Oct 22, 20194 min read

Is Robert the Doll Really Haunted?: Know the Scaring Story of a Doll who is Scarier than Annabella!

Dolls often provide a sense of protection to kids, from the monsters under their beds. Cute and fluffy, parents often gift them to their kids. But what if these cute and fluffy toys were not what they seemed to like. In recent times, Horror films have successfully created a fear of such dolls, especially since the release of “Annabelle”. We have already noticed how creepy Old dolls look like, But Robert the Doll is even creepier.

What really makes the doll look creepy is that it is dressed in an old sailors clothing, supposedly belonging to its original owner. The doll also has his own doll, a dog with bulgy eyes and a weird long tongue hanging outside its mouth. Together, they really give out some creepy vibes to all those who witness them. It is said that the doll can move, all by itself, and follows you with its vacant eyes, and audibly giggles and wreaks havoc on all those who dare insult him.

Robert the Doll wasn’t always a creepy little doll. Once upon a time, he was also a new and shiny toy, freshly manufactured by the Steiff Company. They claimed that Robert was never meant to be a doll, he was manufactured as a mannequin for a window display. But the story of how Robert came into the hands of the original owner is still a mystery. Not much is known about how he became a toy instead of a mannequin.

Haunted Story Of The Doll

It is said Robert the doll was given to his owner, a young boy by the name of Robert Otto. His family found it weird that the boy had chosen to give his name to the toy while he himself preferred to be called by his nickname, Gene. Apparently, Gene’s grandfather brought the toy for his grandchild, from Germany.

However, all those who believed in supernatural occurrences assumed that the toy was cursed by the maid of the Otto family, a young girl of Bahamian descent and given to Gene. She imbibed the doll with Voodoo magic and gifted it to young Gene as a revenge for his Wrongdoing.

Though the doll’s origin remains a mystery, Gene immediately fell in love with the doll, which continued to his adulthood. He was never found without his doll. People noticed that he had formed an unhealthy relationship with the doll, even going as far as conversing with a doll. He talked to the doll as if it was a real human being. Gene loved the doll so much that he even constructed a small room for it in the attic, decorating the room with various toys and furniture.

Soon after, the Otto family started witnessing certain strange happenings' in their household. Things would often move on their own and they were found in weird places. Of course, Gene was blamed for these incidents. However, to the shock of the entire household, Gene blamed these mishaps on Robert. He claimed that the doll could move and talk, and he was the one causing such misdeeds.

But Gene’s parents brushed off his claims and simply dismissed it as a child’s imagination. They were quickly proven wrong when they found that such mishaps only occurred around Robert.

Later, Gene Otto went to the Parisian Sorbonne, where he met his future wife, Anne. They soon married and he brought her back to his childhood home, which he lovingly named as “The Artist House”. Since Gene, no longer played with the doll, the doll took a permanent position in the Attic, where he was placed in the chair facing the upper window. The doll could easily be seen by the passerby below. However, that was not the end of the horror.

Once a plumber who had been hired to make repairs to the house claimed that the doll had changed positions from one side to another without anyone actually moving it. He stated that the dolls that were placed on Robert’s lap, somehow ended up on the other side of the room, almost as if he had thrown the doll. Soon people who passed the house found it uncomfortable.

They believed that the doll was gazing at them, and at times his face moved or his expressions changed. People who visited the House even claimed that they heard footsteps coming from the attic, even if the house was empty.

In 1974, when Gene died, The Artist House was purchased by a woman, Myrtle Reuter. Along with the house, came the doll. Just like Gene formed an attachment to the doll, she also loved the doll and took it with her wherever she went for the next 40 years. But the mysterious occurrences around the doll did not cease.

Finally, she donated the doll to the Fort East Martello Museum in Florida for only one reason. The doll was haunted and she no longer wanted to be in possession of it. However, in spite of no publicity, People discovered the location of the doll and they soon gathered in huge numbers to witness the haunted doll. It is said the camera and electronic devices always malfunction around the doll.

Conclusion

People have also reported incidences of mishaps, right after they insult the doll. To appease him, people often send sweets and handwritten letters to the museum, in hopes of avoiding any more horrors.

Even after 115 years, Robert the doll hasn’t stopped his haunting reputation. He continues to scare all those who dare witness him. However, people claim that he doesn’t harm children. Just those who dare cross him.