Popular Accounts of Haunted Objects

Remember the famous movie Child's Play where the infamous Chucky Doll becomes possessed by a recently deceased murderer and tortures a young boy and his mother in hopes of possessing the boy's soul? Many have often regarded this story as pure fiction, dismissing the possibility of it ever happening in real life. But how possible is it for a doll like Chucky to terrorize human beings? Well, according to the following three accounts, it's very possible for inanimate objects to come to life and wreak havoc on mankind.

Robert the Doll

Possibly the spookiest tale of a possessed object, the story of Robert the Doll, could frighten even the most avid haunted house fanatic. The 3-foot tall, straw-stuffed doll, given to a young boy name Robert "Gene" Otto around the turn of the 20^th century, was rumored to be a voodoo doll given to him by a maid as a way to get revenge on the young boy's parents for mistreating their workers.

The doll became a constant companion to Gene. It was said that the family often heard Gene upstairs talking to the doll, though they shrugged it off as him being a child with him imaginary friend - that is, until they thought they heard the doll answering him back in an entirely different voice.

It didn't take long for reports to surface that Robert was seen moving around house from window to window when no one was home. The Otto's also claimed to heard the doll giggle, and swore they caught glimpses of the doll running aroung the house. Then Gene began to have nightmares that resulted in him crying out. When his parents would enter the room, they would find the furniture overturned and the doll standing up, glaring at Gene.

Eventually, Gene grew up but remained in the home, even after his parents died. He married a young woman and worked as an artist, but still managed to keep his doll by his side. Over time though, it appeared that Robert's disheartening disposition became overbearing to even Gene, who eventually locked him in the attic, where he remained until and after Gene's death in 1972. At that time a new family moved into the home and discovered Robert who then began to torture the family's 10-year-old daughter and had to be removed from the home.

Now Robert lives at the Key West Martello Museum. But while he's in a new location, employees at the museum continue to say Robert is up to his old tricks, giggling at visitors who stop by his case and changing positions and facial expressions within seconds. Some say that the doll actually appears to be aging, with hair color changes and slightly aging features, but most argue that this doll seems to still have a few more years in him yet.

The Haunted Bed

Steve Watson and his fiancé were newly engaged and all set to move into a new home. Tired of suburban life, they opted for a nice place in the city that had a feel the fit their style. They eventually discovered the upper level of a duplex that they both fell in love with - especially after finding out that it was partially furnished. In the duplex was a 50's style dinner table with gorgeous chairs and a huge sideboard that looked to be useable. But the best feature was a huge burled wood bedroom set.

They loved the bed immediately, taking in all its lovely features - the huge headboard with carvings, the ivory inlays, and the overall international feel. The couple agreed to take the apartment - furniture in tact - but little did they know they would not just be taking in the furniture, the furniture would be taking them in.

It wasn't long before they started noticing strange occurrences in the home. First, the lights seemed to turn themselves on at times when the couple wasn't home. Then they noticed that items they'd set in one place would end up somewhere else within seconds. But that was just the tip of the iceberg

Many nights, she would hear her fiancé come home from his night shift job, undress and climb into bed then would reawaken when he actually came home hours later. On another occasion, she heard knocks on the headboard and jumped out of the bed. When she thought back to her dream immediately prior to her hearing the knocks, she remembered someone telling her to stay on her own side of the bed. At the point she realized she was sleeping on her fiancé's side. More recently, the couple has reported watching the bed depress as if someone was sitting there, as well as finding writing on the headboard that comes right back when wiped away.

So far, no one has been able to solve the mystery of frightening occurrences in their home, and to my knowledge, the owners may still be looking for some sort of relief from their haunted bed.

Annabelle the Raggedy Anne Doll

This doll comes second in popularity to Robert the Doll and was closely documented by noted paranormal experts Ed and Lorraine Warren in the 1970s. The story of this spooky inanimate object starts with its original owners, roommates Donna and Angie. Donna had received the doll as a birthday gift from her mother - nothing special - just something to use a decoration. But the doll quickly became more than that, according to Donna, reportedly changing positions and moving itself around the house without help.

While the roommates were startled by their revelation they were not completely frightened of the doll. That is, until activities around the house became more sinister. First, the ladies began to notice notes left around the house, looking as if a small child had handwritten them. Often they would read, "Help Us" or "Help Lou" - Lou being a friend of the roommates. They even reported notes being written in pencil when there were no pencils in the house! But when they began noticing drops of blood on and around the doll, they new they needed help. They contacted a medium who told them the doll was being moved by a 7-year-old girl spirit named Annabelle (hence the doll's name) who simply wanted a playmate.

Heeding the medium's words, they invited the spirit to remain in their home and actually possess the doll - something they later found was a big mistake for the spirit was actually not a little girl but instead was a demonic spirit, according to the Warrens. The demon managed to possess the doll and even tried to attack their friend Lou by trying to strangle and slash him.

After a lengthy exorcism performed by a Catholic Priest and the Warrens' removing the doll from the house, the roommates finally found some relief from the demonic presence. But rumor has it that the doll still is filled with negative psychic energy and can be dangerous those who come in contact with it.