Kentucky (originally Louisville area)
Status: Privately owned; not on public display
Object Type: Antique Mahogany Chest of Drawers
Reputation: Cursed. Said to cause death and misfortune to anyone who touches or interacts with it.
There’s an old belief that spirits can attach to places. But what happens when they don’t need a house to dwell in? What happens when they cling to something smaller... something that can be passed from one person to the next, carrying misfortune like a shadow that never fades?
In the heart of Kentucky folklore, there is a tale whispered with unease — the legend of the Conjure Chest. Unlike most haunted stories rooted in place, this one follows a cursed object — a beautiful, handcrafted mahogany chest said to be steeped in death, grief, and Southern hoodoo.
The story begins in the 1800s, when a wealthy man named Jacob Cooley commissioned an enslaved man named Remus to build a chest for his soon-to-be-born son. But when the finished product failed to meet Cooley’s expectations, he responded with fury, beating Remus to death. That brutal act of violence — steeped in cruelty and injustice — would become the seed of the curse.
Remus’s fellow enslaved people, stricken with grief and rage, called upon the powers of conjure magic, an African-American spiritual practice rooted in hoodoo. They are said to have placed a powerful hex on the chest, binding Jacob Cooley’s lineage and all who possessed it to suffering and death.
And so began a string of tragedies spanning generations.
The very son for whom the chest was built died young. Others who touched it or used it — whether to store blankets, keepsakes, or clothes — were met with sudden illness, accidents, or suicides. Over time, at least 17 deaths have been linked to the chest, including close family members and those merely near the cursed piece of furniture.
Some victims were children. Others were adults with bright futures — until their fates turned dark shortly after encountering the chest.
In a desperate attempt to break the chain of sorrow, the family eventually turned to a spiritual rootworker in New Orleans. She performed a ritual to bind the malevolent energy. Her work included placing protective charms and blessed items inside one of the drawers — an act meant to quiet the restless spirits that still lingered.
It’s said her ritual may have helped — though the chest was never fully free of its eerie presence.
Today, the Conjure Chest resides not in some dusty attic, but in the archives of the Kentucky History Museum, carefully stored away out of public view. Even curators handle it with extreme caution. The museum acknowledges the chest’s dark past — and warns visitors that it is not an object to be taken lightly.
Some claim the curse has gone dormant. Others believe it is merely waiting for someone to disturb it again.
What’s most chilling is not just the deaths, but the pattern — an invisible thread of misfortune that has followed this piece of wood for over a century. No creaking floors. No flickering lights. Just death, despair, and eerie coincidence — packed tightly into a chest that should have been a family heirloom… but became a coffin of curses.
So if you ever come across a beautiful old chest with an air of sorrow around it… you might want to think twice before opening its drawers.
Because some spirits don’t need a home to haunt.
Sometimes… they just need a place to hide.