651:, and began developing a backstory. According to Mannis, "The carving in the back of it is my carving. The stone that was in the box is something that is a signature creation of mine also. Make no mistake, I conceived of the Dybbuk Box – the name, the term, the idea – and wrote this creative story around it to post on eBay." Mannis' auction description included a story claiming the cabinet was previously owned by a survivor of
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According to author Allan S. Mott, "we embrace such stories because they tap into our own fears and prejudices". Mott said the story "taps into our belief that out in the world there is a supernatural evil that will attack anyone regardless of how good they are. They allow people to make some sense
792:
a Jewish wine cabinet from Spain but instead a minibar from New York." Biddle also wrote that he believed Mannis created the dybbuk box story "from whole cloth", and that "This elaborate story that started the entire legend was not an account of real supernatural events, but instead a fictional
733:, said the box's owners were "already primed to be looking out for bad stuff. If you believe you have been cursed, then inevitably you explain the bad stuff that happens in terms of what you perceive to be the cause. Put it like this: I would be happy to own this object."
821:
In 2021, Mannis admitted to writer
Charles Moss that the box was his own creation: "I am a creative writer. The Dybbuk Box is a story that I created. And the Dybbuk Box story has done exactly what I intended it to do when I posted it 20 years
793:
backstory he came up with to sell an ordinary and incomplete minibar." Biddle's claim of the box and its legend being fraudulent is backed up by a screen capture of a post made by the originator of the legend, Kevin Mannis, to the Haunt ME
659:, and that the box had paranormal powers and was responsible for his bad luck and nightmares. Subsequent owners retold Mannis' story when reselling the item and amplified it with their own claims of "strange phenomena".
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by owner Kevin Mannis, who created a story featuring Jewish
Holocaust survivors and paranormal claims as part of his eBay item description. Mannis' story was the inspiration for the 2012 horror film
292:
826:... Which is to become an interactive horror story in real time". He "added new elements to the Dybbuk Box story over the years to help evolve it, keep it relevant and interesting".
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minister and author Rev. Jim Willis opined that the story was most likely "a very elaborate hoax," but that his opinion "takes all the fun away" from the popular urban legend.
788:. His conclusion, following careful investigation of the cabinet's construction and history, was "Despite what various owners would have us think, the infamous Dibbuk Box is
287:
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describes it as "a disembodied spirit possessing a living body that belongs to another soul" and usually talks from that person's mouth. An important 1914 Yiddish play
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One owner, Jason Haxton, Director of the Museum of
Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Missouri, launched a website that consolidated claims about the cabinet called
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In 2003, writer and furniture refinishing business owner Kevin Mannis purchased the cabinet from the yard sale of a local attorney in
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criticized claims about the cabinet, saying, "Go through you will see areas that seem to require suspending critical functions".
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noted that the story features "a supernatural angle" and "first-person narrative"; a variation on typical urban legends.
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817:] Box anywhere in history prior to my Ebay post, I'll pay you $ 100,000.00 and tattoo your name on my forehead.
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was about the spirit of a dead man who possessed the living body of the woman he had loved, and had to be exorcised
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I am the original creator of the story of The Dibbuk Box which appeared as one of my Ebay [
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that reportedly received hundreds of thousands of hits and created what has been described as an "
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A duplicate box Biddle ordered online following his investigation, complete with actual spirits.
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online, reviewed the Dibbuk Box he found on display in Zak Bagans's haunted museum in
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claimed his spate of bad luck was caused by his contact with the cabinet.
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The whole idea of the box being inhabited by a dybbuk (דיבבוק) [
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magazine that the Dybbuk Box story was entirely fictional.
680:, was released in 2012. Haxton later gave the cabinet to
912:"The Dybbuk Box, A.K.A. The Haunted Jewish Wine Cabinet"
622:. The box gained notoriety when it was auctioned off on
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2004 "The Dybbuk Box" website and archived eBay auction
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investigated the dybbuk box legend and determined that
1110:"Post Malone's bad luck put down to 'haunted' object"
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690:to display in his museum. In 2018, fans of rapper
797:page. The post, dated October 24, 2015, states:
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852:Dybbuk Box: The Story of Chris Chambers
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348:Prizes for evidence of the paranormal
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1090:from the original on 24 January 2021
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1054:from the original on 26 March 2021
1020:from the original on 26 March 2021
1008:Gornstein, Leslie (25 July 2004).
986:from the original on 26 March 2021
955:from the original on 26 March 2021
910:Kevin Mannis (September 2, 2009).
338:James Randi Educational Foundation
14:
1078:Biddle, Kenny (14 January 2019).
778:, in his "Closer Look" column in
703:of a chaotic world." Folklorist
974:Gross, Max (13 February 2004).
323:Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
884:Moss, Charles (July 8, 2021).
774:In January 2019, investigator
16:Wine box claimed to be haunted
1:
1042:EW Staff (7 September 2012).
277:Reportedly haunted locations:
709:California State University
604:), is a paranormal antique
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116:Electronic voice phenomenon
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736:In 2014, skeptical author
805:] posts back in 2003.
1050:. Entertainment Weekly.
945:"The Haunted Dybbuk Box"
388:Apparitional experiences
1044:"Little box of horrors"
914:. Yahoo. Archived from
653:the Holocaust in Poland
608:-cabinet claimed to be
446:Argument from ignorance
413:Out-of-body experiences
126:Extrasensory perception
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727:Anomalistic Psychology
471:Communal reinforcement
1084:Skepticalinquirer.org
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635:In 2021, Mannis told
451:Argumentum ad populum
383:Anomalous experiences
363:Scientific skepticism
181:Paranormal television
1154:Cabinets (furniture)
752:Encyclopedia Mythica
466:Cognitive dissonance
461:Begging the question
408:Ideomotor phenomenon
1116:. 18 September 2018
731:Goldsmiths' College
705:Jan Harold Brunvand
516:Scientific evidence
358:Scientific literacy
1179:Demonic possession
1010:"A jinx in a box?"
951:. Skeptoid Media.
943:(19 August 2014).
918:on August 25, 2012
809:... How about this
781:Skeptical Inquirer
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226:Spirit photography
176:Paranormal fiction
101:Demonic possession
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231:Spirit possession
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957:. Retrieved
949:Skeptoid.com
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441:Anomalistics
318:Cold reading
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251:Supernatural
241:Spiritualism
236:Spirit world
186:Precognition
71:Clairvoyance
980:Forward.com
692:Post Malone
590:קופסת דיבוק
531:Uncertainty
256:Telekinesis
206:Psychometry
91:Conjuration
1148:Categories
1094:24 January
868:References
756:The Dybbuk
688:Zak Bagans
582:Dibbuk box
578:Dybbuk box
491:Groupthink
311:Skepticism
246:Stone Tape
151:Mediumship
106:Demonology
61:Bilocation
32:Paranormal
786:Las Vegas
678:Sam Raimi
595:romanized
328:Debunking
261:Telepathy
111:Ectoplasm
81:Cold spot
51:Astrology
1114:BBC News
1088:Archived
1058:26 March
1052:Archived
1024:26 March
1018:Archived
1014:LA Times
990:26 March
984:Archived
959:26 March
953:Archived
922:July 29,
795:Facebook
698:Response
496:Hypnosis
403:Hypnosis
131:Forteana
121:Exorcism
24:a series
22:Part of
1120:2 April
1086:. CFI.
895:July 8,
830:In film
717:Arizona
643:History
620:Judaism
610:haunted
597::
476:Fallacy
435:Related
271:Ufology
196:Psychic
156:Miracle
1048:EW.com
863:(2021)
861:(film)
859:Dybbuk
854:(2019)
848:(2017)
840:(2012)
824:
811:
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657:dybbuk
615:dybbuk
586:Hebrew
393:Empath
161:Occult
26:on the
686:star
637:Input
612:by a
580:, or
298:World
283:India
171:Ouija
146:Magic
1122:2021
1096:2021
1060:2021
1026:2021
992:2021
961:2021
924:2012
897:2021
845:Ezra
624:eBay
606:wine
576:The
333:Hoax
56:Aura
822:ago
815:sic
803:sic
790:not
747:sic
166:Orb
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.