Perhaps one of the most unpleasant horror characters are dolls. The latter often become a source of inspiration for horror film screenwriters.

Many films have been created on this topic, but the most sensational, at least over the last decade, is Annabelle. The doll shown in this film became the standard of fear, eclipsing the legendary Chucky. It is worth noting that the character described first appeared in the film The Conjuring, and only then received a “solo concert”. The director transformed the model, making it creepy and gloomy, but the original doll is not without “charm.”

Birthday gift

The story begins in 1970, when a woman purchased a mysterious doll in a trinket store. It was intended as a gift for her daughter Donna. The latter was at that time studying at a local college at the Faculty of Medicine. The girl rented a small apartment with her friend Angie, who studied at the same educational institution. Donna loved the gift, which was placed on her bed as a decoration. The first week of the doll's stay in the new home was not marked by any strange things. But a little later, not quite ordinary things began to happen. Donna began to notice that the doll sometimes ended up in the wrong place where it usually lay. Within a month, the object in the form of a person lived its own life.

Fun games

Residents of the apartment began to get used to the “adventures” of the doll. No one was surprised anymore that, having left it, say, on the bed, upon returning home they found it in the middle of the room or under the table. Their mutual friend Lou came to visit the girls from time to time. The guy immediately didn’t like the Annabelle doll. When Donna and Angie told him about the mysterious movements of the toy, he did not believe it, but was later forced to change his mind. At first it all looked funny, but each time the toy’s actions became more and more dangerous and unpredictable. For example, the doll began leaving notes to her roommates asking for help. Based on the handwriting of the student and Lu, they determined that it was written by a child. In general, all the doll's tricks in the first 2-3 months of her stay were similar to the games of a little girl.

Help from a medium

In one of the messages, the doll asked the girls not to throw her away and to become a family for her. Being naive and friendly, the students agreed, and this was their main mistake. From that moment on, paranormal activity began to intensify in the apartment. One of the creepiest incidents happened to Donna when she saw some kind of red liquid begin to leak from the doll. Whether it was blood no longer mattered, because the tenants realized that they were dealing with something mystical. The girls turned to a medium for help, who, after examining the toy, came to the conclusion that it was possessed by the spirit of 7-year-old Annabelle Higgins. According to the specialist, on the site of the complex where the students lived, there used to be private houses, in one of which this girl lived, who was later found dead.

Warren investigation

After this, the psychic went to the temple to talk with the priest Hegen. After listening to the story, the churchman decided to test the Annabelle doll himself. After studying it, he was sure that it was not the girl’s ghost that was in it, but something else. Since the case was serious, hunters of evil spirits Ed and Lorraine Warren joined the case. The latter came to Donna and Angie, who provided the toy for a thorough study. The experts' conclusion was as follows: there was a powerful demon in the doll, who only pretended that it was Annabelle Higgins. As the Warrens said, phantoms of the deceased cannot inhabit inanimate objects, and not even all demonic creatures are capable of this. There are not many spirits that could inhabit a doll. At the end of the investigation, Ed and Lorraine received permission from the church to carry out the ritual. The clergyman performed an exorcism in the girls' apartment, and the Warrens took the doll for themselves.

Conclusion

On the way home, the couple miraculously avoided an accident several times. At first, the mysterious toy was simply in the Warrens’ home, but soon it again began to exhibit supernatural activity, which became stronger every day. It was decided to carry out a repeat exorcism ritual. After this, the demon's power stopped increasing, but Ed and Lorraine, realizing that they had only gained some time, decided to go another way. The Warrens made a special case for the Annabelle doll, sprinkled with holy water on the inside and outside. The demon is still in this tank and it seems that he is biding his time for someone or something to free him.

The names of Americans Lorraine and Ed Warren are known throughout the world for their high-profile stories of investigating paranormal phenomena. For several decades, the married couple has been actively engaged in the fight against demonic creatures, helping people suffering from evil forces. For this, the successful researchers received the honorary title of “ghost hunters.”

Many years of experience and a large number of unusual objects that fell into the hands of the family led to the idea of systematizing their knowledge and telling the whole world about it. This is how the Warren Museum of Occultism appeared and soon became famous.

Let's find out together what this amazing place is like and get to know the brave demonologists.

Family history

Paranormal phenomena have accompanied the lives of future researchers since childhood. Edward Warren more than once discovered the ghost of an elderly lady in his Bridgeport home, coming at night. Her distinct steps and heavy breathing filled the soul of the young boy with horror. Ed's father, a policeman, tried his best to calm his family. He didn't believe in ghosts and believed that everything had a logical explanation.

Little Ed, left alone with his fears, was forced over time to learn to deal with them. The young researcher read a lot, accumulating knowledge about the other world. Gradually he began to recognize ghosts and understand how they could be neutralized. The Warrens' occult museum was still in the foreseeable future, but the young researcher had already begun to take his first steps towards it.

At the age of sixteen, Edward met the lovely girl Lorraine Rita Moran. Having become close to her, the young man learned that his girlfriend was endowed with the unique gift of clairvoyance. She knew how to see the inner glow of people, feel their aura. Common interests brought the young people together, and a few years later they got married.

The beginning of an unusual career

After serving in the navy during World War II, Edward entered art school. However, the talented artist was dissatisfied with the training, believing that he was wasting his time studying unnecessary subjects. Abandoning his studies, Warren bought a small used car and began traveling around the country, selling his own paintings. It was with travel that the spouses’ amazing passion began.

Ed was invariably drawn to places where inexplicable and mysterious phenomena occurred.

Using the talent of an artist, Warren depicted houses where evil spirits were located, and invited their owners to look at the drawing. The homeowners liked it, and they invited unusual guests to their place. The young researcher carefully examined the estate in search of phenomena similar to his memories from his childhood. He analyzed everything that was happening, gave people useful advice, and tried to exorcise evil spirits on his own.

Professional growth

Interest in supernatural events continued to interest the wider community. In 1952, Ed and Lorraine Warren created a paranormal research organization. The voluntary society united many people of various professions: doctors, scientists, police officers, psychologists. Using theoretical knowledge and practical skills, researchers developed new techniques and ways to combat evil spirits.

The Warrens created a training system to help people detect evil spirits and be able to resist them. In their work, they often turned to the help of representatives of the Catholic Church.

For more than fifty years, the Warrens, with their numerous assistants, were engaged in research and practical activities in the field of the occult. They have accumulated vast experience and are rightfully considered the best experts in the paranormal field. The couple claimed to have successfully solved over ten thousand complicated cases. From all the houses in which they had to work, the researchers left themselves memorable objects with which terrible and mysterious events were associated. The Ed and Lorraine Warren Museum is a collection of unique things, each of which is endowed with dark powers and poses considerable danger to ordinary people. To neutralize the negative impact on others, the priest holds a church service in the museum every day and sprinkles the premises with holy water.

Unusual exhibits

In 2006, Ed passed away, leaving his will to his wife and children to continue his business. Today his family lives in the small quiet town of Monroe, located near New York. The small cozy house and museum of the Warren family is located at the same address. The residential building was built in 1960 according to Lorraine's own design. The house is built on seven levels in full accordance with the number blessed by Catholic traditions.

The room on the ground floor reserved for the museum is poorly lit, cold and uncomfortable. The humid air is filled with a stench, which is interrupted by a mixture of aromatic essences. The room is filled with many different things, including books, toys, paintings, photos, and furniture. The unusual collection even includes a piano that played itself at night.

Mysterious Ann Doll

The most famous toy from the museum collection is the Anabelle doll. The mysterious story associated with it began back in 1970.

The young girl Donna was in college, preparing to become a nurse. For her birthday, her mother gave her an antique doll named Anne Doll. The birthday girl liked the gift, and the girl often placed the toy on her bed.

Over time, Donna and her roommate began to observe strange things: rag Annie inexplicably regularly changed her position. Each time after returning home, the girls found the doll in a different place than where they had left it the day before. Then notes on scraps of parchment paper began to appear in the house. Requests for help were written on them with an inept child's hand. One day, Donna discovered red spots on the doll’s body that resembled blood. This made the girls turn to the Warrens.

Demon experts found that an evil spirit had settled in the toy, causing harm to others. Magic was performed on her, neutralizing the evil force. Subsequently, the toy took the most honorable place in the collection of occultism. A special locker was created for the doll, which does not allow him to move and does not allow him to touch her. Lorraine is convinced that a demonic force still remains inside Anabelle, waiting in the wings to be released.

Mysterious phenomena on the wide screen

The Warrens created many books about paranormal phenomena, where they described cases from their practice. Hollywood directors could not ignore the mystical topic, so some successful investigations became the basis for the creation of films. “The Amityville Horror,” “The Haunting in Connecticut” and “The Conjuring” are successful film adaptations of the most notorious cases of ghosts and evil spirits.

The Annabelle doll has become famous from several horror films. A real life story inspired American directors to create a number of films about a doll that was possessed by.

Cursed doll

The story of screen Annabelle began in the 1960s. Two girls approached American paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. In the apartment in which they live, a girl named Anabel once died. The girls contact the spirit of the deceased. Little Annabelle wanted to inhabit a doll that belonged to one of the current owners of the apartment. After the baby found a new home, paranormal phenomena began to occur in the house. The doll's owner gives the cursed object to the Warrens.

The possessed doll begins its journey. She periodically ends up in the families of ordinary American citizens. Every family notices changes in their lives after Anabel appears. The next victims of the doll are the Gordon couple. John and Mia recently got married and are expecting their first child. Mrs. Gordon enjoys collecting dolls. Wanting to please his pregnant wife, John buys Anabel. Soon, representatives of a certain religious cult burst into the couple’s house. The police arrived and shot the attackers. One of the sect members, a young girl, manages to grab the doll before her death and dies with it in her arms. The blood of the murdered woman falls on Anabel and awakens the sleeping spirit in her.

The doll leaves the Gordon family. However, her story continues.

Viewers are usually warned that the film is based on true events. However, not everyone is able to believe that something like this could happen. Was the Annabelle doll enchanted or cursed? The real story is no less terrifying than the movie. At the same time, the plot of the film deviates from reality:

The film caused disapproval not only among skeptics, but also among people involved in the occult. According to experts, it cannot inhabit an inanimate object. The demon also could not enter the doll. These inconsistencies raise doubts about the authenticity of the story.

Annabelle's first owner is unknown. It was purchased at a second-hand store. Perhaps the original owner could answer the question of whether the Annabelle doll was cursed or possessed. The real story might be more believable. Psychologists and even mediums themselves do not recommend looking for mysticism everywhere. In most cases, it is human self-hypnosis that makes a household item possessed or cursed.

One of the creepiest characters in James Wan's film The Conjuring, released in Russia on July 25, 2013, is the Annabelle doll, which has become a real gem in the collection of the Ed and Lorraine Warren Museum. The director gave Annabelle a makeover for the film, giving her a much creepier appearance, but in real life she was far from an ordinary copy of the Anne doll.

This story began when Donna received Annabelle as a gift from her mother in 1970. Mom bought a used doll for her daughter in a store. Donna was a college student at the time and lived with a roommate named Angie. At first, the girls did not notice anything unusual about the doll. Only over time it became clear that Annabelle could move independently. At first it was almost unnoticeable. The doll changed position, which could be attributed to the girls’ forgetfulness: no one specifically remembered who, where and when last left Anne, but gradually the doll’s movements became more and more noticeable. After a few weeks, it seemed that she was already living her own life. The girls left the apartment with Annabelle sitting on Donna's bed, and returned home to find her on the couch.

Their friend, Lou, hated the doll. He believed that something was wrong with her, that something evil had settled inside Ann, but the girls did not want to believe in otherworldly nonsense. There had to be a logical explanation for the doll's movements, they believed. But Annabelle's actions soon became even stranger. Donna began finding pieces of parchment paper around the house with messages written on it. “Help us” “Help Lou” they read. “No big deal,” you might think, but no one in the house had parchment paper...

Events developed. One night, Donna returned home to find Annabelle in her bed with blood on her hands. Whether it was real blood or just a red liquid that seemed to be oozing from the doll itself did not matter. Donna finally agreed to invite a medium. The specialist, after working with the doll, told the girls that long before the construction of their residential complex, there had been private property on this site, where a seven-year-old girl named Annabelle Higgins lived. This is where she was found dead. Her restless spirit remained, and when the doll appeared in the house, the girl’s soul moved into it. Annabelle found Donna and Angie reliable. She just wanted to stay with them. She wanted to be safe. Being kind and responsive to requests, Donna and Angie agreed to let Annabelle stay with them. And then the real hell began...

As stated earlier, Lou was a friend of Donna and Angie and had been in constant contact with them since the doll appeared in the apartment. From that day on, he began to have nightmares where he saw Annabelle in his bed. She crawled up his legs to wrap her hands around his throat and begin to choke him, but he could not move. The guy woke up in horror, the blood was pounding in his temples, he couldn’t control himself and was very worried about the girls.

A few days later, Lou and Angie were in the apartment together, discussing an upcoming trip, when they heard someone walking around in Donna's room. They froze... Was it a thief? How did the intruder end up in the apartment? Lou crept to the door, listening to the rustling. He sharply opened the door and saw no one, everything was as before, except for Annabelle... Instead of a bed, she was now sitting in the corner. As he approached the doll to put it back, Lou felt a burning sensation on the back of his head, as often happens when someone is looking at you, and he turned around. There was no one there. The room was empty. And then I felt a sudden pain in my chest. He looked down at his shirt and saw several scratches from claws, bleeding rough ditches into his flesh. He knew Annabelle did it.

Oddly enough, the bloody claw marks disappeared almost immediately. They completely disappeared within two days. None of the guys had seen such wounds before. They realized they needed help and turned to an Episcopal priest, who in turn called Ed and Lorraine Warren.

It didn't take long for the Warrens to conclude that there was no ghost of a girl in this case. There was an inhuman spirit - a demon who lived in the doll. But they also warned that the doll could not become his refuge, since demons cannot live in things, only in people. Clinging to the doll, manipulating it, pretending to be a ghost, the demon tried to get to Donna's soul.

The priest performed an exorcism in the apartment, and the Warrens took the doll. They put it in their bag and began the long walk home. Ed decided to stay away from major highways, fearing that the demon might try to take over the car, and at 65 miles per hour, this would have catastrophic consequences. Indeed, when they drove along country roads, the engine lost speed, the power steering did not work, and even the brakes failed several times. Ed opened the bag, sprinkled holy water on the doll and the demon calmed down a little.

Upon arrival, Ed left the doll next to his desk, which began to levitate. This happened a couple more times, and then the demon seemed to calm down completely. But after a couple of weeks, Annabelle was up to her old tricks and started showing up in different rooms in the Warren house. Feeling that the doll was growing in power again, the Warrens asked a Catholic priest to exorcise the Annabelle demon. The priest did not take the ceremony seriously, saying that it was just a doll and it could not do anything wrong, but he still performed the ceremony. Not believing in the demon was a big mistake... on the way home, the priest's brakes didn't work and his car got into a terrible accident, but, by luck, he survived.

Ed and Lorraine Warren next to Annabelle's protective case

The Warrens eventually built a special protective case for Annabelle, where she remains to this day. The doll cannot move, but it seems that something sinister in it continues to live on, waiting for better times and preparing for the day when it can be free again.

Their friend Lou hated the doll. He believed that something was wrong with her, that something evil had settled inside Ann, but the girls did not want to believe in otherworldly nonsense. There had to be a logical explanation for the doll's movements, they believed. But Annabelle's actions soon became even stranger. Donna began finding pieces of parchment paper around the house with messages written on it. “Help us, help Lou,” they said. “No big deal,” you might think, but no one in the house had parchment paper...

Events developed. One night, Donna returned home to find Annabelle in her bed with blood on her hands. Whether it was real blood or just a red liquid that seemed to be oozing from the doll itself did not matter. Donna finally agreed to invite a medium. The specialist, after working with the doll, told the girls that long before the construction of their residential complex, there had been private property on this site, where a seven-year-old girl named Annabelle Higgins lived. This is where she was found dead. Her restless spirit remained and when the doll appeared in the house, the girl’s soul moved into it. Annabelle found Donna and Angie reliable. She just wanted to stay with them. She wanted to be safe. Being kind and responsive to requests, Donna and Angie agreed to let Annabelle stay with them. And that's when all hell began...

A few days later, Lou and Angie were in the apartment together, discussing an upcoming trip, when they heard someone walking around in Donna's room. They froze... Was it a thief? How did the intruder end up in the apartment? Lou crept to the door, listening to the rustling. He sharply opened the door and saw no one, everything was as before, except for Annabelle... Instead of a bed, she was now sitting in the corner. As he approached the doll to put it back, Lou felt a burning sensation on the back of his head, as often happens when someone is looking at you and he turns around. There was no one there. The room was empty. And then I felt a sudden pain in my chest. He looked down at his shirt and saw several scratches from claws, bleeding rough ditches into his flesh. He knew Annabelle did it.

The priest performed an exorcism in the apartment, and the Warrens took the doll. They put it in their bag and began the long walk home. Ed decided to stay away from major highways, fearing that the demon might try to take over the car, and at a speed of 65 miles per hour, this would have disastrous consequences. Indeed, when they drove along country roads, the engine lost speed, the power steering did not work, and even the brakes failed several times. Ed opened the bag, sprinkled holy water on the doll and the demon calmed down a little.

Upon arrival, Ed left the doll next to his desk, which began to levitate. This happened a couple more times, and then the demon seemed to calm down completely. But after a couple of weeks, Annabelle was up to her old tricks and started showing up in different rooms in the Warren house. Feeling that the doll was growing in power again, the Warrens asked a Catholic priest to exorcise the demon Annabelle. The priest did not take the ceremony seriously, saying that it was just a doll and it could not do anything wrong, but he still performed the ceremony. Not believing in the demon was a big mistake... on the way home, the priest's brakes didn't work and his car got into a terrible accident, but, by luck, he survived.