Story 1. The Devil in the Doll

While stories of haunted dolls can be traced back many generations,

it was not until the arrival of Hollywood characters such as Chuckie and Annabel that the concept of possessed puppets truly cemented itself within the wider public consciousness.

In this episode, we examined three allegedly true stories of toys which seem to have a life of their own

and try to determine exactly what was behind the Devil in the doll. Oh, And then Robert Eugene Otto was born on the 25th of October 1900 into one of the wealthiest families in the Floridian city of Key West.

From a young age, he preferred his second name over his first and was known to everyone

in his household simply as Jean.

By the age of three, his parents had duly commenced the search for a

nursemaid to supplement their staff and attend to their son's needs.

After several interviews, a Bahami son's needs.

After several interviews, a Bahamian lady was finally employed, who quickly went on to form

a close bond with her young charge.

But the nurse was soon to discover why there was such a speedy turnover of staff within the family,

when she was handed her notice for the most trivial of matters.

It was never established if the hand-stitched doll she handed to Jean prior to her departure was created to ease the boy's heartache,

or to perhaps simply irritate his parents.

Regardless, Jean immediately fell in love with his new companion,

a three foot tall puppet dressed in a sailor's uniform,

who he named Robert.

In no time at all he was spending hours with his new best friend and as the servants went

about their business they would regularly catch the sound of two young boys

conversing with one another coming from behind the closed door of his bedroom.

...