Latest news with #WarrensOccultMuseum
Global News
05-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Global News
Comedian Matt Rife is now the legal guardian of ‘haunted' Annabelle doll
Comedian Matt Rife is taking his interest in the paranormal to the next level, announcing that he's recently purchased the famed Connecticut home and museum that houses the allegedly haunted Raggedy Ann doll, Annabelle. Rife announced over the weekend that he and YouTuber Elton Castee have purchased the home and museum belonging to famed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren and are now tasked with taking care of the home's contents, including Annabelle, the spooky attraction's crown jewel. View image in full screen The Annabelle Raggedy Ann doll sits in a case in the Warrens Occult Museum in this undated photo. Jessica Moore/Hartford Courant/Tribune News Service via Getty Images 'We are the legal guardians and caretakers of all 750 haunted artifacts and items in the Warren Museum, including the Annabelle doll. I must go on record and say we do not legally own items, but we are the legal guardians and caretakers of the items for at least the next five years,' Rife, 29, said in an Instagram video on Saturday, clarifying that while he now owns the Warren Occult Museum, he's not the owner of the 750 curios inside. Story continues below advertisement Tony Spera, the Warrens' son-in-law and co-director of the late couple's organization, New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR), told that he and his wife still own the collection, including the Annabelle doll, and are only leasing them to Rife and Castee. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'We have no plans to ever 'sell' the artifacts,' he said in a statement. View image in full screen FILE – A doll is seen at the Warner Bros. premiere of 'Annabelle Comes Home' at Regency Village Theatre on June 20, 2019, in Westwood, Calif. Rich Fury/FilmMagic 'If you know me, you know I'm obsessed with the paranormal and all things haunted,' Rife captioned in a photo of himself and Castee posing with the doll. Story continues below advertisement 'You also may know The Conjuring films are my favorite scary movies of all time. So I'm incredibly honored to have taken over one of the most prominent properties in paranormal history. Ed and Lorain Warren arguably put demonology and paranormal into the mainstream and are the very heart of some of the most famous haunted stories of all time, The Conjuring House, Amityville Horror, etc…' Annabelle inspired a series of films in recent years; the opening scene of 2013's The Conjuring features the doll, as well as spin-off flicks Annabelle (2014), Annabelle: Creation (2017) and Annabelle Comes Home (2019), the latter which takes place exclusively in the Warrens' residence. According to the Warren Occult Museum shut down in 2019 amid a number of zoning issues. Now, Rife says he and Castee have plans to restore the house and welcome visitors. Story continues below advertisement 'We plan to open the house for overnight stays and museum tours, so you yourself can experience and learn all the haunted history surrounding this amazing place,' he wrote. The NESPR has long claimed Annabelle is attached to 'an inhuman demonic spirit.' Paranormal investigator Zak Bagans told US Weekly that the doll is known to move on its own, leave messages on paper for its owners and change positions. Rife's guardianship of the doll comes just weeks after NESPR investigator Dan Rivera died suddenly in his hotel room while showcasing the doll on the national Devils on the Run Tour. 0:35 Paranormal investigator carrying 'possessed' Annabelle doll dies suddenly According to E! News, a July 16 police report labelled his death as 'natural,' but a final cause of death won't be determined until an autopsy is completed. Story continues below advertisement Authorities said that the doll was not present when Rivera passed away. In his video, Rife acknowledged the potential risks he's taking in living under the same roof as Annabelle. 'This is the most random hobby ever, but it's so f—ing cool, man,' he said. 'I should probably collect stamps or something — might be a little safer.'
The Independent
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Paranormal investigator and Annabelle doll handler dies at 54
Dan Rivera, the handler of the real-life Annabelle doll and a paranormal investigator, has died suddenly at the age of 54. Rivera passed away this past weekend while on tour with the infamous doll, a classic fixture in the horror genre. The cause of death for Rivera, who was also the lead investigator for the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR), has not yet been revealed. Fellow investigator Chris Gilloren expressed profound sadness, highlighting Rivera's dedication to sharing his experiences and educating people on the paranormal. Rivera had recently debunked rumors that the Annabelle doll had gone missing, confirming its presence in the Warrens' Occult Museum via a TikTok video.
Daily Mail
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Frantic fans beg for cancelation of haunted Annabelle doll tour after man leading expedition dies unexpectedly
Frantic fans have begged for the cancelation of the haunted Annabelle doll tour following the news that man leading it had died unexpectedly. Dan Rivera passed away at age 54 on Sunday, July 13, the New England Society for Psychic Research - the organization behind the Devils on the Run Tour - confirmed. The Annabelle doll was made famous back in the 1970s when paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren looked into alleged attacks made by the infamous toy. While they put her in a specially built glass case and warned that she should never be moved, Annabelle is now currently touring the US alongside other items from the Warrens Occult Museum collection as part of the exhibition called Devils on the Run. It's been reported that Dan was overseeing the tour and was the one who has been bringing the creepy children's toy across the country. Most recently, he had traveled to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, for the latest tour stop, which was completely sold out and spanned across three days at the Soldiers National Orphanage over the weekend. According to the Evening Sun, firefighters and medical personnel were called to a hotel in Gettysburg on Sunday for a report of CPR in progress on a male patient of Dan's age. The news of Dan's unexpected passing sparked frenzied fear all across the web, as many urged the creators of the tour to 'put her back in her box.' Dan Rivera passed away at age 54 on Sunday, July 13, the New England Society for Psychic Research - the organization behind the Devils on the Run Tour - has confirmed 'Y'all need to leave this doll alone,' one fan wrote. 'The curse is real,' someone else penned, while a fourth person begged, 'Put her back in the box!' 'This is some scary s**t,' a fifth tweet read. Another said, 'So sad! Best to leave Annabelle locked up.' 'It was that damn doll,' announced a different user. 'Please for the love of God, stop f**king with that doll,' urged someone else. The cause of Dan's death remains unknown. It's been said that famous paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine came into possession of the Raggedy Anne doll in the 1970s after two young nurses reached out begging for help. The nurses allegedly claimed the doll, which had been a birthday gift, was wreaking havoc on their lives, placing handwritten eerie messages around their home, moving on its own, and even leaving horrific scratch marks on one of their boyfriends. The Warrens took it off their hands, and upon investigating, the couple became convinced that a 'demonic' force was possessing the doll. They claimed that their car continuously 'stalled' and the steering and breaks 'failed' on the drive home, per Gerald Brittle's book The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warren. They said they had to throw 'holy water' onto the doll in order to get home safely. They also alleged that they called in a man named Father Daniel to help, but that he nearly lost his life after he didn't take the doll seriously. He reportedly 'picked up the doll' and said, 'You're just a rag doll, Annabelle, you can't hurt anything,' before he 'tossed it back on the chair,' according to the Warrens' biography. That night, he is said to have called Lorraine and told her, 'The brake system failed [on my car on the way home]. I was almost killed in a traffic accident. My car is a wreck.' Ed also claimed the doll levitated in front of him and constantly moved around their home before they decided to lock it up indefinitely. In the years since then, it has sat behind glass in the Warrens museum, but some horror fans who traveled just to get a glimpse of the infamous doll have claimed that weird stuff started to happen to them afterwards. The news of Dan's unexpected passing sparked frenzied fear all across the web, as many urged the creators of the tour to 'put her back in her box' And according to a family member of the Warrens, tragedy struck when one visitor didn't treat the doll with respect. It's been said that the guest knocked on the glass case and taunted the doll before he was thrown out of the museum. But on his way home, he got into a fatal motorcycle accident, per the Warrens' son-in-law Tony Spera. 'It's probably the most dangerous artifact we have here in the museum. It's responsible for we believe the death of a young man who came on a motorcycle and challenged that doll to do its worst and it did,' Tony told WTNH in 2016. The name of the alleged crash victim was never shared so the Daily Mail was not able to verify Tony's claims. The Annabelle doll gained worldwide popularity after it was featured in the 2013 flick The Conjuring as well as the spinoff Annabelle series that contained three more films. The Devils on the Run tour kicked off back in May, but things to a dark turn later that month when visitors at one stop on the tour claimed the three-foot-tall doll wasn't anywhere to be found, sparking a panic and fear online. However, after countless rumors that she had gone 'missing' and hoards of terrified fans, Dan came forward at the time to debunk the theories via TikTok. 'I'm here at the museum right now, and I just wanna show you guys that Annabelle is in the Warrens' Occult Museum. Let's go inside and let's check,' he began the video. As he weaved his way through he exhibits, he approached the doll sitting in her secured wooden case. 'Annabelle is not missing. She is not in Chicago. She has never been missing,' he added. The tour is still underway and horror fans will get the chance to see the 'possessed' toy at the Rock Island Roadhouse Esoteric Expo in Illinois on October 4.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Officials confirm ‘haunted' Annabelle doll's whereabouts after missing rumors go viral
Museum officials have spoken out about the real-life Annabelle doll's whereabouts amid rumors that she's gone missing. The 'demonically possessed' Raggedy Ann doll, which has become a classic fixture in the horror genre, is rumored to have escaped her casing as she traveled around the country on the Devils on the Run Tour hosted by the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR). In early May, the doll, typically housed at NESPR's Warrens' Occult Museum, founded by paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, made a tour stop in New Orleans. Unfounded conjectures that she had somehow gone missing while in Louisiana began to circulate online after some visitors claimed they didn't see the doll during a tour. Meanwhile, a recent fire at the nearby Nottoway Plantation-turned-Nottoway Resort in White Castle intensified speculation that there was somehow a connection between Annabelle's supposed disappearance and the blaze. NESPR lead investigator Dan Rivera debunked theories that the doll had gone missing in a TikTok video posted Saturday. 'I'm here at the museum right now, and I just wanna show you guys that Annabelle is in the Warrens' Occult Museum,' Rivera said. 'Let's go inside and let's check.' After entering the museum, he walked over to show the doll sitting in a wooden case. 'Annabelle is not missing; she's not in Chicago,' he assured fans, sharing that they were, however, going to be at the 2025 Rock Island Roadhouse Esoteric Expo in Rock Island, Illinois, on October 4. An additional notice was posted on NESPR's Facebook account that read: 'It's a Rumor... Annabelle has NOT been stolen. The doll is safely in place at the Warren Occult Museum.' This isn't the first time the doll's supposed disappearance has sparked widespread panic online. In 2020, Tony Spera, the son-in-law of Ed and Lorrain Warren, was forced to clear up rumors that she had escaped her enclosure. 'I'm here to tell you something,' he said on the family's YouTube channel at the time. 'I don't know if you want to hear this or not, but Annabelle did not escape. 'Annabelle's here. She didn't go anywhere. She didn't take a trip. She didn't fly first class and she didn't go out to visit her boyfriend,' Spera quipped. 'I'd be concerned if Annabelle really did leave because she's nothing to play with.' The Annabelle doll was first owned by a student who, in 1970, called upon the Warrens when she claimed Annabelle started 'exhibiting malicious and frightening behavior.' Upon inspection, the Warrens claimed that the doll was 'demonically possessed' by the spirit of a deceased girl. Annabelle first appeared in 2013's The Conjuring before receiving her own spin-off franchise. Annabelle was released in 2014, followed by Annabelle: Creation in 2017 and the latest entry, Annabelle Comes Home, in 2019.
Hindustan Times
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
What is Annabelle doll? 5 legends about ‘demonic' entity that inspired 3 movies
The infamous Annabelle doll, behind the American horror movie franchise, has disappeared out of nowhere. Social media is flooded with people claiming that the doll vanished during the paranormal tour. Here's 5 legends about Annabelle Annabelle takes inspiration from the Raggedy Anne doll, which was based on a character created in 1915. The doll had a triangular nose and hair made of red yarn and was placed in the Warrens Occult Museum in Connecticut. According to report by USA Today, eerie things started happening around Annabelle in 1970 when she was purchased by a mother as a gift for her daughter. The doll was said to be possessed by the spirit of Annabelle, a young girl who died on the property. Spooky incidents followed the family, including Annabelle levitating and even attempting to strangulate a family friend. Edward and Lorraine Warren, American paranormal investigators, first met the doll when they were called to investigate the incident. There, they diagnosed the doll as possessing a demonic spirit. They had a priest do an exorcism on the doll and placed it in the car, after which the couple faced car trouble, including Annabelle trying to break away, while taking the doll back to their office. After placing the doll in the museum, the Warrens continued documenting various alleged incidents of the doll, including moving on its own, making growling noises and harming anyone who mocked it. Recently, the doll was on a tour called 'Devil on the Run Tour', which involved a tour of items from the Warren Occult Museum across the country. Paranormal expert Ryan Daniel Buell also shared a series of footage from the tour. While the doll was on a tour in Louisiana, many people claimed that the doll went missing. Just days after, a fire broke out at Nottoway Plantation in White Castle, Louisiana. While the officials confirmed that there is no connection between the fire, people on social media made conspiracy theories of the doll being behind the fire. Not only have there been alleged incidents related to the doll, but Annabelle has been the centre of a movie franchise known as Annabelle, which has three films. Based on the accounts of the Warren couple, they portray the haunted events behind Anabelle and those who lived with it.
