The Annabelle doll sits behind glass at the Warren’s Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut. It looks like a normal Raggedy Ann doll with red yarn hair and a simple dress. But Ed and Lorraine Warren, who studied paranormal activity, say this doll is not normal at all. They say it has an evil spirit inside it. A warning sign on the glass case tells visitors not to touch it.
The Warrens looked into more than 10,000 cases of strange and scary events during their career. They got the Annabelle doll in the 1970s from a nursing student named Donna. She said the doll could move on its own and did scary things. After looking at the case, the Warrens said the doll was being controlled by an evil force. They put it in a locked case at their museum, where it still is today.
According to NH Register, one museum visitor did not listen to the warnings. He made fun of the doll and teased it even though he was told not to touch it. Lorraine Warren talked about this at a presentation at Lauralton Hall. She said this visitor died in a motorcycle crash right after he was told to leave the museum. This story shows why people should take the warnings on Annabelle’s case seriously.
The real story is even weirder than you think
The real Annabelle doll looks nothing like the scary porcelain doll in the movies. The Annabelle film from 2014 shows a creepy looking doll with long hair and porcelain skin. The real one is just a plain Raggedy Ann doll. But looking normal does not make the real doll any less scary to people who believe its dark past.
Ed Warren taught himself about demons after growing up in a house he said was haunted. His wife Lorraine said she could see special lights around people from when she was seven or eight years old. They worked together and became famous for studying paranormal activity.
My last tweet before the vidoe drop tmw..
— Exploring With Josh (@i_am_joshyo) October 30, 2022
I was face to face with the REAL Annabelle doll today.. pic.twitter.com/L4J4lVzJhZ
They started the New England Society for Psychic Research in 1952. The couple looked into famous cases like the Amityville Horror and the Demon Murder case. They only charged people for travel costs, not for the actual work. But they made money from books, movies, and talks about their cases.
Tony Spera is the Warrens’ son-in-law. He now runs the New England Society for Psychic Research. He said the Annabelle doll is the thing that scares him most out of everything in the museum. He told people they should never joke about warnings like this. The doll has been in several Conjuring movies. Those films have made more than $2 billion around the world.
Paranormal investigator Dan Rivera has died aged 54
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) July 16, 2025
He was touring the US with the real-life Annabelle doll from ‘The Conjuring’ pic.twitter.com/7N18VSMS1W
The Annabelle story started when nursing student Donna saw the doll moving to different spots in her apartment. She and her roommate Angie found written messages on old paper that said “Help us” and “Help Lou.” They did not have that kind of paper in their home. They asked a psychic for help. The psychic told them about a spirit named Annabelle Higgins. But the Warrens said it was really an evil demon trying to take over a human body.
In August 2025, comedian Matt Rife bought the Warrens’ home and Occult Museum. He became the legal guardian of all the haunted items for at least five years. The doll is still in its locked case. It still has its warning for anyone who might think about touching it.
