Touring ‘evil' Annabelle doll is blamed for bizarre fire and prison escape that both happened in Louisiana

Daily Mail​

01-06-2025

A tour featuring the famously haunted Annabelle doll has sparked theories that the Raggedy Anne figure's responsible for a number of chaotic events - fiery claims its keepers have rebuked.
Since early May, Annabelle's headed to different parts of the U.S. ahead of a Psychic Festival, with stops in West Virginia, Louisiana, and Texas.
Theorists blamed the mannequin presence for a fire that broke out in Louisiana and escaped inmates in New Orleans.
On the move: The doll made stops in West Virginia, Louisiana, and Texas, but what followed her visits was a series of unfortunate events that were linked to her
The doll's famous history began in 1970 after she was gifted to a Hartford nurse and then began moving on her own and, in one instance, allegedly attacked the owner's fiance.
Lorraine and Ed Warren, renowned paranormal researchers and founders of Warren's Occult Museum, investigated the doll's paranormal activity and gave her a permanent spot in their museum.
Annabelle was displayed in a protective case, fitted with carved prayers and crosses as well as a sign made by Ed, which read, 'Warning: Positively Do Not Open.'
The Warrens had always warned about moving Annabelle but for those who took the doll on tour, they vehemently defended doing so and said it is what the owners would have wanted.
Paranormal investigator Chris Gilloren, who was part of the tour team, said: '[Annabelle's] not a spectacle, but it's a great way to get people talking about evil. That's what Ed and Lorraine wanted to do. They wanted to expose the devil, and tell people, advise people that the devil is real.'
Ryan Buell, a paranormal investigator who also joined the tour, agreed that it was about education and continuing to spread the Warrens' work.
Buell said: 'We keep the legacy and name of Ed and Lorraine alive. That they devoted their lives to this work, that there are people our there who still dedicate their own lives to helping people who are having these experiences.
'It's not that people just went in and saw a doll and they're like, "Oh cool!" We sat there and we talked to people. We talked about the dangers. We talk about the precautions.'
However, the tour was not without it's strange and creepy moments that fueled wild online speculation on Annabelle's ability to leave a path of destruction as she moved around the country.
On May 15, as the doll left Louisiana - her second tour stop - the historic 166-year-old Nottoway Plantation was destroyed in a blazing fire.
Online speculation quickly turned to the doll's close presence as the reason the historic site went up in flames, but her caretakers are not convinced.
Gilloren said: 'I don't know where these people come up with these... I mean, it's taken off, it's got a mind of its own.
'We don't think it has anything to do with us, of course, or Annabelle.'
One post on X said: 'Three days ago they moved Annabelle, one of the most haunted dolls from Monroe, Connecticut, to New Orleans, Louisiana, and now the largest sugarcane plantation in Louisiana burned down AND 11 inmates in a New Orleans Prison escape...
'Didn't the Warrens say she should never be moved?'
Another comment said: 'Taking her down here where there's voodoo and spirits everywhere is actually an idiot move I have to say.'
Many other social media users worried about their own cities, and even contacted those monitoring Annabelle.
Gilloren said: '...the amount of messages, emails that I received through our websites and social medias... they truly believe Annabelle did all this, which makes no sense to me personally... You know, why would she burn it down?'
Gilloren believed that the events were purely coincidental.
Theories that blamed Annabelle for the fire and escaped inmates were just the tip of the iceberg of the strange goings on during the doll's time on the road.
'To our knowledge, it's the first time we brought Annabelle to another haunted location, especially that far out,' Buell said, of their first tour stop in West Virginia State Penitentiary, a famously haunted building.
'What was weird - and I've been to the penitentiary many, many times - when Annabelle was in the prison, the activity around the prison was low.'
Buell added that they had psychic mediums with them in the prison who said that other 'spirits' were 'staying at a distance'.
Despite having worked with Annabelle many times before, Buell still found himself sensing a strange energy surrounding the doll.
He said: 'In New Orleans, myself and Wade, who is a member of NESPR, were mainly the ones giving the talks about the Warren's... and so we would have to stand in front of Annabelle for hours,' he said.
'And the first day, Wade and I looked at each other and we're like, the energy is so off, like it feels so weird and he totally agreed.'