In A Haunting Relic From America’s Past, Wright Thompson describes his encounter with the Army-issued pistol that was used to beat and murder 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955. Thompson located the gun while writing a book about the context and legacy of that murder. Subsequently, the person who had inherited it—a local crop duster—donated it to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, where it just went on permanent display.

Thompson describes the menacing energy the gun emanates, viewed in person. He quotes multiple museum employees expressing similar sentiment.

Goodwin met the pilot for the handoff. The gun came wrapped in a rag inside a plastic Kroger shopping bag. Goodwin held it. He wished he hadn’t. That night he struggled to sleep.

As a lifelong enjoyer of fantasy books and games, it humbled me to encounter this description of a specific gun that radiates an actively hateful aura: an actual, real-life cursed weapon. One powered not by evil wizardry, but human-scale horror, and hate.

I first read this article on my phone while on jury duty, last week. The text moved me, while its illustration on my tiny screen seemed unremarkable. Returning to write this entry now, I have the story opened on my desktop display, and I find that the full-sized photograph of the gun and its holster absolutely radiates some of that malice. I feel it in my spine, and I reflect on why that’s so.