Latest news with #Spera
Metro
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Haunted doll's handler says it's not responsible for disasters while on tour
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A cursed doll rumored to have gone missing while touring the US with a traveling exhibit is being blamed for local disasters including a fire and a jailbreak. The 'Annabelle' doll, which some believe is demon-possessed and was featured in The Conjuring horror films, is on a paranormal tour along with other items belonging to her ghost hunter owners. Word on the street in mid-May was that Anabelle vanished while stopping at the Ghost City Tours office in New Orleans. It happened to be the same week that a fire tore through a nearby plantation and 10 prisoners escaped from a jail. But Tony Spera, the owner of the Warren Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut, said that Annabelle is 'safely back' there locked in her display case. 'You know, it's easy for rumors to start. The fact of the matter is, that doll was never out of our sight, never out of our control,' Spera told NBC News this week. 'It's in a protective case that many precautions were taken to make it safe.' Paranormal investigator Ryan Buell sought to further quell rumors by posting a video on Facebook on May 24 of himself at the museum. 'She's not in Chicago, she never was in Chicago, and she's not missing because she's right behind me,' said Buell, while pointing the camera towards him with the doll sitting in the case over his shoulder. Still, social media users and conspiracy theorists have been skeptical about those accounts of Annabelle's whereabouts. A blaze destroyed the Nottoway Plantation House between Baton Rouge and New Orleans on May 15, and the very next day, inmates escaped from the Orleans Justice Center. Annabelle was touring in New Orleans on May 13 and 14, and among the precautions that were taken were having a Catholic priest alongside the doll. Some people are 'absolutely convinced' that Ghost City Tours is at fault for the fire and jailbreak, said its founder Tim Nealon. One Facebook user asked why Annabelle wasn't left at the Connecticut museum and wrote on Ghost City Tours' page: 'Did it cross your mind maybe she was there for a reason. Some things are better left alone.' 'I did not think people were taking it seriously, I kept seeing jokes about it on Instagram and TikTok,' Nealon told USA Today. 'But, I didn't realize people were out here like, actually thinking that this was legit.' More Trending Spera said he doesn't blame people for being skeptical. 'If people don't know about the demonic, it's very difficult to believe that these thing are happening,' he said. 'But they do happen.' Annabelle has been on sold-out tours across the US – and Buell said that plans are underway for her to be at the Rock Island Roadhouse Esoteric Expo in Illinois on October 4. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Family business '£10,000 out of pocket' after Meta blocks their accounts for 12 weeks MORE: British journalist Charlotte Peet who vanished in Brazil four months ago has been found MORE: FDA tomato recall elevated to highest level due to salmonella risk
NDTV
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- NDTV
'Haunted' Annabelle Doll Back In Custody After Claims It Went Missing: "Was Never Out Of Control"
Last week, the allegedly haunted Annabelle doll sparked online panic after claims it went missing during a paranormal tour in the US. However, the doll's owner confirmed it's safely back home and "was never out of control." According to the New York Post, the doll's appearance in New Orleans coincided with a prison breakout and a devastating fire, fueling conspiracy theories. Notably, the Annabelle doll gained notoriety after being featured in the 'The Conjuring' movie series. According to Tony Spera, the owner, Annabelle is safely back at the Warren Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut, under lock and key. "The doll was taken on a brief tour to several locations to show the doll to enthusiasts of the paranormal. The doll was never out of our control. We take extreme precautions when handling or transporting the doll," Mr Spera told The Post. Some people believed Annabelle's visit to New Orleans was a bad omen, citing the Nottoway Plantation House fire on May 15 and the inmate escape from the Orleans Justice Centre on May 16. However, most of the escaped inmates have been recaptured. "I did not think people were taking it seriously (because) I kept seeing jokes about it on Instagram and TikTok. But, I didn't realise people were out here like, actually thinking that this was legit," Ghost City Tours founder Tim Nealon told USA Today. The Annabelle doll was owned by paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, and it's now housed in their former home, the Warren Occult Museum. The museum isn't open to the public. To protect against the doll's supposed malevolent energy, the case was treated with blessed holy water and holy oil, and crosses were cut into the wood. "The doll is blessed by a Catholic priest before moving it, while on tour and after it is returned to the museum. On the tour, a Catholic priest, Father Bob, travelled with us the entire trip," Mr Spera added.
New York Post
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Demonic ‘Annabelle' doll ‘safely back' in custody after claims it escaped, caused havoc in NOLA
The real-life 'Annabelle' doll was blamed for a string of alarming incidents by conspiracy theorists that claimed it escaped while on tour in New Orleans — but its owner confirmed it's safely back home and 'was never out of control.' The diabolical — and supposedly demonic — Raggedy Ann doll fictionalized in 'The Conjuring' movie series made a pit stop at Ghost City Tours office in the Big Easy in mid-May — the same week of a dating prison breakout and a devastating fire at a former plantation nearby. The timing led to speculation that the doll was behind the chaos. Advertisement 3 The 'Annabelle' doll is back in Connecticut after a brief tour. Matthew McDermott But she's 'safely back' behind lock and key at the Warren Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut, owner Tony Spera told The Post. 'The doll was taken on a brief tour to several locations to show the doll to enthusiasts of the paranormal,' Spera said. Advertisement 'The doll was never out of our control. We take extreme precautions when handling or transporting the doll.' The precautions, which included having a Catholic priest traveling with Annabelle, apparently weren't enough for some observers who believe the doll's stint in New Orleans on May 13 and 14 was a bad omen. An inferno destroyed the historic Nottoway Plantation House between Baton Rouge and New Orleans on May 15 and the next day 10 inmates escaped from the Orleans Justice Center. Most inmates have since been recaptured. 'I did not think people were taking it seriously, (because) I kept seeing jokes about it on Instagram and TikTok,' Ghost City Tours founder Tim Nealon told USA Today. Advertisement 'But, I didn't realize people were out here like, actually thinking that this was legit.' 3 Fire crews took on the fire at the Nottoway Plantation on Thursday, May 15. AP He said some people are 'absolutely convinced' Ghost City Tours is culpable in the prison break and fire. 'Why didn't you just leave her where she was at,' one person asked the Ghost City Tours on their Facebook page. 'Did it cross your mind maybe she was there for a reason. Some things are better left alone.' Advertisement 'You shouldn't have moved her,' another social media user chimed in. Late husband and wife Ed and Lorraine Warren, the famous paranormal investigators, owned Annabelle along with other haunted relics at the museum before their deaths. 3 The inmates escaped from the NOLA prison. Spera, the Warren's son-in-law, has carried on their work as leader of the New England Society for Psychic Research. He said in his email that one of his workers used blessed holy water and holy oil, which was mixed into the stain that was then applied to the wood case. Other religious fixtures, including crosses cut into each side of the case, were also affixed to the case for the tour. 'The doll is blessed by a Catholic priest, before moving it, while on tour and after it is returned to the museum,' Spera said. Advertisement 'On the tour, a Catholic priest, Father Bob, traveled with us the entire trip.' With Post wires
