This painting appeared in 1972 thanks to the talent of the artist Bill Stoneham. Bill claimed that the work was based on his own photograph, where he was photographed at the age of five, found in the Chicago house where he lived at the time.
According to the artist, the door on the canvas symbolizes a certain line between the real world and the world of dreams, and the doll is a guide who can lead the boy to that world. The hands behind the door represent alternative lives or possibilities. Who is this girl in the photo? He didn't remember anymore.
The painting was first shown to the owner and art critic of the Los Angeles Times, who then passed away. Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe not.
At the exhibition, Stoneham's painting, which he called "The Hands Resist Him", made a mixed impression. Some of the visitors looked at her rather indifferently. Others began to thrash, cry, some even fainted. The very next day, the administration of the exhibition posted an ad: "People with weak mentality are not recommended to watch." It ended with the fact that the picture was acquired by the then famous actor John Marley. She stayed in his house until her death in 1984.
Apparently, the relatives of the deceased did not appreciate the inheritance they inherited - after a while the painting was found in the dump by children playing there. The girl who discovered this work of art brought it home and hid it in her bedroom. But on the very first night, she rushed crying to her parents' room, shouting that "the children in the picture are fighting."
Her father became so interested in the canvas that the next night he installed a video camera in front of the picture with a switch-on sensor that reacts to movement. During the night the camera was turned on several times, but nothing was captured.
The painting was put up for auction eBay. Soon, eBay administrators began receiving alarming letters with complaints of poor health, loss of consciousness, and even heart attacks. There was a warning on eBay, but people are known to be curious and many ignored the warning.
The painting was sold for 1025 USD, the starting price was 199 USD. The page with the painting has been visited over 30,000 times, but mostly just for fun. It was bought by Kim Smith, who lived in a small town near Chicago. He was just looking for something for his newly renovated art gallery on the Internet. When he came across "The Hands Resist Him", at first he thought that it was painted in the forties and it would be perfect for him as an exhibit.
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That would have been the end of the story, but letters were now coming to Smith's address. Many of them were, as before, with stories of poor health after seeing the picture, but there were also those who wrote about the evil that came from it. Others demanded to simply burn it. Even the Ed and Lorraine Warrens, known for exorcising demons at the Amitville House in 1979, offered him services. Some even recalled the famous murder of Satillo in the forested hills of California. The ghosts of the two children are said to haunt the house in the hills.
