The Real Story of Annabelle The Possessed Raggedy Ann Doll

As the trailer of the movie Annabelle was recently launched, we thought that it would be nice change a pace to write an article dedicated to the hell-spawned doll that gave so many people nightmares. From the Warrens’ private records, we are honored to bring you the story of the real-life Annabelle, the Raggedy Ann doll, whose name became synonymous to nightmare after the first Conjuring movie was released.

Annabelle – The Beginning of the End

As the story goes, in 1970, Donna, a college student who was studying to become a nurse, received Annabelle, a Raggedy Ann doll, from her mother. It appears that while browsing a hobby store, Donna’s mother saw the used doll and thought It would make a great gift for her daughter.

Donna was living in a rented apartment with another woman named Angie, and the two had a common friend named Lou. Shortly after bringing Annabelle home, Donna and Angie discovered that there is something wrong with the doll.

At first, the signs were very subtle, like the doll changing its position when Donna and Angie were away. However, after only a few weeks, the signs that Annabelle was more than a mere doll became more evident. Donna and her roommate said that, in a matter of weeks, the doll became fully mobile and they would often find it in other areas of the house.

As the story continues, Lou, Donna and Angie’s common friend had an aversion towards the doll from the very beginning, telling the two college students that the doll was giving off an evil aura. Angie and Donna chose to dismiss the man’s claims. However, things would not remain the same.

After a few days, Donna began to find little pieces of parchment scattered around the house, with ominous messages such as “Help Us” or “Help Lou.” In the weeks that followed, Annabelle tormented Donna, Angie, and Lou, culminating with Donna discovering oozing blood on the doll’s hands.

Who or What was Annabelle?

When they finally realized that there might be something terribly wrong with the Raggedy Ann doll, Donna and Angie called in a medium to help them. After performing a séance, the medium told the two women that a little girl named Annabelle Higgins died on the land where the house was buried and that her spirit latched onto the doll. She also said that Annabelle’s spirit chose to remain with the two women because it considers them trustworthy.

Hearing that the spirit of a child is the one who possessed the doll, Donna and Angie abandoned their plan of getting rid of Annabelle. However, they will soon regret their decision. Soon after the séance, Lou became having a terrible nightmare involving the cursed doll trying to kill him in his sleep.

The events that followed confirmed that Annabelle was evil and that something must be done to stop her. According to Donna, a few days after Lou’s nightmare, the two were in the house, making arrangements for a road trip.

Donna recalled hearing some strange rustling sounds coming from her room and went with Lou to investigate. Upon opening the door, they saw Annabelle sitting in a corner. Lou also recalls feeling like he was being watched by someone or something.

As he got closer to Annabelle, the man felt a sudden and excruciating pain in his chest. Upon taking off his shirt, Donna saw that Lou had some distinct scratch marks on his chest, as though he had been seared by a burning rake.

Ed and Lorraine Warren are Called In

From that point, Donna knew that only a divine intervention could save her. She turned towards an Episcopalian priest who, in turn, recommended Lorraine and Ed Warren, two demonologists.

After coming in to investigate Donna’s case, the Warrens concluded that the doll was not haunted by the spirit of Annabelle Higgins but by a demon. As Ed explained, demons cannot possess inanimate objects like dolls, only humans. However, the perverted creature manipulated the doll in order to make Donna and Angie believe that it was inhabited by the spirit of a girl.

Donna’s rented apartment was exorcised by the priest, and the cursed Raggedy Ann doll was taken away by the Warrens to prevent it from tormenting its victims. According to Ed Warrens’ version of the story goes, the road from Donna’s house to his estate was riddled with dangers.

Containing the Demon

As the Warrens explained, since demons can take control of virtually any kind of human-made object in order to break its victim, they were forced to drive at slow speed and only on back roads. Jestingly, Ed added that it’s probably not a good idea to drive a car at 65 mph per hours while carrying a demon-possessed object in the trunk.

During their trip, the car’s engine stalled a couple of times, and several unexplained power drops occurred. At this point, Ed stopped the vehicle, opened the trunk and sprinkled holy water on the doll. Allegedly, the demon stopped manifesting itself for a while.

After arriving at their estate, Ed and Lorrain placed the cursed doll on Ed’s desk. According to the couple’s testimony, the Raggedy Ann doll was seen levitating several times and began moving from one room to the other.

Sensing that the demon is gaining power, the Warrens asked a priest to come and conduct an exorcism. To the priest’s misfortune, he didn’t consider the doll threatening and told it a couple of times that she’s nothing but a children’s toy. Reportedly, upon driving home, the priest’s vehicle experienced a fatal malfunction which resulted in a severe accident.

Fortunately, the father who came to perform Annabelle’s exorcism survived the accident. Later, in an attempt to contain the evil that was inside the doll, Ed and Lorrain Warren built a glass enclosure and locked her up for good in their museum of cursed objects.

According to the couple, a priest comes in at least one per week to bless the room, and of course, Annabelle’s glass prison. Since the doll was locked inside the glass container, the demon failed to appear.

Image source: Wikipedia