Latest news with #Conjuring
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Annabelle doll that inspired multiple horror movies coming to Lexington Scarefest
LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — Lexington horror fans can get a chilling up-close and personal experience with the inspiration for the highest-grossing horror franchise in film history. Annabelle, the terrifying Raggedy Ann doll that spent decades locked away in the occult museum of the famous paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, is coming to ScareFest 2025 in Lexington. Annabelle doll that inspired multiple horror movies coming to Lexington Scarefest $8 million PFAS water project moves forward in Morganfield Lexington nonprofit in dire need of resources for military members The Central Bank Center announced that the doll, supposedly possessed by the malevolent spirit of Annabelle Higgins, will thrill and terrify horror fans as part of the Warrens' Occult Museum Experience. The Conjuring cinematic universe began in 2013 with 'The Conjuring,' followed by 'Annabelle' in 2014. The lore behind the Annabelle doll is most famously traced to the account of a nursing student, Donna, who was given the doll as a birthday present by her mother. Within days of being given the doll, Donna and her roommate, Angie, noticed Annabelle began mysteriously moving around the house and standing on its feet. Read more of the latest Lexington & central Kentucky news Soon, the two women said they noticed Annabelle leaving written messages on parchment paper, something Donna claimed she didn't keep in the apartment. A friend of Donna and Angie, named Lou, claimed he had terrifying recurring dreams involving the doll and was convinced it wasn't a dream. Lou said the doll would climb up his leg and stop at his chest. He later claimed that, after hearing loud rustling in an empty room in the apartment, he found Annabelle tossed aside in the corner of the room. Lou said that when he turned to leave the room, he was attacked by something he couldn't see and had seven distinct claw marks on his chest. The claw marks supposedly disappeared after two days. The Warrens investigated the claims surrounding Annabelle and took it home to their museum-like basement, where the doll was sealed in a special glass case with the words 'Warning, positively do not open.' The Warren's museum stayed open in their Connecticut home until it was closed in 2018 due to zoning issues. Annabelle will be joined at Scarefest by horror icon Robert Englund, who is famous for portraying Freddy Krueger, and 90 celebrity guests from Oct. 17 – Oct. 19. Tickets are available for those brave enough to come face-to-face with Annabelle here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Gizmodo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
James Wan's Ventriloquist Horror Flick Is Ready to Be Rediscovered
It's not the frightfest it was intended to be, but 'Dead Silence' is an entertaining foreshadowing of the director's later successes. In 2007, James Wan was a horror up-and-comer who'd scored a huge hit with 2004's Saw, which had by then already released its first two sequels with a third on the way. But before Insidious and The Conjuring he made a couple of one-offs: the Kevin Bacon vigilante thriller Death Sentence, and the ventriloquist horror tale Dead Silence. The latter was just added to Shudder, and though it was a bust 18 years ago, it's now a fun one to revisit—especially taking into account all that Wan and his frequent collaborator Leigh Whannell, who scripted Dead Silence, have accomplished since then. Though they were still just the Saw guys at the time, you can easily pick out certain narrative choices and imagery that would later become touchstones of their work. Saw's game-obsessed Jigsaw puppet was already entered into the record ahead of Dead Silence, and it's echoed here in Billy, the main ventriloquist dummy in a movie that gives him a lot of evil toy back-ups. The white face, the ghoulishly hinged jaw, and the fondness for bow ties are all shared characteristics, though Billy has luminous blue eyes that peer around in sinister ways the audience notices far before the characters do. Wan is notably a huge fan of cursed objects; the Conjuring cinematic universe is built around them. It can't be a coincidence that Annabelle—a doll even more ghastly than Billy—is the most charismatic escapee from Ed and Lorraine Warren's stash of occult treasures. (Wan's Instagram handle? 'Creepypuppet'.) Dead Silence also hints at stylistic elements that would enter Wan's later work, with eerie sound design that plays up silence as much as shrieks, as well as jump scares that predate the furious old-lady entity in Insidious, as well as the Nun's fondness for dramatically emerging from the shadows… then contorting her face to bring out her demonic side. You also can't ignore the fact that Saw mainstay Donnie Wahlberg is also in Dead Silence, playing a familiar sort of scruffy police detective. This version of the character is more skeptical than the corrupt cop in Saw; he's fond of issuing warnings like 'You don't want to make me chase you!' as he races after the protagonist into an abandoned theater full of haunted dolls. He also has a weird obsession with his battery-operated razor, a tic that leads nowhere despite being foregrounded as a key personality trait. Dead Silence's set-up also hints at Wan supernatural stories to come, with a malevolent figure in the past poking its way across generations to make sure a curse never dies. Unfortunately the main character, Jamie—Ryan Kwanten, just prior to True Blood—isn't as compelling as the central figures in Insidious or The Conjuring. He's just sort of an unmemorable dude, though he is a determined one. When his wife dies in an absolutely hideous way—the very night a ventriloquist dummy is delivered to their apartment from an unknown sender—he heads straight to his hometown, where his estranged father (Bob Gunton) lives with his suspiciously young and glamorous new wife (Amber Valletta). Though Dead Silence takes place in 2007, it's set in a reality seemingly devoid of cell phones and Google searches. There are land lines galore, and historical exposition comes courtesy of a mortician's extended flashback as well as a literal scrapbook that Jamie happens to come across. There's also a nursery rhyme that references the town's boogeyman figure: a theater performer named Mary Shaw so obsessed with the dolls in her act she insisted they be buried with her… each with their own tiny coffin and grave marker. There's even more to the backstory that surfaces as Jamie digs deeper—including a decades-old cold case involving a missing child, and an extended bit about tongues being ripped out that seems like it should tie into the 'throwing your voice' part of ventriloquism, but the details don't quite come together there. Still, 'Be careful! If you go looking for answers, you just might find them' is the advice the mortician passes on to Jamie (naturally, he never even considers abiding by that), and Dead Silence agreeably ties up most of its plot threads by the end. It also has an absolute scream of a twist ending that makes you think perhaps, just maybe, Wan and Whannell had campier ambitions for this story. As it plays out onscreen, Dead Silence skews a little too much toward taking itself too seriously, especially considering the sheer amount of dolls involved. It's also filmed with a relentlessly dour blue-tinged filter, which is maybe the greatest sin committed here, as well as what marks it so clearly as a mid-2000s relic. If you don't mind turning up the brightness to ease that gloom, though, you can have a jolly good time watching this one. Don't be surprised if you have the urge to watch a few more Wan flicks once you're done. Dead Silence is now streaming on Shudder.
Hindustan Times
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
'What a lucky day to be an Indian': Internet's meltdown over haunted doll Annabelle getting 'lost' will have you bawling
Annabelle needs no introduction. A horror fan or not, the Conjuring franchise's genre-defining hold on pop culture made sure that 'the world's most haunted doll', essentially became a household name. Now even if one is a non-believer, real-life lore coupled with the movie plots have at least ensured this much that news of 'her' being reportedly lost or stolen is enough to send the internet into a frenzied panic. Some excerpts from the hilarious meltdown: "I am safe. I am in india. Good luck y'all ☺️🖐🏻", "hahahahahaha what a lucky day to be an indian", "HOW DID THEY LOSE THE HAUNTED DOLL?!?!", "get her in the White House, theres a certain someone who she might like", "WHY DID THEY EVEN MOVE HER???", "2025 is gonna be interesting", "THEY LOST HER????? AFTER THE FIRE???? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM?? SHE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO GET OUT!!!!!", "I'm living in an interesting time in history" and "That means more Annabelle movies on the way 🥳🥳", to quote a few. Our personal favourite though, happens to be this one — "Jay hanuman gyan gun sagar📿🧿". A post shared by Kimberly Rhoades (@kimmi_rhoades) Now before you join in on the madness, just know that Annabelle isn't really lost, nor was she stolen. Earlier this month, the infamous doll was out on the Devils on the Run Tour, organised by the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR). When not cashing in on her cinematic fame, Annabelle is housed in the NESPR's Warrens' Occult Museum, established by paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, around whose work the Conjuring franchise has been curated. Reports of her having been 'stolen' or being 'lost' emerged after a few tourists shared they hadn't caught a glimpse of her on her Louisiana trip. The fact that a damning fire broke out at the nearby Nottoway Plantation (now the Nottoway Resort in White Castle), during her alleged 'absence' only heightened the madness plaguing the internet. That being said, there seems to be official proof that Annabelle is in fact, exactly where she is supposed to be. NESPR lead investigator Dan Rivera shared a TikTok in which he showed his audience that the haunted doll was actually tucked away exactly where she should be, in the occult museum. Annabelle's next little trip will be to the 2025 Rock Island Roadhouse Esoteric Expo on October 4 in Rock Island, Illinois — an expedition everybody is going to have their eyes peeled for, given this time's hysteria!
Daily Tribune
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Tribune
Annabelle Missing? Viral Panic Debunked as Paranormal Team Confirms Haunted Doll is Safe
Social media was ablaze this weekend after rumors circulated that the infamous Annabelle doll had vanished during a paranormal tour stop in Louisiana. Fueled by a recent fire at the historic Nottoway Resort and eerie coincidences, panic spread online with users fearing the worst: the escape of one of the world's most notorious haunted artifacts. But rest easy — Annabelle is right where she belongs. Paranormal researcher Dan Rivera of the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR) confirmed via video that the doll remains securely housed in its sealed case at the Warrens' Occult Museum in Connecticut. Rivera recorded the footage amid rising speculation that the doll had disappeared while on display during a cross-country tour. 'Annabelle may be scary,' Rivera said in a statement, 'but she isn't going anywhere — at least, not without the Warrens' permission.' The fire that broke out days ago at the Nottoway Resort in White Castle, Louisiana, sparked online conspiracy theories, with many falsely linking it to Annabelle's alleged disappearance. Although the blaze caused no injuries, its proximity to a recent paranormal event added fuel to the internet hysteria. 'I just saw a post on Facebook that they LOST THE ANNABELLE DOLL? I'm fleeing the country, goodbye,' one X (formerly Twitter) user joked. Another wrote, 'THEY LOST THE ANNABELLE DOLL?? … I was already not able to sleep 😭😭😭' Despite the viral reaction, officials have confirmed no connection between the fire and the doll, which has not left the museum. Annabelle, a simple Raggedy Ann doll believed by famed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren to be possessed by a malevolent spirit, rose to prominence in the 1970s and later gained pop culture infamy through the Conjuring film franchise. Though her image inspires fear, her reality is far less cinematic. She remains securely contained behind glass, monitored by the Warrens' museum caretakers. For now, the ghost stories can rest. Annabelle is home — and she's not wandering.
Indianapolis Star
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indianapolis Star
Is the haunted doll Annabelle to blame for a plantation fire? The internet says yes
Is a demonic doll touring the U.S. to blame for the mishaps in Louisiana? That's what the internet is saying, which has led to a ghost tour company receiving multiple death threats. Ghost City Tours hosted and sold tickets to the public to see Annabelle, the haunted Raggedy Ann doll that inspired the movie "Annabelle," which is a part of the "Conjuring" universe. "It was nice to have our own weird event," said Tim Nealon, the founder, president and former CEO of Ghost City Tours. However, despite the success of the sold-out event, the internet began to blame the escape of 10 inmates from a New Orleans jail and a fire that destroyed the Nottoway Plantation on Annabelle's visit. Ghost City Tours teamed up with "Annabelle's Caretakers," an extension of the now-closed Warren Occult Museum, while they were touring the U.S. with the allegedly haunted doll. The doll was originally on display at the Warrens' Occult Museum, which permanently closed to the public in 2019 after Lorraine Warren, one of the original owners, died, according to Atlas Obscura. Annabelle's tour stopped in several states and cities, including the Ghost City Tours office in New Orleans from May 13 to May 14, where fans of the paranormal were able to visit Annabelle and learn more about her origin story. The event sold out immediately. "It was literally sold out within seconds," said Nealon. "I mean, I felt like it was some big-name concert." While some people took to social media to joke about the coincidence of Annabelle's visit, others didn't think it was a joke at all. "I did not think people were taking it seriously, (because) I kept seeing jokes about it on Instagram and TikTok," said Nealon. "But, I didn't realize people were out here like, actually thinking that this was legit." Some people online are "absolutely convinced that Ghost City Tour is responsible" for the plantation fire and the inmates' escape, according to Nealon. People are even sending them death threats. "I could never imagine sending anybody a death threat at all, let alone over a (expletive) haunted doll," said Nelon. Annabelle visited San Antonio, Texas, where the doll was displayed at the annual San Antonio Psychic & Spirit Fest from May 17-18. In 1970, a mom gave her daughter, Donna, a 28-year-old nursing student, the now-infamous doll, according to the New England Society for Psychic Research, NESPR. She'd purchased Annabelle from a hobby store. Donna and her roommate, Angie, noticed weird paranormal activity happening around the apartment, which began to escalate. Legend has it that the paranormal activity only became worse. The doll was thought to be inhabited by the spirit of a young girl, but Donna soon believed it was actually possessed by something "demonic and inhuman." The doll was later handed over to Ed and Lorraine Warren, a couple famous for collecting paranormal objects and artifacts.
