Since the dawn of civilization, human beings have been scaring the crap out of each other with horror stories inspired by their immediate environments. Nowadays, however, many people don’t seem to realize that we spend most of our waking hours online, be it at home or work, on computers or phones, and our stories have adjusted accordingly.
That’s why I believe it’s time to discuss the Viral Horrors that surround us every day. From Creepypastas to killer memes, these sordid tales are as much a part of our culture as classic campfire stories, only on a much larger scale. So today, I’d like to talk about the now-infamous Dybbok Box as an introduction to the hidden horrors of eBay, and see if we can come to appreciate these online scares and what they mean to us.
A common thread between successful instances of Viral Horror is how these stories tend to come from where we least expect them. Consider initially funny YouTube channels that take a dark turn (like the Marble-Hornets-inspired EverymanHybrid) or personal blogs that suddenly devolve into paranoid records of supernatural activity (like segments of the previously-covered Dionaea House). The sheer surprise of seeing these terrifying yarns pop up so unceremoniously on the internet, not to mention the down-to-earth nature of the characters relating these events, are a huge part of what makes them scary. That’s why I think today’s chilling story wouldn’t be as shocking if it hadn’t been originally posted on an e-commerce platform.
The story of the Dybbuk box begins in 2003, when a seemingly innocent item popped up on eBay, posted by a certain Kevin Mannis. The item in question was a simple wooden wine box, containing an odd assortment of small objects ranging from a couple of pennies to spooky candlestick holders and even a granite statue inscribed with the word “Shalom” (a form of Jewish greeting meaning “peace”). However, it wasn’t the old-fashioned wine box and the trinkets within that interested potential buyers, as Mannis included a convincing story along with the item description, chronicling a series of horrific events that supposedly began during the Holocaust.
According to Mannis, he purchased the box from the granddaughter of its original owner at an estate sale back in 2001. He owned a small furniture refinishing shop at the time and wanted to find something he could work on to later give to his mother as a gift. Apparently, the box had belonged to a Holocaust survivor who acquired it after escaping to Spain, and later brought it with her when she immigrated to the United States. The granddaughter supposedly claimed that her grandmother was adamant about keeping the box locked, insisting that it contained a “Dybbuk“.
Though Mannis wasn’t aware of this at the time, “Dybbuk” (or dibbuk, depending on the version) comes from a Hebrew word meaning “to cling”, and in Jewish folklore it usually refers to an unclean spirit that torments victims until it is removed via a traditional exorcism ritual.
And so, soon after purchasing the box and relocating it to his shop, the horrors began. An employee claimed to hear lightbulbs breaking and otherworldly screaming coming from the basement where the box was stored, and Mannis would later recall the foul stench of cat urine permeating the area (despite him not owning any felines). Of course, this was only the beginning, as immediately after receiving the box his mother suffered a tragic stroke. This would mark the beginning of an odyssey of regifting the cursed box to friends and relatives, all of whom found it impossible to keep the mysterious item for more than a few weeks and would eventually return it to Mannis.
I won’t go into details here as you can read the full story in an archived version of the original listing, but this portion of the macabre tale finally ends with Mannis listing the box on eBay and hoping that someone will rid him of its malicious influence. Naturally, the post became something of a sensation at the time, joining the ranks of other supposedly haunted eBay items such as the infamous The Hands Resist Him painting.
In fact, eBay has quite the history of hosting cursed objects, with paranormal collectors and scam artists alike trading allegedly haunted trinkets all around the globe since the site’s inception. This questionable practice became so popular that the site eventually established a ban on intangible items, leading current vendors to add the following disclaimer (or others like it) to their paranormal listings:
“eBay does not permit the sale of spells, magick or haunted/paranormal objects, but this item is being listed as a >insert mundane object description here< only. You must be 21 years of age to bid on and purchase this item. For entertainment purposes only.”
Of course, the popularity of this kind of post has led many to believe that Mannis’ original story was just an attempt to spice up a regular listing in order to make it more marketable. However, while the original post was quite successful for its time, it was sold to a college student for a mere $140. Less than a year later, the new owner re-listed the box on eBay after claiming that he too was being affected by its curse. He would eventually sell it to a professor and museum director by the name of Jason Haxton, which is when the box achieved true international notoriety.
In 2011, Haxton published a book that put the Dybbuk box back in the public consciousness, reviving the original story and adding to it as he claimed to have also suffered great misfortune during his time with the object. Though I wasn’t able to track down a complete copy of the book, it appears that the author never quite commits to the idea that the box is truly haunted, instead presenting the information to readers and expecting us to make up our own minds.
His experience would eventually find its way to Hollywood, serving as the basis for Ole Bornedal’s 2012 film The Possession, a mostly unremarkable movie that I still admire for a handful of genuinely spooky moments (though I think it would have worked better as a grounded found-footage endeavor, honoring the story’s digital origins). Oddly enough, Bornedal claims that some strange events occurred during production, such as a neon light (that was supposedly turned off) spontaneously exploding and a mysterious fire that destroyed most of the film’s props.
In any case, in 2016, a few years after the story hit the big screen, the original box was purchased from Jason Haxton by paranormal investigator Zak Bagans. It is now kept as an attraction in his Haunted Museum. Prominent musician Post Malone claims to have been cursed by the Box in 2018, as he was present during one of Bagans’ attempts to open it, though the details of his story are a bit sketchy. Regardless, it seems that the box has gone dormant for now, and it won’t be put for sale again any time soon.
Whether or not the Dybbuk Box is truly a haunted object, at the end of the day it’s hard not to admire how this story evolved as it was passed along over the years. Even if it began as a simple case of a guy trying to spice up an online sale, the story works as an update to classic cursed object tropes, though the usual creepy pawn-shop is now replaced by a massive online marketplace. In terms of how we deal with these viral scares as a society, I don’t think it matters if this story is an elaborate hoax or not, as I think it’s worth remembering as a truly chilling piece of digital folklore.
Hell, the story’s become so popular that it’s now easy to find imitators peddling similar objects that also supposedly contain Dybbuks. The veracity of these claims may be dubious, especially if you know a thing or two about the Jewish faith, but I know I’m not about to take that risk by buying one for myself.
If you’re still interested, you can check out the archived story that I mentioned above or visit Haxton’s website for more information on the box (and his book). Just be careful next time you purchase a random item online, as you might get more than you bargained for.