The chilling, real story of the doll Annabelle

If the name Annabelle doesn't sound familiar to you, you're lucky. The doll Annabelle is one of the most terrifying characters we have ever come across in the movie theater. The porcelain doll, possessed by a demon, hides an intriguing and scary backstory you cannot miss…

We were able to first catch a glimpse of Annabelle in the movie 'The Conjuring' (2013). A horror film based on the paranormal events documented by the infamous demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren.

The film tells the story of the Perron family who experienced some supernatural events in their Rhode Island home at the beginning of the '70s. Since then, three of the 8 movies from 'The Conjuring' Saga are centered on the diabolic doll.

In this first movie —directed by James Wan—, we can see Annabelle on two occasions: First, while the Warren explain the doll's story at a high school conference, and, secondly, in the Warren's Museum of demonic objects.

But that was just the beginning… Just a year after the premiere of 'The Conjuring', the diabolic doll would have her first movie: 'Annabelle' (2014), directed by John R. Leonetti.

After that, they would release two more movies: 'Annabelle: Creation' (2017) directed by David F. Sandberg; and, 'Annabelle Comes Home' (2019), written and directed by Gary Dauberman.

But… where did Annabelle come from? It seems that is a very different story from what's told in the movies. The doll didn't have that scary-looking aspect… However, its innocent origin did drastically make a twist.

To truly know how Annabelle was created we have to go back to the start of the 20th century. At that time, Johnny Gruelle created the character 'Raggedy Ann' for a series of books that he wrote and illustrated. This took place in 1915, but it wasn't until 1918 that the doll was introduced to the audience through the book 'Annabelle Stories'.

Her name was self-explanatory. Ann was a rag doll: red threads simulated her hair and her nose was a triangle. The fictional character from Gruelle's books became a huge success in the United States. The doll and the book started to be commercialized together.

We have to jump to 1970 to see how, according to demonologists Ed and Lorrain Warren, Annabelle went from innocent children's book character to a diabolic doll.

According to the legend, Annabelle was the doll of an 18-year-old nursing student, called Donna. The doll was a gift from her mother and ended up being part of the flat Donna shared with another girl. Everything seemed fine till weird stuff started happening.

According to Donna, the doll started to move around and show up in places where Donna hadn't put her. She said that one time the doll even appeared in a different room and that it often had her arms and legs moved in strange positions.

With time, the events got worse and the paranormal moves were accompanied by sinister messages like 'Help Lou' and 'Help us'.

A lot of strange things had happened but it wasn't until Donna saw a stream of red blood running down the doll when she and her friend decided to seek help.

The girls asked for the help of a medium who told them that a seven-year-old girl named Annabelle Higgins had died in the house and possessed the doll.

Picture: Ján Jakub Naništa / Unsplash

When the medium left, two more intense events involving Lou, Donna's boyfriend, took place. One time the boy fell asleep and when he woke up… He couldn't move, then he saw how the doll Annabelle tried to strangle him until he passed out. He was convinced that it was just a dream, but another day, after hearing some noises in Donna's room, he found Annabelle lurking in one corner of the room and felt a presence behind him.

Later, four horizontal and three vertical scratches appeared on his back, but disappeared the next day…

Picture: Zhu Liang / Unsplash

It was then when the Warren marriage arrived on the scene. Donna, Lou, and the other friend reached out to the members of a church who contacted the Warren. The couple contradicted the Medium's version and assured them that no human spirit could have possessed the doll. So, what exactly had happened?

To the Warrens, what Donna, Lou, and her roommate had experienced was a demonic presence. That's why they contacted father Cooke to perform an exorcism in the apartment. Then, the Warren took the doll to guard her.

There haven't been any more weird events surrounding the doll Annabelle, in fact, it's still guarded in a sealed wooden box in the Occult Museum of Ed and Lorraine Warren in Monroe (Connecticut). As we can see in the picture, the box even has a warning sign.

Picture: Ed and Lorraine Warren Official Channel

As demonic experts, the Warren are taking measures, and twice a month a priest comes to the museum and spreads holly water on Annabelle. This is a precaution to prevent the demon inside of her from coming out.

Picture: Ed and Lorraine Warren Oficial Channel

In August 2020, Annabelle was in everyone's minds thanks to a message on Twitter, alerting people that the doll had allegedly escaped the Warren Museum.

It was Tony Spera, Ed and Lorraine's son-in-law, who had to publish a Youtube video confirming that the doll was still in the box, maybe waiting for a better moment to return.

Picture: Nong V / Unsplash

Real or legend, the story of the Annabelle doll attracts everybody and especially, lovers of horror films and the occult. Will there be a new movie? Hopefully, we'll see the mysterious doll in theaters and not in our bedrooms at night…