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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at USFSP chapter.

Who would win in a fight? 

Annabelle or Robert the doll? 

Before we answer this question, we need to examine the origins of Annabelle and Robert. 

In honor of the Halloween season, I will discuss these two classic haunted dolls. Many people have heard of Annabelle because of her movies. Robert has a similar, but unique story compared to Annabelle, with a 2015 movie titled “Robert” being made in his image.  

Robert’s Origins  

In 1904, a 4-year-old boy named Robert (Gene) Otto received the doll from one of his parent’s servants in Key West, FL. The parents would go on to fire that same servant because of their use of black magic. Otto named the doll after himself. The doll is dressed up in a white sailor outfit with a little white hat because Otto was obsessed with sailors. The doll has a little toy dog in his lap to accompany him when Otto is not there. As time passed, the boy grew a strong unusual relationship with Robert.  

Weird things would happen, such as unprovoked movement, items being thrown, and noises coming from the doll. When Otto went to school, Robert would be sitting by the window. Passing schoolchildren reported that they would see Robert move from Otto’s window. More people claim to hear and see Robert laugh loudly and throw items around in the room. Some theories speculate that Robert is filled with voodoo from the fired servant.  

There was one incident where it sounded like objects flying across the room and breaking against the wall. When Otto’s parents came into the room, they found Otto and Robert surrounded by broken household objects scattered. Otto’s parents blamed Otto, but all Otto said was “Robert did it.” The other servants also claimed that Robert would break things or make noises. This caused many servants to quit working for Otto’s parents out of fear and superstition. 

Otto’s parents would hide Robert in the attic because of the numerous claims of the doll causing mischief. Nevertheless, Otto would find Robert again and play with him. Otto never parted from Robert and carried the doll into adulthood. After Otto’s death, Otto’s wife, Annette Parker, put the doll away in the attic again because she despised the doll and its creepy actions. Eventually, Robert was donated to Fort East Martello Museum in Key West, Florida where he resides today.  

Annabelle’s Origins 

In 1970, a 28-year-old nurse named Donna received a Raggedy Ann doll as a gift from her mom. A Raggedy Ann doll has red stringed hair with big wide eyes staring at you. Donna kept the doll in her private bedroom. At night, Donna noticed scratched marks on her legs and written messages scattered around her room that read “Help Lou” and “Help us.” Donna was frightened by the unusual incidents and called a medium, a person who can contact the spiritual world. They discovered that the doll had the spirit of Annabelle Higgins trapped inside. The medium said that the spirit used to be a 7-year-old girl who died on the property where Donna lives. At first, Donna felt bad for the little girl trapped in the doll, so she left the doll alone. However, there was one incident that terrified Donna so badly that she changed her mind about the doll.  

Donna’s friend, Lou, came to visit. At night, he said he felt a terrible pain in his chest and found a series of claw marks on his body. Donna and Lou speculated that it was Annabelle’s actions because she was the only one with Lou in the room at the time. After this encounter, Donna gave the doll to Ed and Lorraine Warren, two paranormal investigators. The Warrens claimed that the spirit of Annabelle was looking to possess a human host. Now, Annabelle lives in Warren’s Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut.  

In the museum, there are many warning signs on her glass case. However, one motorcyclist ignored the warning signs and taunted Annabelle. Shortly after the incident, the motorcyclist got into a car accident and died.  

After figuring out who exactly is Robert and Annabelle, we can finally figure out the question “Which doll will win?” 

Based on their origins, I believe that Annabelle would win the battle because of the violent scratch marks found on the owner’s body. Based on her actions, I believe that Annabelle has more strength and harm than Robert. I decided to ask my friends their opinion on who would win. All the people I asked in the interview are familiar with the stories of Robert and Annabelle.  

Her campus (HC): Who do you think would win in a battle? Robert or Annabelle?  

Jacob: “I would probably [say] Annabelle just because there are way more stories about [her] than Robert.”  

Susan: “Despite my love and loyalty to Robert, I’m going to have to go with Annabelle. She just seems resilient.”  

Jessica: “Annabelle. She [is] creepy. She is just scarier than Robert.” 

 
I asked three of my friends and it has come to the conclusion that Annabelle has won with 3 votes.  
 
Who do you think would win in the battle? 

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Mikaela Badilla is a sophomore at USFSP studying Business Analytics. She is from St. Pete, FL. She is interested in event planning.