"Robert" the Haunted Doll - Key West, Fl

     Ghosts are known to possess people, this scary ghost story is about a possessed doll. Robert, famously known as "Robert the Doll", is a doll that was once owned by Key West painter, and author Robert Eugene Otto. The doll, which is allegedly cursed, has become a fixture of ghost tours in the Key West. Aesthetically, Robert resembles an early 20th century American Naval officer. In 1897, the Otto family took up residence in the famous Artist’s House Compound in Key West, Florida. Mr. and Mrs. Otto had a son named, Robert Eugene Otto, or “Gene”, as he was called. One of the  servant girls  made a doll for the family's son as a gift. Eugene was given the doll in 1904. According to legend, this servant from the Caribbean, and was skilled in black magic and voodoo. 
 
     The  Ottos were known to be very stern people, and rumor has it, they were harsh with their servants. One of the workers for the Otto family was a Caribbean woman, who served as Gene’s nanny. She spent many hours every day with the boy while his wealthy parents traveled around the U.S.  Apparently, the boy and the nanny formed quite a strong bond, which was sadly severed upon a disagreement with Mrs. Otto. This particular servant was said to have been mistreated and unkindly dismissed from the Otto's home.  Before leaving Gene’s side for good, his faithful nanny made him a gift. She presented him with a hand sewn straw doll, made in the boy’s likeness.  Gene immediately became attached to this new companion, and carried the doll with him wherever he went. Soon afterward it became clear that there was something eerie about the doll.

     Eugene's parents said they often heard him talking to the doll, and that the doll appeared to be talking back. Although at first they assumed that Eugene was simply answering himself in a changed voice, they later believed that the doll was actually speaking. The conversations between boy and doll seemed to grow heated, alarming even Mrs. Otto.  At one point it is said that Mrs. Otto grew so worried that she burst into the room to find Gene cowering in a corner, with Robert sitting on a chair facing the boy. The family thought they could hear the doll giggling, and running throughout the house at night. Robert's parents would sometimes find his bedroom ransacked, and young Robert reported that the doll "did it." There were also incidents where the neighbors reported seeing the doll moving from window to window when the family wasn't home.

     Young Gene was often blamed for the mischief, and his stern parents disciplined him harshly.  Gene would always insist that “Robert did it!”, and while his parents were reluctant to believe it, many of the superstitious house staff were convinced it was true.  Eventually, they attempted to take Robert away, storing him in a box in the attic.  This only caused the activity to increase, however, and the boy and doll were reunited. Gene kept Robert with him all through his youth and into his young adulthood.  He rarely let his doll leave his side.  Only when he went away to Paris for school did he leave his companion behind.  In Paris, he met his future wife Anne.

     The newlyweds moved back into the Artist’s House in Key West.  Gene embarked upon a successful career as an artist, and became quite wealthy in his own right.Upon moving into his childhood home, Anne was introduced to Robert.  She found Gene’s seeming attachment to the doll rather disturbing, but she humored the eccentric artist and agreed to allow Gene to have a special room built just for Robert.  Gene said that Robert needed a room with a view, so they built him a space in the third floor turret, complete with scale sized furniture for Robert the doll to enjoy. With Robert propped in a chair facing the window, passers by were able to look up into his room and see him staring down at them.  Some claimed that they could see him moving around the room and glaring at them.  Many people became afraid of the Artist’s House and kept their distance. In time, Anne grew to hate the doll, and became more and more fearful of Gene’s obsession with Robert. As Gene grew older, his behavior became more erratic, and his connection to Robert intensified.  By some accounts Gene was growing increasingly abusive toward Anne, at times even locking her into a closet just below Robert’s room, to torment her.

     In 1972, Gene passed away, and Anne promptly locked Robert in his room, leaving him there.  She moved out of the home and put it up for rent.  In the lease agreement, she stated explicitly that no one was to remove Robert from that room.  There are varying stories about what became of him after that.  Some say that the new tenants abided by Anne’s wishes, while others say that he was allowed out of the room, and he began to wreak havoc on the new residents. One of the family's had a  a ten year old girl, who became Robert's new companion . It was not long before the girl began screaming out in the night, claiming that Robert moved about the room and even attempted to attack her on multiple occasions. This is when the movie Child's Play was inspired by "Robert the Doll."More than thirty years later, she still tells interviewers that the doll was alive and she thought it wanted to kill her.

     Once Anne passed away, the doll was removed from the home and donated to the "East Martello Museum" in 1994, where he still resides today. Museum staff and visitors continue to report a great deal of paranormal activity surrounding "Robert" the doll. He sits inside a glass encasement, on his small wooden chair, clutching a small stuffed Lion, still donning his little sailor suit.  Staff and visitors of the Museum claim that Robert continues to be a frightening and mischievous doll, who at times will turn his head and even change his expressions.

     One legend about Robert is that in order to take his picture or video tape him, you must politely ask for his permission first.  Failure to do so will result in all manner of misfortune to he who dared to capture Robert’s likeness without his consent.  Further, if you bold enough to take his picture without permission, the only way to make the bad fortune cease is to write Robert a letter, asking his forgiveness.  Some of the many letters people routinely send to Robert are posted in and around his glass case in the museum.  In fact, there is even a blog site where people’s requests for forgiveness are posted. You can see these posts here : http://keywestrobert.blogspot.com/

The doll is annually rotated to the Old Post Office, and Customhouse in October, with museum staff claiming that strange activity in the museum increases during such times.

The doll made an appearance at Taps , a paranormal convention held in Clearwater, Florida in May 2008. This was the first time that it had left Key West, Florida in the 105 years of its existence.

If you wish to visit Robert , here is a link with some information : http://www.kwahs.com/martello.htm

If you wish to stay in "Roberts" old home :  http://www.artisthousekeywest.com/

• ‹ previous
• 127 of 159
• next ›