Annabelle Doll Escaped From Warren Museum Hoax Debunked

Getty Some Twitter users feared Annabelle, the doll featured in horror movies about paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, had escaped their museum.

Some Twitter users feared Annabelle, the real doll featured in horror movies about paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, had escaped their museum. Her name became a top-trending topic on Friday, gardening nearly 250,000 mentions, as frightened netizens tweeted about the doll potentially coming to life.

Of course, its just another internet hoax. Annabelle has not escaped nor is she causing any type of trouble.

okay SO, ANABELLE. like, THE DOLL FROM THOSE HORROR MOVIES DECIDED TO UP AND LEAVE THE WARREN MUSEUM. if corona doesn’t kill me this damn doll about to pic.twitter.com/3JvpPmBbqy

— trippylotl (@AwkrdT) August 14, 2020

How Did The Hoax Begin?

The rumor started after news stories about British actress Annabelle Wallis emerged. Wallis, best known for playing Grace on Peaky Blinders, gave an interview where she talked about how she was able to get The Mummy co-star Tom Cruise to run with her on camera. According to one YouTube user, the story got mixed up when translated into Chinese, and changed to “Annabelle escaped.” That’s likely how the hoax about the doll took off.

When asked by The Hollywood Reporter if questions about working with Cruise have started to slow down three years after the movie came out, she said they probably never will.

“He’s his own thing. He’s such a movie star, and he does his own bloody stunts!” she told THR. “He means business, and he loves this business. He’s a cinephile. I think people are in awe of that kind of passion and love for cinema and a desire to excel, to keep growing and keep pushing boundaries.”

Wallis was proud she got Cruise to run alongside her. “I got to run on-screen with him, but he told me no at first. He said, ‘Nobody runs on-screen [with me],’ and I said, ‘But I’m a really good runner.’ So, I would time my treadmill so that he’d walk in and see me run. And then he added all these running scenes.”

Wallis said the opportunity was like getting an Oscar and she doesn’t mind talking about Cruise. “I was so happy!” she said with a laugh. “But I don’t think it ever goes away and I hope it never does. It’s so wonderful to be excited by someone and in awe of what they’ve achieved in their lives. Yeah, good on him. And I hope the questions never stop. I love talking about him. It’s really cool.”

There’s Another Reason The Rumor Might Have Started

Some horror fans might also remember that Wallis played Mia in the original Annabelle movie. During the same interview with THR, Wallis talked about working with Annabelle director James Wan, saying they have a “very special” relationship. “I’m very grateful to him. He’s a wonderful man,” she said.

Working on Annabelle was the first time Wallis came to the U.S. and Wan had her back, saying he was instrumental in helping her get the part of Mia.

“He’s so good. He’s so hands-on, holding cameras and moving equipment,” she told THR. “He was even fixing my makeup. He was literally my hair girl. He fixed all my hair.”

‘Annabelle’ The Movie Is Based on The Real ‘Haunted’ Raggedy Ann Doll

Those who were scared of the rumor about the Annabelle doll escaping the Warren museum probably know that the horror films were based on the Raggedy Ann doll, which ghost hunter Lorraine Warren said was “evil.”

“Looks are deceiving. It’s not what the doll looks like that makes it scary; it is what has been infused within the doll: evil,” she told USA Today in 2017.

Annabelle’s “reign of terror” started in 1970 after she was bought by a woman who wanted to give her to her daughter, Donna, a nursing student. Soon after being purchased, reports claimed the doll was levitating and attacking people.

That’s when Lorraine and Ed Warren were called, and they determined the Annabelle doll was “inhuman demonic spirit.” They confiscated the doll and took it to their museum, the Warren Occult Museum, to keep it safe.

The doll remains at Warren’s Occult Museum in Connecticut today–and has not escaped. In a video from 2017, workers doused themselves with holy water after moving Annabelle, who is kept in a glass case.

“We have a priest come in and bless the museum, including Annabelle,” Lorraine Warren told USA Today. “These are prayers that bind the evil — much like an electric fence for a dog.”

Ed Died in 2006 and Lorraine died in April 2019 at 92 Years Old

Lorraine’s death was announced on their Facebook page, New England Society for Psychic Research – NESPR.

It is with deep sadness that I must announce that Lorraine Warren has passed away. She died peacefully in her sleep at home last night. The family requests that you respect their privacy at this time. Lorraine touched many lives and was loved by so many. She was a remarkable, loving, compassionate and giving soul. To quote Will Rogers, she never met a person she didn’t like. She was an avid animal lover and contributed to many animal charities and rescues. She was wonderful and giving to her entire family.

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