HELLO DOLLY

THE BIZARRE CURSE OF ROBERT THE DOLL.

Thanks to Hollywood, many people are now aware of the doll named Annabelle (possessed by pure evil, but now safely locked away in a ‘special cabinet’ by ‘demonologist’ Lorraine Warren) but not so many have heard of Robert the Doll. The enigmatic Robert resides in an old American Civil War fort on the Florida island of Key West.

Constructed by the US army in 1862, Fort East Martello was positioned on the south coast of Key West, one of several fortifications built to defend the island against Confederate sea assaults. With vaulted brick ceilings, walls over twelve feet thick, and a central castle-like keep, this place was pretty formidable in its day. The building lay empty for many years, but in 1950, the Key West Art & Historical Society cleaned it up and opened it as a museum. The national landmark has now been fully restored to its original 1860s design and is well worth a visit.

Much is made of the many ghosts that roam the dark corridors of East Martello, but none of these spirits quite are as scary as Robert the Doll, who sits silently watching you in his glass case. Supposedly provided for his protection, in reality, the alarmed case helps to protect the fort visitors from the doll itself. Eerie tinkling music softly plays on a constant loop as you gaze at Robert to help reassure the more nervous visitors.

Robert the Doll was handmade sometime in the late 1800s by Steiff, the American company that produced the first teddy bear. Standing over three feet in height, his body is cloth and stuffed with excelsior (wood wool). The eyes are shoe buttons sewn onto his spongy deadpan face and the sailor outfit that he wears belonged to his owner, a four-year old child named Gene Otto.

Gene was given the doll on his birthday, October the 25th, 1904, some say by an evil voodoo witchdoctor. Others say it was a wronged servant of the family (and witch) who cursed the doll and presented it to their child as her revenge. Others even claim it was given to Gene by his grandfather. Whoever it was that provided the doll (um, his grandfather), Robert became Gene’s childhood companion and ‘best friend’.

You can certainly see why.

The wealthy Otto family lived at 534 Eaton Street on Key West and many weird and alarming events began to regularly happen around the doll. Little Gene would always shift the blame whenever anything was broken or missing, pointing to the doll and saying, “I didn’t do it. Robert did it”.

Gene’s parents would often hear the child talking to the doll and receiving responses in a totally different voice.  They also described seeing the doll turning its head and changing expressions. There are many other darker tales of Robert attempting to kill people, including the suffocation of a baby, but in my opinion these can probably be viewed as fantasy (much like all the other stories).

Robert lived with Gene throughout his life and after his parents died, he moved his wife Anne into the home.  Anne immediately felt uncomfortable with the doll and insisted that Robert be locked away in the tower attic. The doll didn’t like this. Anne, along with many visitors to the house, reported hearing noises up there – footsteps, bangs and sinister giggling.  Local children described seeing Robert creepily watching them from the attic window.

Following Gene’s death, people renting rooms at the house heard footsteps in the locked attic above them where Robert was kept.  A visiting plumber on a call-out heard giggling and turned to find the doll had moved across the attic on his own.

In 1974, a woman named Myrtle Reuter bought the Otto home, including the haunted doll in the attic.  She didn’t get rid of it, possibly because eBay had yet to be invented. In fact, Myrtle liked Robert at first, but eventually donated him to the East Martello Museum when things turned too eerie. She claimed the doll was possessed and would move around the house on his own.

The museum staff noticed a dark energy at the fort as soon as Robert arrived and he was put on public display. Cameras and electronic devices began to malfunction in his presence and ‘psychics’ explained that Robert wanted photographers to ask his permission before taking a picture. More than that, the doll demanded that people should always be respectful around it, or risk the curse of bad luck happening to them.

A chalkboard has been installed in front of Robert for visitors to leave messages of respect for him to read.

Apologetic letters addressed to the doll arrive on a daily basis, all begging forgiveness for disrespectful behaviour. These are from people who hadn't taken the curse seriously and had found themselves plagued with terrible misfortune following their fort visit. The letters are read out to the doll and then displayed for visitors to read as a warning.

Just like drug dealers and young street gang members with knives, this is a doll who clearly does NOT like to be ‘dissed’ and demands ‘respeck’, innit?

Unfortunately, I'm not sure, but I fear I may have inadvertently incurred his wrath.

In some ways the letters cataloguing bad luck remind me of Friggers of Whitby (great name). The Friggers website and shop windows are filled with similar letters, all the complete opposite of Robert’s. The company has been manufacturing their famous ‘lucky ducks’ for decades and, as the sign says, these little glass ornaments are amazingly successful.

The wealth of correspondence from satisfied customers proves just HOW good they are. Things like: “I couldn’t find my car keys, but after buying one of your ducks, I was emptying Kai’s toy box and found them. Amazing! Thank you.” And things like: “I bought a duck and three years later I passed my driving test on the ninth attempt. I honestly can’t thank you enough.” I searched through these and most are pretty much the same. I couldn’t find anything like: ‘I was planning my funeral when I bought a lucky duck. The following day the hospital rang to tell me the tumours had completely vanished from my X-ray and I’m now all clear. Wow, it’s the best £3.50 I ever spent.”

Robert gets plenty of celebrity visitors, including well-known television psychics, paranormal 'experts' and ghost hunters.

He even had a recent visit from mystery lover Ozzy Osbourne and his son Jack.

“I’m fuckin’ tellin’ yer, Jack, this little bastard’s proper givin’ me the shits.”

Like the notorious Annabelle doll, who has appeared in various horror films, Robert the Doll’s dark exploits are told in the 2015 British film Robert the Doll. Also like Annabelle, Robert’s appearance has been subtly changed to make him slightly more frightening than the actual doll.

Also like Annabelle, when you see the movie version, you’re left wondering who the hell in their right mind would ever allow such a thing into their house. Here, Gene Otto’s mum, played by the lovely Suzie Frances Garton begins to wonder if she should have got him a train set instead.

Robert the Doll, 2015, was followed by the Curse of Robert the Doll, 2016, Robert and the Toymaker, 2017, the Revenge of Robert the Doll, 2018, and Robert Reborn, 2019. I’m waiting for Robert the Doll Vs. Predator. The Predator had better watch itself.

The East Martello Museum can be found at 3501 South Roosevelt Boulevard, Key West. Here I am chatting with the curator (and very good friend of the spirits) Steve Walker as he explains about the hauntings and shows me his phone film footage of the ghosts. There's a cuddly toy version of Robert beside us that you can buy for your own kids, but weirdly, I think I can also make out an unearthly figure standing behind us.

I'll leave this blog with a picture of a typical American family sending birthday wishes to Robert in a nice photo message.