Susan Hayward's Silk Dress

Origin
Susan Hayward was an award winning actress who starred in many great films - however, one film was and is still considered a large flop, and probably one of the most infamous ones. This movie, which Hayward co-starred in with the incomparable John Wayne, was called 'The Conqueror,' about the love and rise of the Mongol ruler, Genghis Khan, played by Wayne. Hayward played the princess Bortai, the daughter of the Tartar's leader.

Filmed in the Nevada desert, the harsh conditions of Mongolia were replicated by giant wind machines pushing the sand all over the film site, which absolutely coated everything. However, this movie would most likely have faded into Hollywood obscurity was it not for a strange phenomena that occurred.

Months after the premiere, director Dick Powell died of cancer. Several more months later, one of the actors, Pedro Armendariz, committed suicide after suffering from the same cancer. Over the next several decades, cast and crew of the film died of the same cancer, including Hayward and Wayne.

When Powell was looking for a film location, he had found that his particular batch of desert was near St. George, Utah, a city in close proximity to the Nevada Test Site for nuclear bombs. He had been assured that the location was safe, but it is generally believed that the cancer that claimed so many of 'The Conqueror's cast and crew was caused by nuclear fallout that had mixed with the desert.

Effects
When worn, this beautiful dress will whip up a frenzied sandstorm of red, radioactive sand. The user is slightly protected by this radiation, but if worn for too long or too extensively the user also succumbs to radiation poisoning.