Halloween might be months away, but that hasn’t stopped a real-life horror story from unfolding online, with rumors circulating that the Annabelle doll went ‘missing’.
No doubt you’ve heard of Annabelle thanks to her storied history on the big screen, having made her Hollywood debut in the first The Conjuring movie, in which Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga play real-life demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren.
Since then, the demonic doll has led a trilogy of movies, finishing up with Annabelle Comes Home in 2019. But while the Annabelle of the Conjuring Universe is pure nightmare fuel, the real doll that serves as her inspiration is just as chilling.
The Warrens claim the Raggedy Ann doll is possessed, alleging she was responsible for a string of terrifying events before locking her away in their now-closed Occult Museum. But a new rumor has surfaced that Annabelle broke free.
Is Annabelle really missing?
While it’s true that Annabelle was taken on tour, the rumors that she broke free from her casing and may have even been connected to a series of incidents in Louisiana have been debunked.
For context, since the Warrens’ Occult Museum is closed to the public, the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR) takes objects – including the supposedly demonic doll – from the collection on a tour known as ‘Devils on the Run’.
Annabelle’s trip included a stop in New Orleans in partnership with the Ghost City Tours organization, which hosted an event from May 13-14.
But in the two days that followed, Louisiana’s Nottoway Plantation burned down and 10 inmates escaped from the Orleans Parish Justice Center.
Soon enough, rumors started circulating that the haunted doll’s visit was to blame for these incidents, and that she had escaped while en route to Chicago to cause chaos across the US.
Over on X/Twitter, one wrote, “Annabelle was taken to New Orleans, and weird stuff started happening: a plantation burned down, a criminal escaped, a plane crashed, a typhoon hit, and even a wrestling match got relocated. Now, they say Annabelle’s gone missing. Is this story just getting started?”
“So you’re telling me, after Ed and Lorraine Warren specifically said to never move her, they’ve taken Annabelle on a tour, she’s burnt down a plantation, released murderers from a prison, and now GONE MISSING?!” said another.
A third added, “So the streets are saying after they moved the Annabelle doll out of the Warren museum (when they explicitly said never to move it) she’s now gone missing.”
There are even parody accounts that have shared an AI-generated video of a doll doing backflips in the street – it goes without saying that these aren’t real.
However, the rumors have gone so viral, NESPR lead investigator Dan Rivera has had no choice but to take to social media to set the record straight.
In a TikTok video shared on Sunday, May 25, he confirms that Annabelle is safely in the Occult Museum, with text across the screen stating, “Annabelle is not missing and was never in Chicago.”
“I’m here at the museum right now. I just wanna show you guys that Annabelle is in the Warrens’ Occult Museum and let’s go inside and let’s check,” Dan explains.
The camera cuts to the inside of the museum, where the doll is safely in her casing. “Annabelle’s not missing, she’s not in Chicago, alright,” he continues.
“We do plan on going to Rock Island Roadhouse Expo in Rock Island, Illinois on October 4. If you guys wanna get tickets for that, go to warrensconvention.com and you guys will have a chance to see Annabelle.”
Is Annabelle really haunted?
That depends entirely on whether you believe in the supernatural or not. Skeptics may scoff at the idea of a doll causing real-life harm, but to believers – and certainly to Ed and Lorraine Warren – Annabelle is no ordinary toy.
According to the Warrens, Annabelle’s story began in the 1970s when a student nurse was gifted the Raggedy Ann doll by her mother.
Not long after, she and her roommate began noticing strange occurrences: the doll would change positions when nobody was looking, or appear in different rooms entirely. They also allegedly found handwritten notes scrawled on parchment paper.
A psychic medium told them the spirit of a young girl named Annabelle was attached to the doll. Wanting to help, they allowed the spirit to stay. But when one friend was reportedly attacked, the doll was said to have left claw marks on his chest. That’s when the Warrens got involved.
They concluded that the spirit wasn’t that of a child, but a demonic entity that aimed to eventually possess a human host.
After performing a blessing, the Warrens took the doll and sealed it inside a wooden case at their Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut, placing a sign on it that reads: “Warning! Positively do not open.”
Despite their words of caution, Annabelle is taken on tour from time to time. And though most people think her backstory is nothing more than folktale, the latest incident has left some believers concerned.
On the tour’s TikTok video, one wrote, “Shame on you guys for not following Lorraine Warren’s rule to never touch or move anything from there.”
Another said, “Don’t move her at all, that’s the Warren’s biggest no.1 rule is to not move her or touch her, keep her in that case, and just sell tickets to people to see Annabelle at the Warren’s museum.”
“That doll should never have been moved,” added a third, while a fourth quipped, “Annabelle don’t come for me when you do break free.”
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