DON'T MESS WITH DOLLS

DON’T MESS WITH DOLLS

We'll have to travel to Japan and go all the way back to 1918. A young guy called Eikichi Suzuki was traveling across northern Japan when he came upon a little 16-inch-tall kimono doll for sale. He bought the doll without hesitation and gave it to his two-year-old sister Kikuko when he arrived home. The small girl was so taken with the doll that she named it Okiku after herself. A year later, however, Japan was overwhelmed with yellow fever, an infectious and terrible epidemic that killed many people, including Kikuko.

The family buried her and placed the doll in their family shrine, as is customary in many Japanese houses to honour the dead. In memory of their daughter, the family would pay their respects to the doll on a daily basis. When Eikichi opened the shrine one day, he saw something peculiar. He had purchased the doll with a clean little shoulder length Bob haircut, but the doll's hair had grown much longer. It'd grown into a shaggy mesh that went all the way down to its knees. Unable to explain what was going on, the family clipped the doll's hair and returned it to the shrine. However, when they reopened the shrine, its hair had grown back. No matter how short Okiku's hair was,it wouldn't be long until another scary trim was required.

Unable to explain what was happening, the family came to believe that their daughter's spirit was living inside the doll. They made the painful decision to relocate to another district in 1938, but they chose against taking the Okiku doll with them because they worried that whatever drove this hair-growing enchantment was dependent on being close to their daughter's grave. As a result, the family asked their local temple to look after the doll. Okiku is now placed in a private shrine at Hokkaido's Mannenji temple. Locals allege that Okiku's hair continues to grow, with temple monks reportedly having to cut the doll's hair to this day.

Now, it's worth noting that many sections of Japan were pre-industrial and rural during the first half of the twentieth century, with a lot of folklore. Local stories warned of bad spirits and animals disturbing ordinary people, and dolls in particular were seen as strong magical devices. Okiku's growing hair may be a local legend, but what's even more bizarre is that the hair has been analysed and proved to be real human hair, as if the story wasn't already bizarre enough. Was Okiku's hair being restyled in some way? And if so, what are the reasons?

Scientists may never be able to determine where this hair is coming from or whether this story is even true because the shrine is now under the protection of the monks who tend it, and all photographing of the doll is currently restricted. But one thing is certain: don't meddle with dolls.

Here is another. Do you know Elmo? Elmo is a villain. Sesame Street is one of the world's most popular children's programmes. Because Elmo, the little Muppet, was such an iconic component of the programme, he immediately became a popular children's toy. In 2008, however, a two-year-old boy in Florida had an encounter with his Elmo doll that chilled his mother to the bone. Melissa Bowman was watching her son James play with his Elmo Knows Your Name doll, a personalised plush talking electrical toy, on that particular day. When the fuzzy doll blurted out, "Kill James!" Worst of all?

The toddler then began repeating, kill James, kill James, in a maniacally cultish chant, the phrase the doll had said. The doll's batteries eventually died, but even after they were replaced, Elmo continued to sing Kill James in a sing-song voice. Elmo had been possessed by a demon, transforming the toy into a bloodthirsty machine. It turned out to be more ominous than that. It appears unlikely because this specific Elmo doll can be set to repeat phrases and remember your child's name, but unless Elmo was truly possessed, someone must have said the horrible word to the doll for it to learn it in the first place. Wow.

I never expected to be rooting for demonic possession, but here we are.

There have been many stories of dolls out there and this one for me stands out. Perhaps, you have also read and had your own personal experience. Let me know in the comment section .