Haunted Doll Movie

[Paz Warsager]

Accordingto Linda Rodriguez McRobbie, the concept of malevolent dolls gained attention in the 20th century when film and entertainment technology was able to realistically portray "safely inanimate" dolls as "dangerously animate". McRobbie cites examples such as the 1936 film The Devil-Doll by Tod Browning, the Living Doll episode of the TV series Twilight Zone, the clown doll from the film Poltergeist, the Chucky doll featured in the Child's Play film franchise, as well as "B-movie variations on the homicidal doll theme" such as Dolly Dearest, Demonic Toys, and Blood Dolls. More recently, a character based on the doll named Annabelle owned by Ed and Lorraine Warren has been featured in The Conjuring series of films.[1]

Annabelle is a Raggedy Ann doll alleged by Ed and Lorraine Warren to be haunted[7] and displayed in The Warren's Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut, the United States. The doll served as the inspiration for the films The Conjuring and Annabelle.[8]

Kerry Walton, of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, has appeared on a number of television programs with a doll he claims to have found while visiting an abandoned building in 1972 in Wagga Wagga.[9] According to Walton, he named the doll "Letta Me Out" because of its supposedly supernatural characteristics. Walton claims that people have seen the doll move in front of them, and that the doll has left visible scuff marks around the house.[10]

According to modern Japanese folklore, in 1918, a teenager named Eikichi Suzuki purchased a large doll from Hokkaido for his younger sister, Okiku, who gave the doll her name. When Okiku died, her family came to believe that Okiku's spirit was inhabiting the doll and the hair on the doll was growing. The doll resides in Mannenji Temple in Hokkaido, where it is claimed that a priest regularly trims Okiku's still-growing hair.[11]

Made in England or Germany between 1910 and 1920, Mandy is a porcelain baby doll donated to the Quesnel Museum in British Columbia in 1991 that is claimed to have supernatural powers: Mandy's eyes supposedly follow museum visitors. The doll has been featured on the Montel Williams Show.[12]

A few months ago, a "very haunted" laptop went up for auction on eBay. Obviously, my co-workers and I wanted to buy it immediately, but it was too pricey. Shockingly, we were not granted permission to expense a $3,000 haunted laptop.

You can buy a lot of haunted things off the internet. Or, if you're a skeptic, you can buy a lot of "haunted" things off the internet. I try to be a skeptic, but if I'm being totally honest, I'm very afraid of ghosts. I can't sing the Ghostbusters theme song without lying. I realize that makes a lot of people think I'm a huge idiot, but I'm not the only idiot. According to a BuzzFeed poll, 55% of respondents said they believe in ghosts. (Just kidding, guys, I know we're not idiots.) And if you don't believe in ghosts, congratulations. You don't have to deal with the stress of walking past a mirror at night and worrying you might see a horrific face. MUST BE NICE.

I decided to buy a haunted doll, but I had to choose the right one. While browsing eBay's vast selection, I learned a lot about the doll-collecting world. Apparently, a problem that arises for people with large collections of dolls is that at least one will be haunted. But it can be impossible to tell which one, leading many doll enthusiasts to sell off their entire collections to try to eliminate the ghosts in their homes.

Another doll listing stated, "I started buying dolls online and in antique stores and shortly after started experiencing things like my doors opening and closing on their own, my bedroom door knob jiggling when I'm home alone, and hearing whispers."

She didn't look horrifying. The eBay listing insisted she was a "positive spirit," which seemed nice. There was also an incredibly detailed backstory about how the ghost anchored to the doll was a teenager in the 1950s who lived in Ohio and liked to paint. How did the seller know this? Well, naturally, the ghost of Mary came to the doll's owner in a dream and revealed this information. The listing stated that if you bought the doll, she would come to you in your dreams too. Compared to doors slamming on their own, a dream haunting actually seems quite pleasant. I was sold. (For $33.99.)

On the day she arrived, my co-workers looked on with skepticism as I unboxed my new haunted doll. I immediately felt like I had to treat her with respect or risk the wrath of a ghost. "I feel bad that she's wrapped in bubble wrap," I said as I freed her. "It's a doll!" replied a co-worker, who would likely regret taking that tone with Mary the haunted doll. The doll smelled musty, wore a tasteful plaid dress, and had some weird yellow gunk on her eyes.

My co-workers were largely not thrilled to have a haunted doll in the office. The negative reaction was stronger than I anticipated. The phrase "el diablo" got thrown around a lot. People wanted to burn sage. Our workplace harassment training did not cover paranormal activity, so I wasn't sure if I was creating a hostile work environment or not. Mary was supposed to be a positive spirit! How could anyone be afraid of something wearing such a jaunty velvet hat?

I sent an email reminding everyone not to touch my haunted doll. My warning was promptly disregarded. I'm not sure what part of "don't touch my haunted doll" is so difficult to understand, but people couldn't quite grasp it. Needless to say, people moved the doll. And took selfies with it.

Some people obviously didn't fear the potential consequences of mocking a ghost. (By the way, Mary does NOT need a boyfriend. Her ghost is only 16 years old and would rather focus on her painting, I assume.)

Things got more interesting when I started using a ghost-tracking smartphone app called Ghost Radar. The app claims to make it possible for paranormal energies to manipulate your phone. As a result, the app tells you when a ghost is allegedly nearby, and also translates words that a ghost is trying to communicate with you.

The words the app picks up from the spirit world seem very random, though sometimes disturbing. The first time I felt scared of Mary was when the ghost app detected the word "incubus" in her presence. I was also not a fan of the word "nightmare." Another disturbing sequence of words was "cave," "earthen," and "bones." Had Mary been murdered and buried in a cave? It seemed likely.

The most relevant thing the ghost app picked up from Mary was the word "Ohio." Mary's seller on eBay said the ghost had lived in Ohio when she was alive. Another ghostly coincidence occurred when I skipped a kickboxing class to go to happy hour. I pulled out my ghost app at the bar, and the spirit world said "exercise" and "tonight." Apparently ghosts will not miss an opportunity to shame you for your life choices.

Plus an added benefit of having a ghost app on your phone is you can pull it out during awkward silences at a bar when you've run out of things to talk about and just start hunting ghosts until people decide to stop talking to you completely because you're being too weird.

The eeriest thing the app picked up from Mary were the words "fear," "astral," and "release." Was her spirit trapped inside the doll? Did we need Jennifer Love Hewitt from the canceled CBS show Ghost Whisperer to help her spirit cross over and finally be at peace? This was getting intense, and I was starting to grow fond of Mary. Maybe too fond. Some of my co-workers theorized that Mary had possessed me. I found myself saying things like "I am her keeper and I'll do as I please," which was a little disturbing, but not necessarily paranormal.

The only notably weird physical thing that happened was the time I was talking about Mary and a piece of plaster fell off the ceiling. People nearby blamed Mary. But my office building is pretty old, and that just didn't seem like her style.

In the time that has passed since Mary's first day in the offices, attitudes toward her have shifted. One co-worker who threatened to quit when Mary first came out of the box recently hugged her (even though she still smells musty as hell) and said, "We love and respect Mary." Either this doll is not haunted at all, or she's managed to possess us all.

Starting out I had a lot of stories to work with as I seemed to know a lot of people who had experienced something strange and frightening. There were stories of poltergeists, apparitions, and premonitions of death. It was going great and I quickly had a decent amount of subscribers. The trouble I had was that I was running out of stories fast!

Kathy and I stayed in touch over the years but things became extremely contentious between us before the doll was scheduled to appear on television. It got to the point that we stopped talking to each other altogether. Until recently.

As you may know, I was able to assist the souls imprisoned in and by the doll on February 15, 2017. I thought it only right to let Kathy know, since she is a part of its history, so I sent her a brief text saying that what was going on with the doll is over.

Recently, something strange was going on with my phone. As I was talking with people it would suddenly disconnect for no apparent reason. This sort of thing did happen, frequently, before I ended the insanity with Harold, so I began to wonder.

When I woke up and saw this picture that morning (see I was Wrong about Harold the Doll Part One) I knew immediately that it was the Cathedral I went to Mass at when I returned to the Catholic Church almost 30 years ago.

The same priest who heard my confession also celebrated the Mass. I had the bag sitting next to me in the pew along with many of the pictures Vincent and drawn and painted so that when the final blessing was said, they would be sanctified as well.

Medical and gurololita themes are perennial in my work, I revisit them again and again with our shoots and designs. In this set with Emily Elizabeth Estrange we created a haunted rabbit-doll nurse, wandering the hospital grounds with a very large and unsanitary knife.

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