Written by Hannah Lindenberg

I have a creepy 101 year old doll living in my house. She sits in a rocking chair that sings a tune when it’s purposely rocked or moved by the wind. She was a gift for my great aunt Elaine on her fifth birthday; she also got her name from her. We were gifted Elaine when my aunt passed away, and the doll is something that I will be inheriting when I move out of the house. She now resides in the room with all the Bibles and holy water.

Now, the doll must have been quite the rave back in 1918. However, in 2019 and all of my childhood, it was quite the opposite. Homegirl could give the Annabelle doll from the movies a run for her money. She is missing fingers and if I’m being honest (which I am because I’m pretty sure she can’t read), her face really ain’t cute. She just looks like the reason why demons haunt dolls. It’s because they’re freakin scary.

All throughout my childhood, she stayed in the den. I would only enter if someone else was with me. The den was where all DVD movies were kept and where my mom would get work done, so there was always a need to step foot in the room. It was traumatizing, always needing a flashlight in order to keep a spotlight on her or only going in during broad daylight so she couldn’t make any sudden moves without someone noticing. Elaine just gave off this vibe that she was watching you; I swear her eyes would follow me everywhere. I’m not the only one who thought that. My dad, sister, cousins, friends, and I all swear we have seen her eyes move. My mom doesn’t believe that the doll’s eyes move, but she will play on and tell us that it does in order to give us a fright. The worst is when you are alone in the house, just you and her, and you hear the song that the music box makes when she’s rocked. You don’t even have to be in the same room, I can be across the house away from where she is and still hear the music. The music box will never not make a sound because it’s not wired using batteries. Elaine’s music box runs off of the movement of her wooden rocking chair. So when you two were the only one’s home and the creepy song starts playing, you get scared and run into the room with all the bibles. 

Currently, Elaine lives in the closet of my dad’s office. I deem it the safest room for her. The office has all my dad’s different bibles and different vials of anointing oil (the pastor is always prepared). Whenever I step into the room, I make sure to say hi to her and ask her how she’s doing. Call it crazy, but if it ever comes to the day that she decides to start haunting my family, maybe she won’t come after me. If I’m nice to her she might not want to attack me.