Nestled in Monroe, Connecticut, you’ll find the Warren Occult Museum. It’s an intriguing attraction for horror movie fans and those obsessed with the paranormal. The Warrens Occult Museum is one of the oldest museums of its kind. The Warrens collected memorabilia throughout their investigations. They wanted to lock away these items that contained evil spirits to protect the public. This world-renowned museum has attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the world. The museum is actually in the basement of their residence in Monroe, Conn., and not a separate building in town. Inch for inch, their museum houses the largest array of obscure and haunted artifacts. Items used in extremely dangerous occult activities and diabolical practices around the world. To touch one of these items would be the opposite of touching something holy, something blessed. Both have since passed away, Ed in 2006 and Lorraine in 2019, but their memories live on in the Warren Occult Museum.
The Original Annabelle Doll
However, the most prevalent item in the museum is One of the most famous haunted dolls of all time, the cursed Raggedy Ann doll by the name of Annabelle, which was said to have killed a man. Annabelle is imprisoned in a holy box at the Warrens’ museum, keeping the evil doll from wreaking havoc, backlit by a haunting red light. While the real doll (a Raggedy Ann doll) doesn’t look as terrifying as the doll from the movie, it still has an unnerving presence about it.
Admittedly, the doll did not do everything it was shown to do in the movies. But the fact that the Warrens thought it prudent to keep the doll locked away in a holy box shows just how much they feared whatever’s lying inside it.
As the Warrens tell it, the antique doll was purchased from a hobby shop in the 1968 as a birthday gift to a girl named Donna. Donna was in college, and shared a small apartment with her roommate, and Annabelle quickly became a beloved piece of decoration…. until the two girls began to notice the doll moving on its own. Often times Donna would come to find the doll had moved from its spot in the living room to her bedroom, other times it would seem to cross its legs when people weren’t looking, and sometimes the doll was even blamed for writing messages like “help us” in a child-like scrawl. Eventually, Donna and her roommate called in the help of a medium who told them the doll was possessed by the spirit of a woman named Annabelle Higgins. According to the medium, Annabelle really liked the girls, and wanted to remain in their care.
It was at this point that the Warrens got involved, and they had a feeling that Annabelle was a wee bit of a liar. Their case files tell of the doll attacking the girls’ friend Lou. Looking down toward his feet he saw the doll, Annabelle. It began to slowly glide up his leg, moved over his chest and then stopped. Within seconds the doll was strangling him. Paralyzed and gasping for breath Lou, at the point of asphyxiation, blacked out. Lou awoke the next morning, certain it wasn’t a dream, Lou was determined to rid himself of that doll and the spirit that possessed it.
Ed and Lorraine agreed to take the rag doll back home with them. Upon leaving, Ed placed the doll in the back seat and agreed he would not take the interstate in the event the inhuman spirit still resided with the doll. His suspicions were all too correct and in no time the Warrens felt themselves as a the object of a vicious hatred. Then at each dangerous curve the car swerved and stalled with every corner causing the power steering and brakes to fail. Repeatedly the car verged on collision. Ed reached into the back seat into his black bag and took out a vial of holy water and doused the doll making the sign of the cross over it. The disturbances stopped immediately and the Warren’s arrived safely home.
After the Warrens arrived home, Ed sat the doll in a chair next to his desk. The doll levitated a number of times in the beginning, and then it seemed to fall inert. During the ensuing weeks, however, it began showing up in various rooms of the house. When the Warrens were away and had the doll locked up in the outer office building, they would often return to find it sitting comfortably upstairs in Ed’s easy chair when they opened the main front door.
The doll also showed a hatred for clergymen who came to the house. The Warrens built a glass case for the doll, and after having it blessed by a priest, placed Annabelle inside. Today, visitors to the Warren Occult Museum can see Annabelle in her glass case with a giant handwritten sign warning visitors not to touch. According to the Warrens, the last person to break that rule was promptly killed in an automobile accident. This doll also reportedly slashed a grown man several times across the chest. Although Annabelle has been exorcised several times it is believed that some energy is still attached to this doll.
The Warrens locked up Annabelle doll is kept in their Occult Museum. There was also a tarot card on the glass door as a form of protection, though the artwork of both the card and the sign, differ in real life.
The Warrens Occult Museum is a place that any seasoned paranormal investigator or enthusiast in the world would agree, is a must see of over 50 years of occult items. Unfortunately, as of right now, the Warren’s Occult Museum is closed due to zoning regulations since it’s located on their private property in the basement. The local police chief explained that this is a residential area, and there’s no room for traffic and parking. Tony Spera, Ed and Lorraine’s son-in-law, has tried to comply with regulations and keep unwanted visitors away, but up to this point, the Warren Occult Museum has remained closed. The Warrens Occult Museum is currently only viewable via Warrenology events.
Although Tony Spera and others would like to reopen the Warren Occult Museum, it doesn’t look like that will happen. It’s listed as “permanently closed” on Atlas Obscura. Since the Warrens emphasized the importance of not touching anything in the museum, there doesn’t appear to be any conversation about moving the items to another location either. Maybe one day it will reopen for visitors.
Sources:
Official Ed and Lorraine Warren Channel Via youtube.com
Roadtrippers.com
Atlas Obscura.com
https://www.travelchannel.com/interests/haunted/articles/haunted-easton-cemetery
https://screenrant.com/the-conjuring-creepiest-items-occult-museum/
https://mundoseriex.com/paranormal/story-shadow-doll-warrens-occult-museum/
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