'Woke up to Labubu closer to my bed': eerie doll incidents spark fear; influencers burn their Labubus
Labubu, the wide-eyed vinyl collectible created by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung, captivated India in 2025 before transforming into a startling social media phenomenon steeped in conspiracy theories and superstition. What began as a stylish accessory became the subject of viral panic involving influencers, curses, and animated online outrage.
Labubu first gained recognition within the designer toy community abroad, then exploded in India. Influencers and celebrities like Ananya Panday and Urvashi Rautela adopted it as a fashionable charm—Rautela famously appeared at Wimbledon 2025 with not one, but four Labubu dolls dangling from her Hermès bag. The toy resonated with the "kidult" trend, blending whimsy with luxury, and found its way onto street markets and million-dollar Birkins alike.
The mood shifted when a TikTok or Instagram post placed a brown Labubu doll beside an AI-generated image of Pazuzu, a Mesopotamian demon. Viewers latched onto a Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror" episode featuring Pazuzu and spun a narrative that the name "Labubu" sounded eerily similar. Soon, Labubu was blamed for strange energy, flickering lights, odd noises, and illness.
Chef and influencer Natasha Gandhi shared that family members fell ill one after another—her father-in-law, husband, then herself—prompting her to believe the doll was cursed. "I thought this was Labubu's negative energy, so we burned it," she explained, documenting the act online.
Influencer Sarah Sarosh claimed her dog fell ill after she bought Labubu and only bounced back when she left the doll behind while traveling to London. However, she lost her ₹5 lakh diamond bracelet during the trip. "I feel the Labubus are demonic," she said in her video, captioned: "I'm superstitious… burn them," to which many followers responded with their own eerie tales.
Comedian Bharti Singh also got rid of hers—burning the doll after noticing her son, Golla, became unusually naughty. She cited warnings from friends like Jasmine Bhasin, plus reports from family members that the doll seemed 'demonic.' Balancing humour with seriousness, Singh added, 'Yes, I'm superstitious, but everyone said so. We had to burn it.' On Reddit, a user described waking each morning to find their Labubu doll closer to their bed, then hearing it fall at exactly 3:14 am. 'Maybe it's coincidence,' the user wondered. 'But has anyone else experienced this?' Despite the hysteria, fact-checkers and creator Kasing Lung insist that Labubu has no links to mythology or demons—it's entirely fictional. The craze reveals how quickly social media can shift narratives, turning beloved collectibles into perceived harbingers of misfortune.
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