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The True Story of Key West’s Robert the Doll

Robert the Doll is known as the world’s most haunted doll, but the story of what inhabits the artifact goes far beyond the child’s sailor suit that adorns it today.

The doll was made in Giengen, Germany, by the Steiff Company in the early 1900s. Founder Margarete Steiff crafted many of the company’s early dolls before she died in 1909. Because of this doll’s rarity, there is a good possibility she was directly involved in his creation. The German connection brought the doll to a family of German descent in America, the Ottos.

The Second Dolltender: Eugene Otto

In 1904, the doll was given to a Key West boy named Robert Eugene Otto, and the two developed a relationship that didn’t seem normal to most people. It was as if the boy could see something in the doll that others couldn’t.

According to legends, the boy blamed the doll for his misdeeds, and the family reported strange activity around Robert. The two were a part of each other’s lives until Gene Otto died in 1974.

Myrtle Reuter was the next person to care for the doll and the spirit inside of it. She believed the doll contained the spirit of a child. Myrtle donated the doll to the Key West Art & Historical Society in 1994. She told director Joe Pais the doll was haunted and had locked her in her room. The museum accepted the donation, but the doll was not displayed. Robert had been off of Key West’s radar for more than a decade. His story had been lost to time, and nobody talked about the strange things happening around him anymore. He was stored in a back room at Fort East Martello Museum, covered with a sheet.

I moved to the Florida Keys in 1996 and dug deep into the haunted history, legends, and lore of Key West while researching the island’s first ghost tour. After hearing the story of Robert the Doll from Darryl Meyer, who owned the bed and breakfast where the doll once resided, I arranged a meeting with the Key West curiosity.

Museum Curator Stacey Rosseau took him out of storage, and while photographing the doll, I saw it come alive.

At that moment, I knew I had to discover the truth about the doll and the spirit contained inside.

Like Myrtle Reuter, I’ve come to realize that the doll contains a child’s spirit. I don’t know why I was chosen to care for this spirit, but that is how things worked out.

Through extensive research and the discovery of little-known Otto family archives, I traced the legends surrounding Robert the Doll back to their sources and uncovered the haunted doll’s true origins, including:

• The Steiff Company in Germany made Robert the Doll.

• The ‘angry servant’ from legends is Emeline Abbott.

• The little girl spirit is the daughter of Emeline Abbott. I call her ‘Abi’ to honor her family name,

Over nearly thirty years, I’ve talked with friends and family of the people closest to the doll to separate fact from fiction, conducted hundreds of investigations in his museum, and spent thousands of hours with Robert the Doll, trying to evolve and make sense of his story as new information is uncovered, and developing theories about what’s really happening with the spirits inside.

I don’t own Robert the Doll. The doll is owned by the Key West Art & Historical Society. They are in charge of protecting the artifact from theft, humidity, hurricanes, and other threats. I’m a Dolltender who collaborates with the museum for haunted tours and paranormal investigations. I also care for the spirits inside the doll, particularly the little girl, Abi.

Misinformation being spread across the Internet is the biggest problem facing Robert the Doll today.

Many believe the doll that was once considered ‘enchanted' to be ‘evil’ today, and part of this stems from the energy people bring to the fort when they see it.

• Asking permission from the doll can be dangerous.

• Robert was not the inspiration for Chucky.

• You are not likely to get cursed by looking at a photo of Robert on the Internet.

There are protective spirits around the doll who watch out for the little girl. You don’t want to get on their bad side.

How do you avoid being cursed by Robert the Doll?

Respect the doll. Respect the fort. Respect the little girl.

For more facts about Robert the Doll, pick up a copy of Robert the Doll: The True Biography of Key West’s Haunted Doll or join the VIP Robert the Doll Experience Ghost Tour,

Robert the Doll is an artifact in the permanent collection of one of Key West’s oldest non-profit organizations, Key West Art & Historical Society,