How Cursed Films Explains Why April May Not Be a Cursed Month

April has definitely seen its share of tragedies. Does it mean it’s cursed? I used to think so, but Cursed Films explained why that’s unlikely.

Last year fellow writer Keith Langston introduced me to Shudder’s five-part series. If you haven’t seen it and are a horror movie cinephile, I highly recommend it. (And if you don’t have Shudder, it’s worth utilizing their seven-day free trial to watch the series, which doesn’t take long to binge. Each episode is only 30 minutes long.)

The Black Magician

One thing that has gnawed at me ever since I watched was what black magician E.A. Koetting had to say about curses in the second episode, which focused on whether the movie The Omen was a cursed film or not.

Koetting pondered, “Is it possible for a film set or a film production to be cursed?”

He then went on to explain, “From a black magician’s standpoint, this is a tricky question because for the most part, in order for there to be an actual curse, you have to have somebody on the other end of it pushing that curse. Another black magician is trying to harm somebody through that curse. For example, Satanists who might not like films mocking their religion.”

Talk about a lightbulb moment.

Curses Are Active, Not Passive

Curses don’t just happen. Someone has to make them happen. Someone has to want to negatively influence a person, place, or situation. Energy has to be invested in the creation of that adverse outcome.

Basically, curses are cast with a purpose.

I’d never really thought about it like that before. I’d just taken it for granted that if someone said something was cursed, it was, with no thought as to how or why it had become cursed. I just figured it magically happened. Which I guess is true, if someone has actively cast such a spell. But curses don’t spontaneously happen.

Worse, I’d casually thrown around the term “cursed” like I did when I’d speculated that April might be a cursed month.

“Tons of bad things have happened in April. It must be cursed!”

Nope. That’s not how curses work or what makes something cursed.

Did someone curse April?

Possibly, but likely? Not very.

I now believe I fell victim to a case of clustering, apophenia, and confirmation bias.

Which is to say that sure, I noticed a bunch of major tragedies all had April dates (clustering), so I determined there was a meaningful connection there (apophenia), and I sought out evidence to back up my perception (confirmation bias).

But thanks to Cursed Films I now view things in a different light.

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