The cinematic version of Annabelle is a vintage porcelain doll instead of the original Raggedy Ann horror.
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“That doll is haunted and evil. We had a case made for her so that nobody could touch her.” – Lorraine Warren speaking about the doll Annabelle.
Most people have heard of the haunted Annabelle doll from the wildly popular horror flick The Conjuring. And while a tale of a possessed doll wreaking havoc on an innocent family seems like one that was cooked up for the big screen, it’s actually said to be based off of true events. In fact, the Annabelle doll has its own long and twisted history… from claims that it ‘physically attacked’ someone to rumors that a man died in a horrific motorcycle crash after he taunted it. 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. – https://www.dailymail.co.uk
Ed and Lorraine Warren were self-proclaimed demonologists associated with several cases involving hauntings and the paranormal, notably during the 1970s. They assisted with some of the most well-known investigations about ghosts, demonic possession, and hauntings, including the Amityville Home, the trial of Arne Johnson, and the haunting of the Perron family by a malevolent spirit. These stories and others have inspired several Hollywood films, including some in The Conjuring franchise directed by James Wan. However, one of the most well-known horror tales involving the Warrens is the story of Annabelle the doll.
the New England Society for Psychic Research, or NESPR, founded by Ed and Lorraine in 1952, sponsored a tour titled the Devils on the Run. During this tour, NESPR has taken a collection of artifacts from the Warren’s museum and put them on display in cities throughout the U.S., allowing curious people to view them up close. The real Annabelle doll is among the items in that collection. The tour kicked off in May of 2025 and has made stops in West Virginia, San Antonio, and New Orleans. It is expected to continue throughout the summer, making a stop in historic Gettysburg, PA, in July, as well as stops in Illinois and Kentucky in October. While it may seem like a fun and harmless event, as well as a great way to promote the upcoming film, there are many who believe taking these cursed items from their safe sanctuary at the Warren’s museum and parading them around the country is a big mistake. That is especially true when it comes to Annabelle. There is a good reason why Lorraine Warren instructed everyone to never remove Annabelle from her case. And unfortunately, people are learning the hard way that they should have listened to Lorraine’s warning.
In 1970, the Warrens were contacted by a student nurse who was concerned about a doll in her apartment. The nurse was given the doll as a gift, but she soon noticed it began acting strangely, moving from one room to the next on its own. According to the nurse and her roommate, a psychic told them the doll was inhabited by the spirit of a young girl named Annabelle. The two women tried to live with the doll, feeling sorry for the spirit of what they perceived was a lonely little girl. However, Annabelle soon began exhibiting aggressive behavior. The doll was fixated on a friend of the nurse named Lou and would leave threatening notes to him on parchment paper, despite anyone in the home owning any such paper. Lou claimed that the doll scratched him across the chest once and attempted to strangle him. The Warrens were called in to investigate, and they determined the doll was demonically. They took the doll with them to store safely in their museum.
The real Warren’s Museum is located in Monroe, Connecticut (although it is no longer open to the public for general visits. New owners purchased the property and took legal guardianship of the artifacts in August 2025, with plans to move them to a new, dedicated museum space in the future. The property is now used for overnight stays and private, limited tours of the house. ) The Museum was filled with an eccentric collection of everything from a child’s tombstone once used as a satanic altar to demon masks, a vampire’s coffin, and the old Raggedy Ann doll otherwise known as Annabelle, who sits inside a sealed wooden case custom-made to hold her. It’s common knowledge that haunted items such as dolls shouldn’t be moved from their homes. By doing so, you are showing disrespect to the vessel and the spirit, disrupting their protected space, according to psychic medium Patti Negri.
“I’ve worked with many spirit dolls, including my own, Belle, who lives peacefully in my home. But she’s respected, acknowledged, and kept in a protected space. It’s not about fear—it’s about honoring the energy and intention behind these vessels.” – Patti Negri, Psychic Medium and author of Dollcraft: A Witch’s Guide to Poppet Magick & Haunted Dolls (Llewellyn, 2025)
The items inside the Warren Museum were all taken from various cases the Warrens worked on. The items were believed to be haunted, cursed, or linked in some way to an evil entity. But Ed and Lorraine didn’t keep these items as souvenirs. They retrieved them and kept them locked away securely inside the museum to prevent the evil attached to them from doing any further harm. The items were simply meant to be viewed, not touched, and they most certainly should never be taken from this protective space. This warning has been ignored recently by the current directors of NESPR, Ed and Lorraine’s daughter Judy Spera and her husband Tony, who decided to take Annabelle on the road. During the tour, Annabelle was removed from her original case and placed in a different one so that she would be easily accessible for guests to see and touch her. Two specific activities that go against everything the Warrens have warned us about when it comes to this doll. However, Tony Spera says there is nothing to fear.
“The doll was taken on a brief tour to several locations to show the doll to enthusiasts of the paranormal.” Spera said, “The doll was never out of our control. We take extreme precautions when handling or transporting the doll.”
Spera went on to say, “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, traveled with us the entire trip.” Spera also added in an email that one of his workers used blessed Holy water and Holy oil, which was mixed into a wood stain that was then applied to Annabelle’s wood case. Still, if you are familiar with the stories about the Warrens dispelling demons from people, homes, and dark objects, you know that a few Hail Marys and some Holy water won’t always do the trick.
The Wrath begins …
The first stop for the tour was at West Virginia State Penitentiary, a now vacant prison that is allegedly haunted. This location is considered one of the most haunted places on the East Coast and was the site of more than 90 murders and 125 executions. This marked the first time Annabelle was removed from her sacred original case to a new display case.
The next tour stop was in New Orleans, a town that’s synonymous with spooky happenings. Just a few days after Annabelle arrived in NOLA, the nearby Nottoway Plantation in White Castle caught fire and burned to the ground. This was one of the largest plantations still standing in the South, and like most of the mansions belonging to slave owners, the Nottoway Plantation was built by enslaved people. The owner said it was a total loss and nothing could be saved. While there were mixed reactions online about the plantation being destroyed by fire, there seemed to be one thing many people agreed on: the fire was caused by Annabelle. Many feel that the doll wanted judgment to be served on the property where countless cruel acts occurred involving former slaves. The day after the fire, ten inmates at the Orleans Parish Jail escaped. Four have since been captured, but no one knows the whereabouts of the other six. Although some people are skeptical, others say that the evil unleashed by Annabelle is the reason why those inmates were set free.
Even after Annabelle and the Devils on the Run tour left New Orleans, it seemed a trace of evil was left behind. On May 19th, a fire broke out in the French Quarter home of Jody “Cajun Queen” Boudreaux. The home was once the residence of the infamous Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, Miss Marie Laveau. No one is certain why Annabelle would cause destruction to the Laveau’s home or if she was even involved. But it is still one of several strange occurrences to happen during and immediately after the short time Annabelle was in town. Annabelle’s next stop was at the Psychic and Spirit Fest in San Antonio.
While no catastrophic events occurred in San Antonio during Annabelle’s stay, a wild rumor went viral online when people speculated that the doll had managed to escape. TikTok was flooded with videos of users on the morning of Saturday, May 24th, who were shocked, surprised, and otherwise completely terrified of the fact that a demonic doll was on the loose. Some even believed she may have been stolen.
“If a spirit-attached doll like Annabelle were ever truly missing, it wouldn’t just be a lost object; it could trigger real energetic disturbances. Spirits bound to dolls often have unfinished business or unresolved trauma, and moving them without care can stir up unpredictable activity.” – Patti Negri, Psychic Medium and author of Dollcraft: A Witch’s Guide to Poppet Magick & Haunted Dolls (Llewellyn, 2025)
The rumor that Annabelle escaped was soon debunked when Ryan Buelle, a paranormal investigator associated with the tour, took to TikTok later that day to confirm Annabelle was not missing. The rumor stated that the tour was headed to Chicago, and Annabelle decided to get a head start. But Buelle let everyone know that the tour had no dates scheduled for the Chicago area and quickly put the rumors to rest. He went on to say that Annabelle was safe and sound back home in her case at the Warren’s Occult Museum, resting until the tour started up again. “There was never any scheduled tour plan for her to go to Chicago.” Buelle said on his personal TikTok. “Annabelle is not missing.” Even though that rumor was quickly put to rest, the internet and many others who believe in the paranormal feel that Annabelle has wreaked havoc since her departure from the Warrens, and the tour isn’t over yet.
Do note: Dan Rivera, handler of the doll during the “Devils on the Run” paranormal exhibit, was found dead in his hotel room under mysterious circumstances. Rivera, a cult figure in the ghost-hunting world, had been touring with Annabelle, a supposedly demon-possessed Raggedy Ann doll made famous by The Conjuring films. BUT The Warrens took that doll on tour with them MANY times before The Conjuring movies made that doll’s name famous.
After a respite back at the Warren’s Museum, Annabelle will resume touring and travel to the Scare Fest convention in Lexington, KY, where she’ll be on display October 17 through the 19th. Annabelle will be featured at The Orphanage while in Gettysburg and then at another historic location, the Rock Island Roadhouse Esoteric Expo in Rock Island, Illinois.
The Haunted Gettysburg Orphanage was established as a sanctuary for the children of Union soldiers who lost their lives in the war; it had a good reputation for being a place of care and refuge, but that soon took a dark turn when Rosa Carmichael became the matron. Under Carmichael’s leadership, the orphanage became associated with fear, abuse, and cruelty. It was said that the orphanage was run with an iron fist, showing little empathy for the children. The extent of her mistreatment is disturbing to hear, as some have said she used the basement of the orphanage as a makeshift dungeon where she would confine the children as a form of cruel punishment. Children were also beaten, starved, and forced to perform grueling tasks as punishment. There are dolls and children’s toys lying around the building’s cellar, making it the ideal place for Annabelle to feel at home. There is an overwhelming sense of dread and unease as you enter the basement, as if you are being watched by unseen eyes. Visitors have reported seeing shadowy figures at the orphanage, believed to be the spirits of the children. One person said they felt a cold hand touch them, which the overseers said happens quite often. Apparitions are often seen in the basement, where most of the torture took place.
The Rock Island Roadhouse in Illinois is another haunted location Annabelle will visit. The historic old building holds many secrets of the past. Shadowy figures have been known to dart from one room to the next. There are unnerving noises as you walk up the stairwell, and the trunk elevator is a popular spot for picking up EVP recordings, as well as the sounds of bloodcurdling screams. The Roadhouse was a popular YMCA for a while, until 1976, when a fire broke out and destroyed most of the building. After that, the building was rebuilt and reopened as a YMCA for about a year after the fire. Today, part of the building is used as a furniture store. However, the unused areas of the building were left empty for many years until the furniture store owner converted the rooms into storage units on the upper floors. It is believed there are several creepy and haunted dolls stored in those rooms. There is even one storage unit strictly dedicated to old dolls, many of which are believed to be haunted.
The Warren Museum was closed in 2019 following Lorraine’s death, but while it was open, it showcased many interesting relics that the couple obtained during their years of conducting paranormal investigations. Beginning in 1952, the museum operated as a spooky exhibit for all things haunted, featuring Annabelle, a copy of the Necronomicon also known as The Book of the Dead, a piano that played tricks, books, and for making public appearances.
While the Warrens have many fans and followers to this day, there are many who believe their work in the paranormal was a hoax and there’s no truth to any of the cases they worked on, including the case of the demon-possessed doll Annabelle. One source from NESPR, Steven Novella, a neurologist who worked for the society, claimed that the Warrens were simply great storytellers. Even the family behind the Annabelle case believed that the Warrens weren’t completely honest with them regarding their paranormal experience. Some believe that the families the Warrens worked with also fabricated their haunting experiences for profit, such as the Lutz family, well known for the tale of The Amityville Horror.
Whether you believe the stories about the Warrens are true or false. There is no question that the haunted events the couple took part in have had a lasting impact on the world of paranormal and horror enthusiasts alike. – https://usghostadventures.com/americas-most-haunted-trending/the-wrath-of-annabelle-continues-through-the-u-s/
You may wonder why the doll was never destroyed but kept in a case. That answer is simple: Annabelle, she is possessed by an evil daemon. So if the doll is destroyed and the daemon escapes, then heaven only know what would happen next.