Robert the Doll by unknown author[]
Robert the doll was made in Germany in 1904 by the famous Steiff Company, which was well-known for making teddy bears, as well as other stuffed toys. Robert's owner, Robert Eugene Otto- from whom he adopted his name- received the doll as a gift from his grandfather, and little Otto was overjoyed at his life-sized doll and new best friend.
The two were inseparable, and Otto would take his favorite doll to bed with him, out to play, even on shopping trips. Eventually, the doll got its own wardrobe, including a sailor outfit likely worn by Otto which the doll wears to this day.
However, things would soon start to take a turn for the dark in Otto and Robert's relationship.
Otto treated his doll like a real, living best friend, and as time went on, objects would start to go missing or get broken in the house. That's nothing new for any household with a rambunctious little boy, but Otto claimed that it was actually Robert's fault, and not his. As more and more things went missing or were found smashed to pieces, Otto's parents grew increasingly exasperated with him, though he remained insistent that it was not his fault. The doll was behind it all, or at least most of it.
Naturally, Otto's parents did not believe him, until one fateful night. It was late at night when little Otto woke up to find Robert sitting at the foot of his bed, staring at him.
Then, pandemonium.
Furniture suddenly began to be thrown around the room, dressers were tossed over, clothes spewed out all over the floor. Shelves were violently cleared of books, the desk was smashed into a nearby wall, and the chair flew in another direction. Otto's parents tore out of bed, expecting to run into an intruder either trying to rob the place or abduct their son. But when they threw open the door, all the commotion suddenly stopped. The room was a chaotic mess but utterly silent, and there was young Otto, curled up in terror. While the entire room had been tossed upside down, Robert the doll remained delicately perched on the foot of the bed.
From here, things would only escalate.
Otto's obsession with his doll only increased after the incident. He would frequently be engaged in lengthy discussions with Robert, treating it as if it really were living.
His parents would occasionally hear a deep, unfamiliar voice respond, prompting them to rush into the room only to discover little Otto and his doll, all alone. When questioned on who he was talking to, Otto would simply shrug and point at the doll.
Sometimes though, Robert would get angry, and that was when furniture would once more be flung across the room. Once Otto's terrified parents would rush into the room, the pandemonium would settle, and Otto would be left there alone, pointing at Robert.
As the doll's displeasure increased, toys would be found missing limbs, or with their heads ripped off. The eyes of other dolls would be gouged out. Each time, the doll was blamed.
It wasn't just Otto and his parents experiencing the paranormal phenomenon either. Even the neighborhood kids were firsthand witnesses. Stories about the haunted doll quickly spread through the local community, and children passing by the house would keep their distance. While Otto was at school or away, the doll would be left on a chair looking out an upstairs window. Often children would report that they would look to see the doll there, only to look again and have the doll be gone.
A plumber once got dragged into Otto's paranormal world. While visiting the house to make some repairs, the plumber began to hear the sound of children playing, even though nobody but him was inside the house at the time. While investigating the source of the sound, he walked into Otto's room to find Robert sitting there, having moved from one side of the window he was seated at to the other. Leaving the room, the plumber heard the sound of objects being thrown and rushed back in only to discover that several toys that had been on the doll's lap were now on the other side of the room.
Eventually, young Otto grew up and moved out of the home. Now Mr. Robert Eugene Otto, he went away to art school in Chicago and New York. Eventually, Otto made his way to Paris, where he met his wife. The two were married and moved back to the United States. Otto was quick to recover several of his childhood items from his parents' home and move them to his new home with his new family, including, of course, Robert the doll.
Robert the doll got his own special room in the attic, decorated with furniture, toys to play with, and even a teddy bear just for him specifically. Otto took good care of his childhood best friend, but it seems Otto's wife took serious issue with his obsession and the general creepiness of the doll itself. She requested that the doll be kept locked up, so Otto made sure to lock the door to the attic room after every visit.
Robert the doll, however, did not like being locked up. Somehow, he would reappear on a chair facing out one of the upstairs windows, like he had sat back in Otto's childhood home, waiting for his best friend to get back from school. Predictably, people began to give Otto's new home a wide berth, unsettled by the eerie doll staring out the window at them.
There were rumors that Robert's eyes would actually turn in his head and follow pedestrians, with others saying that he would simply disappear and when they looked back, reappear looking in a completely different direction.
It wasn't just unwary pedestrians who got unsettled, however, as visitors to Otto's home complained of supernatural phenomena. Many would swear that they heard footsteps in the attic where Robert was kept locked up. And of course, despite being under lock and key, Robert would have a habit of turning up places he didn't belong, like the guest room of a sleeping visitor. Even more terrifying, shocked guests would find random objects move completely on their own, as if pushed by an unseen force.
Robert Eugene Otto died in 1974, leaving Robert the doll to a woman who bought the house. She kept it for many years before donating it to the Fort East Martello Museum in Florida, warning that the doll was indeed haunted, and should be treated with great care.
The museum staff naturally discounted the tales of a haunted doll, but were quick to change their minds when they experienced their own paranormal phenomenon. Once more, Robert would wander out of his locked display case, showing up places he didn't belong. The sound of children's voices would be heard in the dead of night when no one but the closing staff was still in the building.
Often these would be accompanied by the sound of rapid footsteps and objects getting knocked over.
Robert remains locked in his display case to this day and is one of the museum's prime attractions. Visitors are warned to not mock the doll and ask for permission before taking photos, as those who don't almost always find themselves running into misfortune.
Cameras will malfunction when taking a photo when permission was not granted, only to begin working again as soon as the visitor leaves the museum. Others, however, suffer worse fates, with tragedy befalling them shortly after their visit: car wrecks, divorces, ruined finances, job losses, and much more. The misery that Robert has wrought in people's lives is so great that the museum regularly receives letters begging for his forgiveness, and for him to lift the curse he's placed on people's lives. An incredible 1 to 3 letters a day are sent to Robert.
Not all letters are asking for forgiveness, however. Some are asking Robert for advice, others asking for him to place a curse on the subject of the writer's ire. Some are even fan letters, perhaps most disturbingly, from children as young as eight years old who often include portraits of the doll.
If you're curious to meet Robert in person, you can visit the Fort East Martello Museum in Key West yourself, but you better take this advice and mind your manners when you do... Or you might find trouble waiting for you at home when you get there.