ObscUrban Legend Wikia
Robert the Doll

A photo of Robert
Background
Type Haunting
Continent North America
Country United States
One-Time? No
Theories  · Ghost
 · Voodoo curse

Robert the Doll, also known as Robert the Haunted Doll or Robert the Enchanted Doll, is a doll that was once owned by Key West painter and author Robert Eugene Otto. The doll is alleged to be possessed by spirits, and has a terrifying reputation. The doll is currently located at the East Martello Museum in Key West, Florida.

Robert is very similar to Annabelle the Doll.

Manifestations[]

  • Moving objects
  • Objects disappearing and reappearing in a new location

Background[]

The dark story of Robert the Haunted Doll began near the turn of the century when the family of eccentric Key West artist Robert Eugene Otto took up residence in the famous Artist's House in the heart of the city. Affluent and well-traveled, the Ottos found the easy and unhurried lifestyle of the Florida Keys most agreeable. They settled in with their young son and a large staff to wait on their every need.

Local legend holds that the Ottos were stern people who held their son to rigid expectations and expected strict obedience from their staff. It is said that the Ottos took on a Jamaican woman as a nurse for young "Gene," as they called him, and it was she who spent the long hours with him while his parents traveled the States and other parts of the globe. But the idyllic relationship was not to last, and the story is told that the nurse got on the bad side of Mrs. Otto and was promptly dismissed. But before she left the household she gave a gift to her favorite charge -- a hand-sewn stuffed doll, made in the likeness of young Gene. A slightly imperfect replica who Gene took to immediately.

The doll was christened with Gene's first name, Robert, and from the moment he received him from his Jamaican nurse, Gene never let the doll out of his sight. It went everywhere with him and was often seen accompanying the boy on day trips into town, both neat little gentlemen in pressed white sailor suits sitting perched among the Otto servants or straggling along behind Mrs. Otto as she shopped.

Soon, however, the relationship between Gene and his doll took on a troubling aspect. Gene could often be heard playing joyfully in his toy room one moment and then, after a solemn silence, the sound of low conversation would trickle down to the servants' ears, first in Gene's boyish voice and then in an entirely different tone. Sometimes Gene's voice would sound agitated, but the responding voice only sounded insistent, and it was these moments that began to trouble first the servants and then Mrs. Otto most. On occasion the concerned mother would burst in upon her child and, oddly and unexpectedly, find her son cowering in a corner of the room, and the doll perched in a chair or on the bed, seemingly glaring down at the boy. (HauntedAmericaTours.com)

Notable Accounts[]

Tourists who visit the Artist House today say Robert is not necessarily "attached" to his new home, as they have reported the sounds of giggling and small scampering feet in the empty rooms where the tour guides feared to take them. Sometimes children on their way to school pass the Artist House and flee in terror from the face of Robert peering down from the Turret Room windows. Doors are still found unlocked, windows left slightly open in the areas that Gene and Robert frequented all their lives. (HauntedAmericaTours.com)

Trivia[]

  • Contrary to popular belief, however, the doll's hair is not made of human hair, but rather, it consists of a synthetic material resembling wool yarn.
  • Robert was the inspiration for Chucky, the doll in the 1988 horror film Child's Play.
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Hauntings
North American Hauntings
100 Steps Cemetery · Amityville House · Annabelle the Doll · Arlington Attic Ghost · Avon Haunted Bridge · Bassett Ghost Cars · Bell Witch · Blue Albino Woman · Bobby Mackey's Music World · Boy Scout Lane · Demon's Road · Demon Cat · Demon of Brownsville Road · Devil Baby of Hull House · Dungarvon Whooper · Elizaville Monster · Eunice Welsh's Mausoleum · Faceless Figure of Dead Man's Curve · Fantasma Colorado · Flight 401 Ghost · Ghost Bus of Highway 93 · Ghost Cow · Ghost Deer · Ghost Mammoth · Ghost Moose · Ghost Wolf · Ghosts of Disney · Ghosts of the Charles Haskell · Ghosts of the Comedy Store · Graceland Cemetery · Grant Park · Green Lady of Wahiawa · Griggstown Ghost Cow · Headless Horseman of Lakey's Creek · La Belle Cemetery · La Llorona · Mandy the Doll · Moody's Light · Old Man Weary · Old Red Eyes of Kingsley Plantation · Old Woman in the Crawlspace · Purple Bubble · Purple Head Bridge · Ring of Children and the Banshee · Robert the Doll · Seaweed Charlie · Stiffy Green · Tanaka the Drowned Ghost · Vincent Hitchcock the Doll · Waverly Hills Sanatorium · Whaley House · Winchester Mystery House · Wyoming Woman in Black
South American Hauntings
Hotel del Salto
Asian Hauntings
Haunted of Wat Samian Nari · Lawang Sewu · Okiku the Doll · White Lady of Balete Drive
European Hauntings
Ancient Ram Inn · Berkeley Square Horror · Black Shuck · Borley Rectory · Brown Lady of Raynham Hall · Cock Lane Ghost · Deogen · Derbyshire Ghost Plane · Drummer of Tedworth · Elemental of Leap Castle · Enfield Poltergeist · Gef the Talking Mongoose · Ghost Roman Soldiers in York · Glamis Castle · Hairy Hands · Houska Castle · Pupa the Doll · Rosslynlee Hospital · Specter of Newby Church
African Hauntings
Castle of Good Hope
Australian Hauntings
Chateau Tongariro · Coalbaggie Haunting · Ghosts of Monte Cristo Homestead · Letta the Doll
Miscellaneous Hauntings
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North America
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North American Alien Sightings
Aliens in Aisle Five · Ausso One · California Fetus · Casa Blanca Entity · Cisco Grove Robots · Crazy Critter of Bald Mountain · Crescent · Cycloptic Aliens of Harrah · Dade City Flowers · Falkville Metal Man · Farmersville Green Man · Flatwoods Monster · Gaffney Aliens · Garson Invaders · Georgia Stalks · Gliders · Hopkinsville Goblins · Long Prairie Cans · Medford Shmoos · Newport Stumps · Nuevo Laredo Alien · Old Saybrook Blockheads · Pancake Bakers from Space · Pascagoula Creature · Prospect Monoliths · Ririe Carjackers · Sorrento Crawler · Space Brains of Palos Verdes · Space Penguins of Tuscumbia · Syracuse Giant Insects · The Purple Glob · Tripod Creature · Van Meter Visitor · Veggieman
North American UFO Sightings
4th of July UFO · Aurora UFO Crash · Butterfly UFO · Kecksburg UFO · Lubbock Lights · Phoenix Lights · Roswell Incident · Warren UFO
North American Hauntings
100 Steps Cemetery · Amityville House · Annabelle the Doll · Arlington Attic Ghost · Avon Haunted Bridge · Bassett Ghost Cars · Bell Witch · Blue Albino Woman · Bobby Mackey's Music World · Boy Scout Lane · Demon's Road · Demon Cat · Demon of Brownsville Road · Devil Baby of Hull House · Dungarvon Whooper · Elizaville Monster · Eunice Welsh's Mausoleum · Faceless Figure of Dead Man's Curve · Fantasma Colorado · Flight 401 Ghost · Ghost Bus of Highway 93 · Ghost Cow · Ghost Deer · Ghost Mammoth · Ghost Moose · Ghost Wolf · Ghosts of Disney · Ghosts of the Charles Haskell · Ghosts of the Comedy Store · Graceland Cemetery · Grant Park · Green Lady of Wahiawa · Griggstown Ghost Cow · Headless Horseman of Lakey's Creek · La Belle Cemetery · La Llorona · Mandy the Doll · Moody's Light · Old Man Weary · Old Red Eyes of Kingsley Plantation · Old Woman in the Crawlspace · Purple Bubble · Purple Head Bridge · Ring of Children and the Banshee · Robert the Doll · Seaweed Charlie · Stiffy Green · Tanaka the Drowned Ghost · Vincent Hitchcock the Doll · Waverly Hills Sanatorium · Whaley House · Winchester Mystery House · Wyoming Woman in Black
North American Phenomena
Black Aggie · Black Mist of Casa Grande Mountain · Bleeding House on Fountain Drive · Blinking Crucifix · Brown Mountain Lights · Carnivorous Pink Cloud · Cat's Eyes of St. Joseph · Cohoke Light · Coke Mystery Vending Machine · Cursed Grave of Carl Pruitt · Dancing Underpants · Death Valley Sailing Stones · Face in the Courthouse Window · Flying Mist Mattress · Forest Grove Sound · Fountain Cloud · Gurdon Light · Handprint of the Carbon County Jail · Handprint of the Chicago Firehouse · John Lawson Mannequins · Kokomo Hum · Maco Light · Michigan Blue Hell · Mike the Headless Chicken · Moodus Noises · Polybius · Smiling Stones · St. Louis Light · Swirling Basement Thing · Taos Hum · The Black Angel
North American Beings
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North American Events
Battle of Los Angeles · Beaumont Blackout · Death of Elisa Lam · Disappearance of David Lang · Disappearance of Glen and Bessie Hyde · Disappearance of Kenny Veach · Disappearance of Oliver Lerch · Gorman Dogfight · Massacre of Doc Johnson · Max Headroom Broadcast · Philadelphia Experiment
North American Locations
Anjikuni Village · Area 51 · Bennington Triangle · Bermuda Triangle · Blood Bowl · Bremen Troll Bridge · Bridgewater Triangle · Clown Motel · Devil's Gate Reservoir · Devil's Kettle · Devil's Tramping Ground · Disney's River Country · Doveland, Wisconsin · Helltown · House of Blue Lights · Island of the Dolls · Langville, Montana · Mel’s Hole · Shirtwood Forest · Spider Gates · Stairway to Hell · Urkhammer, Iowa · Wakulla Volcano · Zone of Silence

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Photo Gallery[]