It has long been rumored that Chucky, the evil serial killer doll in the movieChild’s Play, was based in part on a real-life, 104-year-old doll known as Robert the Doll. The pint-sized chunk of straw-stuffed clothing and cloth was alleged to be possessed by evil spirits that terrorized every family that was unfortunate enough to come into possession of the devilish toy.
There was married couple Mr. and Mrs. Otto moved to Key West in 1986, ready to settle down. With them were several servants brought from the Bahamas’ to help them manage the house and care for their son once he arrived in the year 1900. The servant placed to care for Robert Eugene “Gene” Otto was a young Bohemian girl who had just lost her son. In what many speculate was actually an act of revenge, a servant gave Gene a doll lion. Immediately Gene took to the doll and the two became inseparable. Eugene gave the doll his first name of Robert and made everyone else call him Eugene (Gene) instead.
Every parent has a child with an imaginary friend that they play with and talk to. But not every parent will hear their child answer himself in a different voice. Neighbors began to claim that they would see Robert move around from window to window when the family was not in the house. Children loathed walking by the Otto house for fear of Robert glaring down at them from the window. Whenever an accident, such as a breaking plate, would happen, Gene was quick to say, “Robert did it! Robert did it!”
After several years of strange events happening, Robert was finally put up in the attic. Gene finally left his childhood home to study in France where he met his wife, Anne. They were married and moved into his childhood home, now known as “The Artist House” that was willed to him at his father’s death. Upon his return to the house, he discovered Robert in the attic and was upset. As compensation for his years spent up there, Gene had a room built for Robert in the third floor.
As if he were trying to make up for lost time, Gene took Robert everywhere in the house with him, including the dinner table and next to his bed. Anne had begun to question her husband’s sanity. But with his death in 1972, Robert was put in the attic as she moved to Boston and allowed the house to be rented out. In the lease agreement she said, 'Robert must at all times remain the sole occupant of the attic room,' or the contract was void. This remained true up until her death in 1976.
No comments:
Post a Comment