In 1970, Donna and her friend Angie shared a small apartment. Both were nursing students and about to graduate from college. Donna’s mother, as a gift, bought a Raggedy-Ann doll at a local hobby store and gave it to Donna. Donna took an immediate liking to the doll, thinking it was cute, and placed it on the foot of her bed as a decoration. The doll, was Annabelle
Within days of receiving the doll, strange things started to happen. At first, it seemed as though the doll had started moving about the apartment. They would notice relatively small movements, such as a change in position that could be easily written off as the doll being jostled. But, as time wore on, the movements became more noticeable. The girls would find the doll in a completely different room from where she had been left. She would be found with her legs crossed, arms folded, and at other times, she would be found standing upright on her feet. Numerous times, Donna would recall leaving the doll on the sofa, only to return home later that day and find the doll in her room with the door closed.
Donna and Angie had a friend, Lou, who instantly disliked the doll. He told the girls it was evil, and they should get rid of it. Donna felt a connection to the doll, so she ignored his warnings and chose to keep it.
Within a month, Donna and Angie began finding notes, messages written on parchment paper. The notes would read “Help Us” and “Help Lou.” The handwriting looked as though it had been done by a young child. The odd part though, was not necessarily the messages themselves, which were creepy enough, but Donna and Angie never kept parchment paper, like that the notes were written on, in the apartment. Where did it come from?
One night, Donna returned home to find the doll had moved again, this time it was on her bed. But something wasn’t right. She took a closer look at the doll and found what appeared to be blood drops on the back of its hands and chest. But where had it come from? There was no other blood evidence in the apartment.
Donna and Angie decided it was time to seek help. They contacted a spiritual medium, and they held a seance in their apartment. That was when Donna was introduced to the spirit of Annabelle Higgins.
Annabelle Higgins was a young girl, who happened to live on the property where the apartments were built. She said they were “Happy times,” however when she was only seven, her lifeless body was found in a field, directly underneath the apartment building they were now residing in.
Annabelle told the medium she was happy with Donna and Angie. She wanted to stay with them and be loved. Donna, being a compassionate woman, gave the spirit her permission to remain in the doll and stay with them.
Unfortunately, Annabelle was not what she first appeared to be. One night when Lou was sleeping over, he awoke in a panic from a deep sleep. He had been having recurring bad dreams, only this time was different. It was as though he were awake, but paralyzed. He looked around the room, and couldn’t discern anything out of the ordinary. That is, until he looked down at the foot of the bed, and saw Annabelle. The doll began to slowly glide u p his leg, moved up over his chest and there it stopped. Moments later, the doll was strangling him. He couldn’t move, and at the point of asphyxiation, he blacked out. When he awoke, he was certain it wasn’t a dream.
The next day, Lou and Angie were sitting in the apartment, reading over maps in preparation for a road trip. Suddenly, rustling sounds began coming from Donna’s room. Lou, thinking there might be an intruder in the apartment, quietly made his way to the bedroom door. He waited for the noises to stop before opening the door and turning on the light. But the room was empty – no one was there, except for Annabelle, who appeared to have been tossed on the floor in the corner.
Lou scoured the room, looking for any evidence that someone had broken in. As he neared Annabelle, he suddenly felt like someone was standing behind him. He spun around, but no one was there. Moments later, he was grabbing his chest, doubled over. He was bleeding.
His shirt was stained with blood, and upon further examination, 7 distinct claw marks were found; 3 vertically, 4 horizontally, and all were like hot burns. The scratches healed incredibly fast. Half were gone the next day, all were gone within two days.
After what happened to Lou, Donna believed it was time to seek help. They contacted Father Hegan, an Episcopal priest. He believed it was a spiritual matter and therefore needed a higher authority in the church. He contacted Father Cooke, who immediately called Ed and Lorraine Warren.
Ed and Lorraine Warren were paranormal investigators. They interviewed Lou, Angie and Donna and immediately decided the doll itself was not possessed, but rather, being manipulated by an inhuman presence. They said spirits do not possess inanimate objects, like houses or toys, they posses people. However, an inhuman spirit can possess a doll. They believed the spirit manipulated the doll and made it appear that it were alive in order to get recognition. The spirit wasn’t looking to attach to the doll, but rather looking for a human host.
The spirit had set about causing patently negative phenomena to occur. It aroused fear, and when it attacked Lou, it left behind the symbolic mark of the beast. If they had not sought help, then within two to three more weeks, the spirit would have completely harmed, killed, and/or possessed at least one of the occupants in the house.
When they had completed their investigation, the Warrens felt it was necessary to have Father Cooke recite an exorcism blessing to cleanse the apartment.
At Donna’s request, the Warrens took the doll with them when they left.
Ed placed the doll in the back seat of his car, and agreed to not take the interstate, just in case the inhuman spirit remained within the doll. He was right to be worried, as with each dangerous curve, the car swerved and stalled at every corner. Ultimately the power steering and brakes failed and he narrowly avoided collision. Ed reached into the back seat and into his bag. He pulled out a vial of holy water and poured it on the doll, making the sign of the holy cross over it. From that point forward, the car drove fine and the Warrens were able to make it safely home.
Ed placed the doll in a chair beside his desk. He witnessed it levitate a few times, and after a few weeks, it began showing up in different rooms throughout the house. When they were away, they would lock the doll up in the outer office building, and upon returning home, would find her sitting in Ed’s easy chair.
One day, Father Jason Bradford, a catholic exorcist, came to their home. He spotted Annabelle in the chair beside Ed’s desk and picked it up. ” You’re just a ragdoll Annabelle, you can’t hurt anyone,” he said, and tossed the doll back into the chair. He left an hour later, and Lorraine begged him to be careful, and to call her when he arrived home. A few hours later, they received a call from Father Jason. He had been involved in a near fatal accident, nearly destroying his vehicle.
The Warrens had a special case built for Annabelle inside their Occult Museum, where she resides to this day. Since the case was built Annabelle no longer appears to move but she is believed to be responsible for the death of a man who came to the museum on motorcycle with his girlfriend. The man banged on the case insisting that if the doll could put scratches on people then he wanted to also be scratched. Ed said, “Son you need to leave,” and sent him away.
On the way home the man and his girlfriend were laughing and making fun of the doll. He lost control of his motorcycle and went head on into a tree. He was killed instantly but his girlfriend survived and was hospitalized for over a year. When asked what happened she explained that they were laughing about the doll when they lost control of the motorcycle. Ed warns you do not challenge evil, that no man is more powerful than Satan.
Annabelle isn’t the only haunted doll out there. You should hear about Robert the Doll.
