Cursed Alchemist's Basement in Prague and the Mirror That Broke My Coworker

Okay I wasn't going to post this but it's been years and I still think about it.

Prague's Old Town has this thing where centuries-old secret passages run under buildings tourists walk over every single day without knowing. One of those buildings is called "U Dubu 7." 16th century alchemist's mansion. Supposedly his last experiment is still down there. Unfinished.

In 2019 I was in Czech Republic filming a documentary on historical artifacts. Our local guide brought up the building and I was like... okay yes obviously we're going in. We got permission from the owner and everything, very official, very "this is fine."

The staircase going down was narrow and curved. Stone. We get to the bottom and it just... hits you. The smell first. Musty and metallic all at once. Then you see the room and it's FULL of stuff. Metal pots, glass flasks, these round lenses. All just sitting there like the guy stepped out for coffee and never came back.

But the mirror. The MIRROR.

Not even technically a mirror, more like a window with a silver surface. Big. Dead center of the room. There's a chair positioned right in front of it and if you sat down, you couldn't see your own reflection. Nothing. Just the silver surface.

But take one step back.

Something appears. Not you. A silhouette. Upside down. And then it slowly raises its head.

My coworker stood in front of it too long. I don't even know how long exactly, I looked away for a second and then he just. Collapsed. We dragged him out and he didn't wake up for days.

When he finally came to, he kept saying the same thing over and over.

"I wasn't supposed to be here. Give me back."

He said it. He said it. HE KEPT SAYING IT.

A few days later we found his notepad. He'd written something in it.

"The mirror is a window. The window becomes a door. The door is me."

Czech authorities sealed the basement completely after that. There's a specific area south of Prague Castle that's still closed to tourists. No official reason given.

But every once in a while, someone files a report about seeing a person living inside the mirror.

And I don't look at mirrors the same way anymore.