A plain wooden chair. A Yorkshire murder. And a warning that has followed one object for generations.

In North Yorkshire, inside Thirsk Museum, a chair hangs suspended safely out of reach. According to local legend, anyone who sits in it will meet a sudden and untimely death. Its story is tied to Thomas Busby, a man executed in 1702 for the murder of his father-in-law, Daniel Auty, near Sandhutton crossroads.

For years, the chair was kept at the Busby Stoop Inn, where locals, travellers, and sceptics could see it for themselves. Around it grew stories of dares, accidents, wartime deaths, strange coincidences, and warnings too persistent to ignore. Some accounts are rooted firmly in history. Others live in that darker space between folklore, pub memory, and local dread.

In this episode of Dark Matters, we examine the real murder behind the legend, the cursed reputation of Busby’s chair, its removal to Thirsk Museum, and the uncomfortable question at the centre of every cursed object story: when does ordinary furniture become something people are genuinely afraid to touch?

A real execution. A haunted inn. A chair lifted out of reach. And a legend that still asks whether some objects carry more than age, wood, and memory.

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