The Haunted Portrait

Can art be haunted? Can a portrait possess the soul of the person portrayed in the paint? Could it be a cursed image? Or, is the ghost in the painting something else masquerading as a dead loved one?

And, if you grew up in a home with such a painting, or paintings, would you be able to turn a blind eye to it? Would you just accept that strange things happen after the lights go out, and the oil paint ghosts crawl out of their frames?

For Megan, her haunted childhood home also contained haunted portraits, and it caused her to grow into someone who is really not afraid of anything.

Listen now:

About Megan O’Russell

Our guest this episode is Megan O’Russell, who produces the podcast A Book and a Dream, a podcast exploring the writing process and the ins and outs of loving and creating books.

Learn all about Megan on her website at meganorussell.com, and check out her latest book, Ember and Stone, available for purchase or download.

Want to read some more of Megan’s books? She has published fifteen books across five series, and you can purchase or sample them from her Amazon author page.

Haunted places mentioned in this episode

Megan grew up in a haunted colonial house in upstate New York, in a hamlet so small it doesn’t appear on the map. Therefore, we can’t show you where it is. But, we can point you to the haunted cast house she stayed at as an adult. The Atlanta Paranormal Society of Ghost Hunters fame did an investigation there, and you can read all about it here.

Cursed Images

We’ve featured other episodes that mix fine art with hauntings. Our Season 1 Finale, “Everyone’s a Critic. Even the Dead.” tells of what it’s like to run a haunted art gallery.

Can art be haunted?

A look into art history reveals many instances of haunted art. The Netflix movie, Velvet Buzzsaw, drew inspiration from real legends. And to make you really reconsider your art collecting passion, check out this list of the top 10 most haunted paintings. We also go on to talk about (and inexpertly critique) some famous terrifying haunted paintings in Season 6.

You can listen to that episode here:

Have you seen a cursed image?

What do you think? Have you ever seen artwork that was obviously haunted? How did the haunting manifest? Have you ever created a work of art that turned out to be haunted or cursed? Why not submit your story for a chance to tell it on a future episode of Homespun Haints? Until then, have a spooky day!