Friday, April 11, 2014

Jinxed or cursed

"I think my hair is jinxed"
All through the month of April, Minnie will help me explore the people, places and things that WE call creepy, strange and downright weird. To be honest, Minnie finds almost everything creepy and strange so having the entire alphabet at our disposal is going to be a challenge. You might find what we discover delightful, or you may agree with us. Please share your opinions either way. Have fun road-tripping the Alphabet by visiting others doing the challenge as well. To find out more on the A-Z blogging challenge follow the link.





Jinxed

The term Jinxed means a person or thing that is believed to bring bad luck. One of the most famous bearers of bad luck was Actor James Dean's 1955 Porsche Spyder.

 He had it extensively customized and affectionately called it his "Little Bastard." Apparently, the car was so transparently evil that Sir Alec Guinness, said to Dean over lunch, "If you keep driving that car you will be found dead in it by this time next week." Guinness proved to be right and Dean was killed instantly after his car crashed on September 30, 1955, near Cholame, California.  

The jinx or "curse" didn't stop there; when mechanics tried to repair the wrecked car, it fell on one of them, crushing both his legs. The car's new owner sold the engine and driveshaft to two racers; one lost control, hit a tree and died instantly, the other was injured when his car locked up and rolled over. Two thieves who tried to take pieces of the car were both injured. The car was then donated to a safety exhibit of the California Highway Patrol; the first exhibit caught fire, and the car fell on a student at the second, breaking his hip. It even managed to crush and kill a truck driver who was transporting it. The car has since disappeared, but parts of it are most likely hard at work jinxing whoever comes near it. 

Sounds a bit like Stephen King's book "Christine" doesn't it? "Little Bastard" has been the inspiration for several works of fiction. Processed or "Jinxed" vehicles are definitely creepy. Here is a list of creepy stories with Jinxed or cursed vehicles:

Christine, a 1983 film adaptation
The Car, a 1977 film about a killer car
From a Buick 8 (2002), another novel by Stephen King about a mysterious car
"You Drive", an episode of The Twilight Zone
Route 666, an episode of Supernatural about a possessed truck.
"Black Cadillac", a 2003 film about a car that stalks its victims relentlessly.
"Sally", a 1953 short story by Isaac Asimov.
"Alice", a episode of Star Trek: Voyager about an intelligent shuttlecraft 

Do you know of something or someone that is jinxed? Did you know about "Little Bastard"? Have you seen any of the movies above and do you find them as creepy as we do?

Hope that everyone has a great week-end! Minnie and I will be back tomorrow with the letter K.

5 comments:

Karen Jones Gowen said...

Goodness, I didn't know all this about James Dean's car. Did King really base his book Christine on it? Jinxes are fascinating to me. I've never really believed them about people, thinking instead it's repeated bad choices that bring "bad luck." But an inanimate object like a car? Now you've got me thinking!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I'd heard the stories surrounding Dean's car. Wouldn't want to own a piece of it, that's for sure.
I remember that film The Car! Bet it's really cheesy now.

Unknown said...

I saw the Supernatural episode. I thought the James Dean car was a very strange story. I'd hate to find one of those relic car pieces, but that would make a good story, wouldn't it...

Robin said...

I love the TV show Supernatural and REMEMBERED the episode about Little Bastard. Now, if I were still doing my HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY posts in April, this one would be up. Since I'm not... HERE'S TO YOU...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amwat7qlBQA

D.G. Hudson said...

I didn't know about James Dean's cursed car. That is too many incidents for coincidence. I wonder if it's a haunted vehicle. . .