The world has a fascination with the Annabelle Doll that I imagine has formally crossed over into obsession. Between the Annabelle trilogy, appearances in The Conjuring movies, and dozens of real-life accounts of unexplainable exercise coming from the doll’s REAL LIFE counterpart (now owned by Matt Rife)— this little one’s toy has been capturing our consideration for over 50 years. However why?
Is the doll actually haunted? Or does the Hollywood machine know simply methods to exploit the only of ghost tales for our leisure and hard-earned money? Properly, at this time, we discover out. Let’s speak concerning the world’s obsession with the Annabelle doll — which, by the best way, appears to be like like this in actual life… not as scary, is it?
People, the world is obsessive about haunted artifacts. Whether or not it’s a spooky music field that superstar ghost hunters paid obscene quantities of cash for, a whole home believed to hoard evil spirits and creatures of the evening, or perhaps a $10 Raggedy Ann doll that sparked a media frenzy within the Seventies and is STILL raking in billions of field workplace {dollars} each couple of years.
The Annabelle doll was initially created as a part of the Raggedy Ann line of kids’s dolls in 1915 by toymaker Johnny Gruelle. The merely stitched-together doll was among the many hottest youngsters’s objects in any family with an adolescent in it. The corporate continued making the dolls into the ’20s and ’30s, main as much as Johnny Gruelle’s demise. By that time, the dolls had already seen over 3 million pleased clients — which, in fact, meant there was cash to be made — and manufacturing continued.
The dolls have been beloved for his or her cute and pleasant look and have been extensively collected and stored as keepsakes from childhood that could possibly be handed down, because the toys have been fabric and principally thought of unbreakable. Such was the case for Donna, a 27-year-old faculty pupil who was given a Raggedy Ann doll by her mom as a present for her birthday in 1970. Utterly oblivious that this is able to be the start of a mystical and cultural phenomenon that will reside on ceaselessly. A cute, unassuming little one’s doll that Donna’s mom referred to as… Raggedy Ann. Yeah, we’ll get to how Annabelle bought her identify quickly.
Now, these are the earliest stories of Annabelle being haunted:
1970–1971, Hartford, Connecticut.
Donna was residing in an house boarding home together with her roommate Angie. The pair shared an area intently as broke faculty college students. All through their time residing collectively, Donna and Angie independently reported unusual happenings that appeared to have began as quickly as Annabelle arrived.
You possibly can in all probability guess what we’re coping with right here, proper?
The doll was allegedly shifting by itself with out being dealt with, knocks on the partitions and flooring at evening, inexplicable lights flashing, and even a low, eerie growl that will emit from the doll every now and then.
This went on for over a 12 months, with Donna and Angie rising more and more disturbed by these phenomena.
Donna didn’t know what to do. She believed one thing was flawed with the doll however was utterly ill-equipped to deal with it — ultimately inflicting her to take the doll to native Connecticut ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren. Heard of them? Properly, in case you have, then you recognize precisely what occurred subsequent. The Warrens have been fast to deem the doll possessed by an evil spirit and defined the scholars’ paranoia and spooky experiences as “hauntings.”
In 1971, Lorraine Warren claimed to have taken the doll to a psychic who knowledgeable her that the reason for the haunting was the spirit of a bit woman who used to personal the doll. A bit of woman named… Annabelle.
Donna wished nothing to do with this. Formally shopping for into the Warrens’ claims, she surrendered the doll to them to be positioned on show of their house museum of haunted artifacts. And Annabelle now had new house owners.
From 1971 all the best way up till Lorraine’s demise in 2019, the doll sat in a glass case, remoted from different artifacts, as Ed and Lorraine believed it was demonic and unsafe to be in any of the house or museum’s widespread areas. Throughout Annabelle’s time within the Warrens’ possession, they reported issues like bodily assault and one thing Lorraine referred to as “psychic slashes,” which was Annabelle’s potential to chop victims with out shifting or being bodily dealt with.
I do know what you’re considering — “why not just toss that cursed doll into a hot fire and be done with it?”
Ohhh, you naive little goblin. They tried that! Apparently.
Based on Lorraine Warren, the couple tried to burn the doll to no avail. It wouldn’t burn. It wouldn’t even scuff or char… I name bullshit. And naturally, there’s no picture or video to validate this declare.
And someway, regardless of no proof to show that this doll was something apart from a easy little one’s toy, the media consideration ran wild. This led to the start of the frenzy that grew to become our obsession. In 1980, Gerald Brittle, a novelist and occult hobbyist, made an unique cope with Lorraine Warren for the rights to Annabelle’s story to be included in his e book The Demonologist. On this e book, Annabelle’s “powers” have been ramped as much as a level that actually made for ghost story — however wasn’t precisely the “true story.”
The one factor I do perceive is the choice to alter the design of the doll. See, the Raggedy Ann doll would have required a licensing contract to make use of, and naturally, Raggedy Ann’s makers wouldn’t need their product tainted by a horror franchise. And above all, it simply isn’t scary. My mother had one among these in the home after I was a child, and I used it as an enormous that attempted to kill my wrestling motion figures.
So in an try and make the doll look scarier, the films opted for a extra uncanny porcelain doll — the type you’d discover in your grandma’s banquet room. They’re a lot scarier than the actual Annabelle doll, for positive.
And people, that’s the development we have to have a look at with this doll. The best way this easy spooky story grew to become a trilogy of films with lore that WB proudly claims is “based on a true story” is so removed from the reality, I’m stunned Annabelle herself hasn’t sued them for defamation. Do you know that no one is aware of who — or if — there was even an actual “Annabelle” who owned the doll? It was one line that one native palm reader stated to Lorraine Warren in 1971 that grew to become its personal devoted origin story movie. Actually, it’s my favourite of the Annabelle films although.
In The Conjuring lore, Annabelle is haunted and possessed by a demon after the actual little woman dies in a mystical frenzy. This led to the Warrens taking possession of the doll, and since then, she’s simply gotten her spooky cameos in all the films. However what’s fascinating is that, of all of the creepy tales the Conjuring films dive into, THIS doll grew to become the face of the franchise.
One odd factor, although, is that all the stories of exercise from the actual doll are principally the identical. Donna’s experiences and stories are virtually equivalent to everybody else who’s ever claimed to work together with the doll — which type of makes you suppose there might be one thing actual there, simply because the story has stayed principally constant for 5 many years. That’s fairly cool.
Besides the place the films milk the origin of Annabelle by lining it up with the Manson murders and dealing that evil into the doll’s backstory — which, by the best way, by no means occurred. Or a minimum of there’s no proof.
In 2020, simply after Lorraine Warren’s demise, the museum — together with the complete property of the Warrens — was signed over to Dan Rivera, a former enterprise companion who toured with the doll from 2020–2025, giving appearances at conventions and occasions. This stored the Annabelle legacy within the public curiosity whereas Warner Bros. continued exploiting the doll in films.
Sadly, this 12 months Dan Rivera additionally handed away of non-Annabelle-related causes. And this left the Warren property and every little thing in it (together with the haunted museum) up for grabs to the very best bidder.
I do know what you’re considering — Zack Baggins DEFINITELY purchased it, proper? Properly… NO. Truly, regardless of many notable public figures being inquisitive about buying the property, it ended up being bought to comic and B-list actor Matt Rife, who apparently is within the occult? I don’t know.
And this implies, people, that any cinematic future this doll could have will embrace notoriously cool and humorous comic Matt f*cking Rife not directly. With stories of a Conjuring prequel film and TV sequence coming quickly, it’s secure to say that we’ll possible see Annabelle once more on the massive and small display with seemingly no new tales to inform. Until Matt finds himself slipping into insanity and being haunted by a Raggedy Ann doll — which, actually, could possibly be hilarious to examine. Right here’s hoping we get that story sooner relatively than later.
I’m imagining Matt Rife taking part in younger Ed Warren now and it’s VERY humorous to me.
So this leaves the query: WHY ARE WE ALL SO OBSESSED WITH THIS DOLL?!
Properly, as a result of very like EVERYTHING within the Conjuring franchise, the Hollywood model of the story is a thousand instances extra enjoyable than the precise story. And so long as WB retains claiming these are “based on true stories,” we received’t have the ability to withstand questioning how a lot of it’s actual, and the way a lot is simply good old school horror film magic.
So, what do you guys suppose? Is that this doll haunted? Is it only a sensationalized toy like Chucky that may reside on lengthy after you, me, and its creators? Or is it actually only a development that’s gone on for over a decade, bringing us again to the films merely to see what she’ll do subsequent? We don’t know. But when I needed to guess, I’d say this doll (very like the Warrens themselves) is nothing greater than a tall story.
