A Really Haunted Doll Story

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Author’s Note : Do you still remember the movie about a haunted killer doll called Child’s Play featuring the ever famous Chucky? I stumbled upon this story and that was the first thing it came to my thoughts because when I was a kid watching Chucky, this movie used to scare the daylights out of me. And after reading this true story (according to the website, at least), I will remember not to buy any dolls that could open and close its eye!

This is story of Robert The Doll. Also known as Robert the Haunted Doll, the story began in 1896 at the home of Mr and Mrs Thomas Otto in Key West. It was well known that the Otto’s mistreated their servants and so when a servant was requested to take care of their son, Robert Eugene, the servant who was rumored to be well versed in voodoo gave young Robert a doll. The doll was 3 feet tall, stuffed with straws and has very doll life like features. Young Robert decided to name the doll “Robert” and it became Young Robert’s constant companion since then. Strange things started happening when the Otto’s often heard Young Robert talking upstairs to the doll and heard their son answering himself in an entirely different voice.

In the beginning, they thought that he was probably just changing to his play voice but when they heard that the voice was entirely a different and that young Robert could not have made up the voice, they started feeling that something was amiss. Not only that, many strange things started happening around the same time as well. Neighbors would tell them that they saw Robert The Doll moving about in the house from window to window when there was no one in the house. The Otto’s themselves could also hear strange giggles from the doll and it was also then that Young Robert began having nightmares and screaming in the middle of the night. When the Otto’s rushed in to his room, they would find his room furniture all trashed and overturned and at the foot of the bed sat Robert The Doll. Young Robert would point and shout that “Robert did it!”

Soon, the doll was eventually put up in the attic where he stayed there for many years. When Young Robert’s father died, Young Robert decided to move him and his wife back to his childhood home. He became an artist and felt that the larger home would provide him and his wife a good place to stay. The large turret room on the second floor would also be a great studio for his paintings. After moving back, it wasn’t long when Young Robert discovered Robert The Doll in the attic. He then moved him down to the turret room. Young Robert was once again fascinated with the doll while Young Robert’s wife find Robert The Doll odd and unsettling. Fed up with the doll’s glare, Young Robert’s wife decided to take matter into her own hands and returned him to the attic while Young Robert was out of the house. When Young Robert returned home and discovered that the doll was moved, he was angry and declared that Robert The Doll needed a room of his own where he could see out of a window. He then hurriedly returned Robert The Doll to the turret room where it wasn’t long after that Young Robert’s wife thought her husband had lost his mind.

Not long, the residents of Key West began spreading rumors of Robert The Doll and his sinister doings. Many people reported seeing and hearing Robert The Doll in the turret room as they walked by the home. Some said Robert would mock them as they passed by. Soon, school children feared walking by the Otto’s home for fear of Robert The Doll’s mean glare.

Young Robert himself reported that when he visited the turret room on some occasions, he would find Robert the Doll in the rocking chair by the window, rocking and complaining of his unhappiness with his current accommodation. Young Robert finally had enough of Robert the Doll’s antics and placed him back in the attic. Visitors of the Otto’s home would often comment on hearing someone walking back and forth in the attic along with strange giggling sounds. Soon, guests were spooked and no longer wanted to visit the home.

Young Robert died in 1972 and his wife sold the house and of course, leaving Robert the Doll behind the attic. A new family moved into the new home and soon stories of Robert the Doll disappeared. Robert the Doll waited patiently upstairs to once again be discovered and when the 10 year old daughter of the new family owner found Robert in the attic, she added him into her other toys in her bedroom. It was not long when the little girl began screaming in the middle of the night claiming that the doll moved about in the room and would climb onto her bed and attack her while she tried to sleep. Even after more than 30 years later, she still stuck to her story that “the doll was alive and wanted to kill her”
Today, Robert the Doll, still dressed in his white sailor suit clutching his stuff lion is residing in the Key West Martello Museum where he is closely guarded. Employees at the museum there claimed that there were strange activities in the museum. Legend has it that if you are visiting Robert the Doll and would like to take his picture, you need to ask him politely. If he allows, he would tilt his head to the side.

Source:http://gothicteasociety.blogspot.com/2009/11/robert-haunted-doll.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_the_Doll

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One Response to “A Really Haunted Doll Story”

  1. Aby112 Says:

    Thanks for the interesting story~ Now I’m googling Robert the Doll~!!

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