‘The Conjuring’: There’s a real-life Annabelle doll, and she’s terrifying

Fans of New Line Cinema’s The Conjuring series are familiar with the work of real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. 

The Warrens founded the New England Society for Psychic Research, as well as the Warrens Occult Museum, in Monroe, Connecticut. Paranormal enthusiasts can visit the “largest array of obscure and Haunted artifacts”, and the Warrens believed strongly that some of these items may still possess evil.

The most famous artifact at the Warren’s Occult Museum is the actual doll the Annabelle movies are based upon. Let’s dive into this doll’s creepy past and the stories connected to her. 

The original Annabelle looks nothing like the film version.

It should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Hollywood that the doll playing the part of Annabelle is younger and slimmer than the original. The original Annabelle is a classic Raggedy Ann doll, which originated in 1915. 

The real-life Annabelle doll’s story begins in 1970.

A 28-year-old nurse named Donna received the doll from her mother as a birthday gift. She began noticing the doll changing positions while she was out of the room. 

The doll can write.

Donna and her roommate Angie began finding notes written on parchment paper around the home containing messages such as “Help me, help us.” The women swear they had had no parchment paper in the house. Maybe we should look into expanding Film Daily’s writers room with some doll talent.

The Annabelle doll began to appear in different rooms.

The doll began turning up in different places all over their home, and even appeared to be leaking blood.

The Annabelle doll attacked a male friend.

When their friend Lou was taking a nap at Donna & Angie’s apartment, he woke to find the doll staring at him. He felt like he was being strangled and had deep scratches on his upper body. 

The seance

After ruling out an intruder, Donna & Angie turned to a medium. During a seance, they learned of Annabelle Higgins, who was a young girl who may have died on their property at seven years old. Through the medium, Annabelle said she was comforted by the roommates being there. Donna & Angie gave Annabelle permission to “inhabit the doll”.

 The doll got worse. 

That’s when the Warrens took the case. They came to the immediate conclusion that the doll was possessed by an “inhuman presence”. According to their website, the Warrens believed that “the spirit was not looking to stay attached to the doll; it was looking to possess a human host.”

The Warrens barely got the Annabelle doll home.

After having a priest perform an exorcism on the women’s apartment, the Warrens agreed to take the doll home. Placed in the backseat, it seemed to possess the car, shutting off power steering and breaks around dangerous curves. Ed Warren had to sprinkle holy water over the backseat to make it home.

The doll had a special hatred for the clergy.

When a visiting priest dismissed the doll’s powers, he was involved in a near-fatal accident on the way home. His brakes gave out in a busy intersection, and his vehicle was destroyed.

The Warrens believe the doll has killed.

When a visitor to the museum laughed at the doll and banged on the case the Warrens kept her in, he was asked to leave. He and his girlfriend were riding on his motorcycle and laughing about the doll when he lost control and ran into a tree, dying instantly. The girlfriend survived, but was hospitalized with severe injuries.

Whether or not you believe in the legend of the Annabelle doll, the Warrens definitely did. Since the Warrens’ passing, their son-in-law Tony Spera has taken over their legacy and claims that Annabelle is the most terrifying artifact they owned.