May 8, 2026 • 50 mins
Join The Wizard of Weird as he discusses one of the most famous dolls around, its demands, and why you can’t even take a picture of him without asking permission!!!!!!
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the iHeartRadio and Coast to Coast AM paranormal
podcast network. Now get ready for us Strange Things with
Joshua P.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Warn Welcome to our podcast. Please be aware the thoughts
and opinions expressed by the host are their thoughts and
opinions only and do not reflect those of iHeartMedia, iHeartRadio,
Coast to Coast AM, employees of premier networks, or their
(00:30):
sponsors and associates. We would like to encourage you to
do your own research and discover the subject matter for yourself. Yeah,
(00:56):
ready to.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Be by the Wizard of Weird. This is Strange Thing
with Joshua E. Warren. I am Joshua FE Warren, and
each week on this show, I'll be bringing in brand
new my blowing content, news exercises, and weird experiments you
(01:18):
can do at home, and a lot more on this
edition of the show. Don't Play with Robert the Haunted Doll.
In twenty ten, I visited Key West, Florida for the
first time. I flew down from North Carolina by myself,
(01:39):
specifically to have my first encounter with Robert the Haunted Doll.
I would spend numerous days and nights with Robert to
produce international radio reports for Coast to Coast AM. I
ended up discovering something that I believe had never been
discovered before, and when I returned home, I wrote this
(02:02):
short book about my experiences. It's called Don't Play with Robert,
the World's Most Haunted Doll, and it's currently available as
a PDF download in the Curiosity Shop of my website,
Joshua Pwarren dot com. Now, although my book came out
in twenty eleven, three years later in twenty fourteen, Florida
(02:27):
author David L. Sloane published his book called Robert the
Haunted Doll. The True Biography of Key West's Haunted Doll.
Now David is the authority on Robert, and his book
is the authoritative book and it's great. So if you
really want to dig into the most authentic historic details
(02:47):
of the Robert story, I highly recommend you read the
book by David L. Sloane. What I'm about to read
to you is simply my personal account of my experiences
from my first strip down there and what the people
I encountered told me. Now, I may pause once in
a while to add some updated commentary, and I may
(03:10):
add it out some parts in the interest of time.
But altogether here is the story of my amazing personal adventure.
Here is Don't Play with Robert, the World's most Haunted Doll. Introduction.
The moment I first saw a photo of Robert the Doll,
(03:32):
I knew I had to meet him. He now lives
in the Fort East Martello Museum in Key West, Florida.
I hopped on an airplane and what I discovered in
my investigation was amazing. You will learn all about Robert
in this book. There is something about his eyes. They
are coal black, and yet they shine like dull sapphires.
(03:57):
His face shows more than a century of wear, but
a youthful glow still surrounds his haggard, pockmarked skin. He
has a strange halo, bright at times and dark at others.
Perhaps that's the oddest thing. His face seems to change expressions.
(04:18):
No one can explain why this doll, around three feet tall,
poised in this chair with a toy lion, looks different
every day. Of course, some say they have seen him
move in an instant twitch, a leg or an arm.
I have spoken with those who are terrified of him
(04:40):
and those who love him as deeply as a son.
He is full of complexity and dare I say it life.
We shall start with how Robert began, and then you
will learn what I discovered as my journey with Robert,
the haunted doll wound into another dimension. Chapter one, The Curse.
(05:04):
This is a story that has been told many times.
It is difficult to know all the details, since no
journalist is present behind the closed doors of a private home,
but generally the residence of Key West will tell you
this about Robert. In nineteen o four, a four year
old boy named Eugene Otto was given a wondrous three
(05:26):
foot doll dressed like a little sailor. Eugene was the
only child of a wealthy family in Key West, and
the doll was made by their servant, a young woman
from Haiti. It has long been said the servant was
displeased with the family and placed a curse on the doll.
She perhaps even took sprigs of little Eugene's blonde hair
(05:47):
and stitched them in the back of the skull, but
she may have used even more of the little boy.
Eugene's first name was Robert, and so he called the
door Robert, a mirror of himself. The young child became
eerily and unhealthily attached to the doll. He would not
(06:08):
separate from Robert. Eugene talked to the doll all the time,
and his parents became unnerved to hear a weird voice
speaking back. Neighbors began to claim Robert was running around
the house passing by windows at night, and when Eugene misbehaved,
he would grin and utter Robert did it. These things
(06:33):
grew worse when Eugene screamed bloody murder in the night,
his parents rushing into the dark bedroom, finding furniture strewn about.
He was trying to kill me. Eugene would cry, terrified.
These situations endured throughout Eugene Otto's life, even as a
grown man, a successful painter who inherited the grand family
(06:57):
mansion at five point thirty four, Eaton s Robert. The
doll stayed at his side. His wife Anne almost divorced
him for a while. Robert was locked up in the attic,
and Eugene almost went mad. They could hear the doll's
footsteps above at night. The painter finally determined to treat
(07:19):
the doll better than his wife, devoting an entire bedroom
to Robert, complete with a small bed table and chairs.
Some claimed Anne would appear to be beaten from time
to time, and when confronted, Eugene said, I didn't do it,
Robert did it. When Eugene finally died in nineteen seventy four,
(07:43):
Anne quickly moved from the house and put it up
for sale. For years, it sat abandoned. Neighborhood children would
see Robert's silhouette moving by the attic windows sometimes during
that period of time. In nineteen seventy six, two brothers
in their early twenties became the caretakers of the home.
(08:04):
What they experienced horrified them. Chapter two, Robert on the Rampage.
After Anne Otto sold the house to a man named Bill,
he began a project to fix it up. Robert was
left inside as Anne wanted nothing to do with the doll.
(08:25):
When Bill needed to travel up north for a while,
he required a caretaker for the estate. The job was
given to his friend, a young lawyer named Lee Rowe.
More than happy to live in a mansion, Lee moved
in for a few months with his brother Richard. Lee
and Richard had the entire house at their disposal except
(08:46):
for one room, the master bedroom was to remain locked
at all times. However, the only phone in the house
was in that room, and as it turns out, the
very first night, Lee had to make an important phone call.
So the brothers slipped into the forbidden space. They quickly
(09:08):
realized there was another small room attached to that one.
Unable to resist his curiosity, Richard opened the door. What
he saw sent a shiver down his spine. There it
was quote this macab looking doll end quote he recalled
on my radio program in twenty ten. He said, quote
(09:31):
it was sitting in a rocking chair and just staring
at us. End. Quote. He went on to say, quote
it even had a mirror, which was real bizarre, and
the mirror was mounted down at a child's eye level.
After about five minutes, we got the feeling we weren't
welcome there at all. End quote. After that night, all
(09:52):
manner of mischief broke loose. Richard claimed that even thirty
four years later, he was still scared by what happened
to that house. Shortly thereafter, on a hot August night,
around midnight, a wave of clammy cold air suddenly filled
his bedroom. Unsettled and unable to sleep, Richard desperately exited
(10:14):
the room. He was surprised to find Lee in the hall,
armed with an old Civil War sword eye as big
as saucers. Did you hear the moaning and screaming coming
from the walls? Lee asked. They sat up the rest
of the night. The walls actually started to breathe, Richard said, quote.
(10:36):
I swear the walls looked like they were breathing in quote.
After sitting up for a while, they finally went back
to bed. Richard recalls they had the worst night of
sleep in their lives, full of nightmares and dark visions.
A few days later, as Richard cooked a chicken dinner,
he began hearing weird noises upstairs. He next found the
(10:59):
kitchen tablet in icy water. As he and Lee tried
to eat dinner, cold sulfur smelling water dripped from the
overhead chandelier. There was no plumbing overhead, so Richard considered
it quote another greeting from Robert end quote. Days later,
(11:20):
Lee had to make a call in the master bedroom.
As he spoke, the door to Robert's room suddenly swung open.
Lee yelled for Richard to come. The brothers stared in
awe as Robert rocked back and forth in his little
rocking chair, and they could not explain how the chair
(11:42):
moved so vigorously on its own all Right, time for
a break. If you like this show, well, I think
you know what to do. Go to Joshuapwarren dot com
and sign up from my free and spam free E
newsletter there on the homepage. Takes you two seconds. When
you do that, you put your email address in there,
(12:03):
you hit submit, and guess what, you will receive an
automated email from me instantly with all kinds of free
online goodies to help make your life much more magical.
And I also sometimes give away things that are pretty
darn amazing and I'll invite you to participate and experiments.
(12:24):
You'll get breaking news that you want hear about on
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you type that in, and just sign up for the
free E newsletter, and I hope you'll check out some
of the goodies and the curiosity shop that you won't
find anywhere else in the world. I promise you. I
(12:44):
am Joshua P. Warren and you're listening to Strange Things
on the iHeartRadio and Coast to Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network,
and I will be right back. Welcome back to Strange
(13:31):
Things of the iHeartRadio and Coast to Coast a M
Paranormal Podcast Network. I am your host, Joshua P. Warren,
the Wizard of Weird, beaming into your wormhole brain from
my studio in Sin City, Las Vegas, Nevada, where every
day is golden and every night of silver Jato Zume.
(13:53):
And now back to my story. Don't play with Robert,
the world's most haunted doll. On another occasion, Richard was
home alone and he was instantly unnerved to hear odd
noises upstairs, followed by the sound of running water. Richard
crept upstairs to find the old tub with claw foot
(14:14):
legs pouring icy water from a rickety faucet. Upon turning
it off, the hair is on the back of his
neck stood and he knew something unseen was looking at him.
As Richard and Lee began to tell others about their
experiences in the home, one friend, whom they called conk
sister Genie, said she didn't believe any of it. They
(14:38):
invited her over to meet Robert. Ever the skeptics, She
was at first nonchalant, and then Richard said, quote Robert
did his thing on her end quote. She ended up
running from the house, as he said, quote confused, babbling
in tongues like she was possessed. End quote. Efforts to
(15:01):
comfort her did no good. For a few days she
would not speak to the rose, and when they finally
talked to her again, she did not remember much about
that night, Richard said. The editor of a local newspaper
heard wind of the activity and came to see Robert
for himself. The brothers bet him fifty dollars he couldn't
(15:23):
stay at the doll's room every night. He only lasted
fifteen minutes. The editor left, repeating, quote it's too much,
it's too much. End quote. Out of six he had
somehow lost five roles of film, and of the remaining role,
only four or five blurred photos developed. Afterward, he vacationed
(15:45):
to Mexico, where his girlfriend died. After that, he descended
into drug addiction until his life ended. As the brothers
were experiencing such bizarre activity, the owner of the house,
Bill was enduring bad luck. According to Richard, when Bill
(16:06):
bought the house. He had a happy marriage, thriving business,
and a wonderful son. Bill was proud of his sailing ship,
the Wanderlust. Shortly after buying the mansion at five thirty
four Eton, he tragically lost his son in a boating accident,
and then Bill lost his wife in divorce. And despite
the millions of dollars they had to argue about, they
(16:27):
were ultimately squabbling over Robert the doll. At one point,
she even quote kidnapped Robert, but Bill was eventually able
to retrieve him. Quote I thought he was getting called
by the doll sometimes end quote. Richard said, Finally he
(16:48):
saw Robert move over time, he saw the legs crossed.
He came back later and saw them uncrossed. And then
he saw the arms move, and at one point the
right arm would be on the chair. Minutes later the
left arm would rest on the chair. He said, quote
it was like it was watching you, and the minute
you turned your back, it would move in quote. For
(17:10):
a while, Richard even slept with a table leg as
a weapon next to his head in case Robert might
appear in his room at night. Richard warned me sternly
against investigating Robert the Dall in person, He said, I
am concerned for you. Quote do you have a life
insurance policy when you go down there? Make sure you've
(17:33):
got that life insurance premium paid end quote. Lee Rowe
later told me that as he listened to my interview
with his brother, the electrical power along the main strip
and Key West went out. He also claimed he wrote
an article many years ago about Robert in a local newspaper.
(17:54):
He said shortly thereafter a screenwriter contacted him for more info,
and that screenwriter later wrote the script for the successful
horror film called Child's Play, featuring a sinister Chucky the Doll.
Chapter three, Robert's Town. After the brothers moved out, the
(18:18):
Auto mansion was eventually leased to a family with a
ten year old girl named Sarah. She was delighted to
find the enigmatic little man sitting quietly in the back room. Soon,
Robert was moved into her bedroom, where she played with
him constantly, much like young Eugene had so many decades before,
(18:39):
and the inevitable happened. One night, Sarah's parents awoke the
blood curdling screams in her bedroom. Frantically, they tore into
her room almost frozen with fear. Sarah sat starkly upright,
shrieking in horror. What's wrong? Her Panic parents stammered, He's
trying to kill me, She bawled. Whew, Robert, she sobbed,
(19:04):
pointing to the floor. There on the wooden boards lay Robert,
face down, almost as if he'd been crawling across the room.
Her parents snatched up the doll and locked him away
in a back closet. Even thirty years later, Sarah, as
a grown woman, swore that Robert had come alive that
(19:25):
night and attacked her. Over the years, the house at
five point thirty four Eaton Street passed through many hands.
Each time dealing with Robert and his strange history caused problems. Finally,
in nineteen ninety four, the owners of the home had enough.
They thought about tossing Robert and a garbage bin. However,
(19:47):
his history and eerie reputation was overpowering, so instead they
wisely donated him to his present home, the East Fort
Martello Museum at three five zero one South Roosevelt Boulevard.
It's a powerful brick structure constructed on the shore in
(20:07):
the mid eighteen hundreds. No one realized that he was
now on his way to becoming a bizarre king. In
the museum, Robert sat quietly in his chair, along with
his little stuffed lion. No one is sure why he
has a lion. It's believed that the autos were so
(20:28):
wealthy that trips to the zoo were a luxury. Maybe
a little Eugene loved the lions and perhaps even owned
a stuffed one himself, so Robert, his maritime counterpart, was
given the prop. Or maybe the servant who made Robert
was not in fact from Haiti but Africa and had
seen lions herself. No one can say for sure, but
(20:52):
altogether the doll with his lion was merely a curious sight.
For a long time, those who saw Robert felt an
odd magnetism around him, but no one could explain why.
Then a terrible hurricane swept through and the island of
Key West was evacuated. Everyone was worried about the museum,
(21:14):
knowing it was prone to flooding, As is most of
the island, it is only a few feet above sea level.
Once the floodwaters re seated enough, the museum staff worriedly
crept into the building, afraid to view the damage. They
were instantly disturbed to see several feet of dark water
(21:35):
standing on the antiquated floors, and when they finally waded
around to Robert's area, they were crushed. He was gone.
It seemed all was utterly lost. And then a lady
docent named Goody exclaimed, oh my god. Look. The staff
(21:56):
stared up in awe to find Robert the Doll hanging
and the tall wooden rafters of the room's ceiling. They
scrambled for a ladder. A staffer carefully climbed up to
retrieve him and slowly bring him back down. Everyone was bewildered.
Robert was unscathed, not even damp. They stared at each other, speechless.
(22:22):
Robert simply had a twinkle in his eyes. Little by little,
growing crowds of people came to visit Robert the Doll.
The sketchy story of his past was retold again and again,
embellished here and there, but things seemed calm for years.
Museum workers told of how he was used as a
(22:44):
scapegoat and everything was blamed on him. For seventy years
by Eugene, the momentum built until two thousand and four,
Robert's one hundredth birthday, When the community decided Robert should
go big time, they created a kind of blame it
(23:04):
on Robert Day as part of the Fantasy Fest, key
West's biggest celebration each October. Over the years, Robert was
put on display or paraded through streets around key West.
He was surrounded by merriment as rollicking partiers released all
their problems onto him. Over the years, thousands of people
(23:25):
screamed at him, still using him as a scapegoat, broadcasting
their most intense frustrations. Many wondered if this onslaught of
emotion was too much for the doll and since then
his energy has grown very serious. It seemed he'd had enough.
(23:47):
Now Robert demands respect, and if he doesn't get it,
bad luck will follow. Those who visit Robert now must
show extreme respect or afterward they are beset by strings
of bad luck. This is especially so if someone takes
his photo without first asking his permission. A lucky person
(24:12):
might simply endure a camera malfunction or a photo that
develops blank. But in worse cases, relationships end, cars crash, petstye,
fortunes vanish, and lives are ruined. The revenge of Robert
perhaps a reflection of all he absorbed is dire. He
(24:35):
has gained a new profound respect, and as the legend
of his aura spreads, thousands flock to sea in each year.
Yet now those who visit him are very humble, aware
of all those reckless souls who have stood before him.
When we come back, my investigation begins. How about you?
(24:57):
Would you go down there and spend some time malone
with Robert the Haunted Doll. I was in for some surprises.
I'm Joshua P. Warren. You're listening to Strange Things on
the iHeartRadio and Coast to Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network,
and I will be back after these important messages. Welcome
(25:53):
back to Strange Things on the iHeart Radio and Coast
to M Paranormal Podcast Network. I'm your host, Joshua P. Warren,
and this is the show where the unusual becomes usual.
And now back to my story. Don't play with Robert
(26:15):
the World's most Haunted Doll. Chapter four, Investigating Robert. I
arrived in Key West with excitement pumping in my veins.
The Conk Republic, as they call it, was surrounded by warm,
shiny aquamarine water. It was a tiny dream world in
(26:37):
the Atlantic, but my focus was on the barrage of
equipment I brought. I had meters to pick up a
wide variety of electromagnetic fields, UV lights and three D
imaging gear. I was there to finally get to the
bottom of the strange field surrounding Robert the Doll. The
airport is right next to the Fort East Martella Museum,
(27:00):
so as soon as I left the plane, I sauntered over,
dragging luggage to say hi. It was the sweltering August
of twenty ten when I dragged into the fort and
right off the bat I was impressed by the huge
portrait of Robert that hung next to the entrance. The
(27:21):
lady inside greeted me with a bright smile. No one
else was inside the building. After a quick introduction, I
turned to leave, prepared to return the next day as planned.
And then a surprise. Would you like to go and
say hi to Robert now? She asked. I wasn't expecting that,
(27:44):
but how could I turn it down? Absolutely? I said.
She kept my luggage while I slowly turned the corner,
all alone with no camera rolling, and that first encounter
will live only in my mind. After turning a bend
to the right. I looked left. There he was perhaps
(28:07):
twenty feet away. It didn't look like a doll. It
appeared as though a small man were sitting there in
a rocking chair under a glass case, his black eyes
locked with mine. There was a gravity around him. I
felt like audience to a king's court. Slowly I approached
(28:32):
His face looked almost human, skin like and filled with energy.
I knew if my visit were to be successful, I
should ask for Robert's blessing. Hello, Robert, I said, stepping
up to his soft visage. My name is Joshua P. Warren.
(28:54):
I have come a long way to see you and
report what I found to millions of people. May I
have your permission to photograph and report on you, please?
He seemed to smile. I thanked him, and then repeated
my action, this time with a video camera. Rolling. Robert
(29:19):
is next to a letter written to him from President
George W. Bush, produced October eleventh, two thousand and five,
while Bush was in office. It wishes Robert a happy
birthday from the President and first Lady, But the walls
around Robert were plastered with letters from people begging for forgiveness.
(29:43):
After returning home without showing him proper respect. One letter read,
I should have listened to those who warned me about
photographing you. I paid for the few photos I took.
Listed below is the trouble you CAUs me. Number one,
my two favorite souvenirs from Key Wes came up missing.
(30:06):
Number two. Upon returning my rental car, an unexpected fifty
dollars charge showed up on my credit card. Number three,
the hotel I had a reservation at, well, you gave
my room to someone else. Number four. On my return
flight home, you gave me the seat the same seat
number as another passenger. Number five. When I went to
(30:29):
retrieve my luggage at the airport, it wasn't on the
carousel it was assigned to you put at two carousels
further down. Mine was the only one that was on
the wrong carousel. Number six you had my loving cat
greet my return home by biting me. And number seven
you made me late to work on my first day
(30:51):
back from vacation. Nonetheless, I left the museum feeling as
though Robert and I were on good terms the following days.
My time in Key West was an adventure in many ways,
but certainly everything swirled around Robert the Doll. During my
first extensive investigation with him, electromagnetic fields were around, measured
(31:16):
with a doctor gossmeter, and they would suddenly pulse from nowhere.
It was truly odd. At one point, a merried couple
from New Jersey walked in and they were looking at
Robert while I prepared some film, and suddenly the woman
grabbed me. My god, she exclaimed, he just moved a
few minutes ago. I asked if I could photograph him,
(31:37):
and he nodded his head. Are you serious, I inquired, yes.
She burst overcome with thrill. I recorded her saying that
on high def camera. Her husband had been nearby at
the time, and he nodded with his own contribution. He
just wiggled his right foot a few minutes ago, I swear,
(31:59):
said the man. They were absolutely sincere and almost jumping
with excitement. Soon after, I shined a UV ultra violet
black light on Robert and found strange stains on his
off white suit. But one thing in particular immediately caught
(32:20):
my eye. To the naked eye, his right sleeve looked normal,
but visible only under UV. A small starlike or snowflake
like symbol suddenly appeared on the sleeve. I examined it
for a while. What on earth could this be? Why
(32:41):
was it there? I have a picture of this in
the book. Perhaps most importantly, I had brought a three
D film camera shooting thirty five millimeter film. This is
a camera I have used for many years as two
lenses on the front, capturing slightly different angles, mimicking the
(33:04):
angles of two human eyes. A developed print shows two
images per print, one on the left and one on
the right. When put into a proper viewer, the images
are combined into a stunning, detailed stereoscopic picture. I definitely
wanted to capture some great three D picks of Robert
(33:25):
the Doll. Just two days before the trip, I shot
a test roll that turned out perfectly. I brought three
fresh rolls of film to Key West, each with twenty
four exposures. One after another. I methodically shot all seventy
two exposures of Robert from different angles. Then, with rain pouring,
(33:49):
I hopped in a cab and went straight to Walgreens
to have them developed. Once there, I spoke directly to
the lady who develops the film and explained that my
role was three D and would have two images per print,
but should be developed just like any ordinary thirty five
millimeter roll. And while the processing was being done, I
(34:12):
headed to five thirty four Eaton Street to personally explore
the auto mansion. Five thirty four Eaton Street is now
an inn, the artist houts. Circa eighteen ninety, word had
spread that I would be in town, and an innkeeper, Jessica,
a lovely young woman with a baby, invited me to
(34:34):
visit the fabled estate. As soon as my cab arrived,
I felt a small chill, and after seeing so many
photographs and videos, it was amazing to have this stately
structure towering before me. Instantly I imagined Robert's scurrying form
flitting by the windows of its noble turete, and once
(34:56):
inside this impressive late Victorian house, I was giddy. Jessica
was a wonderful hostess, and I was able to explore
whatever rooms were not occupied with guests. As I meandered upstairs,
I saw a tight, narrow staircase leading up to the attic.
I slipped up there and found the door locked. Instantly,
(35:20):
I scrambled downstairs to Jessica. You can go up there
if you want, she said, but I'm not going with you,
she gave me a small key. Trembling with excitement, holding
a video camera, I crawled up the stairs. When the
lock on the attic door popped open, I knew I
was stepping into history. I pushed the door above me
(35:44):
open with a creak, and was immediately hit by a
burst of hot air, like opening an oven door from
the black space above. Struggling to rise to my feet
and manage the awkward space, I stepped alone into the dark,
notorious attic at five point thirty four Eaton Street. It
(36:07):
was completely and absolutely absent of light up there. At
first I turned on a flashlight and could thereby see
narrow slices of illumination in the blackness. Initially it was
just glimpses of clutter, weird shapes of stored boxes, and
various junk. I noticed to my left a small doorway
(36:27):
through which the attic space continued. Watching my head, wary
of low hanging pipes or beams, I crouched through the
doorway into the next chamber, and suddenly a jolt of
adrenaline shot painfully through my veins. If I'd been fifty
(36:48):
years older, I may have had a heart attack. The
bright circular beam of my light fell strikingly on the
face of Robber the doll. I'm sure as heck was
not expecting that. Like any sensible person in this situation,
(37:08):
I was struck numb. As I slowly gained my bearings,
I walked up to him. Yeah, where do you think
this is going? Huh? I will never forget that day.
It's time for our last break when we come back
to the conclusion of this wild story, and uh boy,
(37:29):
it brings back a lot of vivid memories. I'm Joshua P. Warren.
You're listening to Strange Things on the iHeartRadio and Coast
to Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network, and I will be
right back. Welcome back to the final segment of this
(38:20):
edition of Strange Things on the iHeartRadio and Coast to
Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network. I am your host, Joshua P. Warren.
And okay, there I was standing in the actual attic,
this dark attic, the actual, authentic, original Robert attic by myself,
(38:45):
and I look there and lo and behold it's Robert.
You know you hear these phrases. Goosebumps, ice water down
the back hair, standing on end. This is the kind
of thing from which nightmares are made. Well, here you go.
(39:06):
Here is the big conclusion of my story. Don't play
with Robert. The world's most haunted doll jutting halfway from
a box was a reproduction of Robert that looked a
lot like the real thing. I chuckled, wondering if this
was some kind of a prank. Standing there in that
(39:30):
attic with a Robert look alike staring back at me
was a wild moment. What on earth was this all about.
When I finally made my way back downstairs, I greeted
Jessica with a smile. That doll nearly scared me to death,
I exclaimed, huh, She said, quizzically, what doll? After I explained,
(39:54):
she left apparently for a past Halloween. Jessica had constructed
that doll to put in a display at the house,
and she'd forgotten all about it. And then suddenly her
head turned in thought and she said, humh, but that
thing was packed way down in a box. I don't
(40:15):
know what to tell you, I replied, but he was
hanging out of a box like he was waiting for me.
We both got a good chuckle from the entire affair,
and I left the house on Eaton Street, feeling as
though I had really stepped back in time to meet
Robert as he once lived in seclusion, imprisoned in the
(40:35):
attic of that strange old mansion. From there, a taxi
took me straight back to Walgreens to view the photos
I had shot earlier. There at the film desk, I
opened them and scanned through. I was stunned. Of my
(40:55):
seventy two exposures, only five had developed. The rest of
the roles were completely blank, as if unexposed. I could
not believe that so many had not developed, just as
I was warned, could happen. Even though I had asked
(41:16):
Robert's permission, he apparently did not fully give it. Maybe
he was just trying to prove his power to me
after all. In the book, I also include some of
these three D photographs, as well as instructions on a
very simple technique that you can use to see these
(41:38):
stereoscopic images with your naked eyes, similar to some of
those old magic eye posters. But I think I think
much simpler than that. So if you get the PDF,
you'll be able to see those images, and you'll see
what I mean pretty remarkable to look at them right now.
Seeing these pictures I took of Robert in twenty ten,
(42:00):
three d well word did my experience travel quickly. The
next day, amidst the excitement, the museum directors removed the
glass case for the first time in years so I
could re shoot Robert once again. Only a few of
(42:21):
the photos developed. My wonderful experience in key West with
Robert was weird enough. I had no idea it would
become even stranger once I returned home to Asheville, North Carolina,
after math and summary. When I returned home, I found
(42:44):
my wife Lauren, unsettled, to say the least. While I
had been gone, Lauren was awoken each night by murmured
voices speaking in our living room. The alarm systems in
our house, using sensitive infrared toctors were firing each evening
and eventually had to be replaced. Our usually reliable internet
(43:07):
service went down, and the repairman was baffled by the problem.
It took days to fix. But something even weirder had
occurred Just hours before leaving key West. After being deeply
absorbed in the thick of Robert's energy, I visited the
(43:28):
mel Fisher Maritime Museum displaying the treasures of a massive
sixteen twenty two shipwreck and others. Their prize to display
was a heavy gold bar worth five hundred and fifty
thousand dollars in an acrylic case the visitors could actually
pick up. There was a fist sized hole in the
(43:50):
case you could slip your hand in there. I picked
it up and was amazed that it had been on
display of twenty years. However, just days after my visit,
Bandits slipped into the museum, somehow got into the case
(44:11):
and stole the gold bar. As of this writing, five
months later, the FBI are still trying to catch the culprits.
Could even this be an example of Robert's bad luck
at work? After my visit to Key West, I went
on the country's largest overnight radio program, Coast to Coast
(44:33):
AM to deliver a report to millions of listeners. After
talking about the strange symbol on his right arm that
I could only see under UV light, a man called
into the show. He suggested this could be a sigil,
a magical symbol a sorcerer would put on an object
to seal that sorcerer's ultimate desire. Upon researching ancient symbols
(44:57):
dating back thousands of years. I found at least one
from the sepher Roziel Hamakh, an old book of magic
that many think looks quite similar. And in the book
you see side by side the strange pattern that appeared
on Robert's sleeve only under YUV light, next to this
(45:22):
ancient magical sigil that is apparently used to breathe life
into inanimate objects. Who knows why the servant who made
Robert became dissatisfied with her employers. The imagination can run wild.
(45:42):
And yet she sat down, they say, and acquired materials
to patiently construct some part of a little man, a
doll that has not only stood the test of time,
but also grips all those who see him. He is
a work of durable art. Some say Robert is simply
(46:04):
stuffed with straw. I'm not sure. I'd like to see
an X ray of Robert. If he was truly the
culmination of a conjuror's desire, then maybe he's filled with
interesting objects beyond the apparent sigil on his arm. Magic
is based on symbolism, and whatever caused this enigmatic servant
to create such a fine piece may be represented below
(46:26):
the doll's surface as well as above. Either way, the
bottom line here is blatant. Whatever he is, Robert does
indeed seem to possess something that I described before as
well life. In the field of paranormal research, it's not
(46:48):
often that one can focus on a physical object. Robert
the doll is therefore a wondrous treasure, not only for
Key West, but perhaps the world. We have just begun
to scratch the surface of Robert's story. I can't tell
you how much of this book is mere legend and
(47:09):
how much is fact. No one seems to know, since
most of private history is not being documented each moment.
Despite how we now feel in this modern age of
miniatureized mass media, But Robert's allure speaks for itself. Even
if you purchase one of the dolls that are made
(47:29):
in his likeness, tales of strange phenomena soon arise around
it as well. He seems to be even more than
a doll in a rocking chair with his little lion.
He represents an energy field, something that we project our
emotions onto, good or bad. We must ask ourselves to
(47:54):
define life. Is life something that an object must possess
on its own or is it something we can give it?
Do enough of us project our thoughts onto a human
like mold and inject some strange humanity. Robert the Doll
(48:15):
forces us to face and examine all those questions and more.
He is a beacon of mystery. More will be discovered
about him, no doubt, and in the meantime we must
adhere steadfastly to a principal concept each time we peer
into his dull, dark and sparkling eyes. Don't play with Robert.
(48:38):
He wants to be taken seriously. All right, there you go.
Hope you enjoyed it, and now let's all cleanse our spirits.
If you can close your eyes, take a deep breath.
Here is the good Fortune tone. That's it for this
(49:16):
edition of the show. Follow me at Joshua P. Warren
Plus visit joshuapwarren dot com to sign up for my
free e newsletter to receive a free instant gift, and
check out the cool stuff in the Curiosity Shop. All
at Joshuapwarren dot com. I have a fun one lined
up for you next time, I promise, so please tell
(49:39):
all your friends to subscribe to this show and to
always remember the Golden Rule. Thank you for listening, Thank
you for your interest and support. Thank you for staying curious,
and I will talk to you again soon. You've been
listening to Strange Things on the iHeart Radio and Coast
(50:01):
to Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network.
Speaker 2 (50:23):
Well, if you like this episode of Strange Things, wait
till you hear the next one. Thank you for listening
to the iHeartRadio and Coast to Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network.
Welcome to the iHeartRadio and Coast to Coast AM paranormal
podcast network. Now get ready for us Strange Things with
Joshua P.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Warn Welcome to our podcast. Please be aware the thoughts
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Coast to Coast AM, employees of premier networks, or their
(00:30):
sponsors and associates. We would like to encourage you to
do your own research and discover the subject matter for yourself. Yeah,
(00:56):
ready to.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Be by the Wizard of Weird. This is Strange Thing
with Joshua E. Warren. I am Joshua FE Warren, and
each week on this show, I'll be bringing in brand
new my blowing content, news exercises, and weird experiments you
(01:18):
can do at home, and a lot more on this
edition of the show. Don't Play with Robert the Haunted Doll.
In twenty ten, I visited Key West, Florida for the
first time. I flew down from North Carolina by myself,
(01:39):
specifically to have my first encounter with Robert the Haunted Doll.
I would spend numerous days and nights with Robert to
produce international radio reports for Coast to Coast AM. I
ended up discovering something that I believe had never been
discovered before, and when I returned home, I wrote this
(02:02):
short book about my experiences. It's called Don't Play with Robert,
the World's Most Haunted Doll, and it's currently available as
a PDF download in the Curiosity Shop of my website,
Joshua Pwarren dot com. Now, although my book came out
in twenty eleven, three years later in twenty fourteen, Florida
(02:27):
author David L. Sloane published his book called Robert the
Haunted Doll. The True Biography of Key West's Haunted Doll.
Now David is the authority on Robert, and his book
is the authoritative book and it's great. So if you
really want to dig into the most authentic historic details
(02:47):
of the Robert story, I highly recommend you read the
book by David L. Sloane. What I'm about to read
to you is simply my personal account of my experiences
from my first strip down there and what the people
I encountered told me. Now, I may pause once in
a while to add some updated commentary, and I may
(03:10):
add it out some parts in the interest of time.
But altogether here is the story of my amazing personal adventure.
Here is Don't Play with Robert, the World's most Haunted Doll. Introduction.
The moment I first saw a photo of Robert the Doll,
(03:32):
I knew I had to meet him. He now lives
in the Fort East Martello Museum in Key West, Florida.
I hopped on an airplane and what I discovered in
my investigation was amazing. You will learn all about Robert
in this book. There is something about his eyes. They
are coal black, and yet they shine like dull sapphires.
(03:57):
His face shows more than a century of wear, but
a youthful glow still surrounds his haggard, pockmarked skin. He
has a strange halo, bright at times and dark at others.
Perhaps that's the oddest thing. His face seems to change expressions.
(04:18):
No one can explain why this doll, around three feet tall,
poised in this chair with a toy lion, looks different
every day. Of course, some say they have seen him
move in an instant twitch, a leg or an arm.
I have spoken with those who are terrified of him
(04:40):
and those who love him as deeply as a son.
He is full of complexity and dare I say it life.
We shall start with how Robert began, and then you
will learn what I discovered as my journey with Robert,
the haunted doll wound into another dimension. Chapter one, The Curse.
(05:04):
This is a story that has been told many times.
It is difficult to know all the details, since no
journalist is present behind the closed doors of a private home,
but generally the residence of Key West will tell you
this about Robert. In nineteen o four, a four year
old boy named Eugene Otto was given a wondrous three
(05:26):
foot doll dressed like a little sailor. Eugene was the
only child of a wealthy family in Key West, and
the doll was made by their servant, a young woman
from Haiti. It has long been said the servant was
displeased with the family and placed a curse on the doll.
She perhaps even took sprigs of little Eugene's blonde hair
(05:47):
and stitched them in the back of the skull, but
she may have used even more of the little boy.
Eugene's first name was Robert, and so he called the
door Robert, a mirror of himself. The young child became
eerily and unhealthily attached to the doll. He would not
(06:08):
separate from Robert. Eugene talked to the doll all the time,
and his parents became unnerved to hear a weird voice
speaking back. Neighbors began to claim Robert was running around
the house passing by windows at night, and when Eugene misbehaved,
he would grin and utter Robert did it. These things
(06:33):
grew worse when Eugene screamed bloody murder in the night,
his parents rushing into the dark bedroom, finding furniture strewn about.
He was trying to kill me. Eugene would cry, terrified.
These situations endured throughout Eugene Otto's life, even as a
grown man, a successful painter who inherited the grand family
(06:57):
mansion at five point thirty four, Eaton s Robert. The
doll stayed at his side. His wife Anne almost divorced
him for a while. Robert was locked up in the attic,
and Eugene almost went mad. They could hear the doll's
footsteps above at night. The painter finally determined to treat
(07:19):
the doll better than his wife, devoting an entire bedroom
to Robert, complete with a small bed table and chairs.
Some claimed Anne would appear to be beaten from time
to time, and when confronted, Eugene said, I didn't do it,
Robert did it. When Eugene finally died in nineteen seventy four,
(07:43):
Anne quickly moved from the house and put it up
for sale. For years, it sat abandoned. Neighborhood children would
see Robert's silhouette moving by the attic windows sometimes during
that period of time. In nineteen seventy six, two brothers
in their early twenties became the caretakers of the home.
(08:04):
What they experienced horrified them. Chapter two, Robert on the Rampage.
After Anne Otto sold the house to a man named Bill,
he began a project to fix it up. Robert was
left inside as Anne wanted nothing to do with the doll.
(08:25):
When Bill needed to travel up north for a while,
he required a caretaker for the estate. The job was
given to his friend, a young lawyer named Lee Rowe.
More than happy to live in a mansion, Lee moved
in for a few months with his brother Richard. Lee
and Richard had the entire house at their disposal except
(08:46):
for one room, the master bedroom was to remain locked
at all times. However, the only phone in the house
was in that room, and as it turns out, the
very first night, Lee had to make an important phone call.
So the brothers slipped into the forbidden space. They quickly
(09:08):
realized there was another small room attached to that one.
Unable to resist his curiosity, Richard opened the door. What
he saw sent a shiver down his spine. There it
was quote this macab looking doll end quote he recalled
on my radio program in twenty ten. He said, quote
(09:31):
it was sitting in a rocking chair and just staring
at us. End. Quote. He went on to say, quote
it even had a mirror, which was real bizarre, and
the mirror was mounted down at a child's eye level.
After about five minutes, we got the feeling we weren't
welcome there at all. End quote. After that night, all
(09:52):
manner of mischief broke loose. Richard claimed that even thirty
four years later, he was still scared by what happened
to that house. Shortly thereafter, on a hot August night,
around midnight, a wave of clammy cold air suddenly filled
his bedroom. Unsettled and unable to sleep, Richard desperately exited
(10:14):
the room. He was surprised to find Lee in the hall,
armed with an old Civil War sword eye as big
as saucers. Did you hear the moaning and screaming coming
from the walls? Lee asked. They sat up the rest
of the night. The walls actually started to breathe, Richard said, quote.
(10:36):
I swear the walls looked like they were breathing in quote.
After sitting up for a while, they finally went back
to bed. Richard recalls they had the worst night of
sleep in their lives, full of nightmares and dark visions.
A few days later, as Richard cooked a chicken dinner,
he began hearing weird noises upstairs. He next found the
(10:59):
kitchen tablet in icy water. As he and Lee tried
to eat dinner, cold sulfur smelling water dripped from the
overhead chandelier. There was no plumbing overhead, so Richard considered
it quote another greeting from Robert end quote. Days later,
(11:20):
Lee had to make a call in the master bedroom.
As he spoke, the door to Robert's room suddenly swung open.
Lee yelled for Richard to come. The brothers stared in
awe as Robert rocked back and forth in his little
rocking chair, and they could not explain how the chair
(11:42):
moved so vigorously on its own all Right, time for
a break. If you like this show, well, I think
you know what to do. Go to Joshuapwarren dot com
and sign up from my free and spam free E
newsletter there on the homepage. Takes you two seconds. When
you do that, you put your email address in there,
(12:03):
you hit submit, and guess what, you will receive an
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And I also sometimes give away things that are pretty
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(12:24):
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find anywhere else in the world. I promise you. I
(12:44):
am Joshua P. Warren and you're listening to Strange Things
on the iHeartRadio and Coast to Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network,
and I will be right back. Welcome back to Strange
(13:31):
Things of the iHeartRadio and Coast to Coast a M
Paranormal Podcast Network. I am your host, Joshua P. Warren,
the Wizard of Weird, beaming into your wormhole brain from
my studio in Sin City, Las Vegas, Nevada, where every
day is golden and every night of silver Jato Zume.
(13:53):
And now back to my story. Don't play with Robert,
the world's most haunted doll. On another occasion, Richard was
home alone and he was instantly unnerved to hear odd
noises upstairs, followed by the sound of running water. Richard
crept upstairs to find the old tub with claw foot
(14:14):
legs pouring icy water from a rickety faucet. Upon turning
it off, the hair is on the back of his
neck stood and he knew something unseen was looking at him.
As Richard and Lee began to tell others about their
experiences in the home, one friend, whom they called conk
sister Genie, said she didn't believe any of it. They
(14:38):
invited her over to meet Robert. Ever the skeptics, She
was at first nonchalant, and then Richard said, quote Robert
did his thing on her end quote. She ended up
running from the house, as he said, quote confused, babbling
in tongues like she was possessed. End quote. Efforts to
(15:01):
comfort her did no good. For a few days she
would not speak to the rose, and when they finally
talked to her again, she did not remember much about
that night, Richard said. The editor of a local newspaper
heard wind of the activity and came to see Robert
for himself. The brothers bet him fifty dollars he couldn't
(15:23):
stay at the doll's room every night. He only lasted
fifteen minutes. The editor left, repeating, quote it's too much,
it's too much. End quote. Out of six he had
somehow lost five roles of film, and of the remaining role,
only four or five blurred photos developed. Afterward, he vacationed
(15:45):
to Mexico, where his girlfriend died. After that, he descended
into drug addiction until his life ended. As the brothers
were experiencing such bizarre activity, the owner of the house,
Bill was enduring bad luck. According to Richard, when Bill
(16:06):
bought the house. He had a happy marriage, thriving business,
and a wonderful son. Bill was proud of his sailing ship,
the Wanderlust. Shortly after buying the mansion at five thirty
four Eton, he tragically lost his son in a boating accident,
and then Bill lost his wife in divorce. And despite
the millions of dollars they had to argue about, they
(16:27):
were ultimately squabbling over Robert the doll. At one point,
she even quote kidnapped Robert, but Bill was eventually able
to retrieve him. Quote I thought he was getting called
by the doll sometimes end quote. Richard said, Finally he
(16:48):
saw Robert move over time, he saw the legs crossed.
He came back later and saw them uncrossed. And then
he saw the arms move, and at one point the
right arm would be on the chair. Minutes later the
left arm would rest on the chair. He said, quote
it was like it was watching you, and the minute
you turned your back, it would move in quote. For
(17:10):
a while, Richard even slept with a table leg as
a weapon next to his head in case Robert might
appear in his room at night. Richard warned me sternly
against investigating Robert the Dall in person, He said, I
am concerned for you. Quote do you have a life
insurance policy when you go down there? Make sure you've
(17:33):
got that life insurance premium paid end quote. Lee Rowe
later told me that as he listened to my interview
with his brother, the electrical power along the main strip
and Key West went out. He also claimed he wrote
an article many years ago about Robert in a local newspaper.
(17:54):
He said shortly thereafter a screenwriter contacted him for more info,
and that screenwriter later wrote the script for the successful
horror film called Child's Play, featuring a sinister Chucky the Doll.
Chapter three, Robert's Town. After the brothers moved out, the
(18:18):
Auto mansion was eventually leased to a family with a
ten year old girl named Sarah. She was delighted to
find the enigmatic little man sitting quietly in the back room. Soon,
Robert was moved into her bedroom, where she played with
him constantly, much like young Eugene had so many decades before,
(18:39):
and the inevitable happened. One night, Sarah's parents awoke the
blood curdling screams in her bedroom. Frantically, they tore into
her room almost frozen with fear. Sarah sat starkly upright,
shrieking in horror. What's wrong? Her Panic parents stammered, He's
trying to kill me, She bawled. Whew, Robert, she sobbed,
(19:04):
pointing to the floor. There on the wooden boards lay Robert,
face down, almost as if he'd been crawling across the room.
Her parents snatched up the doll and locked him away
in a back closet. Even thirty years later, Sarah, as
a grown woman, swore that Robert had come alive that
(19:25):
night and attacked her. Over the years, the house at
five point thirty four Eaton Street passed through many hands.
Each time dealing with Robert and his strange history caused problems. Finally,
in nineteen ninety four, the owners of the home had enough.
They thought about tossing Robert and a garbage bin. However,
(19:47):
his history and eerie reputation was overpowering, so instead they
wisely donated him to his present home, the East Fort
Martello Museum at three five zero one South Roosevelt Boulevard.
It's a powerful brick structure constructed on the shore in
(20:07):
the mid eighteen hundreds. No one realized that he was
now on his way to becoming a bizarre king. In
the museum, Robert sat quietly in his chair, along with
his little stuffed lion. No one is sure why he
has a lion. It's believed that the autos were so
(20:28):
wealthy that trips to the zoo were a luxury. Maybe
a little Eugene loved the lions and perhaps even owned
a stuffed one himself, so Robert, his maritime counterpart, was
given the prop. Or maybe the servant who made Robert
was not in fact from Haiti but Africa and had
seen lions herself. No one can say for sure, but
(20:52):
altogether the doll with his lion was merely a curious sight.
For a long time, those who saw Robert felt an
odd magnetism around him, but no one could explain why.
Then a terrible hurricane swept through and the island of
Key West was evacuated. Everyone was worried about the museum,
(21:14):
knowing it was prone to flooding, As is most of
the island, it is only a few feet above sea level.
Once the floodwaters re seated enough, the museum staff worriedly
crept into the building, afraid to view the damage. They
were instantly disturbed to see several feet of dark water
(21:35):
standing on the antiquated floors, and when they finally waded
around to Robert's area, they were crushed. He was gone.
It seemed all was utterly lost. And then a lady
docent named Goody exclaimed, oh my god. Look. The staff
(21:56):
stared up in awe to find Robert the Doll hanging
and the tall wooden rafters of the room's ceiling. They
scrambled for a ladder. A staffer carefully climbed up to
retrieve him and slowly bring him back down. Everyone was bewildered.
Robert was unscathed, not even damp. They stared at each other, speechless.
(22:22):
Robert simply had a twinkle in his eyes. Little by little,
growing crowds of people came to visit Robert the Doll.
The sketchy story of his past was retold again and again,
embellished here and there, but things seemed calm for years.
Museum workers told of how he was used as a
(22:44):
scapegoat and everything was blamed on him. For seventy years
by Eugene, the momentum built until two thousand and four,
Robert's one hundredth birthday, When the community decided Robert should
go big time, they created a kind of blame it
(23:04):
on Robert Day as part of the Fantasy Fest, key
West's biggest celebration each October. Over the years, Robert was
put on display or paraded through streets around key West.
He was surrounded by merriment as rollicking partiers released all
their problems onto him. Over the years, thousands of people
(23:25):
screamed at him, still using him as a scapegoat, broadcasting
their most intense frustrations. Many wondered if this onslaught of
emotion was too much for the doll and since then
his energy has grown very serious. It seemed he'd had enough.
(23:47):
Now Robert demands respect, and if he doesn't get it,
bad luck will follow. Those who visit Robert now must
show extreme respect or afterward they are beset by strings
of bad luck. This is especially so if someone takes
his photo without first asking his permission. A lucky person
(24:12):
might simply endure a camera malfunction or a photo that
develops blank. But in worse cases, relationships end, cars crash, petstye,
fortunes vanish, and lives are ruined. The revenge of Robert
perhaps a reflection of all he absorbed is dire. He
(24:35):
has gained a new profound respect, and as the legend
of his aura spreads, thousands flock to sea in each year.
Yet now those who visit him are very humble, aware
of all those reckless souls who have stood before him.
When we come back, my investigation begins. How about you?
(24:57):
Would you go down there and spend some time malone
with Robert the Haunted Doll. I was in for some surprises.
I'm Joshua P. Warren. You're listening to Strange Things on
the iHeartRadio and Coast to Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network,
and I will be back after these important messages. Welcome
(25:53):
back to Strange Things on the iHeart Radio and Coast
to M Paranormal Podcast Network. I'm your host, Joshua P. Warren,
and this is the show where the unusual becomes usual.
And now back to my story. Don't play with Robert
(26:15):
the World's most Haunted Doll. Chapter four, Investigating Robert. I
arrived in Key West with excitement pumping in my veins.
The Conk Republic, as they call it, was surrounded by warm,
shiny aquamarine water. It was a tiny dream world in
(26:37):
the Atlantic, but my focus was on the barrage of
equipment I brought. I had meters to pick up a
wide variety of electromagnetic fields, UV lights and three D
imaging gear. I was there to finally get to the
bottom of the strange field surrounding Robert the Doll. The
airport is right next to the Fort East Martella Museum,
(27:00):
so as soon as I left the plane, I sauntered over,
dragging luggage to say hi. It was the sweltering August
of twenty ten when I dragged into the fort and
right off the bat I was impressed by the huge
portrait of Robert that hung next to the entrance. The
(27:21):
lady inside greeted me with a bright smile. No one
else was inside the building. After a quick introduction, I
turned to leave, prepared to return the next day as planned.
And then a surprise. Would you like to go and
say hi to Robert now? She asked. I wasn't expecting that,
(27:44):
but how could I turn it down? Absolutely? I said.
She kept my luggage while I slowly turned the corner,
all alone with no camera rolling, and that first encounter
will live only in my mind. After turning a bend
to the right. I looked left. There he was perhaps
(28:07):
twenty feet away. It didn't look like a doll. It
appeared as though a small man were sitting there in
a rocking chair under a glass case, his black eyes
locked with mine. There was a gravity around him. I
felt like audience to a king's court. Slowly I approached
(28:32):
His face looked almost human, skin like and filled with energy.
I knew if my visit were to be successful, I
should ask for Robert's blessing. Hello, Robert, I said, stepping
up to his soft visage. My name is Joshua P. Warren.
(28:54):
I have come a long way to see you and
report what I found to millions of people. May I
have your permission to photograph and report on you, please?
He seemed to smile. I thanked him, and then repeated
my action, this time with a video camera. Rolling. Robert
(29:19):
is next to a letter written to him from President
George W. Bush, produced October eleventh, two thousand and five,
while Bush was in office. It wishes Robert a happy
birthday from the President and first Lady, But the walls
around Robert were plastered with letters from people begging for forgiveness.
(29:43):
After returning home without showing him proper respect. One letter read,
I should have listened to those who warned me about
photographing you. I paid for the few photos I took.
Listed below is the trouble you CAUs me. Number one,
my two favorite souvenirs from Key Wes came up missing.
(30:06):
Number two. Upon returning my rental car, an unexpected fifty
dollars charge showed up on my credit card. Number three,
the hotel I had a reservation at, well, you gave
my room to someone else. Number four. On my return
flight home, you gave me the seat the same seat
number as another passenger. Number five. When I went to
(30:29):
retrieve my luggage at the airport, it wasn't on the
carousel it was assigned to you put at two carousels
further down. Mine was the only one that was on
the wrong carousel. Number six you had my loving cat
greet my return home by biting me. And number seven
you made me late to work on my first day
(30:51):
back from vacation. Nonetheless, I left the museum feeling as
though Robert and I were on good terms the following days.
My time in Key West was an adventure in many ways,
but certainly everything swirled around Robert the Doll. During my
first extensive investigation with him, electromagnetic fields were around, measured
(31:16):
with a doctor gossmeter, and they would suddenly pulse from nowhere.
It was truly odd. At one point, a merried couple
from New Jersey walked in and they were looking at
Robert while I prepared some film, and suddenly the woman
grabbed me. My god, she exclaimed, he just moved a
few minutes ago. I asked if I could photograph him,
(31:37):
and he nodded his head. Are you serious, I inquired, yes.
She burst overcome with thrill. I recorded her saying that
on high def camera. Her husband had been nearby at
the time, and he nodded with his own contribution. He
just wiggled his right foot a few minutes ago, I swear,
(31:59):
said the man. They were absolutely sincere and almost jumping
with excitement. Soon after, I shined a UV ultra violet
black light on Robert and found strange stains on his
off white suit. But one thing in particular immediately caught
(32:20):
my eye. To the naked eye, his right sleeve looked normal,
but visible only under UV. A small starlike or snowflake
like symbol suddenly appeared on the sleeve. I examined it
for a while. What on earth could this be? Why
(32:41):
was it there? I have a picture of this in
the book. Perhaps most importantly, I had brought a three
D film camera shooting thirty five millimeter film. This is
a camera I have used for many years as two
lenses on the front, capturing slightly different angles, mimicking the
(33:04):
angles of two human eyes. A developed print shows two
images per print, one on the left and one on
the right. When put into a proper viewer, the images
are combined into a stunning, detailed stereoscopic picture. I definitely
wanted to capture some great three D picks of Robert
(33:25):
the Doll. Just two days before the trip, I shot
a test roll that turned out perfectly. I brought three
fresh rolls of film to Key West, each with twenty
four exposures. One after another. I methodically shot all seventy
two exposures of Robert from different angles. Then, with rain pouring,
(33:49):
I hopped in a cab and went straight to Walgreens
to have them developed. Once there, I spoke directly to
the lady who develops the film and explained that my
role was three D and would have two images per print,
but should be developed just like any ordinary thirty five
millimeter roll. And while the processing was being done, I
(34:12):
headed to five thirty four Eaton Street to personally explore
the auto mansion. Five thirty four Eaton Street is now
an inn, the artist houts. Circa eighteen ninety, word had
spread that I would be in town, and an innkeeper, Jessica,
a lovely young woman with a baby, invited me to
(34:34):
visit the fabled estate. As soon as my cab arrived,
I felt a small chill, and after seeing so many
photographs and videos, it was amazing to have this stately
structure towering before me. Instantly I imagined Robert's scurrying form
flitting by the windows of its noble turete, and once
(34:56):
inside this impressive late Victorian house, I was giddy. Jessica
was a wonderful hostess, and I was able to explore
whatever rooms were not occupied with guests. As I meandered upstairs,
I saw a tight, narrow staircase leading up to the attic.
I slipped up there and found the door locked. Instantly,
(35:20):
I scrambled downstairs to Jessica. You can go up there
if you want, she said, but I'm not going with you,
she gave me a small key. Trembling with excitement, holding
a video camera, I crawled up the stairs. When the
lock on the attic door popped open, I knew I
was stepping into history. I pushed the door above me
(35:44):
open with a creak, and was immediately hit by a
burst of hot air, like opening an oven door from
the black space above. Struggling to rise to my feet
and manage the awkward space, I stepped alone into the dark,
notorious attic at five point thirty four Eaton Street. It
(36:07):
was completely and absolutely absent of light up there. At
first I turned on a flashlight and could thereby see
narrow slices of illumination in the blackness. Initially it was
just glimpses of clutter, weird shapes of stored boxes, and
various junk. I noticed to my left a small doorway
(36:27):
through which the attic space continued. Watching my head, wary
of low hanging pipes or beams, I crouched through the
doorway into the next chamber, and suddenly a jolt of
adrenaline shot painfully through my veins. If I'd been fifty
(36:48):
years older, I may have had a heart attack. The
bright circular beam of my light fell strikingly on the
face of Robber the doll. I'm sure as heck was
not expecting that. Like any sensible person in this situation,
(37:08):
I was struck numb. As I slowly gained my bearings,
I walked up to him. Yeah, where do you think
this is going? Huh? I will never forget that day.
It's time for our last break when we come back
to the conclusion of this wild story, and uh boy,
(37:29):
it brings back a lot of vivid memories. I'm Joshua P. Warren.
You're listening to Strange Things on the iHeartRadio and Coast
to Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network, and I will be
right back. Welcome back to the final segment of this
(38:20):
edition of Strange Things on the iHeartRadio and Coast to
Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network. I am your host, Joshua P. Warren.
And okay, there I was standing in the actual attic,
this dark attic, the actual, authentic, original Robert attic by myself,
(38:45):
and I look there and lo and behold it's Robert.
You know you hear these phrases. Goosebumps, ice water down
the back hair, standing on end. This is the kind
of thing from which nightmares are made. Well, here you go.
(39:06):
Here is the big conclusion of my story. Don't play
with Robert. The world's most haunted doll jutting halfway from
a box was a reproduction of Robert that looked a
lot like the real thing. I chuckled, wondering if this
was some kind of a prank. Standing there in that
(39:30):
attic with a Robert look alike staring back at me
was a wild moment. What on earth was this all about.
When I finally made my way back downstairs, I greeted
Jessica with a smile. That doll nearly scared me to death,
I exclaimed, huh, She said, quizzically, what doll? After I explained,
(39:54):
she left apparently for a past Halloween. Jessica had constructed
that doll to put in a display at the house,
and she'd forgotten all about it. And then suddenly her
head turned in thought and she said, humh, but that
thing was packed way down in a box. I don't
(40:15):
know what to tell you, I replied, but he was
hanging out of a box like he was waiting for me.
We both got a good chuckle from the entire affair,
and I left the house on Eaton Street, feeling as
though I had really stepped back in time to meet
Robert as he once lived in seclusion, imprisoned in the
(40:35):
attic of that strange old mansion. From there, a taxi
took me straight back to Walgreens to view the photos
I had shot earlier. There at the film desk, I
opened them and scanned through. I was stunned. Of my
(40:55):
seventy two exposures, only five had developed. The rest of
the roles were completely blank, as if unexposed. I could
not believe that so many had not developed, just as
I was warned, could happen. Even though I had asked
(41:16):
Robert's permission, he apparently did not fully give it. Maybe
he was just trying to prove his power to me
after all. In the book, I also include some of
these three D photographs, as well as instructions on a
very simple technique that you can use to see these
(41:38):
stereoscopic images with your naked eyes, similar to some of
those old magic eye posters. But I think I think
much simpler than that. So if you get the PDF,
you'll be able to see those images, and you'll see
what I mean pretty remarkable to look at them right now.
Seeing these pictures I took of Robert in twenty ten,
(42:00):
three d well word did my experience travel quickly. The
next day, amidst the excitement, the museum directors removed the
glass case for the first time in years so I
could re shoot Robert once again. Only a few of
(42:21):
the photos developed. My wonderful experience in key West with
Robert was weird enough. I had no idea it would
become even stranger once I returned home to Asheville, North Carolina,
after math and summary. When I returned home, I found
(42:44):
my wife Lauren, unsettled, to say the least. While I
had been gone, Lauren was awoken each night by murmured
voices speaking in our living room. The alarm systems in
our house, using sensitive infrared toctors were firing each evening
and eventually had to be replaced. Our usually reliable internet
(43:07):
service went down, and the repairman was baffled by the problem.
It took days to fix. But something even weirder had
occurred Just hours before leaving key West. After being deeply
absorbed in the thick of Robert's energy, I visited the
(43:28):
mel Fisher Maritime Museum displaying the treasures of a massive
sixteen twenty two shipwreck and others. Their prize to display
was a heavy gold bar worth five hundred and fifty
thousand dollars in an acrylic case the visitors could actually
pick up. There was a fist sized hole in the
(43:50):
case you could slip your hand in there. I picked
it up and was amazed that it had been on
display of twenty years. However, just days after my visit,
Bandits slipped into the museum, somehow got into the case
(44:11):
and stole the gold bar. As of this writing, five
months later, the FBI are still trying to catch the culprits.
Could even this be an example of Robert's bad luck
at work? After my visit to Key West, I went
on the country's largest overnight radio program, Coast to Coast
(44:33):
AM to deliver a report to millions of listeners. After
talking about the strange symbol on his right arm that
I could only see under UV light, a man called
into the show. He suggested this could be a sigil,
a magical symbol a sorcerer would put on an object
to seal that sorcerer's ultimate desire. Upon researching ancient symbols
(44:57):
dating back thousands of years. I found at least one
from the sepher Roziel Hamakh, an old book of magic
that many think looks quite similar. And in the book
you see side by side the strange pattern that appeared
on Robert's sleeve only under YUV light, next to this
(45:22):
ancient magical sigil that is apparently used to breathe life
into inanimate objects. Who knows why the servant who made
Robert became dissatisfied with her employers. The imagination can run wild.
(45:42):
And yet she sat down, they say, and acquired materials
to patiently construct some part of a little man, a
doll that has not only stood the test of time,
but also grips all those who see him. He is
a work of durable art. Some say Robert is simply
(46:04):
stuffed with straw. I'm not sure. I'd like to see
an X ray of Robert. If he was truly the
culmination of a conjuror's desire, then maybe he's filled with
interesting objects beyond the apparent sigil on his arm. Magic
is based on symbolism, and whatever caused this enigmatic servant
to create such a fine piece may be represented below
(46:26):
the doll's surface as well as above. Either way, the
bottom line here is blatant. Whatever he is, Robert does
indeed seem to possess something that I described before as
well life. In the field of paranormal research, it's not
(46:48):
often that one can focus on a physical object. Robert
the doll is therefore a wondrous treasure, not only for
Key West, but perhaps the world. We have just begun
to scratch the surface of Robert's story. I can't tell
you how much of this book is mere legend and
(47:09):
how much is fact. No one seems to know, since
most of private history is not being documented each moment.
Despite how we now feel in this modern age of
miniatureized mass media, But Robert's allure speaks for itself. Even
if you purchase one of the dolls that are made
(47:29):
in his likeness, tales of strange phenomena soon arise around
it as well. He seems to be even more than
a doll in a rocking chair with his little lion.
He represents an energy field, something that we project our
emotions onto, good or bad. We must ask ourselves to
(47:54):
define life. Is life something that an object must possess
on its own or is it something we can give it?
Do enough of us project our thoughts onto a human
like mold and inject some strange humanity. Robert the Doll
(48:15):
forces us to face and examine all those questions and more.
He is a beacon of mystery. More will be discovered
about him, no doubt, and in the meantime we must
adhere steadfastly to a principal concept each time we peer
into his dull, dark and sparkling eyes. Don't play with Robert.
(48:38):
He wants to be taken seriously. All right, there you go.
Hope you enjoyed it, and now let's all cleanse our spirits.
If you can close your eyes, take a deep breath.
Here is the good Fortune tone. That's it for this
(49:16):
edition of the show. Follow me at Joshua P. Warren
Plus visit joshuapwarren dot com to sign up for my
free e newsletter to receive a free instant gift, and
check out the cool stuff in the Curiosity Shop. All
at Joshuapwarren dot com. I have a fun one lined
up for you next time, I promise, so please tell
(49:39):
all your friends to subscribe to this show and to
always remember the Golden Rule. Thank you for listening, Thank
you for your interest and support. Thank you for staying curious,
and I will talk to you again soon. You've been
listening to Strange Things on the iHeart Radio and Coast
(50:01):
to Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network.
Speaker 2 (50:23):
Well, if you like this episode of Strange Things, wait
till you hear the next one. Thank you for listening
to the iHeartRadio and Coast to Coast AM Paranormal Podcast Network.
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