I love the idea behind objects being cursed, and I love the conjuring movies, so the section on Annabelle really did make me happy. An interesting non-fiction and a good starting point for those wanting to get into the potential truth behind cursed items.

Essentially, Ocker's book does what it says on the tin. It gives readers a potted history of "cursed" objects. For readers already interested in the subject, there's not really anything new added to that knowledge. The writing is light, slightly humorous and verges, sometimes on sarcastic.

J.W. Ocker is a very engaging writer. I like his style – it’s approachable while still being informative, and he uses humor to his advantage. Cursed Objects highlights all of this very well. It was a super fun read.

If I were to have one piece of criticism, it would be that the book lacks actual photos of any of the objects – there are just some illustrations. I am not sure if this is an issue of rights, or if that was a stylistic choice. However, I found myself a little disappointed that I couldn’t fill my eyes with cursed items. Some of them, like the Hope Diamond or Robert the Doll I can just picture in my head. But there was actually a lot of stuff in here that I had never heard of.

Aside from the lack of photographic proof of cursed life (where applicable), I found that I flew through this highly entertaining compendium of cursed crap. Seriously though – how does a chair become cursed? Inquiring minds want to know.

*this review will go live on my website on Nov. 30, 2022

CURSED OBJECTS is such a wonderfully creepy and informative book. I loved jumping around to all the different sections while learning about the darkness behind certain things. It is a combination of history, mystery, and horror all wrapped up in a fabulously illustrated and designed package.

Interesting and unexpectedly funny at times. I wish it was more scary. I was ready to be thoroughly creeped out and while I definitely learned a lot, I was never scared.

I was really fascinated by this read. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about it since I don’t usually read books in this vein, but it was really enjoyable. After reading this I went and look for other non-fiction books that were similar to this. It actually opened my eyes to a whole new genre of books! Great job!

I have read a couple other J.W. Ocker books and he never disappoints. In Cursed Objects, we get the history and stories behind various "cursed" objects. This led me down numerous google searches and YouTube black holes to learn more about all the items in the book and others he mentions in asides. If you are interested in the history of dark, creepy things, you should definitely check out this book. Also, check out his fiction book about a terrifying haunted house, Twelve Nights at Rotter House, and his Salem history book, A Season with the Witch.

A fascinating insight into cursed objects. Whether you believe in curses or think it's all just coincidence this is such an interesting collection of items and takes.
Some of these items I'd never heard of and some, like the Hope Diamond were common knowledge.
Well written and engaging and you can dip in and out because the chapters are small.
Very enjoyable.

A fun dive into the origin stories of some of the most popular items believed to be cursed. The best part is the author's dry humor and notes. And it is true that in many of the cases the truth is stranger than fiction. There is a sense that the author is an open-eyed skeptic, travelling to haunted and spooky places, not fully buying into the hype but not denying the allure of these interesting oddities. There is the sense that the author could have gone deeper, into darker, creepier themes, but overall t's the kind of book that is easy to pick up and get lost in.

It is a Creepy mixture of the stories behind cursed objects. Some more widely know about, like the Annabelle doll. But most I'd never heard of and I really enjoyed reading about the history behind them and why they're believed to be cursed.
I thought it was written well and without the authors personal views. Many of the items come with the added explanation that some of the history behind them is unauthorised or even documented. Some of the stories vary depending on who talks about it. I like this opportunity to make up my own mind of what I thought was true or not.
Whether you believe in cursed objects or not, this is a fascinating book, and well worth a read for anyone interested in the paranormal.

2020 brought lots of really unfortunate things, but 'Cursed Objects' is not one of them! In fact, I think J.W. Ocker's 'Cursed Objects' came out at the perfect time. Global in scope, readers are taken on a guided tour of cursed artifacts ranging in severety and morbidity. Lightly touching on the history and documentation of just over fifty nefarious objects, Ocker's work tends to read like a deep dive into Wikipedia or Reddit in the packaging of a survey book. Readers fascinated by the macabre will recognize many familiar stories that unfortunately make up at least 85% of the book's content. While this might be disappointing, I am also slightly relieved if our known cursed objects can be contained in a slim volume! Choosing to be optimistic, I think 'Cursed Objects', while not groundbreaking, is certainly entertaining.

Sincere thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting nonfiction title about the various infamous objects of history that were said to be cursed, such as the Annabelle doll and the Hope Diamond. Pop culture has borrowed from these objects and they have inspired many works of fiction, such as the Conjuring films and even the "One Ring to Rule Them All" from Tolkien's works. It was fascinating to see the history behind these objects, and the fast-paced nature of the short, punchy chapters made this a breezy read.

Such an interesting and quick read! A must have for those interested in the curiosities of the world and the unknown!

If you want to have a handy reference book of the world's most haunted and cursed objects, this book is for you! The book is divided into seven categories and arranges the cursed objects by type. For instance: Cursed Under Glass, Cursed in the Graveyard, etc. There is a total of 53 entries. Some objects are very well known, such as the Hope Diamond, and some are internet famous such as the Dybbuck Box. There are more obscure objects included in the book. Each section has pertinent details on the item in question: original location, age, current location, and even death toll!
You could probably find all the information found in this book on the internet, but this is collected and arranged nicely with good artwork and some funny commentary from the author. I give extra brownie points for including references at the end! It's nice to be about to check the sources of the information presented. The author has a good balance of both wonder and skepticism in his descriptions. There is a section of the book that covers the science behind cursed objects
I love Quirk Books. They publish a wide variety of exciting and fun topics. Their books are usually worth getting in print versions due to their fantastic illustration, design, and colors. The e-book formatting in my review copy was a little wonky, and I think this would be best as a coffee table book. There was no index in my kindle copy, but it looks like there might be in the paper version. Overall, I liked this book. It was fun to browse through and learn about some of the strangest and most cursed objects around!

This book is amazing! I always like the content that Quirk Books publishes and this one does not disappoint, it is a great package of spooky and weird, with fun snippets on oddities and fun stories.

Cursed Objects is a good pick for readers that like the spooky and supernatural. It's a well written and well researched book with amazing visuals.

I think I read this book at the perfect time of year for the Halloween spooky season.
I'd definitely recommend to anyone interested in mysteries and ghost stories and enjoys giving themselves the chills.
This would make a lovely gift book also.
For the purpose of reviewing this title I read it continuously to retain the information, but I think for casual enjoyment I'd recommend it as a book to pick up now and again to read.

Wittily written, Ocker's writing style keeps you interested with his funny terms of phrase that helps to alleviate the denser information of names and dates. It also lends a more personal touch to the book.

It reads as well researched, giving you the relevant information without bogging you down and impacting reading enjoyment.

I'd recommend this also for fans of the spooky and macabre who don't tend to enjoy reading novels.

What I liked about this was that the author didn't try and convince you that everything he spoke about was real or push his own opinions. Okcer included the rumour and cultural suspicions but also the scientific logistics and historical relevance.
One thing I would have enjoyed slightly more was that if there were actual photographs included rather than the illustrations. They were well drawn and the two tone colour palette suited the story but I think it would have added a bit extra to be able to see the items where those images are available.

I don't know that I liked it as much as his Season with the Witch but interesting enough. I once again enjoyed his writing style - conversational and funny but not over the top (ie trying too hard).

The only non-fiction book in my Halloween Reading Roundup this year was Cursed Objects by J. W. Ocker. As you can probably guess from the title, this book is a guide to over 40 real objects that supposedly carry a curse, many of which you can go and see for yourself in various stately homes, museums, and graveyards around the world.

The book is divided into seven sections, largely based on the types and locations of the objects such as “Cursed Under Glass” for those items now residing in museums; “Cursed in the Graveyard” for statues, tombs, and runestones; and “Cursed in the Attic” for the type of deceptively everyday objects that you might well have lurking in a family member’s attic or basement. The item I believe Robert from The Last Halloween is based on appears in this section: Robert the Doll.

The vast majority of items in this book were ones I was unfamiliar with, despite a lifetime of reading books and listicles about the paranormal. This was great because I didn’t feel like I was simply re-reading information I already knew. There were, naturally, a few particularly famous examples included too such as the Tomb of Tutankhamen and the Hope Diamond, but most of the items here will only be well known to their own communities, where they are most likely infamous. There’s a lot of inspiration to be found in these pages and I felt myself brimming with ideas for new stories thanks to the wealth of information on each page.

One major let down to Cursed Objects was its complete lack of photographs. Instead, the book relies on cartoon-style illustrations which, while great quality, don’t satisfy the desire to actually see the objects that the author is discussing. While some objects will admittedly have been hard to get a photograph of, such as The Basano Vase which might not even exist, the vast majority would not have caused such problems and I found myself annoyed that I had to constantly resort to googling for photos in order to see just how creepy that supposedly cursed statue really is.

Whether or not you believe in curses, Cursed Objects will be a fascinating read, either as a guide to those objects (and how to avoid coming into ownership of one yourself) or as a look at the human psyche and our ability to blame bad luck on anything more than simple, random happenstance.

I adored the humour and the writing of this book! Didn’t. Feel like non fiction at all which was nice. It was accessible while informative about some of the cursed items in our world. I’d recommend to any one who is into the weird and the supernatural and the macabre for sure.