Latest news with #haunted
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Touring ‘evil' Annabelle doll is blamed for bizarre fire and prison escape that both happened in Louisiana
A tour featuring the famously haunted Annabelle doll has sparked theories that the Raggedy Anne figure's responsible for a number of chaotic events - fiery claims its keepers have rebuked. Since early May, Annabelle's headed to different parts of the U.S. ahead of a Psychic Festival, with stops in West Virginia, Louisiana, and Texas. Theorists blamed the mannequin presence for a fire that broke out in Louisiana and escaped inmates in New Orleans. On the move: The doll made stops in West Virginia, Louisiana, and Texas, but what followed her visits was a series of unfortunate events that were linked to her The doll's famous history began in 1970 after she was gifted to a Hartford nurse and then began moving on her own and, in one instance, allegedly attacked the owner's fiance. Lorraine and Ed Warren, renowned paranormal researchers and founders of Warren's Occult Museum, investigated the doll's paranormal activity and gave her a permanent spot in their museum. Annabelle was displayed in a protective case, fitted with carved prayers and crosses as well as a sign made by Ed, which read, 'Warning: Positively Do Not Open.' The Warrens had always warned about moving Annabelle but for those who took the doll on tour, they vehemently defended doing so and said it is what the owners would have wanted. Paranormal investigator Chris Gilloren, who was part of the tour team, said: '[Annabelle's] not a spectacle, but it's a great way to get people talking about evil. That's what Ed and Lorraine wanted to do. They wanted to expose the devil, and tell people, advise people that the devil is real.' Ryan Buell, a paranormal investigator who also joined the tour, agreed that it was about education and continuing to spread the Warrens' work. Buell said: 'We keep the legacy and name of Ed and Lorraine alive. That they devoted their lives to this work, that there are people our there who still dedicate their own lives to helping people who are having these experiences. 'It's not that people just went in and saw a doll and they're like, "Oh cool!" We sat there and we talked to people. We talked about the dangers. We talk about the precautions.' However, the tour was not without it's strange and creepy moments that fueled wild online speculation on Annabelle's ability to leave a path of destruction as she moved around the country. On May 15, as the doll left Louisiana - her second tour stop - the historic 166-year-old Nottoway Plantation was destroyed in a blazing fire. Online speculation quickly turned to the doll's close presence as the reason the historic site went up in flames, but her caretakers are not convinced. Gilloren said: 'I don't know where these people come up with these... I mean, it's taken off, it's got a mind of its own. 'We don't think it has anything to do with us, of course, or Annabelle.' One post on X said: 'Three days ago they moved Annabelle, one of the most haunted dolls from Monroe, Connecticut, to New Orleans, Louisiana, and now the largest sugarcane plantation in Louisiana burned down AND 11 inmates in a New Orleans Prison escape... 'Didn't the Warrens say she should never be moved?' Another comment said: 'Taking her down here where there's voodoo and spirits everywhere is actually an idiot move I have to say.' Many other social media users worried about their own cities, and even contacted those monitoring Annabelle. Gilloren said: '...the amount of messages, emails that I received through our websites and social medias... they truly believe Annabelle did all this, which makes no sense to me personally... You know, why would she burn it down?' Gilloren believed that the events were purely coincidental. Theories that blamed Annabelle for the fire and escaped inmates were just the tip of the iceberg of the strange goings on during the doll's time on the road. 'To our knowledge, it's the first time we brought Annabelle to another haunted location, especially that far out,' Buell said, of their first tour stop in West Virginia State Penitentiary, a famously haunted building. 'What was weird - and I've been to the penitentiary many, many times - when Annabelle was in the prison, the activity around the prison was low.' Buell added that they had psychic mediums with them in the prison who said that other 'spirits' were 'staying at a distance'. Despite having worked with Annabelle many times before, Buell still found himself sensing a strange energy surrounding the doll. He said: 'In New Orleans, myself and Wade, who is a member of NESPR, were mainly the ones giving the talks about the Warren's... and so we would have to stand in front of Annabelle for hours,' he said. 'And the first day, Wade and I looked at each other and we're like, the energy is so off, like it feels so weird and he totally agreed.'
Daily Mail
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Haunted Annabelle doll's location finally revealed following frenzied speculation over whereabouts
The location of the infamous 'haunted' Annabelle doll has been revealed following frenzied speculation about its whereabouts. In recent days, social media was flooded with claims that the 'demonically possessed' Raggedy Ann doll had gone missing, causing horror buffs to become concerned. The Raggedy Anne Doll's paranormal legend dates back to the 1970s when it was apparently given as a gift to nurse in Hartford, Connecticut, before it began exhibiting disturbing behavior. Annabelle was thought to be possessed by the spirit of a dead child and was said to move on her own, leave terrifying handwritten notes and even allegedly attacked someone. The case caught the attention of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren who concluded Annabelle was being manipulated by a demonic entity - and the doll later became the subject of The Conjuring films. Due to her popularity, the real Annabelle doll was removed from the secured case she was displayed in and was included as part of a traveling US exhibition Devils on the Run which began touring earlier this month. But recently, fans began to speculate the doll had escaped from her box during the tour hosted by the New England Society for Psychic Research, per The Independent. However, after countless rumors and terrified fans, the society's lead investigator Dan Rivera has finally come forward to debunk the theories in a TikTok video. '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.' He added: 'She has never been missing.' However, Dan did advise horror fans that they would get the chance to see the 'possessed' toy at the Rock Island Roadhouse Esoteric Expo in Illinois on October 4. The New England Society for Psychic Research also posted on their Facebook to assure fans: 'It's a rumor... Annabelle has NOT been stolen. The doll is safely in place at the Warren Occult Museum.' With all of the rumors circulating and the tour still underway, one haunted doll collector - who houses 54 'spirits' - argued the doll should not be taken on tour. In other Annabelle news, this wasn't the first time the terrifying doll has caused panic online. In 2020, Tony Spera, the son-in-law of Ed and Lorraine Warren, also had to clear up rumors of her escape. 'I'm here to tell you something, I don't know if you want to hear this or not, but Annabelle did not escape,' Spera said in a selfie video as he dramatically turned his camera to bring the infamous doll into view behind him. He added: '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,' he said as he showed Annabelle in her glass case. 'So here she is. Let's put the rumors to rest, guys. 'I appreciate all the concern. I'd be concerned if Annabelle really did leave because she's nothing to play with.'
Times
21-05-2025
- General
- Times
‘I live in a cemetery — it's not the dead you have to worry about'
'There are ghosts in our house, we hear them,' says Derek Shilling, aged 79. He is believed to be Britain's last remaining 'live-in' sexton and has spent the past 51 years on-site in his two-bedroom, one-storey house at the Haslar Royal Naval Cemetery in Gosport, Hampshire. As well as some ethereal beings he also shares his home with his wife, Monica — the view from their garden is of the graves that he has dug over his lifetime. Living with ghosts is not something that bothers Shilling. 'I'm not scared. The TV switches itself on and off from time to time and we often hear knocking and footsteps. When my son was young, we heard a child singing and checked his bedroom, but he was
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The chilling truth about the most haunted item in the WORLD that 'cursed' Post Malone
The Dybbuk box - also known as 'the world's most haunted object' - is said to have cursed beloved singer Post Malone back in 2018. The chilling artifact is currently kept under lock and key at a haunted museum in Las Vegas run by Ghost Adventures' paranormal investigator Zak Bagans. It appears on the surface to be nothing more than a vintage wine cabinet but inside it is said to hold a dybbuk - an evil spirit that can invade and possess a living person, per US Ghost Adventures. The object has become so recognizable that it even inspired the popular 2012 horror film The Possession. During the Ghost Adventurers' New York ComicCon panel, Bagans described Malone's visit to the museum in June 2018. The ghost hunter said that during the spooky tour, he and the singer, now 29, decided to go into the room with the box before removing the protective case. 'It is a very powerful item,' Bagans, 48, said, per People. 'I didn't want to open it, I just wanted to take the case off. 'To make a long story short, we began hearing things.' The pair soon began hearing what sounded like a 'little girl's voice' and Bagan said Malone initially sprinted down the stairs to get away from the exhibit. But eventually, upon returning to the room, Bagans said that still 'something wasn't right.' 'I remember putting my hand on the box and at that exact moment, Post put his hand on my shoulder,' Bagans recalled. 'At that moment, it was like something came through the box and into him, and I began shaking, I began trembling. 'This is kind of embarrassing, I began crying, I began screaming, and this is when he got me out of the room forcefully.' In the aftermath, Malone claimed to see a dark shadowy figure lingering outside. And, the next day, the singer allegedly sent Bagan an eerie photo of a massive bruise on his arm. 'Mind you, Post is a person we've investigated with, he's a great debunker - very, very smart,' Bagans said. In Jewish Folklore, a dybbuk is a disembodied human spirit - due to past sins - that wanders restlessly until it can feel safe again in the body of a human person. The word 'dybbuk' came from the Hebrew root 'davek,' which means to cling or to cleave. The box initially appeared in 2003 when Kevin Mannis, an antique store owner, bought a vintage wine box from a 103-year-old Holocaust survivor on eBay, per US Ghost Adventures. After a string of suspicious hauntings, the box was placed back on the site and bought by a man named Jason Haxton. He eventually also felt the horrors of the box and buried it in Missouri before sharing it on Bagan's show.
Times
16-05-2025
- General
- Times
Did our house harbour Catholic priests?
When Steve and Helen Russell bought their seaside home in the scenic village of Langstone in Hampshire, the previous owner told them it was haunted. Liz Heath, who still lives locally, was convinced she saw a woman standing in the main bedroom and she even gave the Russells a crucifix as a gift after they bought the house in 1997. 'I did have the creeps on the first night I moved in. Steve went off somewhere and left me there alone, and I was just sitting in this empty room,' Helen says. Luckily the Russells haven't heard a peep since, but it's easy to see how the rumour started. There are several references in manor court books to a house facing Langstone Harbour being used
