I’ve always been a fan of a good bucket list, and one of the items on mine was to go to the annual ‘Blame It On Robert’ party that was held at the Fort East Martello Museum in Key West, Florida every Halloween. The museum was where the original demon dolly, Robert, was displayed in a glass case wearing his little sailor suit and holding his toy lion, and everybody who came to the party dressed the same way.

Unfortunately, by the time I got around to going, the party was no more, but I was still determined to go and visit Robert.

Robert The Doll

Most people these days, when they think of possessed dolls, automatically go to the recent ones that have been portrayed in the movies. They have all been modelled on Robert, who is the original.

The story of Robert the Doll hails back to the early 1900s when a young boy named Robert Eugene Otto was gifted the doll by his father. The Otto family lived at 534 Eaton Street in Key West, which is now known as the Artist House.

Early stories about Robert the Doll, and the ones that grabbed my interest in him, involved one of Gene Otto’s nannies gifting him the doll after his parents had mistreated her, and she put a voodoo curse on him. This resulted in the doll taking on a life of its own and messing with the family on a daily basis by moving objects and moving to different rooms inside the house by himself.

The more realistic story is the one given by the museum that houses him.

Robert the doll was a one of a kind doll made by the Steiff Company of Germany and stood some 40 inches tall. He was brought back from Germany by Gene’s father and given to his son, becoming his constant companion. He’s said to be named Robert after the Otto boy, while Robert Eugene Otto just went by the name Gene.

Young Gene took his doll Robert everywhere with him and they were pretty much inseparable. But Gene was a naughty young boy and when there was trouble in the house, he would blame it on Robert – hence the Blame It On Robert party.

Robert The Doll Starts Misbehaving

Strange and unusual things started to happen around Robert after he arrived in the house. Gene’s parents would often hear Gene talking to the doll and hear an answer in a voice that was not Gene’s. Was Robert talking back? The Otto’s also said that they saw Robert the doll’s face physically change expression right in front of their eyes.

When Gene’s parents died, he moved his wife Anne into the house with him – although why she didn’t live with him before that is a conundrum. Anne didn’t like Robert the doll and so insisted that he be locked in the attic.

Gene was an accomplished artist at this point, and he and Anne had many visitors to The Artist House. Their guests used to complain that they heard footsteps running up and down the attic in the night, and childish giggling. Neighbourhood children said they had seen Robert watching them from an attic window as they played in the street.

Gene designed the art gallery at the Fort East Martello Museum, and had plans to turn his own house, The Artist House, into a museum as well. Unfortunately, this never happened and Gene passed away in 1974.

Mischief Continues

According to the Robert the Doll website, mischief continued after Gene Otto’s death. Tenants who rented rooms at The Artist House often heard the childish giggling and the footsteps running across the attic. A plumber even reported that the doll had moved across a room he was working in by itself.

The most disturbing story to come from this was one from Solares Hill news reporter Malcolm Ross and his friends visiting the house. The website states that “Ross’s friends told him Robert’s backstory and pointed out the childrens’ furniture that had been purchased by Gene. It was at this point that Malcolm noticed a change in the dolls expression as if he was following the conversation. One of the men made a comment about what an old fool Gene Otto must have been. Robert’s expression turned to one of disdain. There was some kind of intelligence there. The doll was listening to us.”

Robert Moves To The Museum

A lady named Myrtle Reuter purchased the Artist House in 1974 and took on ownership of Robert The Doll. She kept him with her when she moved in 1980, but gave him to the museum in 1994. Why? She said that Robert was most definitely haunted and kept moving around her house on his own.

Once he arrived at the museum, there are reports that there was a shift in energy throughout the building.

When Robert was put on display inside his custom made glass case, staff said they felt uneasy working around him after the museum closed and said his gaze followed them around the room. They would leave candy by his case to appease him and keep him happy. Cameras and electrical equipment would malfunction around him, but would eerily work if a person asked the doll if it was okay to take his picture.

Allegedly, people who took his picture without permission would return home and start having strange things happen to them. They blamed this on Robert the Doll and were so convinced that he was the reason they were experiencing bad luck, that they would write to him and ask forgiveness for being disrespectful to him. The museum has letters from all over the world on display around Robert’s case.

So is Robert possessed? Is a voodoo curse responsible for his mischief? Or is he haunted by some cheeky little spirit?

Ticking One Off The Bucket List

Myself and my friend Mel visited Key West in November, driving down from Miami. The roads were surprisingly quiet and the drive was beautiful to say the least. I was gleeful at the sight of iguanas popping their heads out of the bushes at the side of the road, just watching the world go by. It’s not really something you see in the UK.

We stayed at the Havana Cabana Hotel on N.Roosevelt Blvd in Key West which was absolutely gorgeous. The rooms were spacious and clean, the staff courteous and friendly, and the pool wonderfully inviting. Food at the bar was reasonably priced and delicious, and there was always a platter of complimentary churros in the lobby that I couldn’t pass without taking one. Not good for the waistline.

A bonus was the free shuttle bus that ran every 30 minutes into the heart of Key West so there was no need to worry about getting back and forth to the hotel if you went into the town to visit.

To go and visit Robert at the museum, we chose to do one of the Ghosts and Gravestones Night Tours which you can book online before you go or pay getting on the bus. This not only gets you into the museum after hours to see Robert in the dark, but also takes you on a tour of all the spooky parts of Key West at night time (which is really the best time) as well as a VIP visit to the Shipwreck Museum.

The tour is fully guided on the bus and at the locations, so you get the full rundown of the history of old Key West.

There are many shops and galleries to visit during the day, but a must is Kermit’s Key Lime Pie Shop, where you can buy all things Key Lime flavoured.

Check out the Fort East Martello Museum and the other museums on offer at the Key West Art and Historical Society Website here https://www.kwahs.org/

If you want to stay in a fun hotel, try the Havan Cabana here https://www.havanacabanakeywesthotel.com/stay/

Read all about Robert the Demon Dolly on his website here https://robertthedoll.org/

And you can book a Ghosts and Gravestones Tour here https://www.ghostsandgravestones.com/key-west

There is also another company that does a full on paranormal investigation at the Fort East Martello Museum with Robert which you can find here https://www.ghostkeywest.com/

I absolutely love Key West and thoroughly enjoyed my trip there – so much so that I intend to go again and fit a lot more in. The only thing I would say is that if you want a Robert the Doll souvenir, you won’t be able to buy one on the night time ghost tours, so maybe visit in the day. And if you’re scared of the dark then definitely visit in the day.

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