Thrifting can be a joyous pastime–a hobby that brings you dopamine and good deals, especially when you find rare steals. For some, it’s an accessible way to find essentials within your budget. For others, a cost-effective way to furnish your home.
Regardless of what you find, a good rule of thumb is always to wash or clean your thrift haul. After all, they can carry bacteria, a stain, or just smell funny after being in storage for so long. However, one TikToker claims that there is more to worry about than just pathogens when it comes to bringing home thrifted goods: evil.
What should you leave behind when thrifting?
In a viral clip, paranormal enthusiast Tati (@tatiscreepystories) shares the three things you should never buy at the thrift store.
“Here’s a list of items you should never purchase from a thrift store because they have a very high chance of carrying a lot of negativity or possibly being haunted,” Tati begins in her clip.
1. Weapons
Tati warns against buying “any sort of weapons” or knives.
“They typically carry a lot of violence or energy,” Tati claims. “You have no idea what they have been used for in the past.”
She alleges that the “energy” they carry can be linked to past crimes or past trauma. Because of these tools, she says one can have “horrible nightmares.”
2. Wedding dresses
The second item to leave at the thrift store is a wedding dress. Tati says if you buy a wedding dress, you’ll be “carrying the same luck” as the bride who wore it before.
“If the wedding dress is at a thrift store, the chance of it not working out is extremely high,” Tati claims. “Not to mention when you get married, your emotions are so high that you’re literally absorbing all of it.”
3. Rocking chairs
Tati’s last item on the list is rocking chairs. Specifically, antique rocking chairs.
“For whatever reason, ‘they’ love to sit in rocking chairs and [rock],” Tati says. “They’re the silent carriers of restless spirits that don’t have anything better to do than sit in the chair and rock.”
Tati claims the chairs are tied to grief and loneliness, so it’s best to leave it behind when vintage shopping.
Can objects be haunted?
While it is difficult to find official evidence to support Tati’s claims, both sides of the debate have anecdotes. Wearing used wedding dresses, for instance, is often thought to be bad luck. However, in a Reddit post on the r/WeddingsUnder10k subreddit, several users spurned this idea. According to many commenters, objects cannot hold luck or trauma.
“If you do want to believe that objects are somehow linked to the experiences people had in them, remember that LOTS of happily married people (myself included) sell their wedding dresses because it doesn’t really make sense to keep them,” one user wrote. “So you can definitely choose to believe you’re getting something with loads of happy memories attached.”
Scientific evidence may be hard to come by, but that doesn’t mean that the haunted objects subject gains any rest. Probably one of the most famous “haunted” objects in recent history, for instance, is the doll Annabelle. It inspired the movies in the Conjuring universe. The Raggedy Ann Doll made headlines this year when its handler was found dead in his hotel room. Rumors and speculations spread like wildfire about the cause of his demise. However, a People article shared that his death was a natural one and no “suspicious” activity was involved.
@tatiscreepystories Haunted items from the thrift store ?
♬ Suspense, horror, piano and music box – takaya
Viewers add their own no-buy thrifting items
Several of Tati’s viewers added other items to the list of things you should never buy at a thrift store.
One user claimed that mirrors contained negative energy as well, while one user listed baby carriages.
“Baby carriages, I slightly touched an antique one in a store and immediately started feeling unwell, my mom did & same happened,” they said. “My mom said, baby don’t worry we don’t need ur carriage.”
Others defended buying second-hand furniture and objects, potential hauntings be damned.
“In this economy, I will probably just befriend the ghosts,” one joked. A second user wrote, “To the people in the comments that are saying ‘don’t buy anything second handed’ dont you know that are people that, well, dont have money to get the new ones? or collectors, or maybe, idk, have you heard of climatic crisis and the amount of waste in rivers? purchasing everything new is still a privilege,” they wrote, adding a disclaimer that they have nothing against Tati.
The Mary Sue reached out to Tati via email for comment.
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