Inside the 'world's spookiest home' that's full of terrifying 'cursed' dolls

04 May 2024 , 12:54

1109     0

Beckie Ann Galentine, 33, has a love for all things paranormal (Image: Beckie Galentine/SWNS)

A woman lives in the 'world's spookiest home' - full of haunted historic artifacts - including 'cursed' dolls, old gravestones and children's coffins.

Beckie-Ann Galentine, 33, grew up living above an antique store to antique dealer parents. It gave her a taste for historic items but she was drawn to a more "macabre" side of things - including creepy old pictures and coffins. Over the last 10 years Beckie-Ann has collected hundreds of 'haunted' items which she has used to decorate her entire home.

These include 'cursed' dolls and even a bag of children's teeth. The home itself is a historic 1900's house - where she lives with partner and fellow paranormal enthusiast, Josh Rawson, 32. People send Beckie-Ann their items when they fear keeping them in their homes.

Beckie-Ann is accused by others of being "disturbed and obsessed with death" but just sees herself as a "custodian of stories" and a "keeper of lost things". Beckie-Ann, a content creator, from Richmond, Virginia, US, said: "I have deeply personal pieces that feel like they have a soul. It's not driven by value - each piece came from a person who lived and it represented them as a person.

Inside Beckie-Ann Galentine's spooky home adorned with an array of 'creepy pictures' and other antiques (Beckie Galentine/SWNS)

"There's so much personal history from people that lived normal daily lives, that have essentially been wiped from history. The only way they can be remembered is to save these things." Beckie-Ann sees death "as a memory" and is interested in things deemed "morbid or scary".

Baby name expert shares rare vintage names she expects to make a comeback soon

So she fills her home with old, spooky items from auction houses, flea markets and antique malls. As well as that, strangers post her haunted items they don't feel they can keep in their own homes out of fear. She said: "We have historic straitjackets from psychiatric hospitals and entire cabinets from hospitals too. We have an allegedly haunted wheelchair from one of those hospitals - the person who gave it to me didn't want it in their house."

"I bought a memorial piece for a baby that died in 1906, for $8 at an auction. I also have a chain of human hair from a guy who was in prison for murder - he made the chain from his victim's wife's hair."

A porcelain Bru mannequin replica from a woman who couldn't have children (Beckie-Ann Galentine/SWNS)

She also has a pair of 1930s ventriloquist dummies donated by another collector - who said the dolls were so haunted having them was the 'worst time of his life'. She said: "I was nervous to receive them and I set up a camera for them - I did get a notification from it that someone was walking around my house. I'm not a huge haunted object person but it was really compelling."

She even has a room full of coffins and a portrait with a bag of child's teeth in it. "Now things like hair and teeth are seen as gross, but they didn't used to be," she said. "It was sentimental, the parents would save things and put them on display in the living room. I have a portrait of a little boy and his baby teeth were in a bag in the frame.

"People thought it was a murder piece but it was just a rite of passage - they didn't have phones and gadgets to remember people by." But she said despite her home housing hundreds of 'haunted' and sinister items, the memories and spirits should be "respected". Beckie-Ann said: "A lot of people say they wouldn't be able to sleep in my house, but I feel calm.

Beckie-Ann Galentine at The Jefferson Hotel (Beckie-Ann Galentine/SWNS)

"There's a mutual understanding, like 'this is your space to exist, you're welcome here'. If you treat the items with respect you can cohabit with them although there's a period at the start where they're settling and things do happen from time to time."

Beckie-Ann said people accuse her of "exploiting death" for her aesthetic - or that she "needs therapy". But she said she just finds them interesting - and wants to respect the dead, even if we never knew them. She said: "I don't believe the paranormal is something we should fear or ostracise. They were people like us and we should respect them as such. It's just one facet of who I am as a human being - I'm a keeper of lost things and a custodian of stories."

Rom Preston-Ellis