13 Weird and WTF Moments from Amityville: An Origin Story
From the truth behind the famous ghost boy photo to the telepathic death of George Lutz, let’s explore the strangest moments of the MGM+ documentary series.
This now infamous painting was auctioned anonymously on ebay in 2000 claiming it was haunted and wreaked havoc on the owners.
“The Hands Resist Him” by Bill Stoneham, 1972. Image courtesy of Darren Kyle O’Neill, author of The Hands Resist Him: Be Careful What You Bid For
In February of 2000 an anonymous seller listed a mysterious painting on ebay, claiming it was haunted. In the listing, the seller claimed the painting had been found abandoned behind an old brewery by an art picker, who the seller bought it from.
One morning the seller’s 4-year-old daughter said the children were fighting and coming into her room at night. Included in the listing were photos from a motion-triggered camera the family had set up during the following nights, which seem to show the figures moving or transforming.
The seller pleaded for buyers and viewers to be cautious of the painting and avoid showing it to children due to reports of extreme reactions such as sudden, violent illness, screaming and the sensation of being gripped by an unseen entity.
The painting sold on ebay for $1,025.00
It was eventually discovered that the painting was a work by artist Bill Stoneham called “The Hands Resist Him” which he painted in 1972.
Of his work, Bill says:
Where to begin? Well I’ve always had a connection to what Carl Jung called the collective unconscious. I think we all do. Artists, especially visual artists, are barometers for the currents which run through this collective. Dreams are a common experience people may have with this. Anyway, my own experience is a sensitivity to place– physical, geographical place. There are memories, echoes of all the life within a place. Maybe it’s what’s called channeling. When I painted the Hands Resist Him in 1972, I used an old photo of myself at age five in a Chicago apartment. The hands are the ‘other lives.’ The glass door, that thin veil between waking and dreaming. The girl/doll is the imagined companion, or guide through this realm.
robb, just wanting to experience the supernatural, i m really intrigued by the piece, , i found a postcard in a second hand book and had it framed , because the subject matter of the text , intrigued and compelled me . its isandwhiched between two pieces of glass and framed with a copper guild, i just really rnjoy imagining the providence of such pieces! cheers
i want that painting.
This sounds creepy
where are the motion car pics??SOMEBODY didn’t do their research…..sad.
The ebay listing did not have the other photos in it. I was a bidder of this painting.
Yeah, I want to see the ebay listing with the photos!
I want to see the photos
Those photos prove NOTHING. They could easily be faked. All I see is a creepy painting. And after reading the artist’s own explanation of the painting, its clear that there is no paranormal context whatsoever. The context is a dream state made up from his memories and subconscious. I put this question into the ether: Why are people so quick to attribute anything paranormal to ghosts/spirits/dead souls etc.? Do humans just forget all about the scientific method when it comes to the paranormal? There’s obviously something happening, but there is such a lack of REAL science to support ANY conclusion.… Read more »