Annabelle

Hauntings and possessions are terrifying enough on their own without the haunted object being a normal doll. I do not know what it is about haunted dolls that scares me more than the idea of a ghost knocking over objects in a house, but I would rather stay three days and nights in a haunted home than to own a haunted doll. Maybe it is because dolls are supposed to be toys, or maybe it is the fact that my own daughter has several dolls of her own and I would be terrified to wake up in the middle of the night with it looming over me. But that is exactly what happened to Donna after her mother bought her a seemingly normal doll as a birthday gift.

Donna was a 28-year-old nursing student from Hartford, Connecticut, living with her friend and roommate Angie. The story begins when Donna received a Raggedy Anne doll as a birthday gift from her mother. She noticed strange things happening almost immediately. Donna would leave the doll on her bed only to come home from work to find that the doll had shifted position. She would have a leg crossed or be laying on her side. She would sit her on the sofa in the living room and come home to find her on the bed in her bedroom with the door shut. One day, Angie and Donna were sitting at the table with the doll when it raised its arm.

After messages saying “Help Me” began appearing on parchment throughout the apartment, the girls contacted a medium. The medium told them that in the doll was the spirit of a young child named Annabelle Higgins who just wanted to stay with them and to be loved. Donna gave the spirit permission to inhabit the doll and to stay with them, but this would prove to be a mistake. Annabelle’s actions began to become more violent and malevolent in nature. At one point the women said it looked as if the doll was leaking blood.

Angie’s boyfriend, Lou, was attacked by Annabelle. One version of this experience is that Lou was asleep on the sofa and woke to find the doll looming over him. He felt as if Annabelle had been trying to strangle him and deep scratches appeared on his arms. Another version of this attack is that Lou and Angie were in the apartment while Donna was out. They heard rustling in her room as if someone had broken in and he went to investigate. There were no signs of a break-in or anyone in the room. The only thing that Lou noticed was Annabelle laying face down in front of the door. The scratches appeared only moments later.

After this, Donna and Angie were determined to get rid of the doll. They contacted a priest who alerted Ed and Lorraine Warren of what was happening. When the Warrens examined Annabelle, they immediately realized that it was not a child’s spirit that inhabited the doll, but a demonic entity. The Warrens stated: “Spirits do not possess inanimate objects like houses or toys, they possess people. An inhuman spirit can attach itself to a place or object and this is what occurred in the Annabelle case.”

The Warrens believed that the spirit was trying to possess a human host and that Donna had given the spirit more power by granting it permission to inhabit the Raggedy Anne doll. An exorcism was performed on the doll and the apartment, though it did not work on Annabelle. The Warrens took possession of Annabelle and took her to their home. While travelling they had issues with the car that only ceased when Ed Warren sprinkled holy water onto Annabelle. Their brakes and power-steering fluid failed or malfunctioned several times on their way home.

At first, they placed Annabelle in Ed’s office, but she kept moving about the house, appearing in rooms that she had not been left in. They had a custom wood and glass box made for Annabelle. It had the Lord’s Prayer and Saint Michael’s prayer carved into it. This box is Annabelle’s current residence, displayed with a sign that says: “Warning: Positively Do Not Open.”

The Warren’s displayed Annabelle in their museum and warned visitors not to insult Annabelle. This warning was not always heeded. A priest insulted Annabelle’s powers and after he left, he crashed his car into a tree, he later said that the last thing he saw before crashing was an image of the Annabelle doll. A fatal and near fatal accident occurred after a couple laughed at Annabelle. The motorcyclist crashed into a tree headfirst, dying instantly. His girlfriend narrowly avoided death. She would later say that at the time of the accident they had been laughing about Annabelle.

The Annabelle doll resided in her glass box at the Warrens’ Museum until it closed due to zoning violations.

Critics of the Warrens do not believe that Annabelle is possessed. Most critics believe that the museum is simply full of Halloween-Esque trinkets and toys, meant to fool those who visit. Laycock believes that most of the popularity surrounding haunted dolls stems from a Twilight Zone episode titled “Living Doll” in which the character of the mother is named Annabelle that aired just five years before the Warrens’ story.

Even now stories of Annabelle are still circulating. The New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR) has been taking Annabelle on a tour, allowing people to visit and see the real doll. Rumors spread in New Orleans after the Nottoway Plantation burned down, and ten inmates escaped just two days after her visit. The next rumor that circulated was that enroute to Chicago, the Annabelle doll escaped. Media posts began to circulate alleged sightings and others stating that Annabelle should never have been taken on tour. NESPR stated that Annabelle was not missing and was never in Chicago, with a video that showed the Annabelle doll safely in her case.

Whether it is true or not, the story of Annabelle is certainly an intriguing one that still gets people talking even decades later. What are your opinions? Do you believe that Annabelle is really demonically possessed? Or was it all a ploy for media attention?

References:

• https://archive.org/details/husband-wife-do-battle-with-demons

• https://archive.org/details/tellers-of-eerie-tales

• https://religiondispatches.org/the-paranormal-to-pop-culture-pipeline/

• https://www.glamour.com/story/real-story-behind-annabelle

• https://www.glamour.com/story/real-story-behind-annabelle

• https://allthatsinteresting.com/annabelle-doll

• https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/annabelle-doll-true-story-inside-britains-obsession-cursed-icon-1734769

• https://www.historydefined.net/annabelle-doll/

• https://nypost.com/2025/06/01/us-news/demonic-annabelle-doll-safely-back-in-custody-after-claims-it-escaped-caused-havoc-in-nola/

• https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/2025/05/25/annabelle-new-orleans-plantation-fire/83743565007/

• https://www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/annabelle-doll-on-tour-truth-behind-missing-rumors-3199188/