Feb 15 2009
Robert The Haunted Doll
Stories about haunted dolls are not that uncommon. What is unique about the Robert the Doll story is that so many have reported encounters or have stories to tell about the doll.
The doll belonged to Robert (Gene) Otto as a child. It was given to him by a Bahamian nanny. As the story goes, Gene was never without the doll and kept it with him his whole life.
Mrs. Otto did not like the doll and convinced her husband to put it away in the attic. Mrs. Otto herself reported seeing the doll move up and down the attic stairs by itself. She heard noises coming from the attic like feet dancing, and what she believed to be the doll singing a nursery rhyme.
Gene Otto died in 1972 and the doll was left in the attic of the home. The new owners found the doll and gave it to their 10 year old daughter. The stories get even creepier. The little girl woke up to find the doll on her face and she felt that it was trying to suffocate her. She found many of her other dolls mysteriously torn up and mutilated.
When the family moved they did not take the doll with them it was left to the The East Martello Museum. The doll is blamed for numerous odd occurrences at the Museum. The lion on his lap is reported to move from one knee to the other. Others just feel an overall evil presence about the doll.
You can visit the doll at The East Martello Museum and, in October, at the Historic Custom House in Key West, Florida.
