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When Max, who lives in Croatia near the capital city of Zagreb, reset his computer, he wasn't prepared for what happened next, finding himself facing a seemingly "cursed" experience.
Facing technical issues on his computer, Max decided to restart it. Upon rebooting, he said the printer in another room unexpectedly sprang to life, churning out three pages of something rather unusual.
"After it turned back on, my printer started printing black pages with serial killers," Max told Newsweek.
Black sheets of paper featuring images of notorious serial killers, including Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, and Jeffrey Dahmer, appeared from the printer.
Perplexed, Max swiftly cut the power to the printer and assumed the strange incident was a result of malware or an unauthorized connection. After searching online for "ink waster malware" and other possible solutions, he found no evidence of malware on the computer and turned to Reddit for answers.
"At first, I was annoyed by this bug or prank," said Max. "It looked like someone tried to prank me by wasting my ink or that some neighbor was a weirdo who saw my printer and connected to it."
"Still, the thing was also a bit creepy since all [of the] pictures of killers were of them depicted as kids, and words were in my local language listing all crimes they did," he added. Those words included Kanibal (cannibal), Ubojica (killer), and Kultist (cultist).
Posting a picture to the r/Weird subreddit, Max wrote: "I restarted my computer. After it turned back on my printer started printing black pages with serial killers."
Fellow Redditors offered various suggestions, including what he had already suspected—the possibility of a neighbor playing a prank or a hacker gaining access to the printer.
He soon learned the truth.
When his sister arrived home, she told him that she had tried to print similar images a week prior for an art project. The printer had jammed, leaving the job incomplete, and Max's sister had abandoned the effort.
Relieved to have an explanation, Max shared the resolution on Reddit. Despite providing a clear answer, some Redditors continued to speculate and debate the story's authenticity, perpetuating the mystique surrounding the so-called "curse."
"People were having fun with the post joking about printers [so] I left it on and just explained to everyone that solution was found," he said. "But most people didn't see my explanation and are still talking about [how they] are spooked out by [the] cursed printer."
About the writer
Alice Gibbs is a Newsweek Senior Internet Trends & Culture Reporter based in the U.K. For the last two years ... Read more