ROBERT THE DOLL-DON'T TEST HIS RULES AND NOT ASK PERMISSION TO TAKE HIS PICTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Within a couple of weeks of returning home it started with my kitten suddenly dying, my bank account being fraudulently used twice, losing a substantial amount of money, having my bird die, my son falling and fracturing his skull, the hotel we stayed at on vacation set on fire, lost my job and now on the verge of being laid off of my new job, being forced out of my home, and my husband and I have separated".(Letter sent to museum)

"There was constant noise coming from the room.  Sometimes, it was like little kids laughing and other times like someone rummaging around.  When it first started happening we would go upstairs to check it out, but always found nothing.  It was only after a half dozen times that we realized that the doll had moved.  At first we blamed each other and laughed it off as a practical joke.  Sometimes the doll's head would be looking in a different direction, other time's its arms were propped up around the chair, and once its legs were even crossed.  It started happening with greater frequency and we realized this was no joke." (previous renter of The Artist House)

Standing 40.25 inches, wearing a faded white sailor jacket with light blue and bright red markings, black eyes like endless black tunnels, and an almost expressionless face.  His blonde and brown hair barely visible from underneath the little sailor hat that Robert wears so proudly.  His face is like no other I have ever seen.  His face made of tattered cloth that hides SOMETHING......SOMETHING.......... VERY AWARE that you're there!!!!

Seemly innocent, Robert sits quietly on a rocking chair with the most unlikely friend......a small stuffed lion that sits on Robert's lap watching your every move.....as if to warn........."NOT TO CLOSE"!!!!!!!

Robert sits quietly in a room alone with nothing but an old hearse to look at directly in front of him.  Encased by walls of very thick glass, with dim spotlights shinning down on him causing reflections of himself  from every angle.  The walls are lined with letters from visitors that are BEGGING for Robert's forgiveness and ask that he PLEASE lift any curse or negative energy he may have bestowed on them.

Can this doll they call Robert REALLY have such power?  Can he really place curses on visitors for simply not asking permission to take his photo???  Do you tempt fate???  Take his picture without asking and not saying "thank you"?????  BEFORE you say this isn't real.....and you'll do whatever you like...............take a moment...........read the letters on the wall that surround this mysterious, one-of-a-kind doll.  If not, I may be reading your letter..... NEXT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So how does such an innocent, unseemly doll get to be known as one of the MOST HAUNTED DOLLS IN THE WORLD????

Lets start from the beginning.

There are a couple stories as to how Robert came to belong to Robert Gene Otto.  First, let me just clear this up, Robert Gene Otto GAVE the doll his first name...Robert and then he started going by his middle name Gene. 

Story 1- One of the Otto's Bahamian servant's that practiced black magic and voodoo felt that they were being mistreated by the family and gave a "cursed doll" to young Robert to get even with them.

Story 2-Which probably is closest to the truth, was that Robert's grandfather gave the doll to him as a birthday gift after a trip to Germany.  Now both stories seem to have some "truth" and facts that seem to support both, but I think probably Story 2 has the most historical records to back up this claim.

Growing up Gene would talk to Robert as if he were a real person.  Often, when Gene would get in trouble, he would say "I didn't do it, Robert did it!".  His sister recalls Gene waking up several times in the middle of the night, screaming in fear...and when Gene's parents would enter the room...it would be torn apart....like furniture turned upside down and the doll would be on top of Gene and Gene would be screaming "he's choking me...he's choking me"!!!!!!!!!!!!  Many of Gene's friends would describe Gene and Robert's relationship...at best "an unhealthy relationship."

Gene went on to become a well known artist in Key West and eventually married a delightful woman who would not be "to fond" of Robert.  When she and Gene returned home to Key West after traveling on behalf of both of their careers, she and Gene would settle in the family home that had been handed down to Gene.......one little problem...... she learned that Gene had a special room built JUST FOR ROBERT in the attic complete with children's furniture for Robert.  He had saved several of his childhood cloths just for Robert.  This was a problem for his wife but she just accepted as part of "Gene's past".

Otto died in 1974 and the house was purchased by Myrtle Reuter which would become Robert's caretaker  for the next 20 years.  She claimed that Robert's face would change if someone came in the home and badmouthed Otto.  She said he would move around on his own.  She would constantly hear laughter and footsteps coming from the upstairs attic where Robert would stay.  After 20 years, she donated Robert to the East Martello Museum.  After Robert's arrival, of course, the museum started reporting unusual activity with Robert moving on his own.

The museum reports 3-4 letters a day to Robert asking for his forgiveness and to remove any curses he may have placed on them.  The museum states that if you are going to take a picture of Robert you must ask his permission first and say thank you when finished.

Now, I took tons of pictures of Robert and video to.  Do you think I asked permission?????

I can tell you this, I have heard about Robert the Doll for most of my adult life and have always wondered about him, but when we went on a cruise to Key West last month for my boyfriends birthday.....there was only ONE THING I WANTED TO DO......yep...you guessed it....SEE ROBERT!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, after seeing Robert here is my most honest opinion I can give. I am completely infatuated with him!  There is something soooo creepy about him.....but at the same time sooooo mesmerizing  that you can't help but stare and want to be a part of his world. So, I could NOT stand it any longer.....I HAD TO HAVE ROBERT.....I WANTED TO OWN HIM.................so that is EXACTLY WHAT I DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I bought Robert the Doll!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok...This is just a replica of Robert of course.

I didn't buy the REAL Robert the Doll, he is still in

his home in Key West.  But this was the next best thing. lol

Welcome to the family Robert.  Meet your sisters.

On the ride home.

This is a MUST SEE if you are ever in Key West and don't forget your manners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

   

ROBERT THE DOLL-ONE OF THE MOST TERRIFYING DOLLS IN THE WORLD!!!

 Behind the World’s Most Terrifying Haunted Doll

5Robert the Doll, in close up. (Photo:

There is something soooo fascinating about this doll to me!  I am extremely drawn to all the stories about this doll...Robert.  So to make it even MORE exciting...we are headed to Key West in June and can you guess where the first place I will be visiting?????  If any of you have SEEN ROBERT the doll, I would LOVE to hear what you thought about him???Anything creepy happen???  The one thing I do know about Robert is that many feel he is responsible for many car accidents, broken bones, job loss, divorce and other misfortunes.  Why is that??? Because Robert is haunted...and to so many people...TERRIFYING!!!! Here IS THE STORY ABOUT ROBERT THE DOLL.

Story written by Andy White.  Robert is 111-years-old and lives at the Fort East Martello Museum in Key West, Florida. Before that he was the property of Robert Eugene Otto, an eccentric artist and member of a prominent Key West family. (Yes, the doll and the owner had the same name, but the boy answered to “Gene”.) Robert was a childhood birthday gift from Otto’s grandfather, who bought the doll during a trip to Germany. Otto’s relationship with the doll continued into adulthood. 

Haunted, right? (Photo: Courtesy Key West Art & Historical Society)

“What people really remember is what they would probably term as an unhealthy relationship with the doll,” says Cori Convertito, curator of the museum and Robert’s caretaker. “He brought it everywhere, he talked about it in the first person as if he weren’t a doll, he was Robert. As in he is a live entity.” 

After some digging, the museum traced Robert’s origins to the Steiff Company, the same toy maker that first manufactured a Teddy bear in honor of Theodore Roosevelt. Robert was most likely never intended to be sold as a toy—a Steiff historian told the museum that Robert was probably part of a set fabricated for a window display of clowns or jesters. 

“Which is kind of adorable,” says Convertito, “Especially with his impish behavior it kind of suits his personality really well.”

Robert’s little sailor suit was not supplied by the company; it was probably an outfit that Otto himself wore as a child.

More Robert. (Photo: Courtesy Key West Art & Historical Society)

According to legend, young Otto began to blame mishaps on the doll. While this could have been laughed off as childish storytelling, adults also started noticing odd occurrences, especially as Otto and Robert grew older. As an adult, Otto lived in a stately home he called “The Artist House”, where Robert could be seen positioned at the upstairs window. Schoolchildren swore that he would appear and reappear, and they avoided the house. Myrtle Reuter purchased the Artist House after Otto’s death in 1974, and also became Robert’s new caretaker. Visitors swore they heard footsteps in the attic and giggling. Some claimed Robert’s expression changed when anyone badmouthed Otto in his presence. Rueter said Robert would move around the house on his own, and after twenty years of antics, she donated him to the museum in 1994.

But far from banishing Robert to obscurity, his arrival at the museum marked a turning point for the doll.

Since Robert arrived, visitors have flocked to the museum to get a look at the mischievous toy. He has appeared on TV shows, he has had his aura photographed, he is a stop on a ghost tour, and he’s inspired a horror movie. He has a Wikipediaentry and social mediaaccounts. Fans can buy Robert replicas, books, coasters and t-shirts. And they can—and do—write to him.

“He gets probably one to three letters every day,” says Convertito. But they aren’t typical fan letters; they’re often apologies. Many visitors attribute post-visit misfortunes to failing to respect Robert (or even openly disrespecting him) and they write begging forgiveness. Others ask him for advice, or to hex those who have wronged them. Convertito says they have received around one thousand letters, which they keep and catalog.

Where Robert lives. (Photo: Courtesy Key West Art & Historical Society)

Robert also receives emails and homages. At some point, it became known that Robert had a sweet tooth so people leave and send him candy. Just recently he received a box containing eight bags of peppermints, a card, and no return address. (Exercising caution, the museum staff does not consume treats sent to Robert.) Guests leave him sweets, money and, occasionally, joints.

“It’s completely inappropriate,” says Convertito. “We are still a museum.”

Convertito is Robert’s caretaker—once a year she administers a check-up, taking him out of the case and weighing him to assess whether the humid Florida weather has adversely affected his straw-filled body. She is also his proxy, receiving and reading all his emails and letters and running his social media feeds.

BLUFF CITY RE-POST- YOU TRULY WALK AMONG THE DEAD!!!

I wanted to re-post this because last night I had Tony Szabelski on my radio show Bridging the Paranormal and we talked about a lot of the things I posted about here.  Tony was a great guest and you guys go back and listen to the archives from last nights show.  It was good!

http://kcorradio.com/KCOR/Podcasts/Bridging-The-Paranormal/2017/February/Tony-Szabelski-Haunted-Hometowns-Bridging-The-Paranormal-Hosted-by-Becky-Vickers-KCOR-Digital-Radio-Network.mp3

This is an EXCITING post for me because I went to Chicago last month and hung out with my good friend Michele Pellegrino.  Her good friend, Tony Szabelski and our private tour guide for one of the nights of ghost hunting.  We went to the VERY creepy Channing Elementary School and Park and then to the OH SOOOOOO COOL Bluff City Cemetery to investigate.  Man was it a GOOD TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Did we get anything GOOD????  Check out the video below and you tell me???????

Channing Elementary School has the unfortunate distinction of having been built over what remained of Elgin's  first cemetery in the 1940's, most of the graves were moved to accommodate a new sports field, but in the 1960's, when construction crew broke ground on the new elementary school, their equipment began to uncover human remains.  Since then, faculty and staff at Channing Elementary has reported an elevator that seems to move on its own, footsteps on the roof, dark figures, and even scratching on the walls.  Today, a stone monument to the dead buried at the original cemetery sits at a nearby park.  The school is said to have used stones that were from the cemetery during construction.  The Park and the school are right beside one another.

As we walked back to the corner of the park along the tree line, we kept thinking we could hear children.  It was on a Monday night and late therefore, we didn't believe it to be "real" children talking and laughing because we could not see anyone around.  My equipment started malfunctioning when we were over by one of the last remaining tombstones of the cemetery.  Our Boo Bear, a piece of equipment designed to interact with spirits and particular child spirits was going CRAZY!!!!!!  We were having all kinds of flashlight communication along with a parascope going off.  They were all VERY active.  What a great little place.

As we were walking back from the park toward the Bluff City Cemetery, you can hear in the clip above a very CLEAR VOICE which we consider to be a Class A EVP of a little girl saying "I want to go".  Did she want to go with us???  To the cemetery.....or HOME with us????? Who knows.  Michele kept thinking she could hear footsteps as we walked back on the sidewalk which is suppose to be laid over some of the remaining bodies that could not be moved.  Michele could have had more than just me on her couch!!!

BLUFF CITY CEMETERY

First, have you ever seen Nightmare on Elm Street?  And especially Part 5???  Then you might recognize this place.  Yes.  It is where parts of Nightmare on Elm Street Part 5 were filmed.  That even adds to the whole "CREEP" factor of this place!!!!!

The Bluff City Cemetery is located at 945 Bluff City Blvd., in Elgin.  It was established in 1899 on 107.8 acres of hilly, cliff-like land.  The land could not be used for planting or building so a cemetery was the natural choice.  There are approximately 43,000 "residents", but the cemetery's capacity is 70,000.  To give you an idea of its large size, it takes 1200 man hours to rake all the autumn leaves.

This place is sooooooo large........that it seems for miles and miles of rolling hills, shadowy trees, and small roadways all you can see are tombstones.  SCARY??? YEP!!!!! IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, we were REALLY lucky that Tony Szabelski gives tours here so he knows everything about this place!  As we walked up on the sidewalk in the dark only using our flashlights to see.....as we entered the cemetery you automatically felt that you were NOT ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Well.....besides.......being surrounded by huge monuments and tombstones.....you definitely felt that SOME of the spirits were glad you were there.....and some NOT SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, the FIRST thing Tony does is.......take us down this long, dark road with a canopy of trees over us!  Was it DARK????YES PEOPLE IT WAS DARK!!!!!  Now Tony starts in with saying how much activity he gets here during his tours.  He takes us to this mausoleum type grave and sits up a Raggedy Andy doll.  Below is a little of that session.  It isn't the best I am still trying to figure out the FB Live but you can see how CREEPY this place was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We almost instantly started getting communication.  Below is what appears to me a woman in a long black furry coat with a hood and something red (kinda hard to see) clutched in her hands in front of her.  For some reason, it seems to strike me as............well............a woman that might be at a funeral in the wintertime.  What do you think?  Do you see what I am talking about????

Next we walked down to a place called the Butterfly Garden.  Now, I can tell you that is was VERY DARK at this point (by the mausoleum) to the point you could not see your hand in front of you....but as we made our way down the curvy.....winding road it suddenly became MUCH brighter!  Even the air felt different.....it even seemed as it were easier to breath.  Could have just been me walking up and down all those hills...LOL

So we put down the Boo Bear and started asking questions when in a distance we could clearly hear what I can only describe as two pieces of hollow wooden sticks being banged together.  Like what you would see in the movies of Indians dancing around a fire with wooden sticks above their heads hitting them together again and again.  I am not sure of the entire story (you will have to ask Tony) but he said something about Indians used to be there on the land before it was a cemetery.  Tony and Michele started hearing this explainable noise as well.  Tony said he had been doing the tours for years and had NEVER heard anything like that!!!!!  It was picked up on our audio but I am STILL going through the EVP's from both locations.  You know....when you have TWO recorders at TWO different locations....because....I don't want to miss a thing LOL........suddenly you forget how much time it takes to review those audio tapes.  Man.......it's never ending!!!!!!!!!!

Now we are off back into the woods but this time we go down a hill and around a very long.....curvy road to children's grave.  Again, in this area we got lots of communication.  A little part of that is also recorded down at the bottom of this post.  Talking with children spirits is one of my FAVORITE things to do btw..... :)


Our last stop to me was the BEST!!!! We stopped on top of a hill where there were some cannons and a beautiful angel statue that was a Dr. and his wife's grave.  We immediately started getting words on our Spirit Box like....."nurse, help, sick. medicine".  Now, Michele ask "Is there someone here tonight you want to talk to"?????  And YEP.......you guessed it...........it said BECKY!!!!!!!!  Well I was being noisy and had my back turned to the Spirit Box taking pictures of what was behind us because we kept hearing footsteps.  Now, when I hear my name....I just STOP........slowly turn around and say....."OH NO..........you don't know me........I'm from Texas!" LOL  It still seemed to answer questions that in some way were directed toward me.

It was getting late my now so we packed up and headed out.  But the Spirit Box session was TOTALLY amazing!!!!!  I will be sure and post more EVP's when I finish going through them.

Ok.......rather long tonight but hopefully you enjoyed it and if you haven't already......Don't forget to go VOTE!!!!!!!!!!

See you next WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!!!

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