As kids, we find comfort in dolls; they’re a fun and delightful companion during playtime. As we grow older, however, these once cherished playthings transform into pure nightmare fuel.
The haunted dolls below are known for haunting dreams and bringing misfortune upon anyone unlucky enough to come into contact with them. Some, such as Annabelle or Robert the Doll, are famous. Others are less well known.
1. Annabelle
Annabelle is a Raggedy Ann doll, now imprisoned in the special glass case in the collection of the famous paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.
Annabelle is so famous that she was the inspiration for a movie and a sequel. Annabelle is played by a much creepier looking doll. In real life, Annabelle has the same sweet face of any Raggedy Ann.
Her story, however, is not sweet at all. According to the Warrens, Annabelle was given to a young nursing student named Donna by her mother in 1970.
The doll would move around the apartment when Donna and her roommate Angie weren’t home. The young women were willing to put up with a doll that moved around on her own, but things soon got scarier.
The doll left notes asking for help. Then she attacked Angie’s boyfriend. When the young women found blood on the doll’s dress, they called in a psychic. The psychic revealed the doll was possessed by the spirit of a girl named Annabelle.
2. Robert the Doll
Robert is a life-sized doll, which is rather unusual in itself. It was reportedly made by the famous Steiff toy company in Germany.
It was given to the Florida artist Robert Eugene “Gene” Otto as a birthday present when he was a child in 1904.
His grandfather had bought it while on a trip to Germany. The doll wears a sailor suit that was probably a childhood outfit of the real Gene.
Another story has it that the doll was a gift from a malicious voodoo-practicing maid as revenge for some unknown wrongdoing by the family.
Stories of the doll’s odd behavior began early, with reports of the doll changing expressions and moving around the house on its own.
One theory says that Gene himself unleashed the doll’s powers by blaming his childhood misdeeds on the life-size doll who wore his clothes and had his name.
As the years went on, Robert’s deeds turned darker. The doll is blamed for many misfortunes including financial collapse, broken bones, and car accidents.
Robert remained in the Otto family home in Key West, Florida throughout Gene’s life and even after his death. The house passed to new owners who kept the ‘living’ doll for twenty years.
3. Mandy the Haunted Doll
Mandy does not play well with others. In the Quesnel Museum in Canada where she now lives, staff says they must keep her in a separate display case.
When she is displayed with other dolls, she knocks them over. Staff also report their lunches to disappear and that visitors’ cameras often fail when taking pictures of the doll.
Mandy is a porcelain baby doll, probably manufactured in Europe around 1910. The woman who donated her reportedly told the museum she was getting rid of the doll because it would cry at night.
4. Okiku Doll
A mysterious doll supposedly possessed by the spirit of a child has captured the curiosity of people across Japan for decades.
The legendary Okiku doll, named after the girl who long ago used to play with it, is a 40-centimeter (16-in) tall kimono-clad figure with beady black eyes- and hair that grows.
The Okiku doll has resided at the Mannenji temple in the town of Iwamizawa (Hokkaido prefecture) since 1938.
According to the temple, the traditional doll initially had short cropped hair, but over time it has grown to about 25 centimeters (10 in) long, down to the doll’s knees.
Although the hair is periodically trimmed, it reportedly keeps growing back. It is said that the doll was originally purchased in 1918 by a 17-year-old boy named Eikichi Suzuki while visiting Sapporo for a marine exhibition.
He bought the doll on Tanuki-koji, Sapporo’s famous shopping street, as a souvenir for his 2-year-old sister, Okiku. The young girl loved the doll and played with it every day, but the following year, she died suddenly of a cold.
The family placed the doll in the household altar and prayed to it every day in memory of Okiku. Sometime later, they noticed the hair had started to grow.
This was seen as a sign that the girl’s restless spirit had taken refuge in the doll. In 1938, the Suzuki family moved to Sakhalin, and they placed the doll in the care of Mannenji temple, where it has remained eve.
5. Katja Doll
Katja was the name given by one of the Tsar Mistresses in 1730. It was said that the mistress was pregnant and hoped to give birth to a boy for the King. Unfortunately, she gave birth to a defected baby girl. This baby was then burned.
After the incident, the mother made a doll with the baby’s ashes, mixed with porcelain and ceramics. It was said that this doll is kept from generation to generation in Russia, and it is closely guarded because the doll can bring a curse.
If was said that if you stare at this doll for more than 20 seconds, the cursed Katja doll will blink. If it blinks at you, it means something bad will happen to you.
Previously, someone tried to sell this doll on eBay, however, the thread was closed, because eBay reported that there were many weird incidents happening due to this mystical Katja doll.
6. Pupa Doll
Pupa was owned by one owner from the day she was given to the child in the 1920’s until she died in 2005. The pupa is about 14 inches tall. Her hair is reportedly made of real human hair.
The owner cherished it throughout her life. The pupa is still in her original clothes, a blue sit made of felt. The pupa is said to move by herself.
Often she is said to push things around in the display case where the family who owns her keep her. Since the passing of the original owner in 2005, the family reports that the haunted doll has become very active and seems to want to be released from where she is kept.
More than once, the family has reported hearing a sound like someone tapping on glass as they pass Pupa’s display case. When they turn to look, they have seen Pupa’s hand pressed against the glass or her legs crossed, when they were not before.
7. Mercy Doll
Mercy is 18 inches tall with an un-measurable terror level, says real haunted doll owner, Sherrie Khun. The spirit of a 7-year-old girl is said to haunt or possess this doll when she bought it from an eBay seller.
Sherrie is a paranormal investigator who has been investigating for about 20 years. Within a week, Mercy showed subtle signs of her presence in a few photos.
Sherrie refuses to believe the result at first, thinking that it was perhaps lighting or angles. The night after, the radio in that room turned on to a random station, but she and her husband thought nothing of this. Two days later, Mercy was found off her shelf and stood on her feet.
Sherrie believes that Mercy holds something of an evil nature. She keeps Mercy isolated due to the negative feelings she gets when she’s around her.
8. Christina Doll
Christina the peaceful haunted doll was bought on eBay over 3 years ago and she still has a few haunted tricks up sleeves.
If you look closely at her eyes, you can see that something paranormal is going on. Christina loves having her pictures taken but when she has had enough, then you better watch out!!
The series of photos of her will start to change as you see the ghost inside her manifest itself. At times, she just sits peacefully in her chair, at other times she will be found out of her little chair and on to the floor.
She also changes positions or she is slumped to one side of the chair as if asleep. If you brush the knots out of her hair, it gets tangled the very next day. It seems that Christina likes watching television.