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.
Sorry for looking at your photo and showing it to my boyfriend without your consent. Please forgive me I would not have looked had I known
Hi Robert,
I apologize for viewing photos of you without your consent. I’m a believer and hope you may forgive me.
Sincerely,
Kiki
Dear Robert,
Im Sorry For Looking At Pictures of you without your permission, I am very sorry and also for not believing you also. Please Forgive Me.
– Joshua
Dear Robert,
Im sorry for showing you to my friend too.
Hope You the best
– Joshua
Dear Robert,
It was not my intention to view your photo without your consent when it came across my path. I am truly sorry and hope you are able to forgive me for viewing the photo. I do wish you the best.
My sincerest apologies
Dear Robert,
I am very sorry for looking at your pictures online without your consent. Please forgive me. I hope everything gets better for you.
A.M
Dear Robert, please forgive me if I have offended you in any way shape or form. If I offended you for speaking a prayer on a website, I am sorry and please forgive me. I am also extraordinarily sorry for viewing your pictures online. Please forgive me. Sorry Robert. I have made a mistake and will never do this again. Please remove any curse upon me.
Dear Robert,
I am sorry for seeing a picture of you, i’m truly sorry if I disrespected you in anyway. i truly hope you forgive me and don’t cause me or anyone else any harm, for i am very sorry. I am a Thai person who may be the first person to apologize to you very much. i am without knowing if the picture was taken with your consent. please forgive me, i am really sorry.
Dear Robert,
I’m very sorry for looking at photographs of you without permission. You have all of my love and respect. I am very sorry.
Sincerely,
Emma
Dear Robert,
I’m very sorry for seeing pictures of you. I meant no offence, please forgive me. I’m sorry.Really sorry!
Dear Robert,
You owe me 50 bucks bro I’m comin to collect my money better pay up bud
Sort Robert for looking at pictures of you without your permission I was just curious and it won’t happen again please don’t curse me with bad luck
Dear Robert,
I’m so sorry for looking at pictures of you without your permission. I was just curious so I searched you up.
Dear Robert,
I am sorry robert for looking at a picture of you with out your permission yesterday day on tiktok and today please forgive me for doing that. I don’t want to disrespect you in any way and I apologize to you. Please forgive me for looking at your pictures. I stumbled across them and I didn’t mean to look at them please forgive me
Sincerely,
Ivan
Dear robert,
I am so sorry for looking at your pictures online and on from tiktok the other day with out your permission please forgive me I did not understand and I did not mean to disrespect you in any way please forgive me I was just curious about you please forgive me
Sincerely,
Ivan
Dear Robert I’m very sorry I looked at your pictures online without your permission please forgive me
Dear Robert
Me and my son are very sorry we looked at your pictures without your permission.please forgive us.
Dear Robert,
I am truly very sorry for looking at a picture of you without knowing if the picture was taken with your consent. Please forgive me.
John
Dear Robert:
Sorry for looking at your picture online without your permission. I am truly sorry and I hope you will forgive me.
Yours sincerely,
Tristan
Dear Robert,
i’m sorry for looking you up on the internet and looking at your pictures without your permission. please forgive me.
Dear Robert,
You’re really a handsome boy. I hope your living life to fullest. I am sorry that I looked at your online pictures. I was just curious about your wonderful life. You are an amazing entity.
Yours sincerely,
Gunika
Dear Robert,
I am very sorry for looking at your online picture. My mother, my sister, my dog and I would like to ask for your forgiveness.
Dear Robert,
I’m very sorry for seeing pictures of you. I meant no offence, please forgive me. I’m sorry.Really sorry!
Dear Robert,
I am truly very sorry if I have offended you by looking at pictures of you online taken without your consent. You did not deserve the blame that you received all of your life. I hope you find peace one day!
Dear Robert,
I’m sorry for looking at pictures of you without your permission. I did not mean too.
Sincerely,
Tom
Dear Robert,
I’m very sorry for seeing pictures of you. I meant no offence, please forgive me. I’m sorry.
Dear Robert,
I don’t know if you’ll see this, but I want to let you know that I’m very sorry for looking at pictures of you. I did not take them and I also don’t know if the people who took them even asked for permission. I understand though, I get angry when people take pictures without permission too. I stumbled upon a picture of you before but didn’t know what it was. And just today I saw a picture of you on TikTok and everyone was apologizing for looking at you. I was confused so I searched it up. Please forgive me for doing so, I was very curious. I had no idea that you were blamed on all your life. I get that too because I’m the middle child and I have no self-worth. Of course I’ve never been blamed on for as much things you’ve been through though and I’m very sorry that you had to deal with such misery all your life. I hope one day things can get better for you and once again I’m very sorry for looking at pictures of you Robert. I will try my very best not to stumble upon any videos with your pictures. Please forgive me and don’t harm me or anyone in my life. I’m also very sorry for writing this lengthy paragraph, it’s a bad habit of mine. Anyways, I hope things can get better for you soon. Take care, Robert.
With deepest regards,
Tylee
Dear Robert,
I am truly very sorry for looking at a picture of you without knowing if the picture was taken with your consent. Please forgive me.
Frances