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.
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
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.
Dear Robert
I was reading something else and your accidentally when in to the article about you. I apologize for reading and looking at your picture without your permission. Please forgive me.
Dear Robert
Please do forgive me for getting Looking up about you and disturbing you without your consent
Please do forgive me and I sincerely and wholeheartedly apologize .
Dear Robert,
I am sorry for looking at your pictures and watching your videos without permission. People say you curse people who take pictures of you without permission but there are still many apology letters from those who have looked at your pictures and doing a research on you on the internet. I accidently looked at one of your pictures on while browsing on 4chan and I do not know if the person who took it had asked for your permission or not. I did not expect that to happen, I never thought someone would post a picture of you on that site. I was scared so I had to look for your information and found out so many people had to apologize to you. I meant no disrespect. Please forgive and please don’t harm my friends, family and me. They had done nothing wrong. Again, I do apologize and I knew my mistake
Thank you,
Mike
Dear Robert,
I am so sorry that I read this article and looked at your picture without your permission. I was simply curious, and I apologize. Please do not curse me or anyone I know, as I did not know I needed your permission but do now!
Dear Robert?
I am very sorry for looking at pictures of you and reading articles about you. I did not know that I needed your permission to do that. I will delete my history and all that. Im deeply sorry about that. I was very curious but im sorry. It wont happen again.
dear Robert *** ^ i didnt mean the question mark
I’m so terribly sorry for looking you up without permission, Robert. I didn’t know it would offend you so much. I’m sorry, I was just very intrigued. Please lift the curse off me, thank you
Dear Robert,
My ex-wife is a horrible bitch, could you curse her? Please and thank you!
Dear Robert, my name is Elise West and I’m a paranormal expert… I new I shouldn’t take your picture without asking…but I did it anyway due to how curious I was. And then this happened… Anyway im NOT here to apologize due to the fact that I did nothing wrong. I hope more of my fellow colleges will stand up to you with me, IM NOT SCARED!!! please comment if you would like to know what happened. Anyway you don’t scare me…bye.
I am also sorry for looking you up without permission. I saw you on a TV show and was merely curious about you. Please forgive me and accept my sincerest apologies and respect. Please don’t curse me or my family. Thank you.
Hello! I’m a paranormal expert and saw your comment….its been a few days and I have a question. Did any thing bad happen yet? Just curious. Please write me back ASAP. Thank you.
Sorry for looking you up without permission Robert
Ah, my life is already shite and there\’s aught but nothing a doll can do to. Whatever Robby.
Dear Robert I’m sorry for looking at your pictures and watching videos of you please forgive me
Robert I was unaware that I needed your permission to look up stuff about you, please have mercy on me and the people I care about. I think you’re awesome.
Dear robert, im sorry for all the wrongs people have done too you…
I’m sorry Robert for taking a picture without your permission I didn’t see the “ do not take a picture without Roberts permission “ I’m really sorry please forgive me
My dad is sorry too Please forgive us
Dear ,Robert please forgive me for looking at your pictures and videos of you without you’re permission. Please forgive me I was just curious about you I deeply apologize.
Dear Robert,
We ask for your forgiveness. We did not know that we weren’t supposed to look at pictures and read the article with out your permission. We are dearly sorry and hope that you can forgive us for everything. Please don’t haunt us. We are so sorry, Robert.
Dear Robert, I’m sorry for looking you up, reading about you and looking at your pictures without your permission. I was just curious. Please forgive me.
I’m so sorry Robert for looking at your picture I’m deeply sorry for looking at your picture all these times without your permission I’m so sorry.
Dear Robert,
I’m very sorry for looking at this picture without your permission, I didn’t know there would be any pictures in this article when I clicked it. I mean’t no disrespect, please forgive me.
Dear ,Robert please forgive me for looking at your pictures and videos of you without you’re permission. Please forgive me I was just curious about you I deeply apologize.
Dear robert, i am very sorry for looking at your pictures and videos without your permission. I believe in you very much and i was just curious about your story. I had no idea it was wrong of me and i am truly sorry for offending you.
Dear Robert, please forgive me for looking at your picture and video without your permission. My life is quite harsh in real life, so please accept my apologize.
Dear Robert
I’m sorry for looking you up I got curious and I also insulted you a little bit. Please forgive me for my rudeness and looking at your picture without your permission.
Im
Sorry Robert
Dear Robert,
I’m so sorry for looking at your picture and reading your story without your permission. Please forgive me.