Latest news with #Conjuring
Daily Mirror
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Death-wish doll locked in glass case 'causes horror car smash' amid grim warning
Once kept firmly behind glass, Annabelle is now touring the US, and the grandson of Ed and Lorraine has grave concerns about the harm the sinister doll could reportedly inflict in the wrong hands For decades, the notorious Annabelle doll has been providing nightmare fuel. Now, amid fears that she could be wreaking mayhem across the US, the grandson of her famous former owners has issued a forboding warning. The infamous Raggedy Ann doll, best known to modern horror fans by her more menacing fictionalised form in The Conjuring universe films, is supposedly haunted by the spirit of a deceased six-year-old girl, with this strange mythology building over time. Back in 1970, a student nurse from Hartford, Connecticut, reported a series of strange happenings surrounding the allegedly fearsome red-haired doll, claiming that Annabelle had the ability to move around, and even inflict "psychic slashes" on horrified house guests. As detailed in the 2014 movie, Annabelle, the student and her roommate, reached out to Ed and Lorraine Warren for assistance—the husband-and-wife duo famed for delving into some of the most chilling paranormal cases ever recorded, from the Amityville haunting to the Enfield poltergeist. After deeming Annabelle to be demonically possessed, Ed and Lorraine had the doll locked up in their now-closed occult 'museum' filled with artefacts from their various investigations. This collection, kept at the Warrens' former home in Monroe, Connecticut, included a purported vampire coffin as well as a child's gravestone, which had allegedly been used for satanic purposes. Out of all these objects, however, there is none that sparks a shudder quite like Annabelle. Kept in a glass case bearing the warning 'positively do not open', young members of the Warren family were taught from an early age that Annabelle was not a toy. In a recent interview with the Mirror, the Warrens' grandson, Chris McKinnell, recalled how, in his youth, he was taught to respect the artefacts in his grandparents' museum, reflecting, "Annabelle is more like a cobra". Chris "grew up in" the Warrens' museum, which was never open to the public, and which he views as more of a "prison" than a place of curiosity. He can still remember one chilling instance when his then two-year-old sister locked him inside at night—an instance reminiscent of a shudder-inducing scene involving a child in the third Conjuring film. Looking back on this traumatising incident, Chris shared: "My grandfather, luckily, was in his office and heard me screaming bloody murder and he came out and got me, but after that I was so afraid of the dark I couldn't sleep without a light on." Ultimately, Chris was able to face his fears and overcome his terror of the dark in a highly unusual way—by accompanying Ed and Lorraine in their spine-tingling line of work. He joined Ed on his first case at the age of just 16 and claims to have heard wall-shaking poundings, clawings, and growls during this intense initiation. Inspired by his war veteran grandfather's bravery, however, the teenage Chris stood firm. He went on to help out his grandparents on some of their best-known cases, including the possession of Maurice Theriault, who inspired the character of Frenchy in the Nun movies. Now 60, Chris is on a mission to encourage others not to be frightened when it comes to activity from the other side of the veil, so to speak. Having reportedly inherited several of his grandmother's psychic gifts, although apparently not all, Chris upholds Ed and Lorraine's legacy through the Warren Legacy Foundation, through which he continues their work on a worldwide scale. Chris explained: "My goal is to educate people and let them not be afraid. When you hear the footsteps in the hallway in the middle of the night, it's not the devil, for God's sake; it's probably your grandmother or the old man that used to live there." However, when it comes to Annabelle, Chris believes caution is absolutely necessary, as family members and those close to them have learned the hard way. Chris recounted the story of family friend Father Bill Charboneau, who reportedly ended up in severe peril following an encounter with Annabelle. Back in 1975, Father Bill, whom he remembers as "one of these hip young 70s priests", drove over to the Warren home, located, fittingly, Chris believes, on a dead end, to show off his brand new car and call upon devout Catholics, Ed and Lorraine. Chris, who remembers attending Father Bill's Christmas Eve mass with his grandmother, said: "Afterwards, he said to my grandfather, 'Ed, I hear you've got a doll that attacks people', and he says, 'Yes, Father, it's downstairs, would you like to see it?' "Now, at this point, it wasn't in a box; it was still sitting in a rocking chair. And so they go downstairs, Father Bill looks at it, picks it up, throws it across from him and says, 'God is stronger than the devil'. And my grandfather looked at him and said, 'Yes, Father, God is stronger than the devil, but no man is'. "That night, and this is according to Father Bill, he was driving home that night on Route 8 in Connecticut, and he saw this white light coming out of the sky directly at him. And just before he veered off the road, in the halo of the light, he swore he saw Annabelle. He went into the median, the car was ripped in half, and his leg was broken. "Now, my grandfather used to talk about that until I think Father Bill asked him to stop, at which point my grandfather changed the story. He still tried to warn the public not to mess with Annabelle, but changed this to a boy on a motorcycle with his girlfriend. Not true, never happened. That's the Father Bill story that he changed. He wasn't doing it to be dishonest; he was doing it to warn the public of the dangers." On another, separate occasion, Ed and Lorraine were driving along Route 84 in Pennsylvania, a "pretty lonely road". There weren't really any other cars around, but there was a truck about a quarter mile back. As they drove, the religious couple couldn't help but notice the abundance of biblical-sounding place names along the way, communities such as Lords Valley, Bethlehem, and Paradise. Chris revealed: "My grandfather made an offhand joke, and said, 'Not even Annabelle or Amityville can bother us here because of all of the biblical influences'. "And they said that it felt like something had smacked the back of their car, like they'd been hit by another car, and their car spun and went into a ditch. This was a big black beauty. I had the licence plate GHOST. My grandparents gave me the car many years later. The truck stopped, obviously, to help, and he said that he swore they'd gotten in a car accident like another car had hit them, but there was nobody there." He added: "My grandfather said, 'I learned then never to joke around about Annabelle'." Annabelle is reportedly now travelling around the US, as part of The Devils on the Run Tour, and those who've long followed Warren's adventures can now get right up close to America's most feared doll. Fascinated crowds have turned up in droves. However, there are those who are more concerned than excited, with some even believing Annabelle's presence has sparked everything from fires to jailbreaks. Chris does not believe Annabelle is demonically possessed and also does not think she's capable of causing catastrophe on such a colossal scale. However, he does believe she contains a certain energy that could be dangerous, especially to those who are particularly vulnerable. According to Chris, "My grandfather would have told you the same thing. When you go into the museum, he always told us, he told everybody he invited in: 'Do not touch anything'. "If your energy interacts with its energy, you can be hurt if you're the wrong person, if you are that susceptible person. I believe there are enough people who are terrified of Annabelle that even if this were not the actual doll itself, if they're using a stand-in, which I don't know. It would still be dangerous because there are people who are psychologically vulnerable. They can easily believe that they're being influenced by this thing, and they could cause harm to themselves or others." In recent years, Chris says he's "constantly" getting requests for help from people who believe Annabelle has appeared to them - something that didn't happen before she exploded onto multiplex cinema screens. Although it's purported that Annabelle hasn't actually harmed a human being since 1975, the psychological hold she has over modern believers in the paranormal remains undeniable. As for Chris, he views Annabelle as an egregore, an entity "created through human energy" that has reacted over the years to the fears of others. The innocent-looking doll's seriously creepy backstory gives it shape, identity, and ultimately power over those who roll up to stare at it. He said: "I'm not afraid of this thing, but that's because it's like a snake handler learning how to handle snakes. I know what this thing is, I know how to deal with it, and I'm not going to be afraid of it, but I do respect it and its power. I don't believe it's a demon. But I do believe it has energy. I don't believe it has tremendous intelligence or anything of the sort. I think it's reactive, not active. So why doesn't it break out of its case? It's reactive, not active." Ed died in 2006 at the age of 79, seven years before the first The Conjuring movie had cinema goers shrieking in their seats. Lorraine died in 2019 at the age of 92, having lived long enough to see their work immortalised in Hollywood blockbusters. This pop culture phenomenon has certainly been strange for Chris to witness. Chris remembers his maternal grandparents as "just good people" and far more ordinary than the "pedestal" of "Hollywood fantasy" would suggest. They were open to changing with the times and admitting they were wrong when needed. Chris recalled: "Even my grandmother said the best psychic in the world is only right 60 per cent of the time, which is a terrible average to change your life." While the couple did both enjoy painting spooky pictures, Ed wasn't a keen singer or guitar player, as was depicted in the blockbuster franchise. Chris doesn't see too much of his grandparents in the portrayals, however, he admits to having felt emotional during a scene in The Conjuring 3, when Ed presents Lorraine with a gazebo - an event which actually occurred in real life. Grandma Lorraine was soft on her grandson and sweetly fond of keeping chickens when she wasn't tackling otherworldly mysteries, but also wasn't one to be crossed. Grandad Ed could be a "joker" when it came to the spooky nature of their work, especially when it came to his "Halloween room" in the basement, which connected to the museum. Chris laughed: "Oh, he could be a pain sometimes. I was already afraid. And he'd have me going down the stairs to the basement and have rubber bats dropping on my head and things like that." As for his own experiences with the museum, Chris has only encountered one inexplicable occurrence, which occurred when he invited a friend to see the eerie display. This was after the death of his grandfather, and Chris and his friend stopped by Union Cemetery. In life, Ed had been "fascinated" by Union Cemetery, a spot said to be haunted by the spectral 'White Lady'. They stopped by his grandparents' home and museum on the way to visit Ed's grave in Stepney. And what at first seemed like an ordinary trip turned extraordinary once they looked back at the photos they'd taken. Chris told us, "We took photos there first. Then we went to the museum, my grandmother told us, 'Go right ahead'. I took pictures of her at my grandfather's desk. I took a picture of her with Annabelle and everywhere else. Then we went and visited my grandfather's grave and took pictures there. She's looking at all these photos, and there's no problem. But the next morning, when we go to look at the photos again, Union Cemetery is there. My grandfather's grave is there, but everything that we took in the museum was gone."
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Annabelle doll that inspired multiple horror movies coming to Lexington Scarefest
LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — Lexington horror fans can get a chilling up-close and personal experience with the inspiration for the highest-grossing horror franchise in film history. Annabelle, the terrifying Raggedy Ann doll that spent decades locked away in the occult museum of the famous paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, is coming to ScareFest 2025 in Lexington. Annabelle doll that inspired multiple horror movies coming to Lexington Scarefest $8 million PFAS water project moves forward in Morganfield Lexington nonprofit in dire need of resources for military members The Central Bank Center announced that the doll, supposedly possessed by the malevolent spirit of Annabelle Higgins, will thrill and terrify horror fans as part of the Warrens' Occult Museum Experience. The Conjuring cinematic universe began in 2013 with 'The Conjuring,' followed by 'Annabelle' in 2014. The lore behind the Annabelle doll is most famously traced to the account of a nursing student, Donna, who was given the doll as a birthday present by her mother. Within days of being given the doll, Donna and her roommate, Angie, noticed Annabelle began mysteriously moving around the house and standing on its feet. Read more of the latest Lexington & central Kentucky news Soon, the two women said they noticed Annabelle leaving written messages on parchment paper, something Donna claimed she didn't keep in the apartment. A friend of Donna and Angie, named Lou, claimed he had terrifying recurring dreams involving the doll and was convinced it wasn't a dream. Lou said the doll would climb up his leg and stop at his chest. He later claimed that, after hearing loud rustling in an empty room in the apartment, he found Annabelle tossed aside in the corner of the room. Lou said that when he turned to leave the room, he was attacked by something he couldn't see and had seven distinct claw marks on his chest. The claw marks supposedly disappeared after two days. The Warrens investigated the claims surrounding Annabelle and took it home to their museum-like basement, where the doll was sealed in a special glass case with the words 'Warning, positively do not open.' The Warren's museum stayed open in their Connecticut home until it was closed in 2018 due to zoning issues. Annabelle will be joined at Scarefest by horror icon Robert Englund, who is famous for portraying Freddy Krueger, and 90 celebrity guests from Oct. 17 – Oct. 19. Tickets are available for those brave enough to come face-to-face with Annabelle here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Gizmodo
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
James Wan's Ventriloquist Horror Flick Is Ready to Be Rediscovered
It's not the frightfest it was intended to be, but 'Dead Silence' is an entertaining foreshadowing of the director's later successes. In 2007, James Wan was a horror up-and-comer who'd scored a huge hit with 2004's Saw, which had by then already released its first two sequels with a third on the way. But before Insidious and The Conjuring he made a couple of one-offs: the Kevin Bacon vigilante thriller Death Sentence, and the ventriloquist horror tale Dead Silence. The latter was just added to Shudder, and though it was a bust 18 years ago, it's now a fun one to revisit—especially taking into account all that Wan and his frequent collaborator Leigh Whannell, who scripted Dead Silence, have accomplished since then. Though they were still just the Saw guys at the time, you can easily pick out certain narrative choices and imagery that would later become touchstones of their work. Saw's game-obsessed Jigsaw puppet was already entered into the record ahead of Dead Silence, and it's echoed here in Billy, the main ventriloquist dummy in a movie that gives him a lot of evil toy back-ups. The white face, the ghoulishly hinged jaw, and the fondness for bow ties are all shared characteristics, though Billy has luminous blue eyes that peer around in sinister ways the audience notices far before the characters do. Wan is notably a huge fan of cursed objects; the Conjuring cinematic universe is built around them. It can't be a coincidence that Annabelle—a doll even more ghastly than Billy—is the most charismatic escapee from Ed and Lorraine Warren's stash of occult treasures. (Wan's Instagram handle? 'Creepypuppet'.) Dead Silence also hints at stylistic elements that would enter Wan's later work, with eerie sound design that plays up silence as much as shrieks, as well as jump scares that predate the furious old-lady entity in Insidious, as well as the Nun's fondness for dramatically emerging from the shadows… then contorting her face to bring out her demonic side. You also can't ignore the fact that Saw mainstay Donnie Wahlberg is also in Dead Silence, playing a familiar sort of scruffy police detective. This version of the character is more skeptical than the corrupt cop in Saw; he's fond of issuing warnings like 'You don't want to make me chase you!' as he races after the protagonist into an abandoned theater full of haunted dolls. He also has a weird obsession with his battery-operated razor, a tic that leads nowhere despite being foregrounded as a key personality trait. Dead Silence's set-up also hints at Wan supernatural stories to come, with a malevolent figure in the past poking its way across generations to make sure a curse never dies. Unfortunately the main character, Jamie—Ryan Kwanten, just prior to True Blood—isn't as compelling as the central figures in Insidious or The Conjuring. He's just sort of an unmemorable dude, though he is a determined one. When his wife dies in an absolutely hideous way—the very night a ventriloquist dummy is delivered to their apartment from an unknown sender—he heads straight to his hometown, where his estranged father (Bob Gunton) lives with his suspiciously young and glamorous new wife (Amber Valletta). Though Dead Silence takes place in 2007, it's set in a reality seemingly devoid of cell phones and Google searches. There are land lines galore, and historical exposition comes courtesy of a mortician's extended flashback as well as a literal scrapbook that Jamie happens to come across. There's also a nursery rhyme that references the town's boogeyman figure: a theater performer named Mary Shaw so obsessed with the dolls in her act she insisted they be buried with her… each with their own tiny coffin and grave marker. There's even more to the backstory that surfaces as Jamie digs deeper—including a decades-old cold case involving a missing child, and an extended bit about tongues being ripped out that seems like it should tie into the 'throwing your voice' part of ventriloquism, but the details don't quite come together there. Still, 'Be careful! If you go looking for answers, you just might find them' is the advice the mortician passes on to Jamie (naturally, he never even considers abiding by that), and Dead Silence agreeably ties up most of its plot threads by the end. It also has an absolute scream of a twist ending that makes you think perhaps, just maybe, Wan and Whannell had campier ambitions for this story. As it plays out onscreen, Dead Silence skews a little too much toward taking itself too seriously, especially considering the sheer amount of dolls involved. It's also filmed with a relentlessly dour blue-tinged filter, which is maybe the greatest sin committed here, as well as what marks it so clearly as a mid-2000s relic. If you don't mind turning up the brightness to ease that gloom, though, you can have a jolly good time watching this one. Don't be surprised if you have the urge to watch a few more Wan flicks once you're done. Dead Silence is now streaming on Shudder.
Hindustan Times
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
'What a lucky day to be an Indian': Internet's meltdown over haunted doll Annabelle getting 'lost' will have you bawling
Annabelle needs no introduction. A horror fan or not, the Conjuring franchise's genre-defining hold on pop culture made sure that 'the world's most haunted doll', essentially became a household name. Now even if one is a non-believer, real-life lore coupled with the movie plots have at least ensured this much that news of 'her' being reportedly lost or stolen is enough to send the internet into a frenzied panic. Some excerpts from the hilarious meltdown: "I am safe. I am in india. Good luck y'all ☺️🖐🏻", "hahahahahaha what a lucky day to be an indian", "HOW DID THEY LOSE THE HAUNTED DOLL?!?!", "get her in the White House, theres a certain someone who she might like", "WHY DID THEY EVEN MOVE HER???", "2025 is gonna be interesting", "THEY LOST HER????? AFTER THE FIRE???? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM?? SHE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO GET OUT!!!!!", "I'm living in an interesting time in history" and "That means more Annabelle movies on the way 🥳🥳", to quote a few. Our personal favourite though, happens to be this one — "Jay hanuman gyan gun sagar📿🧿". A post shared by Kimberly Rhoades (@kimmi_rhoades) Now before you join in on the madness, just know that Annabelle isn't really lost, nor was she stolen. Earlier this month, the infamous doll was out on the Devils on the Run Tour, organised by the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR). When not cashing in on her cinematic fame, Annabelle is housed in the NESPR's Warrens' Occult Museum, established by paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, around whose work the Conjuring franchise has been curated. Reports of her having been 'stolen' or being 'lost' emerged after a few tourists shared they hadn't caught a glimpse of her on her Louisiana trip. The fact that a damning fire broke out at the nearby Nottoway Plantation (now the Nottoway Resort in White Castle), during her alleged 'absence' only heightened the madness plaguing the internet. That being said, there seems to be official proof that Annabelle is in fact, exactly where she is supposed to be. NESPR lead investigator Dan Rivera shared a TikTok in which he showed his audience that the haunted doll was actually tucked away exactly where she should be, in the occult museum. Annabelle's next little trip will be to the 2025 Rock Island Roadhouse Esoteric Expo on October 4 in Rock Island, Illinois — an expedition everybody is going to have their eyes peeled for, given this time's hysteria!
Daily Tribune
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Tribune
Annabelle Missing? Viral Panic Debunked as Paranormal Team Confirms Haunted Doll is Safe
Social media was ablaze this weekend after rumors circulated that the infamous Annabelle doll had vanished during a paranormal tour stop in Louisiana. Fueled by a recent fire at the historic Nottoway Resort and eerie coincidences, panic spread online with users fearing the worst: the escape of one of the world's most notorious haunted artifacts. But rest easy — Annabelle is right where she belongs. Paranormal researcher Dan Rivera of the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR) confirmed via video that the doll remains securely housed in its sealed case at the Warrens' Occult Museum in Connecticut. Rivera recorded the footage amid rising speculation that the doll had disappeared while on display during a cross-country tour. 'Annabelle may be scary,' Rivera said in a statement, 'but she isn't going anywhere — at least, not without the Warrens' permission.' The fire that broke out days ago at the Nottoway Resort in White Castle, Louisiana, sparked online conspiracy theories, with many falsely linking it to Annabelle's alleged disappearance. Although the blaze caused no injuries, its proximity to a recent paranormal event added fuel to the internet hysteria. 'I just saw a post on Facebook that they LOST THE ANNABELLE DOLL? I'm fleeing the country, goodbye,' one X (formerly Twitter) user joked. Another wrote, 'THEY LOST THE ANNABELLE DOLL?? … I was already not able to sleep 😭😭😭' Despite the viral reaction, officials have confirmed no connection between the fire and the doll, which has not left the museum. Annabelle, a simple Raggedy Ann doll believed by famed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren to be possessed by a malevolent spirit, rose to prominence in the 1970s and later gained pop culture infamy through the Conjuring film franchise. Though her image inspires fear, her reality is far less cinematic. She remains securely contained behind glass, monitored by the Warrens' museum caretakers. For now, the ghost stories can rest. Annabelle is home — and she's not wandering.
