Oct
Is Annabelle Based on a True Story? Unveiling the Real, Allegedly Haunted Doll
The second installment in the “Conjuring” franchise draws inspiration from a genuine Raggedy Ann doll with a chilling backstory.
If you’ve seen Annabelle, you might have spent a sleepless night worrying about a stray shirt or ruffled blanket at the foot of your bed. The 2014 film revolves around the eponymous doll wreaking havoc, and it originally featured as a supporting character in James Wan’s The Conjuring (2013). Annabelle’s unsettling presence was so impactful that she nearly overshadowed more established entities in the franchise’s first film.
The Conjuring, featuring Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, dramatizes the haunting of the Perron family in Rhode Island in 1971. While the films are based on real events, they take creative liberties, sparking interest in the true origins of Annabelle.
Although the on-screen narrative differs from the actual story, both The Conjuring and Annabelle share some common threads regarding the doll’s real history. This resemblance diminishes in the sequels—Annabelle: Creation (2017) and Annabelle Comes Home (2019)—which veer into more fantastical territory.
Now, a decade after Annabelle made her cinematic debut, Entertainment Weekly explores the true story behind the iconic doll.
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What is the Plot of Annabelle?
Annabelle follows John (Ward Horton) and Mia Form (Annabelle Wallis), a young couple in California expecting their first child. John surprises Mia with a porcelain doll as a gift for their baby. That same night, a tragic turn of events unfolds when the couple’s neighbors, the Higgins, are brutally murdered by a pair of cult members reminiscent of the Manson Family.
When the Forms call the police, they inadvertently alert the cultists, leading to a home invasion. The police arrive just in time to shoot one of the intruders, but his girlfriend slashes her throat in the couple’s nursery while holding the newly gifted doll.
After reports identify the female assailant as Annabelle Higgins, the daughter of the slain neighbors, supernatural occurrences begin to plague the Form family, all seemingly tied to the doll. Even after discarding the doll and moving to a new home following their child’s birth, the malevolent happenings return with a vengeance when they find the doll among their belongings.
Mia conducts research, enlisting the help of a detective (Eric Ladin) and a haunted bookseller named Evelyn (Alfre Woodard), ultimately discovering that the cult aimed to summon a demonic spirit that attached itself to them after Annabelle’s tragic suicide in their home. Mia and John realize they must make a blood sacrifice to rid themselves of the demon, culminating in a bloody climax.
Is Annabelle Based on a True Story?
Similar to many characters and events in the Conjuring universe, the plot of Annabelle is grounded in a kernel of truth before spiraling into more fantastical elements. The film is inspired by one of the notable cases investigated by Ed and Lorraine Warren. Annabelle Higgins was (allegedly) a real person, but she died long before any connection to a satanic cult could occur.
The real Annabelle doll exists, although it is less sinister in appearance than its film counterpart. The New Haven Register once described the actual doll as “a plain-looking, classic Raggedy Ann doll with red yarn for hair.”
Despite its unassuming looks, the doll reportedly harbored a dark history, terrorizing two young women before the Warrens intervened.
Where Did the Annabelle Doll Come From?
According to a presentation by Lorraine Warren and her son-in-law, Tony Spera, on the night of Annabelle‘s release, as well as a case file from the New England Society of Psychic Research (NESPR), which the Warrens founded in 1952, a nurse named Donna received the doll as a birthday gift from her mother in 1970.
The young nurse placed the doll next to her bed, only to notice that it would frequently change positions, sometimes with its legs crossed or lying on its side. It occasionally turned up in different rooms altogether. This unsettling behavior prompted Donna and her roommate, Angie, to find strange notes around their apartment, reading “Help me, help us” on parchment paper they had not owned.
In a particularly chilling incident, a friend napping on their couch awoke feeling as though he was being choked, claiming the doll was staring at him. When he recovered, he discovered scratch marks on his body, and at one point, the doll even appeared to be leaking blood.
Eventually, the women consulted a medium, who conducted a séance and revealed that the Raggedy Ann doll was possessed by the spirit of Annabelle Higgins, a young girl who lived in the area and died at the age of seven, long before the apartment complex was built.
Is Annabelle Based on a True Story? Unveiling the Real – Allegedly Haunted Doll
Tracking Annabelle’s Journey Through the Conjuring Universe
Annabelle allegedly expressed a desire to stay with Donna and Angie, saying she wanted to be loved. Feeling sympathy for the spirit, the roommates granted Annabelle “permission to inhabit the doll” and, consequently, their home.
How Did Ed and Lorraine Warren Come to Possess the Annabelle Doll?
After being informed by Father Cooke, a priest familiar with the case, the Warrens examined the doll and concluded that it was not possessed but rather manipulated by an inhuman entity. According to the NESPR case file, the spirit sought to possess a human host rather than remain attached to the doll.
The Warrens took the doll that day, noting that if the situation had persisted for a few more weeks, complete human possession could have occurred, potentially resulting in harm to the occupants of the house.
Before departing with the doll, the Warrens had Father Cooke perform an exorcism in the apartment to cleanse it of the spirit, although they believed the entity resided within the doll itself. On their way home, they experienced strange occurrences in their car, prompting Ed to sprinkle Annabelle with holy water.
Is Annabelle Based on a True Story? Unveiling the Real – Allegedly Haunted Doll
Where is the Real Annabelle Doll Today?
After the Warrens took her into their possession, Annabelle was placed in a locked case at their Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut. The museum setup resembles the cluttered memorabilia room depicted in the Conjuring films.
Tony Spera, who worked closely with Lorraine after Ed’s passing in 2006, has expressed that among the Warrens’ extensive collection of supernatural artifacts, Annabelle is the one that frightens him the most, as reported by the New Haven Register.
The Warrens often recounted a chilling (though unverified) tale of a museum visitor who ignored their warnings and mocked Annabelle. After being asked to leave, he suffered a fatal motorcycle accident shortly thereafter.
Although the museum officially closed in 2019 due to zoning issues, the artifacts, including the infamous Annabelle doll, remain housed there to this day.
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