Real Fears for Halloween

    Chucky from Child’s Play.                                                                                             Zuni voodoo doll from Trilogy of Terror.

Do you think that dolls who come to life are only the product of some scriptwriters over active imagination? Then you have obviously never heard the story of Robert the Doll.

Robert the Doll was a doll owned by the Key West painter Robert Eugene Otto. Otto who was known as Gene as a child was given the doll by a servant girl who had been in the employ of the Otto family, the story goes that Genes parents were cruel and spiteful employers and when the servant girl left their employ she gave Gene  a doll that had been cursed as a parting gift, the doll was made in the image of Gene and even included real hair taken from Genes own head.

The boy and his doll soon became inseparable and he named the doll Robert, soon many strange things would occur in the Otto household, often they would find furniture turned over or ornaments broken and always Gene would claim ” Robert did it “. Very often the Otto’s would hear conversations coming from their sons bedroom which clearly involved two separate voices, many times they would enter Genes bedroom to find him cowering in a corner with Robert standing on a chair as if scolding him. The Otto’s would claim they could hear Robert giggle and would catch a glimpse in the corner of their eye of him running around the house.

Genes parents had Robert put up in the attic and that’s where he stayed for many years, although they sometimes heard him stamping around and giggling. Many years later after the death of his parents Eugene Otto returned to the family home with his new wife and after a visit to the attic was soon reacquainted with Robert. Genes new wife was not comfortable with Robert around the house, visitors would remark that the doll would give them an evil stare or that they could here it giggling and so Robert was banished once again to the attic. The residents of Key West told many stories of Roberts wrongdoings many were afraid to walk past the house because they would see or hear Robert mocking them from his attic window, children would refuse to look at the widow, afraid of Roberts evil stare.

After Gene Otto’s death in 1972 Otto’s wife promptly sold the house leaving Robert in his attic home and the stories of Robert died down, until the ten year old daughter of the new occupants discovered Robert and brought him downstairs to join her other toys, to this day the girl claims that Robert was evil and would climb upon her bed and try to kill her, one story claims that the girls parents after hearing screams rushed into the girls bedroom to find Robert at the end of her bed holding a knife.

Robert know lives at the Martello Museum in Key West , still dressed in his sailor suit and clutching his pet lion he will allow visitors a photograph of him if they ask nicely, if he agrees he will angle his head to one side ,forget to ask permission though and all sorts of bad luck may come to you.

Don’t have nightmares.

                                                                    Robert the Doll.