For reasons unknown, dolls seem to attract spirits. More troubling, dolls seem to become easily imbued with the spirit of the child to whom it most closely connected. And there is ample evidence to at least provoke suspicion that some dolls stay connected via this childhood link for years, even generations after their childhood playmate has grown to adulthood or succumbed to early death.

Other dolls are created for the enjoyment of the collector, and although they are never “played with” in the traditional sense they still can become objects of devotion and even obsession. Any avid doll collector will tell you that it can be hard to pass up the opportunity to purchase or obtain a beautiful, desirable doll. These dolls are no less loved and the emotional connection is no less intense; often these collectible dolls are the objects of the most terrifying haunted events.

Author Anne Rice is one collector of such magnificent dolls and they can be seen on display at her Doll Museum in New Orleans. Once the site of the St. Elizabeth’s Orphanage, the building now houses Rice’s vast collection and other artistic works. It is interesting to note, however, that Rice once stated that she moved her doll collection to the centralized museum location because it basically bothered her to have them around her house. Prior to the opening of the museum, when she and husband Stan Rice were making one last walk-through, Rice is quoted as having said she “wouldn’t like to be locked in here all night with all of them [the dolls].” Not only are most of the dolls allegedly haunted, they are now housed in a verifiably haunted location.

One of my aunts has always had a strong aversion to dolls, stating that they “creeped her out.” Out of all the dolls on the market, the ones she liked the least were the ones whose eyelids would open and close. I thought this was a simple phobia, much like the phobias of heights or spiders.

Over the course of my life, I’ve watched several horror movies where a child’s dolls or toys would spring to life after their owners met a violent death. These playthings would exact their revenge against the killer in a gruesome and/or creepy way. Possessed dolls were a product of fiction, I’d always thought until I started reading true stories about such things.

One such story is called Robert the Haunted Doll, which is about the doll of a wealthy and eccentric painter named Robert Eugene (called Gene) Otto. Apparently, this doll, named Robert, could move around on its own, glare at passing children from the turret window, and spark dark and violent mood swings in its owner.

You’ll find this story in the above link, along with other creepy tales of haunted dolls.