May 22, 2025 • 32 mins
In this delightfully disturbing episode of Inherited Hauntings, Lindsey and Nancy take on the unnerving world of haunted dolls—from the infamous Annabelle (yes, that Annabelle) to lesser-known but equally cursed toy box nightmares from around the globe.
We dig into the real story behind the raggedy origin of Annabelle, plus we explore the legends of Robert the Doll, Okiku, and a few haunted cuties you’ve probably never heard of… but might want to avoid on eBay.
And in a shocking twist, one of us would absolutely adopt a haunted doll if given the chance. The other? Not sleeping tonight.
🧸 Creepy dolls, true hauntings, questionable decisions, and mother-daughter mayhem—it’s all in a day's pod.
THE SCARIEST STORIES ARE THE ONES THAT ARE TRUE.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Hello, everyone.
I'm Lindsay, and I'm here withmy mom, Nancy, as we explore the
world of the paranormal.
Ghosts, cryptids, hauntings, andall the things that go bump in
the night.
Whether you're a true believeror just love a good spooky
story, you're in the rightplace.
So grab a cup of whatever youlike, turn on the lights, and
let's get into it.
(00:30):
Welcome back to InheritedHauntings.
Today we're going to talk abouthaunted dolls, why they freak us
out, how deep the history goes,and the dolls that have
terrified people for decades.
You know
SPEAKER_01 (00:42):
what, Lindsay?
I used to have a Harlequin doll.
I don't know where it came from,but it was in my room when I was
like a teenager.
SPEAKER_00 (00:50):
Just to confirm, a Harlequin is like a little
jester, right?
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (00:56):
It had like a white face and like that weird black
makeup.
Okay.
All right.
It's
SPEAKER_00 (01:07):
giving clown.
SPEAKER_01 (01:08):
Yes.
And I had that in my room forquite a while.
I don't know why because itfreaked me out and it was just
ugly.
And every time it looked at me,I thought it was telling me to
clean up my freaking room.
Really?
It was giving you that vibe?
Well, you should have seen myroom when I was a teenager.
So finally one day I was like,I'm done with you.
(01:31):
I'm going to throw you away andI hope you don't come back to
haunt me.
Well, that's good.
Did she ever come back?
SPEAKER_00 (01:37):
No.
Oh, well, that's good.
That's even better.
I mean, I think we'd be doingour listeners a disservice if I
didn't out that you played withdolls until you were 14.
SPEAKER_01 (01:48):
Okay, well, not dolls, dolls.
I never was really into dolls,but I liked the Barbies for the
fashion.
SPEAKER_00 (01:53):
Okay, okay.
She has a passion for fashion.
I've never had a personalexperience with a haunted doll,
but that is not for lack oftrying.
My husband will not let me getany.
I've looked on eBay, Etsy,Craigslist and found all of
these beautiful haunted dollswith all these stories attached
to them.
But he...
will not have it.
SPEAKER_01 (02:14):
At least somebody has some sense, Lindsay.
Why would you even think ofdoing that?
That's disgusting.
I'm
SPEAKER_00 (02:20):
just picturing like having my own like display of
haunted dolls and like people,you know, there's this idea that
people who sort of adopt ahaunted doll and adopt that
spirit can treat them withkindness like in the afterlife
and like take care of them.
SPEAKER_01 (02:38):
I have no words.
UNKNOWN (02:40):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (02:40):
I don't know where all this comes from.
I
SPEAKER_00 (02:42):
don't know why everybody's against me all the
time.
SPEAKER_01 (02:44):
Well, it does not sound very intelligent.
Let me just put it that way.
SPEAKER_00 (02:51):
Okay, the gloves are off today, Mom.
Good to know.
When I mentioned to a friendtoday that we were doing an
episode on haunted dolls, theirimmediate reaction was, dolls
creep me the hell out.
I really wonder where that comesfrom.
So let's talk a little bitabout...
dolls through time and why theyare so creepy.
SPEAKER_01 (03:13):
What's the history of dolls anyway?
SPEAKER_00 (03:15):
Well, the earliest account of dolls can be traced
back to ancient Egypt.
They use them in rituals andburial practices, but there was
no record of hauntings attachedto them.
In Rome and in Greece, dollswere made of clay and wax and
were used as offerings or toys.
And in the Victoria era, I mean,we can all picture a Victorian
(03:37):
doll, right?
They were porcelain, eerilylifelike, wearing these very
regal dresses.
Some of them are even made withhuman hair.
A whole generation raised onUncanny Valley vibes.
And for those who don't know,Uncanny Valley is this effect
where something is like toohuman to be cute, but not human
(04:00):
enough to be safe.
And I think that's part of whydolls are so scary to people.
SPEAKER_01 (04:07):
Can you explain that again?
Uncanny Valley effect?
SPEAKER_00 (04:11):
So the uncanny valley is a phenomenon where
human-like robots orcomputer-generated images most
often will be seemingly almosthuman, and it triggers these
feelings of unease, disgust, orrevulsion in observers.
More often than not, you seethis happening with avatars,
dolls, puppets, robots.
(04:34):
People are very disturbed by it.
SPEAKER_01 (04:35):
Yeah, okay.
It's like you think a robot'scute, but you know it's a robot,
so that's kind of unsettling.
SPEAKER_00 (04:43):
Since you're a nurse, think about like a CPR
doll.
It kind of looks like a dude,but you know it's not a dude.
So it's a little weird to seehalf a torso kind of laying out
in front of you.
SPEAKER_01 (04:55):
Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00 (04:57):
So that's how people feel about dolls.
They look so human-like, butthey're not, and it gives people
the ick.
Another reason why dolls can beso scary is the symbolism behind
them.
Dolls are associated withinnocence, and when we think
about a haunted or a creepy dolllike we see in media, it sort of
(05:19):
corrupts that image.
So childlike objects behavingwith malice is really not a lot
of people's cup of tea.
SPEAKER_01 (05:26):
Yes, like Chucky.
SPEAKER_00 (05:27):
Exactly like Chucky.
And I mean, the reason we're allhere today, the possession
potential.
They're small, human-likevessels, which is the perfect
recipe for a paranormal host.
SPEAKER_01 (05:41):
So what's the difference between a haunted
doll and a cursed doll?
SPEAKER_00 (05:46):
Well, here's the difference.
Haunted means it's inhabited bya spirit, ghost, or other
supernatural entity.
Cursed means that the object wasplaced under a spell or a hex
that causes misfortune or badluck.
Like when I think of cursedobjects, I think of a lot of the
valuables that were buried inthe tombs with the mummies in
(06:09):
Egypt.
And when those were excavated bythe English back in the late
1800s, early 1900s, they wouldbe cursed by taking that
chalice, you know, those richesout of their tomb.
SPEAKER_01 (06:24):
So there's a curse and if you have it, there's a
hex.
If you do something wrong, itcauses bad luck.
Sort of like taking treasurefrom the pirate's booty or
something.
SPEAKER_00 (06:33):
Exactly.
You could take treasure rightout of their booty.
SPEAKER_01 (06:38):
So, okay.
And then haunted is basicallypossessed, I guess.
So we have that down.
Now, what are the explanationsfor these so-called haunted
dolls?
SPEAKER_00 (06:49):
Well, there's always two sides to every story, right?
So we have our paranormalbeliever and are skeptics.
So the skeptic side includesthis concept of pareidolia,
which is seeing faces orassuming emotions in inanimate
objects.
So your brain interpretingsomething as, oh, the doll moved
a little bit.
(07:09):
It's just your brain playing atrick on you.
Another reasoning, which isactually my favorite one, is
confirmation bias.
So if somebody believes a dollis haunted and Everything
becomes evidence.
And we'll see some examples ofthis later when we talk about
some of our haunted dolls,where, you know, this precedent
(07:29):
is set that the doll is hauntedand anybody who doesn't treat it
with respect, bad things willhappen to them.
And then so any bad things thathappen to them after they feel
they've disrespected the dollis, of course, the doll's fault.
SPEAKER_01 (07:42):
I mean, you have to be, you know, a little bit
pragmatic about all of thesethings.
So...
Yeah.
I mean, if something badhappened to you after you saw
the doll, is it the doll or wasit just the normal course of
life?
SPEAKER_00 (07:57):
Exactly.
And I like to describe myself asparanormally, cautiously
optimistic.
I can't believe everything thatI see, but if something has
validity to me, who am I to saythat it's not real?
SPEAKER_01 (08:15):
Yeah.
So what is the paranormalbeliever's view of these haunted
dolls?
SPEAKER_00 (08:18):
So there's this object attachment theory, where
spirits attach themselves tofamiliar items, especially if
loved by a child.
So for example, if a child inthe 1800s loved this doll more
than anything, and unfortunatelythey passed from a fatal
disease, people believe thatbecause they loved the doll so
much that they would be attachedto and thus inhabit said doll.
(08:42):
Another view is that thesehaunted objects work as vessels
for demonic entities.
You know, you think it's alittle girl in the doll, but
it's not really.
And also, a lot of spiritualpractitioners warn against
keeping dolls in bedrooms orplacing them near mirrors.
A lot of that comes from beingso vulnerable when you're
(09:02):
sleeping and mirrors being seenas a potential portal for
paranormal activity.
It
SPEAKER_01 (09:08):
does sound kind of makes sense, though, don't you
think?
Because if you put a doll likefacing a mirror, isn't there
just something like unsettlingabout that?
Like instinctually?
Yeah,
SPEAKER_00 (09:19):
I don't think I would like to see a doll looking
at itself in the mirror.
I also think that, you know, ifwe talk about some of these
porcelain dolls, they have veryrealistic glass eyes.
And I don't really know if Iwant to see their own reflection
in them I think I'm just all set
SPEAKER_01 (09:39):
I guess they were you know back in the olden days
when they had these porcelaindolls they probably didn't
little girls probably didn'thave a lot to play with and that
was what their moms did theystayed home and took care of all
the babies so they wanted toemulate what their moms did and
they that's all they had to doit with so I guess and they look
probably brand new they didn'thave like cracked faces and
(10:00):
tangled hair
SPEAKER_00 (10:01):
yeah I guess that's kind of cute when you think of
it that way I think about allall the time that back when
America was first settled, kidswould play with like a hoop and
a stick and be like, this is somuch fun.
SPEAKER_01 (10:11):
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (10:13):
So I guess we've had to have some progress over the
years.
And now they make dolls that areinsanely lifelike.
I don't know if you've ever seenthese reborn dolls that look
like newborn babies.
They actually have the weight,the look, the feel.
They look like a baby.
It's wild.
SPEAKER_01 (10:32):
I don't think I would like that.
I
SPEAKER_00 (10:33):
don't blame you.
So we all know the most famoushaunted doll.
And mom, I would love if youcould tell us a little bit about
her.
SPEAKER_01 (10:43):
Anna Bell is a movie star, and she did not start out
that way.
Right now, she is a fadedRaggedy Ann.
And I don't know if you've everseen like a real Raggedy Ann,
but they were very popular backin the 70s.
People could make themthemselves pretty easily with a
sewing machine.
SPEAKER_00 (11:02):
People would make them themselves?
SPEAKER_01 (11:03):
Yeah, I had one.
SPEAKER_00 (11:04):
Oh,
SPEAKER_01 (11:05):
yeah.
One of my mom's friends made it.
SPEAKER_00 (11:07):
I didn't know that.
I thought that was like a brand.
SPEAKER_01 (11:10):
No, they were pretty easy to make.
SPEAKER_00 (11:11):
I don't think I've ever even seen one in real life,
to be honest.
Well, I have, but just behind apane of glass.
SPEAKER_01 (11:19):
I'll tell you something, Lindsay.
I had one.
My mom got it for me when I wasa girl.
You know, the face was kind ofclownish.
And the hair was kind ofclownish and the clothes were
kind of.
SPEAKER_00 (11:32):
I think she is a clown.
I
SPEAKER_01 (11:33):
guess that's why she's clown.
SPEAKER_00 (11:34):
With love and respect.
Like she, I think that was theintention.
Why
SPEAKER_01 (11:38):
would anybody do that?
I
SPEAKER_00 (11:40):
don't know what happened in the course of
history where people decidedkids love clowns.
I
SPEAKER_01 (11:45):
know.
SPEAKER_00 (11:46):
It's never worked out for anybody.
Let's be real.
SPEAKER_01 (11:51):
Okay, so she right now sits behind glass.
Her stitched smile is frozen.
But before she was locked awayin the Ed and Lorraine Warren's
Occult Museum, Annabelle livedin a small apartment in 1970s
Connecticut.
SPEAKER_00 (12:08):
Good for her.
SPEAKER_01 (12:09):
Yep.
A nursing student who lived withanother nursing student in an
apartment was gifted the doll toher for her birthday by her mom.
I don't know why her mom wouldthink a teenage girl would want
a Raggedy Ann doll, but...
SPEAKER_00 (12:22):
I don't know.
You've probably gotten me somepretty questionable gifts over
the years.
SPEAKER_01 (12:27):
I know.
I think I bought you a beachtowel one year for your
birthday.
SPEAKER_00 (12:30):
Oh, nice.
SPEAKER_01 (12:32):
So anyway, she was a birthday gift, but...
Almost immediately, thingsstarted to happen that were kind
of funny about the doll.
Like, they put the doll on thebed.
And then, you know, the nexttime they came in the room, the
doll was like, on its side or ona different part of the bed.
SPEAKER_00 (12:50):
Okay, I mean, I could explain that away, maybe.
SPEAKER_01 (12:53):
Yeah.
So then they, you know, startedtalking to each other about it.
And Then she started appearingin entirely different rooms.
And so the girls thought theywere each like playing a trick
on each other with...
Oh.
Or, you know, it was theirimagination or, you know, maybe
somebody wasn't paying attentionand moved it and forgot about
(13:13):
it.
But it definitely kind ofspooked them.
And then one day they came homeand they found handwritten notes
on parchment paper in like achildlike handwriting that said,
help us.
SPEAKER_00 (13:25):
Ew.
SPEAKER_01 (13:26):
And they don't have any parchment paper in their
apartment.
Then one day, they came home tofind what looked like blood on
Annabelle's, what would be herhands.
And they said, this is enough.
They contacted a medium.
And then the medium told themthat, oh, it's the spirit of a
little girl named AnnabelleHiggins, who used to live
(13:48):
nearby, but she died.
And now she's attached to thedoll.
And she is not harmful at all.
She is just a little girl.
I
SPEAKER_00 (13:56):
know she's a Raggedy Ann doll in my heart of hearts,
but it's so hard to not picturethe Annabelle doll from the
Conjuring movies.
SPEAKER_01 (14:04):
Yeah, every time you see that nightmare of a doll.
SPEAKER_00 (14:07):
She looks, you know what she looks like?
She looks like Slappy the puppetfrom Goosebumps.
That's what she looks like,Slappy.
You
SPEAKER_01 (14:16):
know, they have to do the drama, but it's like, who
would ever think to make a dollthat looked like
SPEAKER_00 (14:20):
that?
Yeah, they made it prettyunbelievable.
Oh,
SPEAKER_01 (14:23):
wait, no, we're going to talk about some other
dolls that are pretty ugly.
Anyway, so the medium told themthat, oh, it's just a little
spirit of a little girl.
So they agreed to, you know, letthe doll stay.
They thought they were doingsomething nice.
And then the activityintensified.
One night, Angie's boyfriendwoke up, felt like he was being
(14:47):
choked.
And when he woke up, he saw likescratches on his chest.
And there was other unexplainedsituations that
SPEAKER_00 (14:56):
I'd like to know if he woke up with the doll on top
of him or if they just likeaccused the doll.
You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01 (15:03):
I think if it was on top of him, of course, you know,
he would have said that.
But he just kind of felt like hewas being attacked.
And when he woke up, he hadscratches.
SPEAKER_00 (15:11):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (15:12):
So there was also some unexplained knocking.
And when somebody thought theyeven heard like a low growl.
SPEAKER_00 (15:19):
Yeah.
If you hear a growl and smellrotten eggs, it's time to go.
SPEAKER_01 (15:23):
Yeah.
Or if you hear get out.
SPEAKER_00 (15:25):
That would do it for you?
UNKNOWN (15:29):
That's enough?
SPEAKER_01 (15:30):
Get out.
Okay, so they called Ed andLorraine Warren.
Ed and Lorraine Warren lived inConnecticut.
They're famous parapsychologyinvestigators.
SPEAKER_00 (15:40):
The dynamic duo.
SPEAKER_01 (15:42):
Trailblazers.
And so Ed and Lorraine Warrenstepped in.
Lorraine reported to be apsychic and a medium, and Ed
Warren had a lot of knowledgeabout demonology.
And so they did a lot ofinvestigating, and they
determined that there was nochild spirit in this doll, that
it was a demonic entity usingthe doll as a conduit.
(16:04):
The whole goal was to actuallykind of possess one of the girls
there, so...
Yikes.
They took the doll and they puther in their museum of haunted
objects with a warning.
Do not open under anycircumstances.
SPEAKER_00 (16:17):
If a doll has its own security detail, it's not a
toy.
It's a hostage situation.
SPEAKER_01 (16:23):
Yeah.
How many dolls are unlockingkey?
Gosh.
Yeah.
Annabelle.
People that have visited her,they blame her for fatal
accidents involving people whomocked her or disrespected the
case that she's locked in.
SPEAKER_00 (16:38):
She said, put some respect on my name.
That's what she says.
SPEAKER_01 (16:43):
Yeah, there's, you know, this huge story that one
man tapped on the glass and thencrashed his motorcycle on the
way home.
SPEAKER_00 (16:51):
Hmm, I guess we'll never know.
Well, thank you so much forsharing that, Mom.
Now you tell me.
(17:21):
So view at your own risk.
I already
SPEAKER_01 (17:25):
looked at the pictures.
SPEAKER_00 (17:27):
Well, I did too.
So if we're going down, we'regoing down together.
So long before there was Chuckyor Megan, which if you haven't
seen that movie, there's goingto be a sequel.
You absolutely should.
It's lovely.
There was Robert, the OG doll ofnightmares.
So in the early 1900s in KeyWest, Florida, a young boy named
(17:48):
Eugene Otto received a doll froma servant in the family's home.
The servant, reportedly skilledin voodoo and angry with the
family, gave the doll to the boyas a gift.
Eugene loved the doll.
He named it Robert and took himeverywhere.
Dressed in a cute little sailorsuit and stuffed with straw,
(18:10):
Robert looked innocent, but thehousehold soon became very
unnerved.
Late at night, Eugene's parentsheard their son talking to
someone and a deep, unfamiliarvoice responding.
What would you do if you heardthat coming out of my room?
SPEAKER_01 (18:28):
That sounds like every haunted movie I've ever
seen, like every horror moviewhere they move into a new house
and the child is in the bedroomtalking to somebody.
But actually, this is even morehaunting because then you hear
like a different voice.
So that's really what would Ido?
Well, I think I would probablyget rid of the doll.
SPEAKER_00 (18:53):
All righty.
I get creeped out when I hearthose stories of people like
seeing or hearing things overthe baby monitor.
That's a big no-no for me.
SPEAKER_01 (19:02):
There's a lot of, yeah, that stuff.
So strange voices, deepunfamiliar voices are no bueno.
SPEAKER_00 (19:11):
Exactly.
So strange accidents startedhappening around the house.
Eugene blamed Robert.
When furniture was knocked overor toys were broken, he'd say,
Robert did it.
Neighbors claimed they saw thedoll move from window to window
when the family wasn't home.
Oh, my God.
(19:33):
Could you even imagine?
You're like, I'd be like, honey,come look.
The neighbor's doll has movedagain.
That would be my favoritepastime.
I
SPEAKER_01 (19:41):
don't understand why they kept the doll.
SPEAKER_00 (19:44):
I think he just loved it so much, you know?
And maybe they thought it wasall crap.
SPEAKER_01 (19:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (19:51):
So today, as Eugene grew up, he actually kept the
doll.
Even after his parents passed,he moved Robert into the turret
room of his home.
He had his own room.
Visitors reported feelingwatched, objects moved, and
cameras malfunctioning, which Ihave to wonder if this was the
early 1900s.
(20:12):
We're even talking like the mid1900s.
How functional are these camerasto begin with?
SPEAKER_01 (20:18):
No
SPEAKER_00 (20:18):
offense to
SPEAKER_01 (20:18):
you.
Yeah, in the early 1900s, I wasa teenager.
I do remember having a camera.
No, I mean, they had camerasback in the 60s.
So, you know, as he grew up andhe was, you know, in his 50s,
(20:40):
then there was cameras.
SPEAKER_00 (20:42):
Okay, that's fair enough.
So we're missing some info onwhat happened between when
Eugene was no longer Robert'scaregiver to today, where Robert
lives in the East MartelloMuseum in Key West.
He's inside a glass case, butguests are warned, ask his
permission before taking hisphoto.
(21:03):
People who forget to showrespect, they say Robert
punishes them.
And here's an example of aletter they've received.
This is from their website.
And they have actual scans ofthe letters on their website
too.
So this one says, I would liketo start off by apologizing to
you for being rude and takingyour picture without having your
(21:25):
permission.
When I initially asked you forpermission and almost
immediately started having chestpain, I should have known that
it wasn't okay to take yourpicture.
Again, I am truly sorry for notlistening to you.
Since visiting you about threeyears ago, my house has been
struck by lightning three times.
(21:46):
Also, a rental home I wasscheduled to vacation at caught
fire the night before I was tocheck in.
Two nights later, the rentalhome we were actually able to
stay at was struck by lightningas well.
What do you think about that,Mom?
SPEAKER_01 (22:02):
That's a lot of lightning.
SPEAKER_00 (22:06):
I mean, they say lightning doesn't strike twice,
but I guess if you disrespectRobert...
It strikes four times.
The museum receives hundreds ofapology letters every year, just
like this one, from people thatare begging Robert for
forgiveness after losing theirjobs, getting divorced, or being
injured following adisrespectful encounter with
(22:28):
him.
SPEAKER_01 (22:28):
Well, that does sound pretty bad.
I would never want to goactually see that thing or take
a picture of it.
SPEAKER_00 (22:35):
Really?
You want to be in the room withthem?
SPEAKER_01 (22:37):
I want to be on the safe side, Lindsay.
You're the one that would go buya haunted doll.
SPEAKER_00 (22:41):
I want to live in a haunted house with my haunted
dolls and my little ghosties.
And I would be happy as a clam.
SPEAKER_01 (22:48):
Oh my gosh.
Who are you?
I
SPEAKER_00 (22:51):
don't know.
I don't even know how I'm cutfrom your cloth, to be honest.
SPEAKER_01 (22:56):
Oh, what did I do?
SPEAKER_00 (22:57):
You created a monster.
SPEAKER_01 (22:59):
Well, there's some other haunted dolls.
Have you heard about Okiku?
SPEAKER_00 (23:06):
Okiku.
SPEAKER_01 (23:07):
The Japanese doll.
Around the same era.
Okay.
In Japan, a young boy orteenager bought the doll in
Hokkaido for his little babysister, Okiku.
And she later died of anillness.
Aw.
The family placed the doll on analtar to remember her.
I
SPEAKER_00 (23:27):
love that about...
Eastern culture, the altars thatthey have for those that have
passed on are so beautiful.
They
SPEAKER_01 (23:35):
do have a lot of respect for their deceased
ancestors and family members.
So over time, they noticed thatthe doll's hair seemed longer
and seemed to be growing.
Excuse me?
The doll had long black hair.
You can look it up on theinternet.
Very cute little doll.
And they put it on the mantleand they noticed that the doll's
(23:55):
hair was growing.
So when they moved away, theyentrusted the doll to the
Menengi temple and the monksthere accepted it.
And the monks even today claimthat the hair continues to grow.
They've trimmed it and it growsback.
SPEAKER_00 (24:11):
My eyes are literally watering right now.
This is terrifying.
I don't like hair growing onlittle dolls.
I don't need it.
It
SPEAKER_01 (24:19):
makes me think, well, Maybe the doll's hair was
made of actual hair, but themonks think the spirit of the
Okiku child resides in the doll.
SPEAKER_00 (24:32):
Hmm, okay.
SPEAKER_01 (24:32):
And while it sounds like folklore, there was a
scientific analysis in the 2000sclaiming that the hair is indeed
human and that of a young child.
SPEAKER_00 (24:42):
Holy shit!
SPEAKER_01 (24:44):
Yeah, so there's a few unexplained doll things
going around.
There's another one.
There's a doll in Canada.
believed to be from 1910.
I guess all the creepy dollswere made in the early 1900s.
This one was donated to a museumin the 1990s, and this is kind
of like one of those porcelainface dolls that, you know, you
(25:05):
often see the faces cracked, andthis is kind of not a very...
Cuddly looking.
But this doll reportedly wept atnight when she was still in her
previous owner's home.
And when she was in the museum,they experienced strange
occurrences as far as echoingfootsteps in the hall.
Electronic devices were failingnear her.
(25:29):
So they keep her in a glass caseaway from the other dolls
because, according to Lore, shedoesn't play nice with others.
SPEAKER_00 (25:36):
Ooh, okay, Mandy.
At least she knows what shewants.
SPEAKER_01 (25:41):
I've seen so many paranormal videos of dolls that
actually do seem to move ontheir own, heads turning.
I really think that it'sprobably more common than we
think.
As far as, you know, spiritsinhabiting a doll.
SPEAKER_00 (25:57):
But you know what?
You know what?
You don't see like a haunted MyLittle Pony.
You don't see like a hauntedCabbage Patch or a haunted
Beanie Baby.
Why are they all creepy and oldand terrifying?
Do you think in the future we'llhave haunted Beanie Babies?
And if so, I'm in a lot oftrouble.
SPEAKER_01 (26:14):
That's a good question.
SPEAKER_00 (26:17):
So the last doll that I wanted to talk about
today is Letta the doll, whichis short for Letta me out.
She's located in Australia andallegedly dates back to 200
years ago.
She was found under a house byKerry Walton in Wagga Wagga,
which I will say Australia doesnot sound like a real place.
(26:40):
Wagga Wagga Australia soundsmade up.
I haven't been there, so I don'tknow, but I'm just saying.
If anybody wants to fly me outthere and prove me wrong, please
do.
So Letta, short for Letta Meow,is believed to have been made by
a Romany.
Strange events followed itsdiscovery.
SPEAKER_01 (26:58):
Sorry, she was made by what?
SPEAKER_00 (27:01):
You can't say that word anymore.
It's Romany.
SPEAKER_01 (27:04):
Really?
SPEAKER_00 (27:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (27:05):
You can't say gypsy
SPEAKER_00 (27:06):
either?
No, you can't say gypsy.
Well, you can say Romanian, butlike Romanian gypsies go by Roma
or Romany now.
SPEAKER_01 (27:15):
Oh.
So what was Romany doing inAustralia 200 years ago?
SPEAKER_00 (27:20):
Well, maybe the doll was made there and then...
Or
SPEAKER_01 (27:24):
sold.
Yeah, I guess they travel.
SPEAKER_00 (27:27):
Yeah.
So strange events followed itsdiscovery.
Dogs barked and cowered aroundit.
I don't know if that says muchbecause my dog is afraid of
bunnies.
So people fainted near it.
That's a lot.
Yeah.
And storms erupted when it wastaken outside...
The doll reportedly moves on itsown and changes facial
(27:49):
expressions.
SPEAKER_01 (27:51):
Oh, I hope it does, because if you have ever seen a
picture of it, it looks like anangry librarian.
SPEAKER_00 (27:57):
Well, you better hope she's not listening to this
right now.
She might not be very happy withyou.
SPEAKER_01 (28:05):
Well, that's just a few of these purported haunted
dolls that we've uncovered inour history.
This is from when we startedrecording history.
Of course, you know, four orfive hundred years ago, we don't
have much as far as informationabout children's toys and those
kind of superstition things.
So
SPEAKER_00 (28:24):
there must be so much that we don't know.
SPEAKER_01 (28:26):
Yeah, there's so much history.
SPEAKER_00 (28:28):
That's been passed down orally or through song,
right?
or just in languages that wewill never understand that have
been lost.
SPEAKER_01 (28:36):
I would not 100% doubt that there are or have
been dolls throughout historythat started to, let's just say,
take on a life of their own.
SPEAKER_00 (28:47):
A really good way to put it, I guess.
Okay, so today we talked aboutAnnabelle, Robert the doll,
Okiku, Mandy the doll, and Lettathe doll.
So...
If you had to have one as aroommate, which one would you
choose?
I
SPEAKER_01 (29:03):
think the one with the hair growing.
For real?
It's the least spooky.
I don't think I would like tohear a doll crying in the middle
of the night.
I would not want a doll thatmoves on its own.
And I wouldn't want a doll thatkind of purses you if you don't
pay it respect.
So and then, you know,Annabelle, she moved on her own
(29:25):
too.
So yeah, let's just go with theone that grows hair.
SPEAKER_00 (29:29):
Okay, that's a solid choice, I guess.
I would have to choose Robertsimply because I love the idea
of him like going window towindow in my house.
SPEAKER_01 (29:42):
Like your
SPEAKER_00 (29:43):
dog.
Exactly.
I feel like him and my dog wouldkeep each other company.
I pull in the driveway and I seethem in the window waiting for
me, loving their eyes.
And I think my only sort ofthing that would be holding me
back from it is that my husbandis on the skeptical side and I
(30:03):
wouldn't want him toaccidentally disrespect Robert
if I'm not home.
This past weekend was Easter andwe had almost the whole family
together.
And I went around the room and Iasked everybody on a scale of
one to 10, one being no way inhell and 10 being a million
percent, I believe.
(30:23):
What would you rate yourself onbelieving in ghosts?
SPEAKER_01 (30:26):
I remember that.
SPEAKER_00 (30:27):
And my husband was a five right down the middle.
SPEAKER_01 (30:31):
Yep.
And I think mine was too.
SPEAKER_00 (30:33):
Yep.
So I guess they balance us out.
SPEAKER_01 (30:36):
And then I think the average was probably a seven out
of everybody.
SPEAKER_00 (30:41):
Yeah, I think so too.
SPEAKER_01 (30:43):
So I think more people believe in possibility,
like it's more possible thannot.
SPEAKER_00 (30:49):
I think maybe more than we've realized too.
I
SPEAKER_01 (30:52):
mean, this is just anecdotal, but I mean, if we
asked 100 people, I...
I think we might get somethingclose to the same.
Who knows?
So would you keep a doll thatgives you a creepy feeling?
SPEAKER_00 (31:05):
I mean, I want a doll that keeps...
I want a doll that gives me acreepy feeling.
SPEAKER_01 (31:12):
Lindsay, no.
SPEAKER_00 (31:13):
What if I just went to the flea market?
Like, what if I...
Don't.
Don't go to the flea market.
What about you and yourantiques?
SPEAKER_01 (31:20):
I got some movies to show you about the Dybbuk box
and all that kind of stuff.
If you see a doll...
A doll at the flea market.
Don't buy it.
We want to know if anybody elsehad weird childhood toy stories.
SPEAKER_00 (31:35):
And I know they do.
I know there are people outthere that have had creepy dolls
that they didn't want, thattheir nana forced on them, or
people who had a speak and spellthat spoke to them in the night.
And I want to know.
Maybe you'll convince me not toget any haunted dolls.
I'm sure mom would be reallyappreciative of that.
(31:56):
Oh God, please don't.
She's so scared.
I wouldn't go to your house.
Okay, I'm definitely getting ahaunted doll then.
Just kidding.
SPEAKER_01 (32:05):
I'd sneak in and throw it away.
Oh,
SPEAKER_00 (32:07):
but then you'd touch it.
What if you disrespected it andit showed up at your house?
SPEAKER_01 (32:12):
Oh yeah, that would make a good movie too.
SPEAKER_00 (32:14):
Write that down, write that down.
SPEAKER_01 (32:17):
So now's a good time too to remind people if you
follow our show, that wouldreally help us out.
SPEAKER_00 (32:23):
Of course.
And as always, just remember,the scariest stories are the
ones that are true.
Hello, everyone.
I'm Lindsay, and I'm here withmy mom, Nancy, as we explore the
world of the paranormal.
Ghosts, cryptids, hauntings, andall the things that go bump in
the night.
Whether you're a true believeror just love a good spooky
story, you're in the rightplace.
So grab a cup of whatever youlike, turn on the lights, and
let's get into it.
(00:30):
Welcome back to InheritedHauntings.
Today we're going to talk abouthaunted dolls, why they freak us
out, how deep the history goes,and the dolls that have
terrified people for decades.
You know
SPEAKER_01 (00:42):
what, Lindsay?
I used to have a Harlequin doll.
I don't know where it came from,but it was in my room when I was
like a teenager.
SPEAKER_00 (00:50):
Just to confirm, a Harlequin is like a little
jester, right?
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (00:56):
It had like a white face and like that weird black
makeup.
Okay.
All right.
It's
SPEAKER_00 (01:07):
giving clown.
SPEAKER_01 (01:08):
Yes.
And I had that in my room forquite a while.
I don't know why because itfreaked me out and it was just
ugly.
And every time it looked at me,I thought it was telling me to
clean up my freaking room.
Really?
It was giving you that vibe?
Well, you should have seen myroom when I was a teenager.
So finally one day I was like,I'm done with you.
(01:31):
I'm going to throw you away andI hope you don't come back to
haunt me.
Well, that's good.
Did she ever come back?
SPEAKER_00 (01:37):
No.
Oh, well, that's good.
That's even better.
I mean, I think we'd be doingour listeners a disservice if I
didn't out that you played withdolls until you were 14.
SPEAKER_01 (01:48):
Okay, well, not dolls, dolls.
I never was really into dolls,but I liked the Barbies for the
fashion.
SPEAKER_00 (01:53):
Okay, okay.
She has a passion for fashion.
I've never had a personalexperience with a haunted doll,
but that is not for lack oftrying.
My husband will not let me getany.
I've looked on eBay, Etsy,Craigslist and found all of
these beautiful haunted dollswith all these stories attached
to them.
But he...
will not have it.
SPEAKER_01 (02:14):
At least somebody has some sense, Lindsay.
Why would you even think ofdoing that?
That's disgusting.
I'm
SPEAKER_00 (02:20):
just picturing like having my own like display of
haunted dolls and like people,you know, there's this idea that
people who sort of adopt ahaunted doll and adopt that
spirit can treat them withkindness like in the afterlife
and like take care of them.
SPEAKER_01 (02:38):
I have no words.
UNKNOWN (02:40):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (02:40):
I don't know where all this comes from.
I
SPEAKER_00 (02:42):
don't know why everybody's against me all the
time.
SPEAKER_01 (02:44):
Well, it does not sound very intelligent.
Let me just put it that way.
SPEAKER_00 (02:51):
Okay, the gloves are off today, Mom.
Good to know.
When I mentioned to a friendtoday that we were doing an
episode on haunted dolls, theirimmediate reaction was, dolls
creep me the hell out.
I really wonder where that comesfrom.
So let's talk a little bitabout...
dolls through time and why theyare so creepy.
SPEAKER_01 (03:13):
What's the history of dolls anyway?
SPEAKER_00 (03:15):
Well, the earliest account of dolls can be traced
back to ancient Egypt.
They use them in rituals andburial practices, but there was
no record of hauntings attachedto them.
In Rome and in Greece, dollswere made of clay and wax and
were used as offerings or toys.
And in the Victoria era, I mean,we can all picture a Victorian
(03:37):
doll, right?
They were porcelain, eerilylifelike, wearing these very
regal dresses.
Some of them are even made withhuman hair.
A whole generation raised onUncanny Valley vibes.
And for those who don't know,Uncanny Valley is this effect
where something is like toohuman to be cute, but not human
(04:00):
enough to be safe.
And I think that's part of whydolls are so scary to people.
SPEAKER_01 (04:07):
Can you explain that again?
Uncanny Valley effect?
SPEAKER_00 (04:11):
So the uncanny valley is a phenomenon where
human-like robots orcomputer-generated images most
often will be seemingly almosthuman, and it triggers these
feelings of unease, disgust, orrevulsion in observers.
More often than not, you seethis happening with avatars,
dolls, puppets, robots.
(04:34):
People are very disturbed by it.
SPEAKER_01 (04:35):
Yeah, okay.
It's like you think a robot'scute, but you know it's a robot,
so that's kind of unsettling.
SPEAKER_00 (04:43):
Since you're a nurse, think about like a CPR
doll.
It kind of looks like a dude,but you know it's not a dude.
So it's a little weird to seehalf a torso kind of laying out
in front of you.
SPEAKER_01 (04:55):
Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00 (04:57):
So that's how people feel about dolls.
They look so human-like, butthey're not, and it gives people
the ick.
Another reason why dolls can beso scary is the symbolism behind
them.
Dolls are associated withinnocence, and when we think
about a haunted or a creepy dolllike we see in media, it sort of
(05:19):
corrupts that image.
So childlike objects behavingwith malice is really not a lot
of people's cup of tea.
SPEAKER_01 (05:26):
Yes, like Chucky.
SPEAKER_00 (05:27):
Exactly like Chucky.
And I mean, the reason we're allhere today, the possession
potential.
They're small, human-likevessels, which is the perfect
recipe for a paranormal host.
SPEAKER_01 (05:41):
So what's the difference between a haunted
doll and a cursed doll?
SPEAKER_00 (05:46):
Well, here's the difference.
Haunted means it's inhabited bya spirit, ghost, or other
supernatural entity.
Cursed means that the object wasplaced under a spell or a hex
that causes misfortune or badluck.
Like when I think of cursedobjects, I think of a lot of the
valuables that were buried inthe tombs with the mummies in
(06:09):
Egypt.
And when those were excavated bythe English back in the late
1800s, early 1900s, they wouldbe cursed by taking that
chalice, you know, those richesout of their tomb.
SPEAKER_01 (06:24):
So there's a curse and if you have it, there's a
hex.
If you do something wrong, itcauses bad luck.
Sort of like taking treasurefrom the pirate's booty or
something.
SPEAKER_00 (06:33):
Exactly.
You could take treasure rightout of their booty.
SPEAKER_01 (06:38):
So, okay.
And then haunted is basicallypossessed, I guess.
So we have that down.
Now, what are the explanationsfor these so-called haunted
dolls?
SPEAKER_00 (06:49):
Well, there's always two sides to every story, right?
So we have our paranormalbeliever and are skeptics.
So the skeptic side includesthis concept of pareidolia,
which is seeing faces orassuming emotions in inanimate
objects.
So your brain interpretingsomething as, oh, the doll moved
a little bit.
(07:09):
It's just your brain playing atrick on you.
Another reasoning, which isactually my favorite one, is
confirmation bias.
So if somebody believes a dollis haunted and Everything
becomes evidence.
And we'll see some examples ofthis later when we talk about
some of our haunted dolls,where, you know, this precedent
(07:29):
is set that the doll is hauntedand anybody who doesn't treat it
with respect, bad things willhappen to them.
And then so any bad things thathappen to them after they feel
they've disrespected the dollis, of course, the doll's fault.
SPEAKER_01 (07:42):
I mean, you have to be, you know, a little bit
pragmatic about all of thesethings.
So...
Yeah.
I mean, if something badhappened to you after you saw
the doll, is it the doll or wasit just the normal course of
life?
SPEAKER_00 (07:57):
Exactly.
And I like to describe myself asparanormally, cautiously
optimistic.
I can't believe everything thatI see, but if something has
validity to me, who am I to saythat it's not real?
SPEAKER_01 (08:15):
Yeah.
So what is the paranormalbeliever's view of these haunted
dolls?
SPEAKER_00 (08:18):
So there's this object attachment theory, where
spirits attach themselves tofamiliar items, especially if
loved by a child.
So for example, if a child inthe 1800s loved this doll more
than anything, and unfortunatelythey passed from a fatal
disease, people believe thatbecause they loved the doll so
much that they would be attachedto and thus inhabit said doll.
(08:42):
Another view is that thesehaunted objects work as vessels
for demonic entities.
You know, you think it's alittle girl in the doll, but
it's not really.
And also, a lot of spiritualpractitioners warn against
keeping dolls in bedrooms orplacing them near mirrors.
A lot of that comes from beingso vulnerable when you're
(09:02):
sleeping and mirrors being seenas a potential portal for
paranormal activity.
It
SPEAKER_01 (09:08):
does sound kind of makes sense, though, don't you
think?
Because if you put a doll likefacing a mirror, isn't there
just something like unsettlingabout that?
Like instinctually?
Yeah,
SPEAKER_00 (09:19):
I don't think I would like to see a doll looking
at itself in the mirror.
I also think that, you know, ifwe talk about some of these
porcelain dolls, they have veryrealistic glass eyes.
And I don't really know if Iwant to see their own reflection
in them I think I'm just all set
SPEAKER_01 (09:39):
I guess they were you know back in the olden days
when they had these porcelaindolls they probably didn't
little girls probably didn'thave a lot to play with and that
was what their moms did theystayed home and took care of all
the babies so they wanted toemulate what their moms did and
they that's all they had to doit with so I guess and they look
probably brand new they didn'thave like cracked faces and
(10:00):
tangled hair
SPEAKER_00 (10:01):
yeah I guess that's kind of cute when you think of
it that way I think about allall the time that back when
America was first settled, kidswould play with like a hoop and
a stick and be like, this is somuch fun.
SPEAKER_01 (10:11):
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (10:13):
So I guess we've had to have some progress over the
years.
And now they make dolls that areinsanely lifelike.
I don't know if you've ever seenthese reborn dolls that look
like newborn babies.
They actually have the weight,the look, the feel.
They look like a baby.
It's wild.
SPEAKER_01 (10:32):
I don't think I would like that.
I
SPEAKER_00 (10:33):
don't blame you.
So we all know the most famoushaunted doll.
And mom, I would love if youcould tell us a little bit about
her.
SPEAKER_01 (10:43):
Anna Bell is a movie star, and she did not start out
that way.
Right now, she is a fadedRaggedy Ann.
And I don't know if you've everseen like a real Raggedy Ann,
but they were very popular backin the 70s.
People could make themthemselves pretty easily with a
sewing machine.
SPEAKER_00 (11:02):
People would make them themselves?
SPEAKER_01 (11:03):
Yeah, I had one.
SPEAKER_00 (11:04):
Oh,
SPEAKER_01 (11:05):
yeah.
One of my mom's friends made it.
SPEAKER_00 (11:07):
I didn't know that.
I thought that was like a brand.
SPEAKER_01 (11:10):
No, they were pretty easy to make.
SPEAKER_00 (11:11):
I don't think I've ever even seen one in real life,
to be honest.
Well, I have, but just behind apane of glass.
SPEAKER_01 (11:19):
I'll tell you something, Lindsay.
I had one.
My mom got it for me when I wasa girl.
You know, the face was kind ofclownish.
And the hair was kind ofclownish and the clothes were
kind of.
SPEAKER_00 (11:32):
I think she is a clown.
I
SPEAKER_01 (11:33):
guess that's why she's clown.
SPEAKER_00 (11:34):
With love and respect.
Like she, I think that was theintention.
Why
SPEAKER_01 (11:38):
would anybody do that?
I
SPEAKER_00 (11:40):
don't know what happened in the course of
history where people decidedkids love clowns.
I
SPEAKER_01 (11:45):
know.
SPEAKER_00 (11:46):
It's never worked out for anybody.
Let's be real.
SPEAKER_01 (11:51):
Okay, so she right now sits behind glass.
Her stitched smile is frozen.
But before she was locked awayin the Ed and Lorraine Warren's
Occult Museum, Annabelle livedin a small apartment in 1970s
Connecticut.
SPEAKER_00 (12:08):
Good for her.
SPEAKER_01 (12:09):
Yep.
A nursing student who lived withanother nursing student in an
apartment was gifted the doll toher for her birthday by her mom.
I don't know why her mom wouldthink a teenage girl would want
a Raggedy Ann doll, but...
SPEAKER_00 (12:22):
I don't know.
You've probably gotten me somepretty questionable gifts over
the years.
SPEAKER_01 (12:27):
I know.
I think I bought you a beachtowel one year for your
birthday.
SPEAKER_00 (12:30):
Oh, nice.
SPEAKER_01 (12:32):
So anyway, she was a birthday gift, but...
Almost immediately, thingsstarted to happen that were kind
of funny about the doll.
Like, they put the doll on thebed.
And then, you know, the nexttime they came in the room, the
doll was like, on its side or ona different part of the bed.
SPEAKER_00 (12:50):
Okay, I mean, I could explain that away, maybe.
SPEAKER_01 (12:53):
Yeah.
So then they, you know, startedtalking to each other about it.
And Then she started appearingin entirely different rooms.
And so the girls thought theywere each like playing a trick
on each other with...
Oh.
Or, you know, it was theirimagination or, you know, maybe
somebody wasn't paying attentionand moved it and forgot about
(13:13):
it.
But it definitely kind ofspooked them.
And then one day they came homeand they found handwritten notes
on parchment paper in like achildlike handwriting that said,
help us.
SPEAKER_00 (13:25):
Ew.
SPEAKER_01 (13:26):
And they don't have any parchment paper in their
apartment.
Then one day, they came home tofind what looked like blood on
Annabelle's, what would be herhands.
And they said, this is enough.
They contacted a medium.
And then the medium told themthat, oh, it's the spirit of a
little girl named AnnabelleHiggins, who used to live
(13:48):
nearby, but she died.
And now she's attached to thedoll.
And she is not harmful at all.
She is just a little girl.
I
SPEAKER_00 (13:56):
know she's a Raggedy Ann doll in my heart of hearts,
but it's so hard to not picturethe Annabelle doll from the
Conjuring movies.
SPEAKER_01 (14:04):
Yeah, every time you see that nightmare of a doll.
SPEAKER_00 (14:07):
She looks, you know what she looks like?
She looks like Slappy the puppetfrom Goosebumps.
That's what she looks like,Slappy.
You
SPEAKER_01 (14:16):
know, they have to do the drama, but it's like, who
would ever think to make a dollthat looked like
SPEAKER_00 (14:20):
that?
Yeah, they made it prettyunbelievable.
Oh,
SPEAKER_01 (14:23):
wait, no, we're going to talk about some other
dolls that are pretty ugly.
Anyway, so the medium told themthat, oh, it's just a little
spirit of a little girl.
So they agreed to, you know, letthe doll stay.
They thought they were doingsomething nice.
And then the activityintensified.
One night, Angie's boyfriendwoke up, felt like he was being
(14:47):
choked.
And when he woke up, he saw likescratches on his chest.
And there was other unexplainedsituations that
SPEAKER_00 (14:56):
I'd like to know if he woke up with the doll on top
of him or if they just likeaccused the doll.
You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01 (15:03):
I think if it was on top of him, of course, you know,
he would have said that.
But he just kind of felt like hewas being attacked.
And when he woke up, he hadscratches.
SPEAKER_00 (15:11):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (15:12):
So there was also some unexplained knocking.
And when somebody thought theyeven heard like a low growl.
SPEAKER_00 (15:19):
Yeah.
If you hear a growl and smellrotten eggs, it's time to go.
SPEAKER_01 (15:23):
Yeah.
Or if you hear get out.
SPEAKER_00 (15:25):
That would do it for you?
UNKNOWN (15:29):
That's enough?
SPEAKER_01 (15:30):
Get out.
Okay, so they called Ed andLorraine Warren.
Ed and Lorraine Warren lived inConnecticut.
They're famous parapsychologyinvestigators.
SPEAKER_00 (15:40):
The dynamic duo.
SPEAKER_01 (15:42):
Trailblazers.
And so Ed and Lorraine Warrenstepped in.
Lorraine reported to be apsychic and a medium, and Ed
Warren had a lot of knowledgeabout demonology.
And so they did a lot ofinvestigating, and they
determined that there was nochild spirit in this doll, that
it was a demonic entity usingthe doll as a conduit.
(16:04):
The whole goal was to actuallykind of possess one of the girls
there, so...
Yikes.
They took the doll and they puther in their museum of haunted
objects with a warning.
Do not open under anycircumstances.
SPEAKER_00 (16:17):
If a doll has its own security detail, it's not a
toy.
It's a hostage situation.
SPEAKER_01 (16:23):
Yeah.
How many dolls are unlockingkey?
Gosh.
Yeah.
Annabelle.
People that have visited her,they blame her for fatal
accidents involving people whomocked her or disrespected the
case that she's locked in.
SPEAKER_00 (16:38):
She said, put some respect on my name.
That's what she says.
SPEAKER_01 (16:43):
Yeah, there's, you know, this huge story that one
man tapped on the glass and thencrashed his motorcycle on the
way home.
SPEAKER_00 (16:51):
Hmm, I guess we'll never know.
Well, thank you so much forsharing that, Mom.
Now you tell me.
(17:21):
So view at your own risk.
I already
SPEAKER_01 (17:25):
looked at the pictures.
SPEAKER_00 (17:27):
Well, I did too.
So if we're going down, we'regoing down together.
So long before there was Chuckyor Megan, which if you haven't
seen that movie, there's goingto be a sequel.
You absolutely should.
It's lovely.
There was Robert, the OG doll ofnightmares.
So in the early 1900s in KeyWest, Florida, a young boy named
(17:48):
Eugene Otto received a doll froma servant in the family's home.
The servant, reportedly skilledin voodoo and angry with the
family, gave the doll to the boyas a gift.
Eugene loved the doll.
He named it Robert and took himeverywhere.
Dressed in a cute little sailorsuit and stuffed with straw,
(18:10):
Robert looked innocent, but thehousehold soon became very
unnerved.
Late at night, Eugene's parentsheard their son talking to
someone and a deep, unfamiliarvoice responding.
What would you do if you heardthat coming out of my room?
SPEAKER_01 (18:28):
That sounds like every haunted movie I've ever
seen, like every horror moviewhere they move into a new house
and the child is in the bedroomtalking to somebody.
But actually, this is even morehaunting because then you hear
like a different voice.
So that's really what would Ido?
Well, I think I would probablyget rid of the doll.
SPEAKER_00 (18:53):
All righty.
I get creeped out when I hearthose stories of people like
seeing or hearing things overthe baby monitor.
That's a big no-no for me.
SPEAKER_01 (19:02):
There's a lot of, yeah, that stuff.
So strange voices, deepunfamiliar voices are no bueno.
SPEAKER_00 (19:11):
Exactly.
So strange accidents startedhappening around the house.
Eugene blamed Robert.
When furniture was knocked overor toys were broken, he'd say,
Robert did it.
Neighbors claimed they saw thedoll move from window to window
when the family wasn't home.
Oh, my God.
(19:33):
Could you even imagine?
You're like, I'd be like, honey,come look.
The neighbor's doll has movedagain.
That would be my favoritepastime.
I
SPEAKER_01 (19:41):
don't understand why they kept the doll.
SPEAKER_00 (19:44):
I think he just loved it so much, you know?
And maybe they thought it wasall crap.
SPEAKER_01 (19:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (19:51):
So today, as Eugene grew up, he actually kept the
doll.
Even after his parents passed,he moved Robert into the turret
room of his home.
He had his own room.
Visitors reported feelingwatched, objects moved, and
cameras malfunctioning, which Ihave to wonder if this was the
early 1900s.
(20:12):
We're even talking like the mid1900s.
How functional are these camerasto begin with?
SPEAKER_01 (20:18):
No
SPEAKER_00 (20:18):
offense to
SPEAKER_01 (20:18):
you.
Yeah, in the early 1900s, I wasa teenager.
I do remember having a camera.
No, I mean, they had camerasback in the 60s.
So, you know, as he grew up andhe was, you know, in his 50s,
(20:40):
then there was cameras.
SPEAKER_00 (20:42):
Okay, that's fair enough.
So we're missing some info onwhat happened between when
Eugene was no longer Robert'scaregiver to today, where Robert
lives in the East MartelloMuseum in Key West.
He's inside a glass case, butguests are warned, ask his
permission before taking hisphoto.
(21:03):
People who forget to showrespect, they say Robert
punishes them.
And here's an example of aletter they've received.
This is from their website.
And they have actual scans ofthe letters on their website
too.
So this one says, I would liketo start off by apologizing to
you for being rude and takingyour picture without having your
(21:25):
permission.
When I initially asked you forpermission and almost
immediately started having chestpain, I should have known that
it wasn't okay to take yourpicture.
Again, I am truly sorry for notlistening to you.
Since visiting you about threeyears ago, my house has been
struck by lightning three times.
(21:46):
Also, a rental home I wasscheduled to vacation at caught
fire the night before I was tocheck in.
Two nights later, the rentalhome we were actually able to
stay at was struck by lightningas well.
What do you think about that,Mom?
SPEAKER_01 (22:02):
That's a lot of lightning.
SPEAKER_00 (22:06):
I mean, they say lightning doesn't strike twice,
but I guess if you disrespectRobert...
It strikes four times.
The museum receives hundreds ofapology letters every year, just
like this one, from people thatare begging Robert for
forgiveness after losing theirjobs, getting divorced, or being
injured following adisrespectful encounter with
(22:28):
him.
SPEAKER_01 (22:28):
Well, that does sound pretty bad.
I would never want to goactually see that thing or take
a picture of it.
SPEAKER_00 (22:35):
Really?
You want to be in the room withthem?
SPEAKER_01 (22:37):
I want to be on the safe side, Lindsay.
You're the one that would go buya haunted doll.
SPEAKER_00 (22:41):
I want to live in a haunted house with my haunted
dolls and my little ghosties.
And I would be happy as a clam.
SPEAKER_01 (22:48):
Oh my gosh.
Who are you?
I
SPEAKER_00 (22:51):
don't know.
I don't even know how I'm cutfrom your cloth, to be honest.
SPEAKER_01 (22:56):
Oh, what did I do?
SPEAKER_00 (22:57):
You created a monster.
SPEAKER_01 (22:59):
Well, there's some other haunted dolls.
Have you heard about Okiku?
SPEAKER_00 (23:06):
Okiku.
SPEAKER_01 (23:07):
The Japanese doll.
Around the same era.
Okay.
In Japan, a young boy orteenager bought the doll in
Hokkaido for his little babysister, Okiku.
And she later died of anillness.
Aw.
The family placed the doll on analtar to remember her.
I
SPEAKER_00 (23:27):
love that about...
Eastern culture, the altars thatthey have for those that have
passed on are so beautiful.
They
SPEAKER_01 (23:35):
do have a lot of respect for their deceased
ancestors and family members.
So over time, they noticed thatthe doll's hair seemed longer
and seemed to be growing.
Excuse me?
The doll had long black hair.
You can look it up on theinternet.
Very cute little doll.
And they put it on the mantleand they noticed that the doll's
(23:55):
hair was growing.
So when they moved away, theyentrusted the doll to the
Menengi temple and the monksthere accepted it.
And the monks even today claimthat the hair continues to grow.
They've trimmed it and it growsback.
SPEAKER_00 (24:11):
My eyes are literally watering right now.
This is terrifying.
I don't like hair growing onlittle dolls.
I don't need it.
It
SPEAKER_01 (24:19):
makes me think, well, Maybe the doll's hair was
made of actual hair, but themonks think the spirit of the
Okiku child resides in the doll.
SPEAKER_00 (24:32):
Hmm, okay.
SPEAKER_01 (24:32):
And while it sounds like folklore, there was a
scientific analysis in the 2000sclaiming that the hair is indeed
human and that of a young child.
SPEAKER_00 (24:42):
Holy shit!
SPEAKER_01 (24:44):
Yeah, so there's a few unexplained doll things
going around.
There's another one.
There's a doll in Canada.
believed to be from 1910.
I guess all the creepy dollswere made in the early 1900s.
This one was donated to a museumin the 1990s, and this is kind
of like one of those porcelainface dolls that, you know, you
(25:05):
often see the faces cracked, andthis is kind of not a very...
Cuddly looking.
But this doll reportedly wept atnight when she was still in her
previous owner's home.
And when she was in the museum,they experienced strange
occurrences as far as echoingfootsteps in the hall.
Electronic devices were failingnear her.
(25:29):
So they keep her in a glass caseaway from the other dolls
because, according to Lore, shedoesn't play nice with others.
SPEAKER_00 (25:36):
Ooh, okay, Mandy.
At least she knows what shewants.
SPEAKER_01 (25:41):
I've seen so many paranormal videos of dolls that
actually do seem to move ontheir own, heads turning.
I really think that it'sprobably more common than we
think.
As far as, you know, spiritsinhabiting a doll.
SPEAKER_00 (25:57):
But you know what?
You know what?
You don't see like a haunted MyLittle Pony.
You don't see like a hauntedCabbage Patch or a haunted
Beanie Baby.
Why are they all creepy and oldand terrifying?
Do you think in the future we'llhave haunted Beanie Babies?
And if so, I'm in a lot oftrouble.
SPEAKER_01 (26:14):
That's a good question.
SPEAKER_00 (26:17):
So the last doll that I wanted to talk about
today is Letta the doll, whichis short for Letta me out.
She's located in Australia andallegedly dates back to 200
years ago.
She was found under a house byKerry Walton in Wagga Wagga,
which I will say Australia doesnot sound like a real place.
(26:40):
Wagga Wagga Australia soundsmade up.
I haven't been there, so I don'tknow, but I'm just saying.
If anybody wants to fly me outthere and prove me wrong, please
do.
So Letta, short for Letta Meow,is believed to have been made by
a Romany.
Strange events followed itsdiscovery.
SPEAKER_01 (26:58):
Sorry, she was made by what?
SPEAKER_00 (27:01):
You can't say that word anymore.
It's Romany.
SPEAKER_01 (27:04):
Really?
SPEAKER_00 (27:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (27:05):
You can't say gypsy
SPEAKER_00 (27:06):
either?
No, you can't say gypsy.
Well, you can say Romanian, butlike Romanian gypsies go by Roma
or Romany now.
SPEAKER_01 (27:15):
Oh.
So what was Romany doing inAustralia 200 years ago?
SPEAKER_00 (27:20):
Well, maybe the doll was made there and then...
Or
SPEAKER_01 (27:24):
sold.
Yeah, I guess they travel.
SPEAKER_00 (27:27):
Yeah.
So strange events followed itsdiscovery.
Dogs barked and cowered aroundit.
I don't know if that says muchbecause my dog is afraid of
bunnies.
So people fainted near it.
That's a lot.
Yeah.
And storms erupted when it wastaken outside...
The doll reportedly moves on itsown and changes facial
(27:49):
expressions.
SPEAKER_01 (27:51):
Oh, I hope it does, because if you have ever seen a
picture of it, it looks like anangry librarian.
SPEAKER_00 (27:57):
Well, you better hope she's not listening to this
right now.
She might not be very happy withyou.
SPEAKER_01 (28:05):
Well, that's just a few of these purported haunted
dolls that we've uncovered inour history.
This is from when we startedrecording history.
Of course, you know, four orfive hundred years ago, we don't
have much as far as informationabout children's toys and those
kind of superstition things.
So
SPEAKER_00 (28:24):
there must be so much that we don't know.
SPEAKER_01 (28:26):
Yeah, there's so much history.
SPEAKER_00 (28:28):
That's been passed down orally or through song,
right?
or just in languages that wewill never understand that have
been lost.
SPEAKER_01 (28:36):
I would not 100% doubt that there are or have
been dolls throughout historythat started to, let's just say,
take on a life of their own.
SPEAKER_00 (28:47):
A really good way to put it, I guess.
Okay, so today we talked aboutAnnabelle, Robert the doll,
Okiku, Mandy the doll, and Lettathe doll.
So...
If you had to have one as aroommate, which one would you
choose?
I
SPEAKER_01 (29:03):
think the one with the hair growing.
For real?
It's the least spooky.
I don't think I would like tohear a doll crying in the middle
of the night.
I would not want a doll thatmoves on its own.
And I wouldn't want a doll thatkind of purses you if you don't
pay it respect.
So and then, you know,Annabelle, she moved on her own
(29:25):
too.
So yeah, let's just go with theone that grows hair.
SPEAKER_00 (29:29):
Okay, that's a solid choice, I guess.
I would have to choose Robertsimply because I love the idea
of him like going window towindow in my house.
SPEAKER_01 (29:42):
Like your
SPEAKER_00 (29:43):
dog.
Exactly.
I feel like him and my dog wouldkeep each other company.
I pull in the driveway and I seethem in the window waiting for
me, loving their eyes.
And I think my only sort ofthing that would be holding me
back from it is that my husbandis on the skeptical side and I
(30:03):
wouldn't want him toaccidentally disrespect Robert
if I'm not home.
This past weekend was Easter andwe had almost the whole family
together.
And I went around the room and Iasked everybody on a scale of
one to 10, one being no way inhell and 10 being a million
percent, I believe.
(30:23):
What would you rate yourself onbelieving in ghosts?
SPEAKER_01 (30:26):
I remember that.
SPEAKER_00 (30:27):
And my husband was a five right down the middle.
SPEAKER_01 (30:31):
Yep.
And I think mine was too.
SPEAKER_00 (30:33):
Yep.
So I guess they balance us out.
SPEAKER_01 (30:36):
And then I think the average was probably a seven out
of everybody.
SPEAKER_00 (30:41):
Yeah, I think so too.
SPEAKER_01 (30:43):
So I think more people believe in possibility,
like it's more possible thannot.
SPEAKER_00 (30:49):
I think maybe more than we've realized too.
I
SPEAKER_01 (30:52):
mean, this is just anecdotal, but I mean, if we
asked 100 people, I...
I think we might get somethingclose to the same.
Who knows?
So would you keep a doll thatgives you a creepy feeling?
SPEAKER_00 (31:05):
I mean, I want a doll that keeps...
I want a doll that gives me acreepy feeling.
SPEAKER_01 (31:12):
Lindsay, no.
SPEAKER_00 (31:13):
What if I just went to the flea market?
Like, what if I...
Don't.
Don't go to the flea market.
What about you and yourantiques?
SPEAKER_01 (31:20):
I got some movies to show you about the Dybbuk box
and all that kind of stuff.
If you see a doll...
A doll at the flea market.
Don't buy it.
We want to know if anybody elsehad weird childhood toy stories.
SPEAKER_00 (31:35):
And I know they do.
I know there are people outthere that have had creepy dolls
that they didn't want, thattheir nana forced on them, or
people who had a speak and spellthat spoke to them in the night.
And I want to know.
Maybe you'll convince me not toget any haunted dolls.
I'm sure mom would be reallyappreciative of that.
(31:56):
Oh God, please don't.
She's so scared.
I wouldn't go to your house.
Okay, I'm definitely getting ahaunted doll then.
Just kidding.
SPEAKER_01 (32:05):
I'd sneak in and throw it away.
Oh,
SPEAKER_00 (32:07):
but then you'd touch it.
What if you disrespected it andit showed up at your house?
SPEAKER_01 (32:12):
Oh yeah, that would make a good movie too.
SPEAKER_00 (32:14):
Write that down, write that down.
SPEAKER_01 (32:17):
So now's a good time too to remind people if you
follow our show, that wouldreally help us out.
SPEAKER_00 (32:23):
Of course.
And as always, just remember,the scariest stories are the
ones that are true.
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