This one has got legs...

'This one has got legs' the infamous words used by the then editor of The Sun Newspaper, Kelvin Mackenzie to describe the phenonemom of the curse of the crying boy.

My own parents inherited one of these portraits, and as a child I remember being fascinated by the myths and folklore that surrounded it. being a superstitious type, my mother was one of the thousands of anxious owners who sent their copy to The Sun newspaper for a mass bonfire.

I love the fact that the paranormal activity surrounding the portrait created such a stir in the UK and even made worldwide news as mass hysteria, generated mainly by the tabloid press, grew. Due to its history, I think it's fair to say the story of the Crying Boy belongs firmly to the nostalgic eighties era and working class Britain.

What the curse inadvertently does is explore human nature in its simplest literary form:- the need for storytelling, the desire to embellish facts and a craving to create legends. hence the well-documented 'eye witness' accounts that hold the portrait responsible for many deaths and supernatural occurrences as well s the mysterious house fires.