Color us surprised.
The infamous “cursed” portrait of a young woman, most recently bought by Zoe Elliott-Brown, 36, from a UK charity shop for $25, has sold for $2,000.
The painting was returned by its previous owner for having a “creepy aura,” and Elliott-Brown scooped it up — but she said last month that she was convinced it had “transfixed” her 68-year-old mother, Jayne Elliott-Brown, with its power.
She also reported a series of strange things happening to her family.
Now, a really strange thing has happened: The painting has sold for $2,000, according to Sky News, after it went up for auction on eBay last week.
Elliott-Brown will split the proceeds with the charity shop that initially sold her the painting, the Hastings Advice and Representation Centre in St. Leonards-on-Sea, England.
Speaking to Britain’s ITV last month, she revealed the origin of the painting is unclear, as it was initially dropped off by a man who brought it into the shop without saying anything and left it there with some old frames.
“Another lady came in and noted how creepy it looked, and then she came back and bought it, and then she brought it back a couple of days later saying that it had ruined her life,” Elliott-Brown explained.
“And then I bought it, good move,” she joked.
But after she brought the draw-dropping painting home and hung it in the living room, Jayne’s health took a turn for the worse.
Zoe told Kennedy News and Media that her mom began feeling shaky and experiencing hot flashes, and even collapsed in the bathroom.
One morning, Zoe woke up to her mom caressing the cheeks of the figure in the portrait.
She also would hear a phantom knocking at her door in the middle of the night.
Two weeks after she bought the painting, Zoe and her partner were walking about 3 miles from their home to watch a lightning storm, when suddenly, they saw a “big black figure” standing before them.
Zoe called it the “most terrifying experience” of her life, blaming the painting.
“He grabbed me, and we began running back the way we had come,” Zoe said of her partner. “He was screaming that it was right behind him.”
After that, Elliott-Brown attempted to bring the portrait back to the charity shop, but just couldn’t be pained to part with it — taking it back to her house just a mere day later.
Before it was sold on eBay, Elliott-Brown kept the painting in a box in her friend’s garden, resting it next to some sage.
Elliott-Brown was looking for someone to cleanse the portrait, perhaps a professional who could “lift” the curse — but it looks like those services won’t be needed anymore.
At least, for now.
“[I wanted] to get it to someone who actually knows about this stuff and can do something positive with it,” she admitted.