WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.339 You are now listening to Cryptid Cocktail Party 00:00:39.789 --> 00:00:41.750 Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of 00:00:41.750 --> 00:00:43.170 Cryptid Cocktail Party, a show where we have 00:00:43.170 --> 00:00:44.969 a few drinks, share a few laughs, take a dive 00:00:44.969 --> 00:00:47.189 into the unknown. I'm your host, Dave. Joined, 00:00:47.189 --> 00:00:49.409 as always, by my wonderful co -host, Sarge. How's 00:00:49.409 --> 00:00:51.929 it going, Sarge? Fucking great. Fucking hostile. 00:00:53.390 --> 00:00:58.649 Hostile? Yeah, I saw Pantera last night. That'll 00:00:58.649 --> 00:01:00.490 do. Yeah, but usually that's like a type of rage 00:01:00.490 --> 00:01:02.570 you don't want, because it's usually associated. 00:01:02.570 --> 00:01:06.950 No, no, that's mostly coke and steroids. with 00:01:06.950 --> 00:01:09.989 their fan base. But I did see Amon Amarth, and 00:01:09.989 --> 00:01:12.750 they did a phenomenal job. Hell yeah, dude. Nothing 00:01:12.750 --> 00:01:14.790 like a good Viking metal band. Did they make 00:01:14.790 --> 00:01:17.390 you do the rowing thing? No. No, we didn't do 00:01:17.390 --> 00:01:19.189 any, because they were opening for Pantera, so 00:01:19.189 --> 00:01:22.450 you couldn't have the true Amon Amarth experience. 00:01:23.030 --> 00:01:25.870 Gotcha, gotcha. But I took my 10 -year -old, 00:01:25.989 --> 00:01:28.819 because he's a huge fan. And how was it accurate? 00:01:29.159 --> 00:01:32.260 Oh, God, it was so funny watching him. He's like 00:01:32.260 --> 00:01:35.260 clapping along and he's like got the horns up. 00:01:35.340 --> 00:01:37.939 He was into it, man. Fuck yeah, dude. Nothing 00:01:37.939 --> 00:01:42.359 like corrupting the youth, man. I love it. That's 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:44.439 the plan. That's the plan. He would not wear 00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:47.260 the shirt that I bought him, though. It's a shirt 00:01:47.260 --> 00:01:49.579 that has a rainbow on it and it says Satan loves 00:01:49.579 --> 00:01:51.819 me. He would not wear it. I was so disappointed. 00:01:52.700 --> 00:01:54.340 Is it because of the Satan thing or because it 00:01:54.340 --> 00:01:56.069 had a rainbow on it? I guess a 10 -year -old 00:01:56.069 --> 00:01:58.549 boy. No, he doesn't give a shit about rainbows. 00:01:58.590 --> 00:02:02.450 His sister and brother are queer, so he doesn't 00:02:02.450 --> 00:02:04.969 care. And I did not say that in a derogatory 00:02:04.969 --> 00:02:07.370 way. It's just how my accent makes it sound. 00:02:11.849 --> 00:02:14.969 Yeah, the Boston accent betrays a lot of people 00:02:14.969 --> 00:02:16.750 when they try to say nice things, I feel like. 00:02:17.129 --> 00:02:20.770 Yeah. I mean, the good news is there's no hard 00:02:20.770 --> 00:02:27.340 R's. I mean... He can't speak. God damn it. All 00:02:27.340 --> 00:02:33.879 right. Sarge, we have an episode today, and it 00:02:33.879 --> 00:02:39.379 got away from me. I got real angry writing this 00:02:39.379 --> 00:02:44.550 script. I'm very excited. um but i mean i guess 00:02:44.550 --> 00:02:46.889 we should we need to start out real quick um 00:02:46.889 --> 00:02:50.729 so this past friday august 1st 2025 just you 00:02:50.729 --> 00:02:52.770 know just to right away make the episode no longer 00:02:52.770 --> 00:02:55.710 evergreen uh some pretty wild news came out in 00:02:55.710 --> 00:02:57.849 the paranormal world do you know what i'm talking 00:02:57.849 --> 00:03:01.250 about no no i live in a cave okay well for you 00:03:01.250 --> 00:03:03.509 and for anyone listening who hasn't heard yet 00:03:03.509 --> 00:03:06.650 uh part -time comedian and full -time fuckboy 00:03:06.650 --> 00:03:09.469 slash jordan peterson guest matt rife who you 00:03:09.469 --> 00:03:11.509 all may know as the crowd work guy on TikTok, 00:03:11.629 --> 00:03:14.590 along with an equally annoying comedian slash 00:03:14.590 --> 00:03:18.210 YouTuber named Elton Castie, have announced that 00:03:18.210 --> 00:03:20.770 they have officially purchased the Warren family 00:03:20.770 --> 00:03:23.710 home as well as the attached occult museum in 00:03:23.710 --> 00:03:27.409 Monroe, Connecticut. What is it with that place 00:03:27.409 --> 00:03:31.389 in Fuckboys? Wasn't fucking that dickhead from 00:03:31.389 --> 00:03:33.550 Ghost Adventures involved in that for a while, 00:03:33.629 --> 00:03:36.229 Zach Baggins? Kind of. He has his own occult 00:03:36.229 --> 00:03:41.629 museum in Las Vegas. Yeah. So not only do these 00:03:41.629 --> 00:03:44.569 two absolute goobers own the home and the museum, 00:03:44.669 --> 00:03:48.210 the purchase also included the entire collection 00:03:48.210 --> 00:03:51.849 of roughly 750 supposedly haunted objects once 00:03:51.849 --> 00:03:53.669 owned and curated by Ed and Lorraine Warren. 00:03:54.110 --> 00:03:57.530 This also means that now a TikTok comedian and 00:03:57.530 --> 00:03:59.990 a YouTuber are now in possession of the infamous 00:03:59.990 --> 00:04:05.069 Annabelle doll. You know, Annabelle. Yeah, Annabelle, 00:04:05.129 --> 00:04:07.750 the demon -infested Raggedy Ann doll who's been 00:04:07.750 --> 00:04:11.169 known to serve both cunt and curses. And what 00:04:11.169 --> 00:04:13.409 was once called by the Warrens the most dangerous 00:04:13.409 --> 00:04:16.189 artifact in their possession is now in the custody 00:04:16.189 --> 00:04:18.949 of some of the most insufferable content creators 00:04:18.949 --> 00:04:22.730 out there. So that's pretty awesome. Well, hopefully 00:04:22.730 --> 00:04:26.529 Matt Rife will pull out the doll to aggressively 00:04:26.529 --> 00:04:31.209 flirt with it and it will kill him. Now, to be 00:04:31.209 --> 00:04:34.819 clear, And fair. Rife isn't technically the owner 00:04:34.819 --> 00:04:37.800 of Annabelle and the artifacts. He's now the 00:04:37.800 --> 00:04:40.839 legal caretaker for them for at least the next 00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:43.300 five years, which was an arrangement made between 00:04:43.300 --> 00:04:47.540 Rife and the Warren's daughter and her husband, 00:04:47.740 --> 00:04:51.980 Judy and Tony Sparrow, which pretty much like 00:04:51.980 --> 00:04:55.319 they're entrusting Rife and Cassidy to preserve 00:04:55.319 --> 00:04:58.240 the legacy and not fuck around with it. which 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:00.560 hopefully they do, even though the Warren's legacy 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:02.639 is based on lies and grifting. It's still pretty 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:05.339 interesting, like a lot of their stuff. Reif 00:05:05.339 --> 00:05:07.420 stated that their plans are pretty straightforward. 00:05:07.579 --> 00:05:09.439 They want to reopen the museum, which has been 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:11.639 closed for the past six years due to zoning issues. 00:05:12.139 --> 00:05:14.459 They also want to offer guided tours to the public. 00:05:14.699 --> 00:05:17.680 The collection will remain intact with Annabelle 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:21.019 back on public display in her little glass prison. 00:05:23.019 --> 00:05:25.480 but and this sounds like a fucking terrible idea 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:27.740 he also hinted that he wants to open the house 00:05:27.740 --> 00:05:30.079 up to overnight stays and weekend visits which 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:33.259 means that regular ass people like not just professional 00:05:33.259 --> 00:05:35.860 ghost hunters and youtube like paranormal researchers 00:05:35.860 --> 00:05:38.879 uh they'll have their chance to fucking unleash 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:41.180 curses on on all of us so that's pretty cool 00:05:41.180 --> 00:05:44.519 um yeah every syllable of this fucking story 00:05:44.519 --> 00:05:48.120 is making me angry every little bit like watching 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:54.649 that smug smirking little fucking twink Play 00:05:54.649 --> 00:05:57.730 around with all that bullshit. That hairless 00:05:57.730 --> 00:06:01.050 fucking goon. Oh, God, I fucking hate that kid. 00:06:01.149 --> 00:06:04.189 I don't know why I hate him. I can't figure it 00:06:04.189 --> 00:06:06.529 out. I just want to punch him in the mouth. Yeah, 00:06:06.569 --> 00:06:10.550 he's insufferable. I don't know. I don't know. 00:06:12.610 --> 00:06:15.509 I don't know. Yeah, he's the worst. He is the 00:06:15.509 --> 00:06:18.850 absolute worst. Agreed. He's right up there with, 00:06:18.889 --> 00:06:22.079 like... fucking joe rogan and burt kreischer 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:28.800 and all those other fucking hack dildos no i 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:32.519 don't so i don't know like matt rife's background 00:06:32.519 --> 00:06:35.759 in the paranormal like like that's i mean what 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:37.240 i mean is i don't think he's like a paranormal 00:06:37.240 --> 00:06:40.759 expert by any means uh and probably just that 00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:42.660 he's like he saw the conjuring movies and was 00:06:42.660 --> 00:06:46.379 like fucking sick dude I do think he has, like, 00:06:46.379 --> 00:06:48.319 an understanding of what he just invested in, 00:06:48.360 --> 00:06:49.800 though. Like, he called the collection, quote, 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:52.060 one of the most important pieces of paranormal 00:06:52.060 --> 00:06:56.500 history in the world. And, well, that's a big 00:06:56.500 --> 00:06:59.899 probably true claim. He's not wrong about one 00:06:59.899 --> 00:07:02.120 thing, and that is that Annabelle definitely 00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:07.149 has, like, a bit of a reputation. I figured that 00:07:07.149 --> 00:07:09.189 before Annabelle became, like, the centerpiece 00:07:09.189 --> 00:07:11.569 of some influencer's Halloween livestream or 00:07:11.569 --> 00:07:14.069 ends up a new TikTok challenge, like, kiss Annabelle 00:07:14.069 --> 00:07:16.750 on the lips and not get cursed. Just covered 00:07:16.750 --> 00:07:20.290 in fucking Axe body spray. Yeah, I figured, why 00:07:20.290 --> 00:07:25.129 don't we do another installment of our new series 00:07:25.129 --> 00:07:27.790 within a series called Debunked, and we're going 00:07:27.790 --> 00:07:32.089 to talk about Annabelle. Yes! We joke about her 00:07:32.089 --> 00:07:34.009 enough that, fuck it, let's just do a whole episode 00:07:34.009 --> 00:07:37.920 on her. So let's do it. Yeah. So a while back, 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:40.100 I did an episode about paranormal hoaxes that 00:07:40.100 --> 00:07:42.360 featured briefly Ed and Lorraine Warren because 00:07:42.360 --> 00:07:46.160 fuck them. So to really tell the story of Annabelle, 00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:47.980 I'm going to be breaking this up into two parts. 00:07:48.279 --> 00:07:51.740 The Warren's version and the what actually probably 00:07:51.740 --> 00:07:56.139 happened version. Okay. Okay. So what do you 00:07:56.139 --> 00:08:00.120 know about Annabelle? I know that I fucking hate 00:08:00.120 --> 00:08:04.199 looking at that stupid goddamn doll. um i did 00:08:04.199 --> 00:08:06.439 enjoy the conjuring movies i don't give a shit 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:08.500 what anyone says the third one was fucking stupid 00:08:08.500 --> 00:08:13.639 but i did enjoy them uh but annabelle i i don't 00:08:13.639 --> 00:08:15.339 really know much about it i think there was some 00:08:15.339 --> 00:08:18.740 nurses involved i don't know you're yeah so the 00:08:18.740 --> 00:08:20.819 the warren's version of the annabelle story reads 00:08:20.819 --> 00:08:23.060 pretty much like the blueprint for every cliche 00:08:23.060 --> 00:08:25.720 haunted doll movie that has ever come out Which 00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:27.500 makes sense considering the Annabelle movie made 00:08:27.500 --> 00:08:31.319 $257 million worldwide. People love this shit. 00:08:31.860 --> 00:08:33.899 But anyway, so according to their accounts, it 00:08:33.899 --> 00:08:38.279 all started in 1970, maybe 1971, when a young 00:08:38.279 --> 00:08:40.860 nursing student named Donna received a large 00:08:40.860 --> 00:08:43.059 Raggedy Ann doll from her mother for her birthday. 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:45.679 Donna brought the doll home to her apartment 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:48.700 that she shared with her roommate Angie. And 00:08:48.700 --> 00:08:50.980 not long after that, they both started to notice... 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:53.480 That the doll started moving on its own. Nothing 00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:55.120 crazy at first. Things like sitting in a new 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:57.940 position or being found in a different room than 00:08:57.940 --> 00:09:01.299 where they left it. One time they found it kneeling 00:09:01.299 --> 00:09:03.399 on a chair in the living room with its arms folded 00:09:03.399 --> 00:09:06.379 on its lap, which for a cloth doll with no sort 00:09:06.379 --> 00:09:09.200 of internal structure is pretty much impossible. 00:09:09.500 --> 00:09:11.840 Right. That's weird. That's weird. Now, soon 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:13.759 after that, they started finding handwritten 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:16.200 notes on parchment paper that said shit like... 00:09:16.460 --> 00:09:19.779 Help us or help Lou. Lou was a friend of Donna's 00:09:19.779 --> 00:09:21.700 that would spend time at the apartment from time 00:09:21.700 --> 00:09:24.480 to time. But to make this even weirder is that 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:26.600 the roommates claim that they didn't keep parchment 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:32.740 paper in the house. So spooky. Now the doll's 00:09:32.740 --> 00:09:36.279 got parchment paper hidden. Yeah. Just for such 00:09:36.279 --> 00:09:38.559 an occasion. It's like a little notepad. Yeah. 00:09:38.620 --> 00:09:41.080 When you need it the most. Annabelle will provide. 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:44.919 Now, the two women understandably freaked out, 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:47.080 but not quite ready to burn the place down and 00:09:47.080 --> 00:09:48.639 salt the earth so nothing else could grow there. 00:09:48.980 --> 00:09:52.039 They brought in a psychic medium. She revealed 00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:54.460 to them that the doll was inhabited by the spirit 00:09:54.460 --> 00:09:57.220 of a seven -year -old girl named Annabelle Higgins, 00:09:57.320 --> 00:09:59.379 who had died on the property where their apartment 00:09:59.379 --> 00:10:02.659 building now stands and was, quote -unquote, 00:10:02.759 --> 00:10:04.840 just looking for someone to love her. You know, 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:08.700 she just wanted to feel like... Yeah. So... Donna 00:10:08.700 --> 00:10:13.700 and Angie being... Get a job, Annabelle. So Donna 00:10:13.700 --> 00:10:17.879 and Angie being the decent human beings that 00:10:17.879 --> 00:10:21.379 they are, they gave the spirit permission to 00:10:21.379 --> 00:10:24.299 stay, which in hindsight, probably a mistake 00:10:24.299 --> 00:10:26.620 because that's when everything went so far off 00:10:26.620 --> 00:10:31.000 the rails, it almost seems unbelievable. It's 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:32.639 weird that the psychic didn't see that coming. 00:10:32.820 --> 00:10:36.679 Yeah. The activity in the home repeatedly got 00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:39.639 way more aggressive. Objects were moved and thrown. 00:10:39.960 --> 00:10:41.899 Shit would go missing. They would find Annabelle 00:10:41.899 --> 00:10:44.419 in physically impossible positions and in places 00:10:44.419 --> 00:10:46.899 it would be impossible for her to be. There were 00:10:46.899 --> 00:10:49.379 loud bangs and knocks at night, rustling and 00:10:49.379 --> 00:10:51.700 scratching sounds coming from empty rooms, and 00:10:51.700 --> 00:10:54.340 the constant feeling of being watched. Then one 00:10:54.340 --> 00:10:57.740 night, Donna's friend Lou, he was attacked. He 00:10:57.740 --> 00:11:00.299 claims that one night while staying at the apartment, 00:11:00.500 --> 00:11:04.350 he woke up paralyzed. He said he saw the doll 00:11:04.350 --> 00:11:06.830 at the foot of the bed and then it climbed its 00:11:06.830 --> 00:11:10.029 way up onto Lou's chest and that the doll just 00:11:10.029 --> 00:11:12.490 sat there for a moment and stared at him and 00:11:12.490 --> 00:11:16.769 then slowly began to strangle him, which I feel 00:11:16.769 --> 00:11:19.889 like being strangled by a Raggedy Ann doll. Like, 00:11:19.889 --> 00:11:22.970 what would that do? That can't be anything, right? 00:11:23.149 --> 00:11:25.389 Well, now I see why Matt Rife is so attracted 00:11:25.389 --> 00:11:27.889 to this doll. It also has a very loose definition 00:11:27.889 --> 00:11:36.340 of consent. Throwback to the time he was accused 00:11:36.340 --> 00:11:40.879 of manhandling Zendaya. He's a real piece of 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:44.120 shit. So he said that, Lou, not Matt, he said 00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:47.080 that he felt the pressure on his throat increase 00:11:47.080 --> 00:11:50.000 until he was nearly unconscious. Then, just as 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:52.299 he passed out, he snapped awake with no doll 00:11:52.299 --> 00:11:55.960 in sight. The next day, Lou and Angie were alone 00:11:55.960 --> 00:11:58.539 in the apartment when they heard a commotion 00:11:58.539 --> 00:12:01.470 coming from Donna's room. Lou went to check it 00:12:01.470 --> 00:12:03.590 out and found the room was empty except for the 00:12:03.590 --> 00:12:05.950 doll sprawled out on the floor. As he stepped 00:12:05.950 --> 00:12:08.830 closer, he felt a sudden burning pain across 00:12:08.830 --> 00:12:11.129 his chest, and when he pulled up his shirt, he 00:12:11.129 --> 00:12:13.990 saw three distinct claw -like scratch marks. 00:12:15.009 --> 00:12:17.269 Now that was finally the point where the roommates 00:12:17.269 --> 00:12:20.750 were like, all right, enough of that. So they 00:12:20.750 --> 00:12:23.070 contacted a priest by the name of Father Hagen, 00:12:23.169 --> 00:12:25.950 who in turn brought in a higher -ranking clergyman 00:12:25.950 --> 00:12:29.730 named Father Cook, who then he decided... I don't 00:12:29.730 --> 00:12:31.730 know what's going on, called in Ed and Lorraine, 00:12:31.889 --> 00:12:34.570 who at this time were the most active paranormal 00:12:34.570 --> 00:12:37.330 investigators in the country, probably the world 00:12:37.330 --> 00:12:39.649 at this point. It's like a weird episode of My 00:12:39.649 --> 00:12:45.269 Two Dads. Now, the Warrens, as they did in every 00:12:45.269 --> 00:12:47.990 fucking case they ever worked, quickly concluded 00:12:47.990 --> 00:12:50.809 that this was no little girl ghost. No, no, no, 00:12:50.809 --> 00:12:54.789 Sarge. This was something inhuman. In their words, 00:12:54.889 --> 00:12:57.330 the entity had manipulated the medium into passing 00:12:57.330 --> 00:13:00.389 on a false identity and that Donna and Angie, 00:13:00.529 --> 00:13:03.470 and what Donna and Angie thought was a lonely 00:13:03.470 --> 00:13:06.330 spirit just looking for love, was, in the Warrens' 00:13:06.330 --> 00:13:09.429 opinion, a demonic force using deception to gain 00:13:09.429 --> 00:13:13.769 trust and access to them. Got it. Yeah. No, I... 00:13:13.769 --> 00:13:19.049 Yep. I believe that. Yeah? Yeah, it's a... Yeah. 00:13:19.149 --> 00:13:24.899 No, I'm all in. Ed and Lorraine... They really 00:13:24.899 --> 00:13:28.440 know how to figure it out. Oh, for sure. With 00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:32.240 their Bible and their holy water and their weird 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:42.309 sexual energy. So Ed and Lorraine quickly had 00:13:42.309 --> 00:13:44.990 the apartment blessed by Father Cook and decided 00:13:44.990 --> 00:13:47.409 the doll was too powerful to be kept in the hands 00:13:47.409 --> 00:13:50.169 of the uninitiated and took the doll with them. 00:13:50.490 --> 00:13:53.330 But apparently Annabelle is a nervous traveler. 00:13:53.450 --> 00:13:55.950 Doesn't like being in the car, it seems. Because 00:13:55.950 --> 00:13:58.590 Ed claimed that on the drive home, the car's 00:13:58.590 --> 00:14:00.970 brakes and steering repeatedly failed, forcing 00:14:00.970 --> 00:14:03.309 him to stop and douse the doll in holy water 00:14:03.309 --> 00:14:05.679 to get it to stop. I remember this scene from 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:09.299 the movie. Now, once home, Ed built a custom 00:14:09.299 --> 00:14:12.080 wooden glass case for the doll along with a sign 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:15.860 that read, Warning, positively do not open, and 00:14:15.860 --> 00:14:18.019 placed it among the other cursed artifacts in 00:14:18.019 --> 00:14:20.500 their occult museum. But Sarge, do you think 00:14:20.500 --> 00:14:22.620 that just some fucking balsa wood and some glass 00:14:22.620 --> 00:14:24.399 panes are going to keep Annabelle from fucking 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:27.320 shit up? Hell no! Fucking God no. Not even a 00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:29.659 little bit. Over the years, the Warrens... Heck 00:14:29.659 --> 00:14:34.379 no. Over the years, the Warrens told story after 00:14:34.379 --> 00:14:36.679 story about what happens when people mock or 00:14:36.679 --> 00:14:38.580 disrespect the doll. Kind of like what we're 00:14:38.580 --> 00:14:42.600 doing right now. Right now? Yeah. Most famous 00:14:42.600 --> 00:14:45.460 of these stories is the one about a dude who 00:14:45.460 --> 00:14:47.659 visited the museum with his girlfriend. And while 00:14:47.659 --> 00:14:49.940 he was there, he was just being an absolute asshole 00:14:49.940 --> 00:14:52.100 to this doll. He was pounding on the case, laughing 00:14:52.100 --> 00:14:55.299 at her, daring it to scratch him. Now, I don't 00:14:55.299 --> 00:14:57.019 know if it was just because the dude was a dick 00:14:57.019 --> 00:14:58.980 or because he was fucking with Annabelle or both, 00:14:59.059 --> 00:15:01.960 but... The Warrens were like, you got to get 00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:03.860 out of here, man. So they kicked him and his 00:15:03.860 --> 00:15:05.879 girlfriend out and on the motorcycle ride home 00:15:05.879 --> 00:15:08.419 because, of course, that was his mode of transportation. 00:15:09.500 --> 00:15:13.620 He crashed and died. Oh, his girlfriend survived, 00:15:13.860 --> 00:15:16.039 though. So at least the demon possessing Annabelle 00:15:16.039 --> 00:15:19.179 knows who to target, like left the innocence 00:15:19.179 --> 00:15:25.600 alone. Another story involved a priest who came 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:28.179 to bless the museum and reportedly said to Annabelle, 00:15:28.179 --> 00:15:30.779 quote, You're just a doll. You can't hurt anyone. 00:15:31.379 --> 00:15:33.899 Which is a level of confidence for a priest that 00:15:33.899 --> 00:15:38.679 just seems so undeserved. Like, yeah. Like, if 00:15:38.679 --> 00:15:41.399 you think you're fucking with a demonic entity. 00:15:41.460 --> 00:15:43.340 That was a mistake. Yeah, just calling it out. 00:15:43.379 --> 00:15:45.580 Like, bro, I mean, I get you have the power of 00:15:45.580 --> 00:15:48.399 God behind you, but I don't think it matters 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:50.740 in this case. I'm going to be honest, man. I 00:15:50.740 --> 00:15:52.139 don't believe in any of this shit, but there's 00:15:52.139 --> 00:15:53.860 no way in fucking hell you're going to catch 00:15:53.860 --> 00:15:56.159 me talking shit about that doll. Just in case 00:15:56.159 --> 00:15:59.340 to its face, like, you know, to its face. However, 00:15:59.419 --> 00:16:01.320 what would be really funny is if somebody like 00:16:01.320 --> 00:16:03.779 opened up the glass door and farted in there 00:16:03.779 --> 00:16:06.299 and then close the door real fast. That'd be 00:16:06.299 --> 00:16:08.740 pretty good. Well, he technically didn't hurt 00:16:08.740 --> 00:16:11.419 Annabelle. You just, you know, that's true. And 00:16:11.419 --> 00:16:13.860 as far as I know, as far as I know, he didn't 00:16:13.860 --> 00:16:18.029 do that. He just talks shit, but. Anyways. Smells 00:16:18.029 --> 00:16:21.970 like wine communion wafers. But anyways, his 00:16:21.970 --> 00:16:24.289 brakes failed on his way home and he wound up 00:16:24.289 --> 00:16:28.029 wrapped around a tree. He survived. He survived 00:16:28.029 --> 00:16:30.809 and soon after called Lorraine to apologize, 00:16:30.970 --> 00:16:34.990 which in my head, for some reason, I feel like 00:16:34.990 --> 00:16:37.710 he called Lorraine and he's like, hey, can you 00:16:37.710 --> 00:16:39.389 give the phone to Annabelle? And she just holds 00:16:39.389 --> 00:16:41.409 it to the fucking case. He's like, look, Annabelle, 00:16:41.409 --> 00:16:46.090 I am so sorry. So sorry. I just pictured the 00:16:46.090 --> 00:16:49.129 long fucking curly phone cord wrapping around 00:16:49.129 --> 00:16:53.029 the house down to the basement. She's just holding 00:16:53.029 --> 00:16:55.549 the receiver at the doll. Now, you apologize 00:16:55.549 --> 00:16:57.330 to her. And for those of you who are concerned, 00:16:57.649 --> 00:17:03.509 the tree was over 18. You always got to bring 00:17:03.509 --> 00:17:07.490 it back to molestation, man. Well, we are talking 00:17:07.490 --> 00:17:10.230 about Matt Rife. Well, not anymore. We were. 00:17:10.869 --> 00:17:14.640 Allegedly. Now we're moved on to Annabelle. So 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:16.859 in all of the Warren's decades of case files, 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:19.140 Annabelle has consistently remained their most 00:17:19.140 --> 00:17:21.700 dangerous object, and they've always warned that 00:17:21.700 --> 00:17:24.220 the doll doesn't act as your average run -of 00:17:24.220 --> 00:17:26.700 -the -mill haunted item. It acts as a conduit 00:17:26.700 --> 00:17:28.940 for dark entities, and even behind the glass, 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:31.460 she possesses a real risk if you talk shit to 00:17:31.460 --> 00:17:34.799 it, as we have seen. Okay. So there you go. So 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:37.339 that's the somewhat condensed version of the 00:17:37.339 --> 00:17:39.099 story that the Warrens have told for decades. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:40.880 Those are some of their favorite stories. There's 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:42.359 not a lot to the Annabelle story. I don't know 00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:45.789 if you know that. Yeah, no, it feels kind of 00:17:45.789 --> 00:17:48.190 thin, to be honest with you. I almost feel like 00:17:48.190 --> 00:17:54.269 they just stole a doll from this woman. She just 00:17:54.269 --> 00:17:55.730 went in and they're like, the doll's haunted, 00:17:55.809 --> 00:17:58.829 so I got to take it back with me. Weird that 00:17:58.829 --> 00:18:01.990 they didn't, like, dismember it or burn it. They 00:18:01.990 --> 00:18:03.269 were just like, no, I'm going to put it in a 00:18:03.269 --> 00:18:05.349 glass case with some museum glass. It'll block 00:18:05.349 --> 00:18:08.730 the UV light. Yeah, yeah. And then put a sign 00:18:08.730 --> 00:18:11.390 on it. They treated it like you would treat a 00:18:11.390 --> 00:18:16.029 reptile at a pet store. Yeah. The thing that 00:18:16.029 --> 00:18:17.690 I don't understand is they brought the doll, 00:18:17.809 --> 00:18:21.369 this horrible, haunted, evil fucking doll that 00:18:21.369 --> 00:18:23.930 they know can curse people. And they were like, 00:18:23.990 --> 00:18:26.589 let's charge money for people to put their lives 00:18:26.589 --> 00:18:31.089 in danger. Yeah. Yeah. Because, Sarge, we're 00:18:31.089 --> 00:18:32.609 going to get into it, but... Yeah, they're bad 00:18:32.609 --> 00:18:35.730 people. I get it. Yeah, so like I said, that's 00:18:35.730 --> 00:18:38.069 a condensed version of the story that the Warrens 00:18:38.069 --> 00:18:40.410 told. And it's the one that turned Annabelle 00:18:40.410 --> 00:18:42.369 into pretty much a household name. But once you 00:18:42.369 --> 00:18:44.450 start pulling back the threads, the real question 00:18:44.450 --> 00:18:47.230 becomes, how much of this story can be actually 00:18:47.230 --> 00:18:50.829 verified? Well, here's the thing. While the story 00:18:50.829 --> 00:18:52.690 is compelling and all the spine -chilling details, 00:18:52.950 --> 00:18:54.829 possession lore, and the mystery surrounding 00:18:54.829 --> 00:19:00.000 this doll... is is fucking cool as shit the entire 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:03.319 story of annabelle hinges on one source the warrens 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:06.119 literally everything we know about annabelle 00:19:06.119 --> 00:19:08.359 comes from either the demonologist which was 00:19:08.359 --> 00:19:11.259 a book published by the warrens in 1980 uh or 00:19:11.259 --> 00:19:13.700 interviews lectures or even like secondhand stories 00:19:13.700 --> 00:19:16.900 retold by their son -in -law tony sparrow so 00:19:16.900 --> 00:19:19.039 let's break this down starting with the roommates 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:22.099 you got donna and angie uh they're pretty much 00:19:22.099 --> 00:19:24.579 the origin point of this whole story but we don't 00:19:24.970 --> 00:19:26.809 know anything we don't know their full names 00:19:26.809 --> 00:19:29.049 like donna is said to be a 28 year old nursing 00:19:29.049 --> 00:19:31.750 student angie is just her roommate and that's 00:19:31.750 --> 00:19:34.529 it like no last names no photos of them nothing 00:19:34.529 --> 00:19:36.849 anywhere that could help anyone other than the 00:19:36.849 --> 00:19:39.750 warrens corroborate this story there's also the 00:19:39.750 --> 00:19:42.190 fact that where the two lived like specifically 00:19:42.190 --> 00:19:44.930 has never been publicly disclosed no street address 00:19:44.930 --> 00:19:47.869 no city block or even neighborhood just quote 00:19:47.869 --> 00:19:50.390 unquote somewhere in the greater hartford connecticut 00:19:50.390 --> 00:19:53.119 area And then you got Lou, the dude allegedly 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:55.279 attacked by the doll. He too is only referred 00:19:55.279 --> 00:19:57.940 to by first name only with zero evidence of him 00:19:57.940 --> 00:20:00.180 being attacked. There's no photos of the injuries, 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:03.640 no independent interviews. Also, there's no dates 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:06.960 attached to his supposed attacks, like just a 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:09.359 story that comes from the Warrens' own testimony 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:11.720 or stories that have been repeated in books and 00:20:11.720 --> 00:20:14.599 websites that then just cite back to the Warrens 00:20:14.599 --> 00:20:16.799 as the original source. Well, don't we have the 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:20.660 last names of the priests, though? Well... Here's 00:20:20.660 --> 00:20:22.319 the thing about the priests. Those names change, 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:26.619 and they're interchangeable. Oh, Jesus Christ. 00:20:26.779 --> 00:20:29.619 Yeah, and sometimes they're not even named. The 00:20:29.619 --> 00:20:34.460 only last name we got is that of Annabelle, whose 00:20:34.460 --> 00:20:36.680 full name is Annabelle Higgins, the seven -year 00:20:36.680 --> 00:20:38.400 -old girl who supposedly died on the property 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:40.700 where their apartment is now. But since we don't 00:20:40.700 --> 00:20:42.720 know where that property is, you can't verify 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:45.359 that. People tried, but there are no death records, 00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:48.150 no obituaries, and no archive. property history 00:20:48.150 --> 00:20:50.049 linked to anyone by that name in Connecticut 00:20:50.049 --> 00:20:53.829 that matches the time frame or age. But without 00:20:53.829 --> 00:20:56.069 the physical address, and since the Warrens said 00:20:56.069 --> 00:20:58.569 it was a demon and not a little girl ghost, it's 00:20:58.569 --> 00:21:01.210 just as impossible to prove as it is to disprove, 00:21:01.329 --> 00:21:02.950 which is kind of the point of the whole thing. 00:21:04.650 --> 00:21:09.809 Yeah. I'm starting to sense a theme here. Yeah. 00:21:09.990 --> 00:21:11.690 They were like, hold on, don't believe that bullshit 00:21:11.690 --> 00:21:13.849 story? Well, here's another one. It was a demon 00:21:13.849 --> 00:21:18.359 the whole time. Yeah. What else? We got the notes 00:21:18.359 --> 00:21:20.740 on parchment paper in a home where there was 00:21:20.740 --> 00:21:24.019 no parchment paper. So this detail, it only shows 00:21:24.019 --> 00:21:30.140 up in different retellings of the story. And 00:21:30.140 --> 00:21:32.099 it's the same shit with this. There's no photos 00:21:32.099 --> 00:21:34.400 of the notes. They didn't keep the original notes. 00:21:34.779 --> 00:21:36.619 So there's no way to confirm if they're real 00:21:36.619 --> 00:21:39.460 or not. But like I said, this detail is only 00:21:39.460 --> 00:21:41.819 in some versions of the story, not all. So this 00:21:41.819 --> 00:21:45.119 bit could just be... The Warrens adding a little 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:48.299 spice to amp up the creep factor during some 00:21:48.299 --> 00:21:52.720 of their lectures. That leads me into this. They 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:57.039 keep adding shit to the story. One of the more 00:21:57.039 --> 00:21:59.299 sensational additions to the Annabelle lore came 00:21:59.299 --> 00:22:02.619 later on when Ed was doing live lectures. He 00:22:02.619 --> 00:22:05.220 used to tell the story about a police detective, 00:22:05.660 --> 00:22:08.720 unnamed of course, who mocked the doll after 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:11.289 it had been taken in by the Warrens. And according 00:22:11.289 --> 00:22:14.210 to Ed, this cop made the grave mistake of calling 00:22:14.210 --> 00:22:16.529 the whole thing utter nonsense. And then not 00:22:16.529 --> 00:22:19.549 long after, he was attacked. Not by Annabelle. 00:22:19.569 --> 00:22:21.569 I don't think it was by Annabelle. It'd be crazy 00:22:21.569 --> 00:22:23.470 because some versions say the cop was stabbed. 00:22:24.690 --> 00:22:27.769 Others say he was just seriously injured. And 00:22:27.769 --> 00:22:30.210 in at least one retelling, Ed claimed the officer 00:22:30.210 --> 00:22:32.509 had to retire from the force because of his injuries. 00:22:32.990 --> 00:22:36.829 But again, there's no name. No department, no 00:22:36.829 --> 00:22:39.390 date, and no evidence that this ever happened. 00:22:39.430 --> 00:22:41.690 It was just some bullshit Ed liked to tell at 00:22:41.690 --> 00:22:43.730 his paranormal open mics. You know what I mean? 00:22:44.109 --> 00:22:46.750 Very convenient. Very convenient. Yeah, yeah. 00:22:46.970 --> 00:22:50.829 A lot of this story is convenient, I feel like. 00:22:51.029 --> 00:22:54.450 Yeah. Sounds about right. Yeah, and the reason 00:22:54.450 --> 00:22:56.589 why the Warrens could get away with constantly 00:22:56.589 --> 00:22:59.170 adding or removing details from the lore surrounding 00:22:59.170 --> 00:23:01.230 Annabelle is because there was no independent 00:23:01.230 --> 00:23:04.660 verification of their claims. Unlike some of 00:23:04.660 --> 00:23:07.400 the, quote -unquote, their better documented 00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:09.779 cases, like the Parent Family Haunting, which 00:23:09.779 --> 00:23:12.759 was like The Conjuring, or the Enfield Poltergeist, 00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:15.539 which, let's be honest, they were barely involved 00:23:15.539 --> 00:23:19.599 in either of those cases. Right. Exactly. Exactly. 00:23:20.680 --> 00:23:23.599 Annabelle's case had no outside witnesses. There 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:26.039 was no journalists who investigated at the same 00:23:26.039 --> 00:23:28.099 time as they did. There was no local news stories. 00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:31.299 No police involvement was ever confirmed. And 00:23:31.299 --> 00:23:33.539 because of this, the details shift depending 00:23:33.539 --> 00:23:35.819 on the retelling. Like sometimes Lou gets scratched 00:23:35.819 --> 00:23:38.859 while awake. Sometimes he gets scratched while 00:23:38.859 --> 00:23:40.420 he's in that sleep paralysis state where he's 00:23:40.420 --> 00:23:43.059 also getting choked out. Sometimes the medium 00:23:43.059 --> 00:23:45.819 in the story is described in great detail. Sometimes 00:23:45.819 --> 00:23:48.400 she's just vaguely mentioned as like a small 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:50.920 background character. And even the timeline shifts. 00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:51.940 Like I don't know if you noticed when I said 00:23:51.940 --> 00:23:55.099 up top, sometimes it's in 1970, sometimes it's 00:23:55.099 --> 00:23:57.960 in 1971, which doesn't really help with the credibility 00:23:57.960 --> 00:24:01.579 of the story. No, no. It's basically just like 00:24:01.579 --> 00:24:05.380 an improv yes and session. Yeah, it really is. 00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:07.700 And we're going to get into how it really is 00:24:07.700 --> 00:24:11.779 more like that than you would think. And at the 00:24:11.779 --> 00:24:14.059 core of the Warren story was their theory that 00:24:14.059 --> 00:24:16.680 the doll wasn't haunted by a ghost. It was being 00:24:16.680 --> 00:24:19.220 used by a demonic entity to deceive and manipulate 00:24:19.220 --> 00:24:22.420 those around it. Now, this is the classic Warren 00:24:22.420 --> 00:24:24.680 interpretation. They have said the same thing 00:24:24.680 --> 00:24:27.859 about almost all of their cases. It's a pattern 00:24:27.859 --> 00:24:29.890 that. pretty much became their signature move 00:24:29.890 --> 00:24:32.690 and was usually presented without any real evidence 00:24:32.690 --> 00:24:35.390 beyond, well, you know, it kind of just feels 00:24:35.390 --> 00:24:39.269 evil. Like that's their whole argument. They're 00:24:39.269 --> 00:24:43.589 very trust me, bro. Yeah. So the real Annabelle 00:24:43.589 --> 00:24:46.390 doll, it's just a standard ass Raggedy Ann doll. 00:24:46.490 --> 00:24:48.470 Those things were like mass produced and they 00:24:48.470 --> 00:24:50.529 aren't really that creepy on their own. Yeah, 00:24:50.549 --> 00:24:52.890 my mom had one. All the terror associated with 00:24:52.890 --> 00:24:55.450 her comes from what's told about her, not... 00:24:55.769 --> 00:24:57.930 that she actually does anything. Like once she 00:24:57.930 --> 00:25:00.309 was locked away, no one has caught her doing 00:25:00.309 --> 00:25:02.589 anything. There's been no credible videos or 00:25:02.589 --> 00:25:04.970 recordings of sounds of her doing shit. It's 00:25:04.970 --> 00:25:08.369 just the lore. Well, museum glass has been known 00:25:08.369 --> 00:25:12.029 to stop evil. I read about it in, in Lorraine 00:25:12.029 --> 00:25:14.470 Warren's book. Wait, now that I, I mean, apparently 00:25:14.470 --> 00:25:16.869 not because if you talk shit to her, she's still 00:25:16.869 --> 00:25:18.309 going to fucking make you crash your motorcycle. 00:25:18.509 --> 00:25:25.700 So I feel like, but I mean, uneven road makes 00:25:25.700 --> 00:25:28.339 motorcycles crash, so I'm not super impressed, 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:31.440 Annabelle. Yeah, or maybe they were just laughing 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:34.140 so hard about seeing Annabelle while riding. 00:25:34.740 --> 00:25:37.500 Just the fucking constant shaking. I don't know. 00:25:37.940 --> 00:25:40.480 But yeah, so after Ed and Lorraine took possession 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:42.380 of the doll, the story became part of their touring 00:25:42.380 --> 00:25:45.769 lecture circuit. Tell the story during college 00:25:45.769 --> 00:25:48.250 presentations, at paranormal conventions, and 00:25:48.250 --> 00:25:50.190 on a bunch of daytime TV appearances because 00:25:50.190 --> 00:25:52.950 they were actually famous. They did a bunch of 00:25:52.950 --> 00:25:55.710 that shit. It quickly became their signature 00:25:55.710 --> 00:25:58.450 and go -to story because it was short, dramatic, 00:25:58.670 --> 00:26:01.789 creepy, and it was all tied to a physical object 00:26:01.789 --> 00:26:03.549 that they could bring with them and show off. 00:26:03.849 --> 00:26:06.170 Okay. And that is what gave the tale longevity. 00:26:06.390 --> 00:26:08.750 Not documented proof or evidence, just good old 00:26:08.750 --> 00:26:10.829 -fashioned word of mouth and performance. So, 00:26:10.849 --> 00:26:14.940 all that to say... that the only confirmed and 00:26:14.940 --> 00:26:18.059 true part about this whole story is the warrens 00:26:18.059 --> 00:26:21.460 got a doll the rest is just folklore and theater 00:26:21.460 --> 00:26:25.759 how much you want to bet they just went to like 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:29.319 the 1970s version of walmart and bought a fucking 00:26:29.319 --> 00:26:33.180 doll over like i got an idea that is almost honestly 00:26:33.180 --> 00:26:36.920 i that's what i believe 100 what happens yeah 00:26:36.920 --> 00:26:41.259 like like i originally thought that they was 00:26:41.259 --> 00:26:45.089 like some truth to the story, just in the sense 00:26:45.089 --> 00:26:47.849 that someone said, I think my doll is haunted. 00:26:48.029 --> 00:26:50.910 I mean, this is so much worse. It could have 00:26:50.910 --> 00:26:53.910 been, but like, again, we know these people only 00:26:53.910 --> 00:26:56.710 spoke to the warrants. No one else, like supposedly 00:26:56.710 --> 00:27:00.009 there's no documentation of who they are. Last 00:27:00.009 --> 00:27:01.690 name's photos. Like, I mean, I get them. Maybe 00:27:01.690 --> 00:27:03.390 they want to run a main anonymous, but like at 00:27:03.390 --> 00:27:06.569 some point, like your doll's blowing up. Yeah. 00:27:06.690 --> 00:27:08.569 You know, like fucking take credit for that shit 00:27:08.569 --> 00:27:10.380 or something. You could write a book. You could 00:27:10.380 --> 00:27:13.160 have made about it. And these people and these 00:27:13.160 --> 00:27:17.059 movies were made like early 2000s. So it's not 00:27:17.059 --> 00:27:19.240 like the people of the story are dead now. They're 00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:22.259 probably in their 50s or 60s or whatever. Like 00:27:22.259 --> 00:27:24.140 they easily could have gotten some. Come out. 00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:27.579 Claim your doll. Yeah. Now, as much as I fucking 00:27:27.579 --> 00:27:30.220 despise the Warrens and their bullshit methods 00:27:30.220 --> 00:27:32.799 of quote unquote paranormal investigating, the 00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:34.839 story of Annabelle is kind of fascinating because 00:27:34.839 --> 00:27:37.279 it's like the perfect case study on how folklore 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:41.490 gets packaged. Packaged as facts. Annabelle, 00:27:41.490 --> 00:27:44.869 to really simplify, it's just an inanimate object 00:27:44.869 --> 00:27:47.349 that just sits there while everyone else around 00:27:47.349 --> 00:27:49.990 it projects their fears onto it. And that's proof 00:27:49.990 --> 00:27:52.890 enough for those who visit her. It's spooky theater 00:27:52.890 --> 00:27:57.130 dressed as documentation. And skeptics, rightly, 00:27:57.369 --> 00:28:00.210 haven't been shy about calling it out. Joseph 00:28:00.210 --> 00:28:02.509 Laycock, a professor of religious studies and 00:28:02.509 --> 00:28:06.210 expert in paranormal belief systems, he described... 00:28:06.460 --> 00:28:09.380 the Annabelle case as a classic example of belief 00:28:09.380 --> 00:28:13.119 -driven folklore. So in his view, it's less about 00:28:13.119 --> 00:28:15.519 paranormal reality and more about how people 00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:18.559 internalize and reframe fear. He also pointed 00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:21.119 out that the Warren's Museum was filled with 00:28:21.119 --> 00:28:23.839 quote -unquote off -the -shelf Halloween junk, 00:28:23.980 --> 00:28:29.039 not rare occult relics. Ed Lorraine Warren just 00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:32.299 raided their local spirit Halloween. Pretty much. 00:28:33.099 --> 00:28:35.880 Laycock and others have argued that stories like 00:28:35.880 --> 00:28:38.240 Annabelle's are more influenced by earlier haunted 00:28:38.240 --> 00:28:40.619 doll legends, like Robert the Doll in Florida, 00:28:40.759 --> 00:28:44.160 or even pop culture things. There was an episode 00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:46.619 of The Twilight Zone called Talking Tina, and 00:28:46.619 --> 00:28:49.720 in that episode, the doll's name was also Annabelle. 00:28:49.720 --> 00:28:54.539 That one's creepy. Yeah, that's creepy. In one 00:28:54.539 --> 00:28:56.480 of the few deep dives into the Warrens' actual 00:28:56.480 --> 00:28:59.299 museum, the New England Skeptical Society called 00:28:59.299 --> 00:29:01.970 them out pretty hard. Their report described 00:29:01.970 --> 00:29:04.430 the occult museum as more of a basement curiosity 00:29:04.430 --> 00:29:07.750 shop than a vault of cursed horrors. There was 00:29:07.750 --> 00:29:10.490 no documentation, no tests, and no baseline for 00:29:10.490 --> 00:29:13.750 any of the claims being made. They described 00:29:13.750 --> 00:29:16.349 the Warrens as quote -unquote unsophisticated 00:29:16.349 --> 00:29:19.490 ghost hunters and said their work quote -unquote 00:29:19.490 --> 00:29:22.609 exhibited a blatant disregard for scientific 00:29:22.609 --> 00:29:24.990 methods. So their conclusion was... That's the 00:29:24.990 --> 00:29:27.670 nicest way of calling somebody a hayseed I have 00:29:27.670 --> 00:29:32.079 ever heard. So their conclusion was that the 00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:34.400 field of a paranormal investigation, at least 00:29:34.400 --> 00:29:36.839 as practiced by the Warrens, was pseudoscience 00:29:36.839 --> 00:29:39.460 at best and deliberate myth -making at worst. 00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:44.660 And then in 2005, a journalist from the Daily 00:29:44.660 --> 00:29:47.799 Beast visited the Warrens' home and wrote that 00:29:47.799 --> 00:29:50.220 the museum didn't exactly scream terrifying. 00:29:50.839 --> 00:29:53.500 I did actually read that. I read that article. 00:29:53.880 --> 00:29:56.700 I remember it. They said it looked more like 00:29:56.700 --> 00:29:58.900 a basement packed with thrift store finds with 00:29:58.900 --> 00:30:01.079 dramatic lighting and intense narration doing 00:30:01.079 --> 00:30:05.460 most of the heavy lifting. And he noted that 00:30:05.460 --> 00:30:07.900 seeing the real Annabelle doll, which was a raggedy 00:30:07.900 --> 00:30:10.160 Ann doll behind glass, was more underwhelming 00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:18.720 than unsettling. It's so, so good. That same 00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:21.099 sentiment gets echoed a lot. Without the storytelling, 00:30:21.339 --> 00:30:23.980 the warnings, the signs, the doll is just a doll. 00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:26.700 It's like the narrative. itself that gives it 00:30:26.700 --> 00:30:29.660 weight not the object yeah it's like they couldn't 00:30:29.660 --> 00:30:32.140 alter the doll in like some way or another to 00:30:32.140 --> 00:30:34.819 make it weirder yeah but what skeptics point 00:30:34.819 --> 00:30:38.619 out the most is the structure of the story it 00:30:38.619 --> 00:30:41.079 follows like the classic beats of like folklore 00:30:41.079 --> 00:30:43.740 uh you got a cursed object that appears harmless 00:30:43.740 --> 00:30:47.400 a warning not to tamper with it a tragic consequence 00:30:47.400 --> 00:30:50.720 for someone who ignores that warning and a moral 00:30:50.720 --> 00:30:52.839 about respecting the unknown. So in this case, 00:30:52.859 --> 00:30:55.019 the message is you mock the supernatural and 00:30:55.019 --> 00:30:58.279 you'll get punished. And that structure mirrors, 00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:00.720 not just haunted doll stories, but it's like 00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:02.579 every single horror movie made about a Ouija 00:31:02.579 --> 00:31:04.440 board. You know, it's like that same kind of 00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:09.220 beat for beat story. Um, skeptics also believe 00:31:09.220 --> 00:31:12.589 as do I. that the fear factor behind Annabelle 00:31:12.589 --> 00:31:15.269 the doll is it's all just the power of suggestion. 00:31:15.529 --> 00:31:17.750 Like people see the doll and bring their own 00:31:17.750 --> 00:31:19.509 expectations. Like they've heard the stories, 00:31:19.569 --> 00:31:21.589 they've seen the movies, like they're already 00:31:21.589 --> 00:31:24.230 primed to feel uneasy. So from there, it's not 00:31:24.230 --> 00:31:27.269 hard for coincidence, anxiety, or later on when 00:31:27.269 --> 00:31:29.609 they get home, sleep paralysis to be interpreted 00:31:29.609 --> 00:31:33.789 as supernatural retaliation for. snickering at 00:31:33.789 --> 00:31:36.710 it you know what i mean yeah yeah well i mean 00:31:36.710 --> 00:31:38.910 it works it works because if i ever saw this 00:31:38.910 --> 00:31:40.769 fucking doll the last thing on earth i do is 00:31:40.769 --> 00:31:43.170 pick on it yeah i mean i don't know as stupid 00:31:43.170 --> 00:31:45.430 as i find it the last thing on earth i would 00:31:45.430 --> 00:31:48.710 do just in case you don't want to be that guy 00:31:48.710 --> 00:31:52.099 yeah you don't want to tempt fate um Right, yeah. 00:31:52.480 --> 00:31:55.359 As Benjamin Radford, a well -known paranormal 00:31:55.359 --> 00:31:57.920 investigator and skeptic, put it, he said, quote, 00:31:57.980 --> 00:32:00.380 haunted doll stories are often fueled by nothing 00:32:00.380 --> 00:32:02.660 more than the power of suggestion and a good 00:32:02.660 --> 00:32:06.940 imagination. So Annabelle, if you look at it 00:32:06.940 --> 00:32:10.019 from that angle, is less a demon and more like 00:32:10.019 --> 00:32:15.019 a Rorschach test. Yep. It's just a simple object 00:32:15.019 --> 00:32:20.400 with a wild story tied to it. But yeah, so Annabelle... 00:32:20.869 --> 00:32:22.950 Probably would have just stayed a footnote in 00:32:22.950 --> 00:32:24.769 the Warren's collection, only pulled out for 00:32:24.769 --> 00:32:27.569 lectures and paranormal conventions. But thanks 00:32:27.569 --> 00:32:31.069 to Hollywood, in 2013, The Conjuring dropped 00:32:31.069 --> 00:32:33.369 her into the mainstream. The doll only appeared 00:32:33.369 --> 00:32:35.369 in the opening scene briefly, but the audience 00:32:35.369 --> 00:32:37.589 latched onto it immediately. So, of course, the 00:32:37.589 --> 00:32:39.450 studio ran with it, and now she's got her own 00:32:39.450 --> 00:32:42.609 full -blown movie franchise. Oh, yeah. Yeah, 00:32:42.670 --> 00:32:45.450 you got Annabelle that came out in 2014, where 00:32:45.450 --> 00:32:47.410 they gave her some bullshit origin story that 00:32:47.410 --> 00:32:50.980 tied her to satanic cults for some reason. Then 00:32:50.980 --> 00:32:53.039 there's Annabelle Creation, came out in 2017, 00:32:53.359 --> 00:32:55.500 which doubled down on that premise with a prequel 00:32:55.500 --> 00:32:58.140 set in the 40s. And then you got Annabelle Comes 00:32:58.140 --> 00:33:01.019 Home in 2019, which takes place in the Warrens' 00:33:01.019 --> 00:33:05.700 actual home. She also made cameos in other Ed 00:33:05.700 --> 00:33:08.579 and Lorraine movies, like The Conjuring 2. And 00:33:08.579 --> 00:33:11.039 also she was in The Curse of La Llorona, which 00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:14.349 technically isn't part of the... cinematic universe, 00:33:14.490 --> 00:33:16.289 which is a phrase that fills me with absolute 00:33:16.289 --> 00:33:19.710 rage. She was just in there as more of like a 00:33:19.710 --> 00:33:23.150 Easter egg, I guess. And as I'm sure you notice, 00:33:23.349 --> 00:33:26.009 the Annabelle doll in those movies is not a Raggedy 00:33:26.009 --> 00:33:28.309 Ann doll, but now a cracked porcelain nightmare 00:33:28.309 --> 00:33:31.390 because it's way more terrifying. Right. Yeah, 00:33:31.390 --> 00:33:33.869 but people love that shit. Annabelle is now a 00:33:33.869 --> 00:33:36.730 modern horror icon, but the worst part is now 00:33:36.730 --> 00:33:39.509 people conflate the movies with the actual story. 00:33:39.809 --> 00:33:43.150 So the myth fed the movies, but now the movies 00:33:43.150 --> 00:33:46.410 are feeding the myth. It's like an Ouroboros 00:33:46.410 --> 00:33:51.490 of just bullshit, but... It's just nonsense all 00:33:51.490 --> 00:33:54.410 the way down. Yeah, but... I mean, whatever. 00:33:55.250 --> 00:33:57.609 Whether you think she's possessed, cursed, or 00:33:57.609 --> 00:33:59.490 just famous for being famous, Annabelle isn't 00:33:59.490 --> 00:34:01.210 really going to go anywhere. As long as people 00:34:01.210 --> 00:34:03.529 are scared of dolls, and they always will be, 00:34:03.670 --> 00:34:05.950 she's going to stay relevant. And in turn, so 00:34:05.950 --> 00:34:08.929 will the Warrens, which fucking sucks. You know 00:34:08.929 --> 00:34:12.610 who's really scared of dolls? Zach Baggins. I 00:34:12.610 --> 00:34:14.489 didn't know this, but he's terrified of dolls. 00:34:14.789 --> 00:34:17.190 Yeah. I mean, also, dolls suck. They're not great. 00:34:18.630 --> 00:34:21.010 I mean, the porcelain ones are creepy as shit. 00:34:21.449 --> 00:34:24.260 Raggedy Ann doesn't scare me at all. No, but 00:34:24.260 --> 00:34:26.579 that's why they had to change it. That's why 00:34:26.579 --> 00:34:29.500 it's not Raggedy Ann in the movies. Exactly. 00:34:29.840 --> 00:34:34.139 So now she's no longer a paranormal artifact. 00:34:34.519 --> 00:34:39.440 She's an IP. She's a brand. She's a story you 00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:42.440 want to hear, retell, and challenge. Touch the 00:34:42.440 --> 00:34:44.840 case, take the selfie, talk some shit to her, 00:34:44.920 --> 00:34:47.320 see what happens. And every time someone claims 00:34:47.320 --> 00:34:49.880 they did and something weird happens after, the 00:34:49.880 --> 00:34:52.750 story gets added to the pile. A new entry in 00:34:52.750 --> 00:34:55.269 a growing and ever -evolving legend based on 00:34:55.269 --> 00:34:59.530 absolutely nothing. So... It's really interesting 00:34:59.530 --> 00:35:04.889 that you mention that because... Bear with me 00:35:04.889 --> 00:35:06.550 because this might be a roundabout thing, but 00:35:06.550 --> 00:35:08.869 bear with me. That's fine. There's a thing called 00:35:08.869 --> 00:35:12.070 a vaccine injury list. Okay. And anytime somebody 00:35:12.070 --> 00:35:13.969 gets a vaccine and then something happens to 00:35:13.969 --> 00:35:17.610 them, it goes on the list. And so a lot of the 00:35:17.610 --> 00:35:19.989 people who believe... That's the self -reported 00:35:19.989 --> 00:35:22.500 one, right? Where like... Yeah. Yeah. And you 00:35:22.500 --> 00:35:25.500 can't verify it anyway. Exactly. So a lot of 00:35:25.500 --> 00:35:29.179 people who believe that, you know, COVID killed 00:35:29.179 --> 00:35:32.480 people because they followed the vaccine injury 00:35:32.480 --> 00:35:36.300 list. But the thing is, there are people who 00:35:36.300 --> 00:35:40.360 are hit by cars and that was reported. Yeah. 00:35:40.599 --> 00:35:43.480 Like, oh, this person died after getting the 00:35:43.480 --> 00:35:46.460 vaccine. But the idiots who believe that the 00:35:46.460 --> 00:35:48.119 vaccine killed a bunch of people didn't read 00:35:48.119 --> 00:35:50.559 that like. This guy choked on a ham sandwich. 00:35:50.639 --> 00:35:53.099 This guy was hit by a car. Instead, they're just 00:35:53.099 --> 00:35:56.400 like, whoa, vaccines killing people. It's the 00:35:56.400 --> 00:35:58.920 same thing with a stupid Annabelle doll. Something 00:35:58.920 --> 00:36:01.659 bad is bound to happen to you as a human being. 00:36:01.880 --> 00:36:06.000 It's just the way life is. Yeah, it's... It also 00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:07.639 doesn't seem like there's varying degrees of 00:36:07.639 --> 00:36:09.460 what happens when you fuck with Annabelle. It's 00:36:09.460 --> 00:36:11.880 like you talk shit and then you fucking crash 00:36:11.880 --> 00:36:14.940 your car or you get stabbed. It's not like if 00:36:14.940 --> 00:36:17.159 you just look at her wrong, you stub your toe. 00:36:17.320 --> 00:36:19.119 I feel like if you're going to fuck with Annabelle, 00:36:19.139 --> 00:36:24.800 she's going to destroy your life. I don't know. 00:36:24.900 --> 00:36:27.519 But anyways, there you have it. That's the bullshit 00:36:27.519 --> 00:36:31.500 fucking story of Annabelle. It wasn't supposed 00:36:31.500 --> 00:36:37.900 to be a debunked and yeah, but I got mad. So 00:36:37.900 --> 00:36:40.360 I said, fuck it. We're just going to go ham on 00:36:40.360 --> 00:36:43.360 this one. But yeah, so yeah, there you have it. 00:36:43.400 --> 00:36:46.199 The actual, the actual story of the Annabelle 00:36:46.199 --> 00:36:49.780 doll is much shorter than the bullshit surrounding 00:36:49.780 --> 00:36:52.480 it, which I think is hilarious because it just 00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:55.599 goes to show that like it's all just story after 00:36:55.599 --> 00:37:00.280 the fact. The only source is the Warrens. They 00:37:00.280 --> 00:37:04.599 just built an empire around a throwaway story 00:37:04.599 --> 00:37:08.159 that Ed probably made up. Yeah. I don't trust 00:37:08.159 --> 00:37:10.619 a fucking bus driver to tell me about fucking 00:37:10.619 --> 00:37:16.920 the paranormal. Fuck that guy. All right. So 00:37:16.920 --> 00:37:18.380 there you have it. I got it out of my system. 00:37:18.559 --> 00:37:21.739 Just weird religious zealots who... Yeah, they're 00:37:21.739 --> 00:37:25.280 just fucking nightmare people. Yeah. Debunked. 00:37:25.280 --> 00:37:28.940 Yeah. But you know, this isn't going to matter 00:37:28.940 --> 00:37:33.639 to anyone. Yeah, no one's going to care. Yeah, 00:37:33.639 --> 00:37:35.619 not even a little bit. People are going to be 00:37:35.619 --> 00:37:37.360 like, well, what about this? I remember learning 00:37:37.360 --> 00:37:40.300 about the Enfield story and how the Warrens showed 00:37:40.300 --> 00:37:43.079 up and because they didn't want more publicity, 00:37:43.239 --> 00:37:45.659 the Warrens basically took off and then did a 00:37:45.659 --> 00:37:47.519 victory lap and said they fixed it. Yeah, they 00:37:47.519 --> 00:37:51.340 insert themselves into stories where they weren't 00:37:51.340 --> 00:37:54.320 really ever... a part of. Like, they just built 00:37:54.320 --> 00:37:57.199 their own... Because back in the day, when they 00:37:57.199 --> 00:38:00.079 were doing this fucking bullshit, like, no one... 00:38:00.079 --> 00:38:02.019 You couldn't call them out on it. It's not like 00:38:02.019 --> 00:38:04.039 you... Yeah, there was no way to find out if 00:38:04.039 --> 00:38:06.039 they were wrong or not. Yeah, they just said 00:38:06.039 --> 00:38:07.860 their bullshit, and then... It was like Mike... 00:38:07.860 --> 00:38:09.760 I mean, even then, it was like Mike Warnky with 00:38:09.760 --> 00:38:12.260 the fucking satanic panic shit. Like, you couldn't 00:38:12.260 --> 00:38:14.659 prove or disprove anything he was saying. Like, 00:38:14.659 --> 00:38:17.960 and so, it just grows into this, like I said, 00:38:17.980 --> 00:38:20.820 an Ouroboros of bullshit. Like, it's fucking 00:38:20.820 --> 00:38:23.730 stupid. All right, so if anyone wants to send 00:38:23.730 --> 00:38:25.329 us hate mail about how we're wrong about this, 00:38:25.409 --> 00:38:27.750 that'd be fucking awesome. I would like to shit 00:38:27.750 --> 00:38:30.929 on anyone. Yeah, go for it. All right. But if 00:38:30.929 --> 00:38:32.690 you come in here defending Matt Rife, you're 00:38:32.690 --> 00:38:34.409 going to have a fight in your hands. Yeah, I'll 00:38:34.409 --> 00:38:37.170 fucking hate that guy so much. He's such a piece 00:38:37.170 --> 00:38:41.050 of shit. He's so annoying. He's the worst. There 00:38:41.050 --> 00:38:43.010 you go. There you have it. That is Annabelle 00:38:43.010 --> 00:38:46.099 debunked. because I feel like it needed to be 00:38:46.099 --> 00:38:48.219 done. We're not the first to do it, but I just 00:38:48.219 --> 00:38:51.440 had to get my two cents out there. We had to 00:38:51.440 --> 00:38:54.820 get in there and stir the pot a little bit. Yeah. 00:38:55.659 --> 00:38:57.840 All right. Well, that's it. That's all I got. 00:38:58.000 --> 00:38:59.000 I don't know if you got anything you want to 00:38:59.000 --> 00:39:01.820 add. That's all I got. I got nothing. I got nothing 00:39:01.820 --> 00:39:06.599 other than Matt Reif looks like a fuckboy, and 00:39:06.599 --> 00:39:11.340 Raggedy Ann is not scary, so I don't know what 00:39:11.340 --> 00:39:15.750 they were driving at. All right. Yeah, so with 00:39:15.750 --> 00:39:18.090 that out of the way, I guess you can follow us 00:39:18.090 --> 00:39:20.650 on Instagram at Cryptic Cocktail, TikTok, Cryptic 00:39:20.650 --> 00:39:22.510 Cocktail Party. Leave us a five -star rating 00:39:22.510 --> 00:39:24.210 review. That'd be awesome. Do wherever you can. 00:39:24.710 --> 00:39:27.750 Apple, Spotify. I don't know where else you can 00:39:27.750 --> 00:39:30.329 do it. I'm sure there's other venues you can 00:39:30.329 --> 00:39:34.269 do it. Yeah. Sorry, do you guys think you want 00:39:34.269 --> 00:39:36.269 to plug before we sign off? No, hit me up on 00:39:36.269 --> 00:39:38.809 the interwebs, Sarge the Destroyer. You can find 00:39:38.809 --> 00:39:42.750 it on just Google Sarge the Destroyer. I'm the 00:39:42.750 --> 00:39:45.349 only one dumb enough to use that name, so. Yeah. 00:39:45.730 --> 00:39:48.289 And fuck Ed and Lorraine Warren. And with that 00:39:48.289 --> 00:39:49.289 out of the way, do you want to say goodbye and 00:39:49.289 --> 00:39:51.530 love you to the audience, bud? Goodbye. And unlike 00:39:51.530 --> 00:39:52.510 Matt Reif, I love you.