The Curse Of Robert The Doll

I snapped a photo of Robert The Doll before reading that he puts curses on anyone who takes his photograph. Uh oh. Surely it’s just a myth, I thought. Curious, I began reading about the doll’s history. In 1903, Robert was given to four-year old Gene Otto, who lived in Key West. As Gene grew up he blamed everything bad that happened on the doll. By the time Gene was married, Robert had taken the blame for a lifetime of lies, misdeeds, and mischief.

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Robert The Doll is on display at the East Martello Museum and Fort in Key West

Some say Robert’s face had begun to change by the time Gene died in 1974, that his eyes grew more expressive. People insisted that the doll moved around and could be heard giggling behind their backs. Many who came in contact with Robert experienced bad luck, as if the doll was getting even for all the years he had been made a scapegoat. The curse of Robert The Doll grew into such a well-known legend in Key West that whenever things went wrong, locals would simply shrug and say, “Blame it on Robert.” But Robert’s real fame came when the “Chucky” horror film series (Child’s Play, Child’s Play 2, Child’s Play 3, Bride of Chucky, Seed of Chucky, etc.) came out, as they were said to have been modeled on the real-life story of Robert the Doll.

There are many theories about why Robert behaves the way he does. Some believe it is an ancient curse. Others say it is voodoo. Still others insist that Gene Otto’s ghost has returned to the doll whom he loved so much. The museum cats seem to believe in Robert’s dark powers – they keep their distance when staring up at the glass case in East Martello Museum where Robert is enthroned. People, on the other hand, tend to doubt the legend, and have suffered the consequences. Letters scattered at Robert’s feet and tacked up on an adjacent wall are testimonials from dozens of unbelievers who were cursed by Robert The Doll, such as this one:

Since our visit to the museum, we’ve been under a dark cloud.

I began to develop a rather severe toothache. Two days later, Hurricane Charly cut our vacation short and we joined the parade of evacuees leaving the islands. We were evacuated from our vacation spot three days early with my mouth in tremendous pain. My sister-in-law was also having female health issues. We were all forced to make alternate travel arrangements on the run.

My sister-in-law lives in Clearwater. After a problem laden and horrendous trip, she finally got home, only to be evacuated from there too. She packed up her two cats and headed for her parents house in Winter Haven and ended up in the middle of the storm there. They lost power for two days.

When we arrived in Miami for our flight back to Indianapolis, the plane broke and they had to “find” a different one for us. The following day, back in Indiana, I went to the dentist to learn that my tooth had abscessed and I had to have a root canal.

Last night we had a huge thunderstorm. Our house was hit by lightning – not once, but TWICE! We were unplugging things, but not fast enough. We lost three TV’s and a large satellite dish. The first hit, which sounded like a gunshot in the house, took one large TV and the satellite dish, and the second hit got two more TV’s. Again, the sound was horribly frightening.

Please do me a favor and tell Robert that we did not mean to anger or offend him and we’re sorry if we did. His photo did turn out good, so he sat very nicely for me. Would he like it back?

Yours sincerely,

Cindy Lyons

Battle Ground, Indiana

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Hundreds of letters have been sent to the Museum by visitors who beg Robert’s forgiveness and ask him to remove his curse

As for me, well, Robert and I were introduced several days ago and so far I’ve suffered no ill effects. But then, I’m not taking any chances. Like the cats, I choose to believe.

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1,430 thoughts on “The Curse Of Robert The Doll”

  1. Robert,

    Please accept my deepest apologies. I shall refrain from looking at any more photos, or literature about you.

    Reply
    • I am sorry Robert ,I saw your pictures without your permission.Please forgive me I will not see or read your story anymore .I was aware before,so please forgive me I did not mean to hurt you.

      Reply
      • I am so sorry that I looked you up without permission, I am aware of your existence. Please do not harm. I am so sorry and I ask for your forgiveness.

        Reply
  2. Dear

    Robert, Please accept my apologies for researching about you as I was intrigued about your story for the first time. I did not ask for permission to see photos of you or read about your endeavors through the years. If allowed to be forgiven I will prevent myself to withstand from looking at future photos from you. I hope you shall find peace and happiness!

    Reply
  3. Dear Robert
    I am sorry for reading about you and looking at your photo without permission, please forgive us. Your story is very interesting.

    Reply
    • Dear Robert,
      I am incredibly sorry for looking up information about you and looking at your photo without your permission. I will never do such thing again and I do hope you can forgive me. Thank you.

      Reply
  4. Dear Robert,I apologise for looking at information about you.In all honesty,your story is very interesting.Thank you.

    Reply
  5. Robert I’m sorry for looking at your picture and even reading information about you I did not know that you did not give me consent to do this. I am very sorry and will not do this again

    thank you for reading Azure

    Reply
  6. Dear Robert, I would like to apologise for looking at pictures of you and finding out information about you. I just thought that you were incredibly interesting.

    Reply
  7. Dear Robert, I am very sorry for searching you on the Internet and I hope you can forgive me for doing so. If I have offended you in any way, please forgive me and I would like to say that I’m sorry about this. I hope you understand. Thank you.

    Reply
  8. Dear Robert, I am sorry for searching and looking at the picture of you without your permission! Please forgive me!

    Reply
  9. Sorry Robert,I wanted to write your history to show my friends.I mean no harm.I will not look up you again.But I can’t promise that.

    -Hairis?

    Reply
  10. Dear Robert,

    I am sorry for looking upon your photograph & researching about you wothout your consent.

    I mean no harm. Please forgive me.

    Sincerely,
    Gati

    Reply
  11. Dear Robert,
    I’m sorry for ignorantly researching you and looking at your picture. If it upsets you, I will never do it again, now that I know better. I’m sorry that you keep getting ridiculed and researched without your permission and I sincerely truly hope that you are able to be at peace.
    Sincerely,
    Nourhan

    Reply
  12. I’m truly sorry for watching videos of you and looking at you’re picture. I was just curious about you want wanted to know more. Again I apologize for looking at you. I mean no harm

    Reply
  13. dear robert, i apologize for seeing pictures off and reading about you without your permission, hope deeply you can forgive me and i hope you find peace a rest.
    yours truly
    david

    Reply

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