The Dybbuk Box has become something of a legend in the approximately 20 years since Kevin Mannis first made the infamous post on eBay, chronicling events that occurred around the wine cabinet and where he claimed the cabinet came from. The legend of the box has continued to grow with each owner, resulting in at least one book, movies, and it now sits in Zak Bagans haunted museum in Las Vegas. The events surrounding the box have continued to be documented, but speculation follows it. Is the box really cursed, or are people just noticing more bad things because of the legend surrounding it(Moss)(Rasmussen)(Mayehm)(Buchberger)(Namaste)?
We’ll start with the first question many have: what is a Dybbuk? If you have never explored folklore or did not grow up with Jewish traditions around folklore and mysticism, it is likely you have only ever heard of the dybbuk in connection with the Dybbuk Box and the various pieces of media that have cropped up since the original post. According to Jewish folklore, a dybbuk is the disembodied spirit of a human that has been cast out of their body due to sins and left to either wander for eternity or until a new vessel is found. If one were to become possessed by a dybbuk, it was said they must have committed some secret sin that opened their soul up to the dybbuk. Only a Rabbi can perform an exorcism on someone possessed by a dybbuk and can redeem the soul. Tikkun, or restoration, can be performed by the Rabbi through transmigration or they can force the Dybbuk into Hell. The New Testament refers to the dybbuk as an “unclean spirit.” The origins can be followed to Germany and Poland, appearing in 17th-century Jewish literature. It was referred to as dibbuk me-ru’ah ra’ah, or “a cleavage of an evil spirit,” and dibbuk min ha-hizonim, “dibbuk from the outside.” There is no mention of a dybbuk in the Kabbalah or in talmudic literature. The first reports of dybbuks were seen as demonic, evil entities that possessed the sick, and mental illness can be connected to possession by one. Later definitions of dybbuk described them as spirits of people who were not laid to rest and became demons(Buchberger)(Dibbuk (dybbuk)).
According to the original poster, Kevin Mannis, he bought the wine cabinet in 2001 from the granddaughter of a deceased Holocausr survivor. Mannis, who was in his 30s at the time, wrote in his original post that the original owner was a 103-year old Holocaust survivor named Havela, who grew up in Poland. Havela had brought three items to the country when she immigrated, including the wine cabinet. Her granddaughter sold Mannis the wine cabinet, warning him that bad things would occur if he were to open it. Despite her warnings, Mannis had been looking for items for his furniture refurbishing business and planned to refurbish the cabinet. Inside the wine cabinet, Mannis found several objects. He found two United States wheat pennies, one from 1925 and one from 1928, two locks of human hair, a dried rosebud, a four-legged candlestick, a golden cup, and a granite sculpture with the Hebrew word Shalom inscribed on it. An important Jewish prayer, the Shema, was inscribed on the back of the cabinet(Moss)(Rasmussen)(Mayehm)(Buchberger)(Namaste).
Mannis gave the cabinet to his mother as a gift, but soon came back into possession of it. His mother has described feeling a wind hitting her when she opened it before being overwhelmed by an evil feeling and suffering a stroke. Mannis took the cabinet back after his mother told him, through a letter board, that the gift was evil. He gifted the cabinet to his sister for a brief period of time, during which time she described the cabinet opening and closing by itself. From there, the cabinet was then taken in by his brother and sister-in-law, who described unusual smells. While his brother described the smell as being that of jasmine flowers, his wife claimed to smell cat urine. Mannis and his siblings and in-law all claimed to have experienced the same nightmare of an old woman with sunken eyes. He gave the box to his then-girlfriend, who also experienced the nightmares, asking that she sell it for him. She sold the box to a middle-aged couple who left the box sitting outside his shop three days later with a note claiming the box “has a bad darkness.” After the return of the box, Mannis began to see what he describes as shadow figures or creatures in his home that visitors also saw. He moved the cabinet to an outside storage unit, but was alerted to a problem by smoke alarms. When he checked the storage unit, there was no smoke to be found and his house was filled with the smell of cat urine. He brought the cabinet back into his house after this and did some more research on what could be happening. That night, he woke at 4:30 in the morning to the feeling of someone breathing on his neck and the smell of jasmine flowers. He also described seeing a shadow figure in the hall. Mannis also blamed the suicides of one of his employees and their brother on the cabinet, stating that the brother touched the box shortly before his death. These suicides have not been verified(Moss)(Rasmussen)(Mayehm)(Buchberger)(Namaste).
In September 2001, the original eBay post appeared on the website detailing the experiences Mannis had with the cabinet. The post, originally spelling it “dibbuk” instead of “dybbuk,” is the first mention of a dybbuk box known. A student in MIssouri, Losif Nietzke, bought the cabinet originally before eventually listing it again in 2003, the listing detailing his own experiences including car trouble, hair loss, and strange smells. From there, Jason Haxton bought it and the legend surrounding the Dybbuk Box grew. Haxton was the Director of the Museum of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Missouri, and was interested in antiques. The Dybbuk Box caught his curiosity and he bought it for $280. Haxton described the cabinet feeling like liquid when he touched it as well as feeling a stabbing pain in his stomach that made him feel paralyzed. The cabinet came to him with the original contents described by Mannis, as well as with what he described as a “tidal wave of bad luck.” Haxton claims to have seen strange lights and shadows while he owned the cabinet and experienced an anti-aging effect. He enlisted paranormalists, wiccans, scientists, and kabbalists, followers of the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah, to help explain everything around the cabinet. While Haxton claims not to have believed the stories, saying he’s too “science-based,” he eventually called in his Rabbi for help dealing with the cabinet. His Rabbi advised placing the box in a gold-lined wooden container that was meant to negate the evil of the spirit possessing the box. Haxton himself seems to believe that the cabinet is possessed by a neutral force that plays off how people interact with it(Moss)(Rasmussen)(Mayehm)(Buchberger)(Namaste).
Haxton would publish a book in 2011 detailing his experiences with the cabinet, including random instances of choking, bleeding eyes, and the same recurring nightmare Mannis wrote about. “The Possession,” one of three movies based on the Dybbuk Box, came out in 2012 with both Haxton and Mannis involved. The strange things surrounding the box continued – the director claimed strange things, like an unlit light exploding or props destroyed in a mysterious fire, happened during production. The legend of the cabinet has grown and become commercial – you can purchase alleged Dybbuk Boxes on websites like eBay and Etsy now. Haxton sold the cabinet to Ghost Adventures host, Zak Bagans, in 2016, leading to the cabinet’s current home in Bagans’ Haunted Museum where you have to sign a waiver to see it. Bagans would open the box on Ghost Adventures: Quarantine in 2020. He claimed to have heard two words, “Kevin,” possibly referring to Mannis, and “evil” followed by the sound of a child’s voice. The show also claimed to have caught what looked like a figure inside the cabinet while it was open. Post Malone made news after supposedly being cursed by the cabinet after touching Bagans while he was touching the cabinet. He experienced several instances blamed on the Dybbuk Box: his private plane was forced to make an emergency landing, he got in a car accident, and his home was broken into(Moss)(Rasmussen)(Mayehm)(Buchberger)(Namaste).
Come 2019, people began questioning the story of the Dybbuk Box – was this real, or was it simply an urban legend surrounding an object? Moss found a post from October 2015 from Kevin Mannis that states:
“I am the original creator of the story of The Dibbuk Box which appeared as one of my Ebay posts back in 2003. The idea that dibbuk boxes have some kind of history prior to my story, and the idea that a dibbuk box could contain anything other than a dibbuk, along with any deviation to the type of contents I created to be found inside of a dibbuk box is laughable at best. How about this- if you or anyone else can find any reference to a Dibbut [sic] Box anywhere in history prior to my Ebay post, I’ll pay you $100,000.00 and tattoo your name on my forehead.”
Another post under the Reddit User Mannistar stated:
“There were only 10 authentic and original Dybbuk Boxes created ever. The term Dybbuk Box was never used [or] known prior to 2001. I was the original owner. You may contact me and ask any questions you might have. Answers about Dybbuk Boxes, my experience with them, or anything related from anyone else are probably a bunch of crap.”
After finding this post, Moss was able to contact Mannis and get an interview regarding the history of the Dybbuk Box according to him(Moss).
Mannis explained during the interview that while the dybbuk was an actual part of Jewish folklore, the box was not. He told Moss that the Dybbuk Box was in itself an oxymoron, as dybbuk’s didn’t live in boxes. The interview continued into the history of the cabinet, Mannis claiming at the time that the term Dybbuk Box came directly from the granddaughter of the Holocaust survivor selling the cabinet to him back in 2001. He further claimed he did not make it all up and continued to stumble over his words and change subjects quickly. Moss, also of Jewish heritage, found common ground with Mannis, who is also Jewish, and the two spent an hour discussing their heritage and folklore in Jewish traditions. Mannis later messaged Moss on Facebook about how nice it was to talk, leading Moss to theorize that Mannis wanted them to keep prodding him for the truth. Eventually Moss called Mannis on his story, and Mannis admitted that the Dybbuk Box became exactly what he, a creative writer, intended: an interactive horror story. Mannis actually bought the cabinet from an attorney, not the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, and did the carvings himself. Mannis put the objects found inside into the box, and the hair came from a friend, Matthew “Shaggy” Christensen, who confirmed that the hair was his. Christensen told Moss that Mannis had been struggling financially at the time and came up with a story he knew would sell. Mannis’ mother did actually have a stroke after opening the cabinet when it was gifted to her on Halloween, however, and appeared on the television show Paranormal Witness in what Mannis described as an outstanding bit of motherly support. Over the years, Mannis has added more to the lore of the Dybbuk Box to keep it growing. He gave Zak Bagans a smaller Dybbuk Box and told him there were 10 hidden throughout the world, telling Bagans a story about a group of Jewish women, including the survivor he claimed owned the cabinet originally and a woman named Sophie, summoning the dybbuk to help fight the Nazis during the second world war. According to the story Mannis told, the women could not control the dybbuk. Havela believed the dybbuk was responsible for all the bad things that happened in the 20th century, including the Korean War, and the women captured it in 10 boxes that were then hidden to keep it apart. At the time, Mannis told Bagans that they had a total of eight of the boxes between them, with Mannis having six in his possession and Bagans having two. Two more, according to this story, were still hidden somewhere around the world. Moss was able to get into contact with Bagans, who claimed countless documented experiences with the cabinet. He detailed experiences of guests that required EMT escorts from the museum after seeing the cabinet and believes, regardless of the origins of the Dybbuk Box, that there is more to the box than just a story(Moss) (Namaste).
So, is the Dybbuk Box real? According to Mannis, he made up the story to be an interactive horror story, but the experiences people have had around the box lead many to still believe the cabinet is possessed. Haxton, who seemingly benefitted the most from the story, believes that Mannis cursed the cabinet using Kabbalah, though Mannis denies these allegations. Mannis claims to have told Haxton after he bought the Dybbuk Box on eBay that it was fake, as well as the original buyer who has seemingly become a ghost online. Haxton and Mannis seem to have developed a bit of a rivalry. While Mannis is the original author, he was not the one who wrote the book that led to movie deals, nor did he own the box the longest as Haxton did. Haxton seems to believe that Mannis is jealous of his success with the story. Despite this rivalry and Mannis’ confession, Mannis does believe some of the experiences described around the cabinet. He, Haxton and Bagans all experienced sewer-related issues while owning the cabinet and he and Haxton both had technical issues while doing radio interviews(Moss)(Namaste).
The dybbuk can be traced to Isaac Luria, a mystic from the 16th century. Luria spoke of the dybbuk in relation to his ideas on the transmigration of souls and his followers would be the ones to build on the dybbuk with the possibility of possession. Stories of the dybbuk have been around for centuries, however, there are no known mentions of dybbuk boxes before Mannis’ post, and Mannis himself has offered a substantial reward for anyone who can find mention of one before his post. If there is a substantial history and lore associated with the dybbuk, but not dybbuk boxes, what could be happening around these boxes? One suggested theory is poltergeists. Poltergeists are known for causing various kinds of mischief including moving objects in homes and making loud noises. It is theorized by some that poltergeist activity is caused by the high emotions of people experiencing traumatic events. If people interacting with the cabinet are expecting something frightening and experiencing the fear of unknown forces, it can result in extreme emotions that could potentially cause the experiences chronicled (Buchberger).
Another proposed explanation is a tulpa. A tulpa is essentially an entity brought into existence by the belief in it. The 1972 Philip Experiment tested the possibility, though a true test of something like a tulpa cannot be done, by making up what was essentially a ghost story about a man named Philip Aylesford. His life was detailed: he was a 17th century Englishman who cheated on his wife. His mistress, named Margo, was burned at the stake after being accused of witchcraft by his wide and he died by suicide in 1654. To make the story seem more real, the storytellers took pictures of the place in England they claimed he came from and one member drew a picture. The participants were asked to attempt to make contact with the made up ghost and the interactions they claimed to experience were observed and documented. Nothing of note happened until 1973, when “Philip” began to use tapping to communicate with the participants. They would ask questions of him and he would answer, including questions of historical events, and he began moving objects as well. Eventually “Philip” began “chasing” people with the table they used and turning the lights on and off. He even made the table levitate. When the group took a break in summer 1974, members claimed to experience poltergeist-like activity in their homes. This activity reportedly stopped when the group began meeting up again. The researchers hypothesized that perhaps the combined energy of all the participants focusing on the story and entity of Philip had allowed him to come into existence. If the participants expected something to happen and attributed anything they saw to the ghost, the same can be said of people who interacted with the dybbuk box (Buchberger)(Pfeifle).
Rasmussen, Aaron. “Haunted Dybbuk Box Won on EBay Caused New Owner ‘Tidal Wave of Bad Luck’.” Travel Channel, 14 June 2021, https://www.travelchannel.com/interests/haunted/articles/haunted-dibbuk-won-on-ebay-causes-bad-luck.
Mayhem, Marquis. “The True Story of the Dybbuk Box and Where It Is Now.” Exemplore, Exemplore, 2 Aug. 2022, https://exemplore.com/paranormal/The-Dibbuk-Box-Where-is-it-Now.
Buchberger, Anton J. “The Dybbuk Is Grounded in Jewish Folklore, but the Dybbuk Box? That’s Another Story.” The Superstitious Times, 29 Jan. 2022, https://www.superstitioustimes.com/the-dybbuk-is-grounded-in-jewish-folklore-but-the-dybbuk-box-thats-another-story/.
Moss, Charles. “Finally, the Truth behind the ‘Haunted’ Dybbuk Box Can Be Revealed.” Input, Input, 8 July 2021, https://www.inputmag.com/features/dybbuk-box-dibbuk-kevin-mannis-zak-bagans-haunted-hoax-revealed.
Dibbuk (Dybbuk), The Jewish Virtual Library, https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/dibbuk-dybbuk.
Pfeifle, Tess. “The Philip Experiment.” Astonishing Legends, Astonishing Legends, 12 Oct. 2020, https://www.astonishinglegends.com/astonishing-legends/2020/10/12/the-philip-experiment.Namaste, Justice. “Infamous Haunted Box May Not Actually Be All That Haunted.” Jezebel, Jezebel, 9 July 2021, https://jezebel.com/infamous-haunted-box-may-not-actually-be-all-that-haunt-1847256995.
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