me and are the type of person who believes that things can go bump in the night, then this book is right up your alley. It'll make you look twice at some of the items in your house that inevitably creep you out. (Thanks for that Stacey. I live with a woman who collects porcelain figurines and dolls. It won't be hard to fall asleep at ALL now >.>) Suitable for any age that can handle a few ghosties, this is a great book for anyone with an interest in the paranormal.

Thanks so much to Stacey Graham for giving me a copy in exchange for my honest review. This review can also be found on my blog, Bitches n Prose.
Profile Image for Lauder.
96 reviews3 followers
July 13, 2016
I was REALLY excited about this read; it promised to "take [me] on a chilling adventure into the world of possessed possessions." After reading it, though, I felt disappointed, and slightly unfulfilled.

This read, while promising to excite and chill, lulled me to sleep. The writing style was dull, and the events/possessions, while exciting and intriguing, were merely touched upon -- Google, I am sure, has more information on these events than this book.

For instance, I wanted MORE information when reading about the "Victorian Doll," who comes complete "with extra curses." Stacey Graham, author, describes the doll, and discusses how it has been placed in a museum with an "accompanying note." But I am left wondering several things:

1) Is this doll haunted?!
2) Is this doll jinxed?!

If you aren't going to fully explain a "possessed possession," why even bother bringing it up?

And you'd think, seeing as Graham "has been researching and writing about the paranormal for over twenty years," she'd have included her OWN stories about haunted objects.

Instead, we read about ONE experience at a hotel, where she saw a mustachioed man and had a night of fitful sleep. Wow, exciting...I guess I was expecting MORE.

Overall, it was interesting, but I'm sure Google could provide more exciting information.
Profile Image for Majanka.
Author 70 books405 followers
August 20, 2014
Book Review originally published here: http://www.iheartreading.net/reviews/...

Haunted Stuff was a ‘blah’ read. It covers a lot of ground, but doesn’t mention the accounts in detail, and a lot of things mentioned in the book have been mentioned elsewhere, over a bazillion times. It lacks originality, and the cases aren’t interesting either. There’s no new perspective. Everything is just rehashed from material that can be found elsewhere. The author didn’t do investigations on site, and she has no experiences with haunted stuff herself, or if she does, she doesnt elaborate them here.

The stories were familiar for the most part. Some were new, but those didn’t even make up a quarter of the book. It’s nothing more than a mish-mash of urban legends that have been recycled a dozen times, or the more famous hauntings everyone knows about. I was hoping for original cases the author investigated herself, or cases that didn’t make it to the headlines at least a dozen times before.

Ultimately, a dissapointment.
Profile Image for Maurício  da Fonte Filho.
145 reviews1 follower
September 8, 2019
Apesar do ótimo acabamento, do trabalho sensacional com a capa e as ilustrações, o livro apresenta muitos erros de português, tornando a leitura de um assunto tão interessante em algo, por vezes, travado. Um melhor trabalho de revisão se faz necessário.
Profile Image for J.
3,906 reviews34 followers
August 22, 2017
This was a book that was picked out for me and one that I didn't have any true idea as to what I was going to be getting into. Although there were a few haunted pieces that were quite familiar to those who are interested in them, plenty more were rather new and unheard of thus it gave the reader who may be interested in the material a bunch of new information to process.

Although I can understand why the author chose to include a chapter about ghost hunting and how to find haunted pieces for your own collections if you should so choose I didn't think that should be the first included chapter. As a result I had to check the book to make sure that the material was going to eventually come around to haunted pieces since I was getting bored with that first chapter.

Furthermore another point that I didn't like was the fact that the author chose to be humorously free with her writing. Although the humor breaks up a bit of the reading it also took away from the atmosphere for the reading of the book at least when it came to me.

There are also just a few black-and-white pictures included - not enough for a reached balance in the book nor any for some of the more haunted items, which was a true disappointment.

All in all it was an interesting read and one that gives the reader some time to learn more about the paranormal although I don't think amateurs should be encouraged in becoming ghost hunters or even in collecting their own haunted pieces since of the lack of experience as most of the paranormal isn't something to be sneezed at. Otherwise if this is your cup you just may enjoy this particular introduction to such modern pieces mostly....
12 reviews
February 26, 2021
Este é o primeiro livro da DarkSide que me decepciona. Trata-se de um texto curto e superficial escrito num tom cômico que falha em informar ou divertir.

Sobre a edição

A editora tentou dar corpo a esse livreto usando uma fonte grande, inserindo fotos e ilustrações com pouca ou nenhuma conexão com o texto e diversas citações, de maneira tão desorganizada e aleatória que há inclusive uma repetida.

As ilustrações ao início de cada capítulo incluem o termo "Superno Objects", que parece ter sido inventado pela própria editora, sem relação com o título original do livro em inglês. Aparentemente houve uma tentativa de ligar esse livro à serie de publicações sobre os Warren, incluindo diversas citações de Lorraine Warren e fazendo uma capa parecida. Um equívoco.

Sobre a obra

A tentativa de escrever um livro de humor sobre um tema sobrenatural falha de maneira absoluta. O texto é tão amador que só me deu saudade dos 29 reais que paguei por esse livro. Realmente não consigo entender como algo tão irrelevante foi publicado internacionalmente.
Profile Image for Regan.
120 reviews15 followers
July 11, 2014
I had the blessing of reading and reviewing Stacey Graham’s “The Girls’ Ghost Hunting Guide“ beginning of last year. I loved the author’s quirky take on ghost hunting, her advice to a younger crowd, and how well she presented it in her book. I was completely on board when she requested that I review her new book, “Haunted Stuff: Demonic Dolls, Screaming Skulls, and Other Creepy Collectibles.”

The book starts out with an outlined description of the author’s idea of what “Haunted Stuff” means to her; tangible objects haunted or inhabiting a spirit energy. The first few chapters discussed haunted objects, types of ghosts, and running a paranormal investigation. The last remaining chapters covered anything from famous haunted creepy dolls to bridges, and everything in between.

In chapter 2, Stacey discusses types of Ghosts. She breaks it down into the common believed theories of ghost type entities. The author does a fine job of defining all encompassing theories for ghost energy. Stacey moves from ghost types to actually investigating these types of spiritual energy in chapter 3. The rest of the book is various items and locations of creepy goodness.


Haunted Robert Doll

Annabelle
In chapter 4, the author covers creepy dolls. I’d have titled the chapter, “Creepy Ass Dolls” but that’s my preference. Her compilation of various haunted dolls includes “Robert” and “Annabelle”. Annabelle was made famous by Ed and Lorraine Warren, and even more recently in the movie, “The Conjuring.” The one story that I gave a huge verbal, “Oh Hell No!” to was the story of “The Island of Haunted Dolls” in Mexico.


Um Hell No!!

I would have to say that my favorite chapter within this compilation is “Dem Bones”. Stories of haunted horror surrounding bones, caverns of bones, or even catacombs such as those in; which house over 6 million dead.

The last chapter I want to mention was “Out of Pocket”; larger scale hauntings like Ghost Towns or bridges. I have actually been to the ghost town mentioned, “Garnett, MT.” I had such phenomenal experiences while in the town. I had to give Kudos to the author for mentioning it. Out of all the haunted ghost towns in the US, she mentioned one close to home.

This book is a fun, fantastic compilation of haunted objects, small enough to fit in your pocket, to big enough to house a gold rush city. I would recommend this book to any paranormal enthusiast.
Profile Image for Henrique Zapalá.
167 reviews
December 12, 2019
Este livro é péssimo, a escritora têm algumas histórias até que interessantes mas a escrita dela não deixa a história tão instigante. É muito frustrante pois a capa da DarkSide é maravilhosa mas o conteúdo é péssimo, aliás eu peguei no sono três vezes lendo esse livro tão entediante.
8 reviews
July 26, 2020
Boring stories and poor revision (portuguese edition).
Profile Image for grazi ♡︎.
146 reviews12 followers
February 15, 2021
Finding a beautiful antique doll at a garage sale is an incredible feeling, until you take it with you and she decides to walk around the house after midnight. Antique stores, street markets, family heirlooms: haunted objects are everywhere and invade our lives in a discreet, almost accidental way. Really? With amusing and objective prose, Stacey Graham brings answers to several questions, gives advice and discusses theories about the types of phantoms that exist. Have you ever wondered why we are attracted to stories involving haunted objects? Or how does an object become haunted? Did a ghost squeeze itself between the molecules and become embedded in the object due to fear of detachment?

Shakespeare immortalized the sentence that there is much more between heaven and earth than human philosophy dreams and, inevitably, we find ourselves, at least once in life, in situations where there are no explanations. Add to that the popular beliefs and the various overheard stories out there and we have a full plate for some sleepless nights and many ramblings about what “goes on” around and we don't always get to see it.

Supernatural Objects, by Stacey Graham, brings a list of objects, places and situations in which this inexplicable became part of everyday life and was accepted by people almost as something natural. From categories such as objects, places, residences, famous people and mandingo, among others, the author teaches a little about the art of hunting or identifying supernatural events or apparitions of ghosts and telling the stories. Her stories range from the extremely popular Anabelle doll to the, for me unheard of, actor Rodolfo Valentino ring. There are dark and murky points, others that seem to be mere coincidence or even some somewhat comical situations - it should be noted that the author's great humor contributes a lot to the reading being very light.

Because it is a kind of compilation of events, Supernatural Objects, it ends up being a quick reading book. Each chapter has a category and within it cases and stories unfold. This makes it impossible to deepen and many interesting points end up being treated superficially, at serious risk of leaving readers with unfulfilled curiosity. It is worth mentioning that many references by the author are much more common to American culture than ours. The best example are the garage bazaars, something not so common in Brazil, but which can yield visitors much more than a decorative piece for the living room table.

In some chapters, Supernatural Objects becomes a manual on how to deal with the different types of paranormal manifestations and what readers can do to provoke the possible ghost that inhabits that doll or what past owner energies a watch may have absorbed. More curious, for me, however, are the excerpts about hotels, mansions, ships and Hollywood stars.

Edited in the impeccably sickly finish of DarkSide Books, Supernatural Objects is filled with illustrations and photographs that help readers immerse themselves in this unknown. It is an excellent read for fans of the genre who seek to expand their knowledge from real cases and stories. It serves quietly for good hours of distraction and for you to ask yourself (or reassure yourself) how far your belief in the inexplicable goes.
Profile Image for Harvey Hênio.
626 reviews2 followers
October 13, 2025
“Objetos sobrenaturais: Histórias Reais & Artefatos Sombrios” é um livro que realmente entrega aquilo que alardeia no título; ou seja: realmente o (a) leitor (a) terá a oportunidade de conhecer as histórias e mitos por trás de objetos, lugares e “entidades” que costumam aparecer com desenvoltura nos filmes, séries e livros de terror. Inclusive o livro traz informações interessantes acerca de um “personagem” que tem feito sucesso nas telonas e telinhas ultimamente: a assustadora boneca chamada de “Annabelle”.
Stacey Graham, a autora desse livro, é estadunidense e pode ser considerada uma expert na abordagem literária de temas e narrativas inspiradas no sobrenatural. Nesse “Objetos sobrenaturais” ela adota uma narrativa leve que não raro se torna cômica ou galhofeira, na certa como estratégia para amenizar um pouco o clima sombrio que encobre os objetos e lugares que costumam ser associados a eventos sobrenaturais.
A obra é valorizada sobremaneira por ilustrações a cargo da artista plástica estadunidense Diane Hoffman mas senti falta de mais fotos que mostrassem os lugares e objetos.
Creio que muitos torceriam o nariz com força para esse livro mas a leitura vale como diversão e realmente elucida questões interessantes acerca de certas notórias e macabras histórias envolvendo “ícones” como o serial killer estadunidense Ed Gein (1906/1984) que matou mais de trinta pessoas, o macabro “Holandês Voador” que assombra mares e oceanos nos últimos quatro séculos e as notórias catacumbas de Paris.
Boa diversão.
Profile Image for Anna Carmem.
44 reviews1 follower
September 10, 2021
Bobo, raso e mal traduzido.

A capa da Darkside me chamou atenção, por ser muito bem construída. Como gosto bastante do tema, comprei. Sabe o ditado "não julgue o livro pela capa?" Pois é, julguei mal. O livro é ruim. O início parece com um manual de "como procurar o seu fantasma" ,de um livro infanto-juvenil, e os casos de objetos supostamente sobrenaturais muitas vezes não cobrim uma página. Faltam detalhes, menções e quem não conhece a história dos Estados Unidos vai voar. O estilo de escrita da autora me fez sentir com 11 anos, e o que foi vendido como "extremamente perturbador" me fez dormir. A tradução para o português foi terrível. Erros de ortografia e regência espalhados pelo livro inteiro, sem falar que aqui e ali é possível encontrar palavras que não existem. Fico pensando se o livro foi revisado. Não recomendo.
Profile Image for Carolina Torres.
268 reviews
December 13, 2021
#ResenhadaSalem⁣

Objetos Sobrenaturais // Stacey Graham // 224 Páginas // 3,0 ⭐ ⁣

💀⁣

Objetos Sobrenaturais traz histórias de objetos que trazem energias de seus antigos donos.⁣
Objetos esses que podem ser encontrados em antiquários, leilões ou até mesmo em vendas de garagens.⁣

O livro conta também com relatos famosos como boneca Anabelle e as famosas catacumbas de Paris.⁣

💀⁣

A minha experiência com esse livro não foi muito boa, não sei se já estou habituada a ler tantas coisas sobre assombrações que ao ser esse livro achei fraco ou se ele só foi mais um livro com capa linda porém com um conteúdo fraco.⁣
Mesmo eu tendo acabado a leitura rápido não achei tão assombrosa assim.⁣

Você já leu Objetos Sobrenaturais? Se sim, me conta nos comentários ⁣

Um beijo, Salem 🧙🏻‍♀️
Profile Image for Kelrry Oliveira.
97 reviews
August 4, 2020
Quando comprei esse livro esperava que fosse mais sério, porém a autora faz piada em praticamente todas as histórias e isso acaba se tornando bobo e meio cansativo. Pelo fato de o tema ser um tanto sombrio, acho até válido um pouco de descontração mas ela passa muito do ponto, chegando a tornar a obra um tanto chata. Alguns capítulos são realmente bons, como os navios fantasmas, os fantasmas de Hollywood, o retrato da garotinha que sorri aos pais e o das bonecas (bem narrados) , em contrapartida capítulos como os dos crânios revoltados soaram, um tanto incrédulos e incrivelmente arrastados. O livro é em si bom, interessante, mas entrega menos do que promete.
Profile Image for Carol Cassada.
Author 39 books105 followers
December 31, 2021
I'm a paranormal fanatic and enjoy reading stories about real-life encounters. Haunted Stuff sounded like an interesting read and I decided to try it out. The book explores haunted objects such as dolls, portraits, ships, and bridges.

Some of the stories I already knew, while others were new to me. It was a good read for anyone interested in paranormal and history. However, at times I found myself struggling to get through it. I felt the author could've gone into more detail with some of the never-before-heard stories.
Profile Image for Gabriela Ducamp.
50 reviews
September 26, 2023
Grande decepção. As histórias são chatinhas e repetitivas. Não sei se é o estilo da autora ou a tradução da edição que fizeram desse livro uma das minhas piores leituras.
Vi isso em vários outros comentários, e, agora que terminei o livro, posso confirmar: a autora tenta tornar nossa leitura mais leve fazendo piadas bem ruins. No entanto, se eu procurei um livro sobre objetos sobrenaturais, não foi para ter uma leitura leve, e sim arrepiante e bem pesada.
Muito decepcionada, pois estou acostumada com os livros excelentes dessa editora.
276 reviews2 followers
January 6, 2019
I really enjoyed this book....I loved reading about all the spooky creepy things and the funny commentary by the author.

I would highly recommend reading this if you like reading about ghosts and possessed items.
257 reviews2 followers
September 28, 2022
This was fun and interesting. I would recommend looking up some of the places and items on the internet also. Just a bit of history and learning. The research for this book had to be a fun project in itself. Very enjoyable.
Profile Image for Carol Nicholson.
4 reviews
December 22, 2025
I found this book enjoyable and chilling at the same time. It makes you think twice before purchasing something that once belonged to someone else. You never know what you are actually bringing into your home. A great read!
Profile Image for Stephanie Rainho.
52 reviews1 follower
December 21, 2020
Não tem nada de novo para quem se interessa pelo assunto, mas é uma introdução interessante sobre as principais assombrações e objetos, principalmente nos Estados Unidos.
Profile Image for John s Risch.
12 reviews2 followers
June 19, 2021
Haunted Stuff

The book was very interesting and kept me engaged the whole time I was reading it. If you love paranormal books you'll love this one!!!!!!!!
Profile Image for Lucille.
1,358 reviews20 followers
June 2, 2022
no geral, é uma leitura mt interessante, cumpre a premissa básica que ele expõe, é uma leitura bem rápida e fluida, passou uma vibe bem documental, mas confesso que eu esperava um pouco mais dele.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews

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