Previously: The Ticket Taker.
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Type: CO (Cursed Object).
Period/location of origin: Unknown, although subject likely dates back to at least 1975. (See: Additional notes.) Subject’s location of origin is similarly unknown, although given that all reports and accounts of subject come out of the UK — England in particular — it is likely that this region is subject’s location of origin.
Appearance: Subject, known as the “Anguished Man” painting, appears to be an oil painting depicting a humanoid figure, viewed from the clavicles up and set against a blue background. The figure is rendered in shades of red, giving it the appearance of a person who has been either badly burned or possibly flayed. The figure has no hair, and its eyes resemble holes or pits set deeply within the figure’s face. Its mouth is open wide, as if in a scream of pain.
It is frequently said that the oils used to create the painting are not simply oil paints.
It is frequently said that there is blood mixed in with the paints.
Human blood.
The ratio of blood to paint is not known.
Modus operandi: Subject is not known to actively choose targets; rather, it seems simply to find its way into people’s homes. Once it has arrived in a home, however — and if the occupants of that home decide to display subject, rather than storing it somewhere out of sight — those living in the home may experience any or all of the following:
- Banging or scraping sounds coming from the area in which the painting is displayed;
- Crying or wailing sounds coming from the area in which the painting is displayed;
- Doors in or around the area in which the painting is displayed opening or closing on their own;
- The noise of disembodied footsteps sounding throughout the home;
- The presence of a dark figure witnessed in the home;
- And/or physical interference from an unknown or unseen force.
Targets may also experience nosebleeds, nausea, blood clots, nightmares, and/or symptoms of depression. It is unknown whether these particular symptoms are related to subject or not, but given that subject has had only two known owners in its lifetime, and that its current owner has reported experiencing these symptoms, they are worth noting all the same.
Subject’s end goal — if it has one at all — is unknown. For now, it seems content merely to make life as difficult as possible for those who possess it.
Containment: Subject is currently in the possession of one Sean Robinson, who is based in Cumbria in the UK, according to subject’s official Instagram account. Subject has been in the possession of the Robinson family for at least four decades as of this writing, previously having belonged to Robinson’s grandmother before passing to Robinson himself after her death. Robinson has noted several times that it is not for sale, and any listings you may come across on eBay or other online auction or sale sites are not authentic.
Subject may seemingly be kept at bay simply by storing it somewhere out of the way — for instance, an attic, a basement, or a storage unit. Subject also only seems to affect those who own it, or those located inside the building or space it calls home.
If you are not in possession of the painting, you need not worry about subject. Subject is literally not your problem; ergo, you are safe from it.
Additional notes: Subject’s earliest known mention on the internet occurred on June 1, 2010, when a video was uploaded by its owner, later revealed to be Sean Robinson, to what is now termed the official Anguished Man YouTube channel. The video was simple, consisting of about a paragraph’s worth of text describing subject’s history imposed over a single shot of subject itself.
The video explains that subject has been in Robinson’s family for many decades; that Robinson’s grandmother had stored it in her attic for 25 years, due to having felt something “evil” about the painting; and that the oil paints used in its creation were allegedly mixed with the blood of its artist, who later died by suicide. The text then goes on to describe subject’s primary modes of activity: The generation of strange noises and crying, and the presence of a dark figure that seemingly only appears to those who possess the painting. The video ends by asserting that subject is “cursed.”
Over time, subject would also gain a reputation for being haunted, although truthfully, it is not clear whether subject is one or the other — or both, or neither.
Following the publication of this first video, Robinson began seeding subject’s backstory across the internet fairly quickly, submitting the basic outline to the website Ghost Village in January of 2011, penning a personal account in the June 2011 issue of the magazine Paranormal Underground, and continuing to post videos to YouTube — about five, all published between February and December of 2011 — purportedly depicting subject’s various bouts of activity. Word of subject accordingly grew, receiving coverage in an ever-growing list of a publications and even featuring in an episode of the Discovery channel series Weird Or What? hosted by William Shatner. The episode originally aired on July 9, 2012, and may currently be viewed on Tubi.
The account in Paranormal Underground provides perhaps the most detail regarding subject, fleshing out the outline of the story and describing a handful of specific incidents involving it. In this account, Robinson writes that he inherited the painting from his grandmother, who had herself been given it as a gift by a friend many years ago. After Robinson inherited it, however, he wound up storing it in his basement for some years, as his wife expressed a strong dislike of the painting.
Subject was briefly removed from Robinson’s basement following some flood damage, during which time it was stored in his parents’ garage. After the basement had dried out and the painting had been returned to Robinson, however, he decided not to store it in the basement again; rather, he hung it in the spare bedroom. This, Robinson writes, was “when things really started to get interesting”: After the painting was displayed, rather than hidden away, he and his began periodically seeing a dark figure in their home; hearing banging, creaking, and crying noises; and feeling cold spots in their home. Their dog sometimes refused to go upstairs, and doors would sometimes bang shut on their own. Eventually, they started experiencing physical interference: Robinson’s wife said she felt someone get into bed when Robinson himself was elsewhere on one occasion, and felt someone fuss with her hair on another.
Updates to the YouTube channel became somewhat infrequent after 2011, with just two short updates occurring in 2016 and 2017. Robinson primarily reported that he was still in possession of the painting, and that it was still wreaking havoc on his family.
In 2021, he collaborated with paranormal investigation group S.P.I.R.I.T. UK on a three-part series, which was published to YouTube in installments between Oct. 31 and Nov. 28. It has much in common with the kinds of investigations seen on paranormal reality television series such as Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, etc.; as such, how convincing the events depicted are depends largely on each individual viewer’s level of belief or skepticism.
Updates since this investigation have, again, been infrequent. No new footage has been posted to YouTube, and the last Facebook update describing Robinson’s actual experiences with subject was published in August of 2022.
Many questions remain unanswered regarding subject. The artist is not known, for instance; nor is it known who gifted the painting to Robinson’s grandmother in the first place. It is not known whether the painting’s medium truly is a mixture of oil paints and blood, or whether the fate of the artist is as previously described. It is not known why each Robinson has maintained possession of the painting despite suffering ill effects from housing it, although Sean Robinson has implied in several videos that he feels he must act as its keeper in order to keep others safe from it.
Regarding subject’s possible date of origin: The earliest possible year 1975 — may be arrived at by considering subject’s known timeline. Robinson reportedly rediscovered subject in 2010, after it had been sitting in his basement for roughly a decade. This means that the earliest possible year he could have inherited subject from his grandmother is 2000. Therefore, if subject had been sitting in Robinson’s grandmother’s attic for 25 years prior to Robinson himself acquiring, the painting had been placed in the aforementioned attic around 1975 — meaning it must necessarily have been in existence by that year.
Subject could, of course, be older than that. However, without further information about its artist or the circumstances of its creation — and with its first known owner no longer being with us — there is no way to know when, precisely, it came into existence.
In 2016, it was reported that a feature film based on subject was in development, with a planned release slated for 2017. However, that film has not materialized, and the production company which had acquired the rights to the story, La Brea Pictures, appears no longer to be in operation. Its website, at the very least, no longer exists.
It is worth noting that, according to its WHOIS information, the labreapictures.com domain was first registered on Sept. 14, 2010; it was updated on Sept. 16, 2022; and it is set to expire on Sept. 14, 2024. The date of the domain’s registration is… a little bit convenient, given that subject was first taken to the internet just a few months prior. It is of the opinion of this researcher that we cannot ignore the possibility that there might have been a Wrinkles The Clown-esque situation in play at one time.
There is currently a link in the Anguished Man official Instagram page’s bio leading to a link tree for a different production company, Infinite Wisdom Studios. Infinite Wisdom Studios’ primary claim to fame at present is the 2017 film BASE, which the company co-produced with Vertigo Films. There is no detailed information available on any potential works based on the Anguished Man painting that may or may not be in production, although as of this writing, the company’s “Our Story” page includes a statement that “an original horror feature inspired by Real Events” is in development. There is also a collage of poster art which features a replication of subject among its images.
A final note: Much like previous Encyclopaedia subject the Harlequin Entity, virtually everything that is known of subject originates from a single source — in this case, the Anguished Man painting’s owner.
Since this information cannot be independently verified — since we have only one person’s word to go upon regarding it — it is perhaps worth taking it all with a grain of salt.
Then again, perhaps Robinson is doing us all a favor by containing subject himself.
After all, it relieves us of the burden, does it not?
Recommendation: Do not hang subject inside your home.
You’ll feel better if you don’t.
Resources:
The Anguished Man on YouTube.
The original Anguished Man video from 2010.
“The Anguished Man” in Paranormal Underground, June 2011.
The Anguished Man on Instagram.
The Anguished Man on Facebook.
Weird Or What?, season one, episode 16: “Ghosts In The Machine.” (Please note that the similarities between the title of the episode and that of this website are coincidental only. The segment featuring subject begins at about the 20-minute mark.)
“The Anguished Man: A Haunted Painting” at LiveAbout.com.
“The Anguished Man: A Look Into The World’s Most Haunted Painting” at Horror News Network.
“The Anguished Man, The World’s Most Haunted Painting, Is Not For Sale” at Dread Central.
“Our Story” at Infinite Wisdom Studios.
*Content warnings: Self-harm, suicide.
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