The Love letters painting is dubbed one of the most haunted paintings in the world and is most known for its history connected to Austins Driskill Hotel.
The story goes that a young girl of 4 named Samantha Houston chased her ball down the grand stairs and tripped and fell to her death. People think that this painting was then hung up on the fifth floor of the hotel as a tribute to her.
The truth is, this isn’t Samantha at all, this painting was a modern day replica of by Richard King of a work entitied ”Love Letters” actually painted by Charles Trevor Garland (1855-1906). It is quite possible that the painting may have been brought because the little girl in the picture looked like Samantha but it most certainly isn’t her at all.
When this picture was hung up on the fifth floor of the hotel, people reported feeling dizzy around the painting, nauseous and having strange sensations like being lifted off the ground. Others have said that the girl in the painting has tried to communicate with them and her expression changes.
Another haunting tale associated to this painting is that the Artist Charles Trevor Garland painted the original painting after seeing a little girl who was holding flowers and a letter for her father who was a soldier in the American Civil War and her father never returned. This story is also most likely not true because Garland was British and only 10 years old when the war ended.
It would seem people have been trying to pin a haunting story on this painting for years but why…? have many experience things with replicas they have had in their possession over the years?
and where is the original? – I can not find where the original Love letter painting is.
Reports from people who have came to us regarding this painting!
Myself and another went to a antiques shop in 2016 to look for potential items that we felt may have an energy to them.
I passed this picture and immediately I felt that there was a story to tell about this painting. I felt extremely drawn to it. At this point, I had never seen this picture before and at this point I decided to google ‘little girl holding flowers painting’. When I did I was shocked to see the story as stated above on a haunted history site. At this point, I thought this was just a replica of that painting located at Austins Driskill Hotel, but we decided to buy it anyways because of the feeling I had towards it.
I went home and left the picture with a fellow investigator I had been to the antiques shop with and thought nothing more of it. That week I had purchased a huge devils toy box and we had been monitoring to see if anything had appeared in it. It hadn’t, only the burn I did on the upper mirror because I had decided to put a candle in the box and shut it up (silly me). After about a hour of being at home, I received a message from this investigator stating that a question mark had appeared in the Devils Toy box and it wasn’t there earlier, it had only since appeared since the love letter painting was brought into the room!
Weeks passed and nothing really happened with that specific painting but a lady contacted to say that her grandma had this painting and she felt the painting was making her grandma poorly. She stated that her grandma would get up in the night and start talking to the painting and her grandma reported that the painting was bad. Her grandma had a stroke during this time and the family all thought it may have had something to do with the Painting. They wanted the Painting gone and offered to send it to us, which we accepted.
A few months later, some of the team at the time did a Horrorcon convention and a lady came to the stall to say she had this specific painting and she had never liked it and she too believed it caused her mum to have strokes. At this point we asked the lady to document it this in writing for us.
I now own 2 of the 3 of these paintings. The one I felt drawn to and the last one given to us at the Horrorcon convention.
Myself, I have experienced nothing with them up to yet but….
The whole reason I have researched this painting is because there is vast amounts of people who I have seen comment on posts and articles about this painting which as interested me over the years.
Many who have owned this painting report it as creeped them out when they entered a room its been in. Some have reported it gave them nothing but bad luck as soon as it entered the house and when they removed it the bad luck seem to go.
One lady stated in our group today that it also creeped her out, her kids hated it and the events that occurred around it, stressed her out that much she blames her current health condition on it. She stated she hated it and binned it and never wanted to see another again.
Another lady private messaged me who wished to not be named therefore can not show the full conversation, stated that when this painting entered the house purchased from a carboot sale,3-4 weeks later family members started to pass.
She then stated that it was removed from the house after her grandad who also had a stroke when it was present, passed from cancer and since then all as been ok.
Even when researching the artist, I came across a comment.
So what are my thoughts
I think the reports of it are very similar to the well known ‘Crying Boy Picture’, again the reports with these pictures were only reports that came from replicas of the originals. With the ‘Crying boy’ picture the main report was house fires and that is classed as a cursed painting and most house holds wouldnt have one in.
With love letters the main report for this picture in the public eye is that at the Austins Driskill Hotel deeming that this is the only painting that has something about it…but with what ive seen and from what people have come forward to say, I have to disagree and I have to say I think it could be the actual image of the girl that could have something about it and it may even be cursed like the crying boy image legend.
Have you ever been anywhere where this picture has been? Have you ever experienced anything around it. Please let us know.
Paranormal Hauntings 
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