iStockphoto
A woman opened a mystery letter addressed to the previous owner of her home.
A mom living in Canada shared the contents of a disturbing envelope that was addressed to her home’s long-deceased prior owner. Rachel (@hickory_homestead) posted about the envelope on TikTok, and she’s either launching a heck of a viral media campaign, or she’s on the receiving end of a gnarly black magic attempt.
The creepy story begins with a photo giving some background information on the homeowner’s situation.
“My fiancé bought our house in 2008. The previous owner died 19 years ago,” it reads. Since this man had been dead for so long, the couple’s internal alarm bells started ringing when they received a letter addressed to the long-deceased individual.
“So you can imagine our confusion when an envelope showed up addressed to this guy,” she penned.
This next portion of the story accompanies a photo of the envelope in question. Rachel covers up the piece of paper with her hand, blocking the address written on it along with the purportedly dead gentleman’s name. The envelope does have a stamp on it. It could indicate it was mailed and not directly dropped off at the home. However, this silver lining is quickly lost when one sees that there is no postmark on the envelope.
Now, here’s where things get Buffalo Bill from “Silence of The Lambs”-ish. You, the reader, are probably wondering what was inside the envelope that makes this story so terrifying.
A locket containing a picture of a nun with hollowed-out eyes wearing an upside-down cross? A severed finger? Printed out “My Little Pony“ fan-fiction written by a grown man?
No, it’s worse than that.
What Was Inside The Envelope?
Rachel writes, “Inside? A bag of fake nails. Not new fake nails. Used fake nails.”
Following this, Rachel shows off what else was inside the envelope. A small sheet of paper reads a woman’s name: Leah Chantelle. It appears she’s advertising her services as an “Intuitive Relationship Coach.” She even provided URL links to her social media channels as well as her personal email account.
This prompted the woman who received this letter to ask: “Why are people mailing used fake nails? And why did these ones get sent to a man who has been dead for 19 years?”
Folks who scrolled through Rachel’s post were equal parts unsettled and dubious. One person highlighted a small detail about the fake nails.
“OK so those nails have nails attached to them,” they wrote.
Someone else strongly recommended that the mom reach out to local authorities and report this mailing. They said, “I would actually be going to the police, this feels weirdly sinister.”
Another echoed, “This feels like it could be connected to a crime.”
However, others thought something else potentially was going on with the mystery envelope. Namely, that this is all an elaborate social media marketing stunt.
“Me as a marketing girly wondering if this is a marketing tactic to get people to follow Leah Chantelle relationship coach,” one said. This wouldn’t be surprising. After all, throngs of unsuspecting clout chasers made themselves look like mannequin-dorks to promote streams of this easily-forgotten track.
But What If It’s Real?
Folks do love tales of horror these days. It’s why a film like “Obsession” put butts in seats, or “Backrooms“ actually enticed people to spend money to watch it. Social media stories with spooky/paranormal themes can blow up and captivate audience attention. Even in instances like this video from a purportedly haunted realtor showing, that staged activity is highly likely.
But let’s entertain the idea that whoever sent these nails did so authentically, and Rachel did get these from a stranger. Why would someone address false nails to a dead person? What almost immediately comes to mind is the practice of “Contagious Magic,” which is a term that was notably delineated by Sir James George Frazer in his book, “The Golden Bough.”
This type of magic relies on personal items, artifacts, relics, and even body parts that have been in physical contact with a person. The belief is that these items hold some kind of energetic connection to them, even from beyond the grave.
Is This Grave Magic?
These items are often called taglocks or personal concerns, which include teeth, hair, nail clippings, clothes, vials of blood, or a person’s handwriting to use in contagious magic. Since these fake nails can collect dead skin cells, they could be bound to whoever they’ve been sent to.
So, what if the person these nails were addressed to came into contact with the dead? And this Leah Chantelle is attempting to rouse him from the dimension he’s currently in? Maybe she was a past lover of his and scratched him with those fake nails? Or maybe the man wore them once upon a time?
Or, this could be an example of necromancy and grave magic. You take an item from the living and offer it up to the dead in exchange for those services. What those services are, however, is the real question.
BroBible has reached out to Leah Chantelle via Instagram direct message to see if she’s cooking up a nefarious plot. We’ve also contacted Rachel via TikTok direct message for further comment.