Haunted: Annabelle the Doll

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by tpksstories

by tpksstories

Annabelle is an allegedlyhaunted Raggedy Ann doll, housed in the occult museum of theparanormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. A character based onthe doll is a reoccurring antagonist in the Conjuring Universe.

Background

According to the Warrens, a studentnurse was given the doll in 1970. They said that the doll behavedstrangely, and that a psychic medium told the student that the dollwas inhabited by the spirit of a deceased girl named "Annabelle".The student and her roommate tried to accept and nurture thespirit-possessed doll, but the doll reportedly exhibited maliciousand frightening behavior. It was at this point that the Warrens saythey were first contacted, moving the doll to their museum afterpronouncing it demonically possessed. The doll remains in a glassbox at The Warrens' Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut.

Texas State University assistantprofessor of religious studies Joseph Laycock says most skeptics havedismissed the Warren's museum as "full of off-the-shelfHalloween junk, dolls and toys, books you could buy at anybookstore". Laycock calls the Annabelle legend an"interesting case study in the relationship between popculture and paranormal folklore" and speculates that thedemonic doll trope popularized by films such as Child's Play, DollyDearest, and The Conjuring likely emerged from early legendssurrounding Robert the Doll as well as a Twilight Zone season 5episode 6 titled "Living Doll" (in which thecharacter of the mother is named Annabelle), released 5 years priorto the Warren's story. Laycock suggests that "the idea ofdemonically-possessed dolls allows modern demonologists to findsupernatural evil in the most banal and domestic of places."

Commenting on publicity for theWarren's occult museum coinciding with the film release of TheConjuring, science writer Sharon A. Hill said that many of the mythsand legends surrounding the Warrens have "seemingly been oftheir own doing" and that many people may have difficulty"separating the Warrens from their Hollywood portrayal".Hill criticized sensational press coverage of the Warrens' occultmuseum and its Annabelle doll. She said, "Like real-life EdWarren, real-life Annabelle is actually far less impressive."Of the supernatural claims made about Annabelle by Ed Warren, Hillsaid, "We have nothing but Ed's word for this, and also forthe history and origins of the objects in the museum."

The doll was also described in GeraldBrittle's 1980 biography of Edward and Lorraine Warren, TheDemonologist.

Character

The Warren's story of the doll servedas inspiration for the Annabelle doll character depicted in TheConjuring Universe, a film series that includes the following:Annabelle (2014), Annabelle: Creation (2017), and Annabelle ComesHome (2019). The producers did not use the likeness of Raggedy Ann,partially because doing so would require special permission,partially to make the doll's appearance more unsettling for a horrorfilm; its appearance has been described as a "terrifyingporcelain doll that is disfigured and immediately menacing". The character made a brief appearance in James Wan's The Conjuring 2(2016) and Aquaman (2018), as well as The Curse of La Llorona (2019)and Shazam.