Robert the Doll lives behind glass at the Fort East Martello Museum in Key West, Florida. He has been there since 1994. The doll is 117 years old and wears a small sailor suit. He holds a toy dog with big eyes. His face looks old and worn out with brown spots all over it. His tiny black eyes seem to watch everyone who walks by. A German toy company called Steiff made Robert in the early 1900s. This is the same company that made the first teddy bear. A grandfather bought the doll in Germany and gave it to his grandson, Robert Eugene Otto, as a birthday present. The boy liked the doll so much that he gave it his own name. After that, everyone had to call the boy Gene instead of Robert. People still tell the museum that bad things happen to them after they see Robert. As per Atlas Obscura, they say the doll has caused car accidents, broken bones, job loss, divorce and many other problems. The museum boss, Cori Convertito, says Robert now sits in a better case that keeps him safe. But people keep sending in reports about strange things happening to them. Gene Otto treated the doll like a real person his whole life When Gene was little, he would say Robert did it whenever something broke or went wrong. Grown-ups saw weird things happen around the doll too. Convertito explains that people thought Gene’s friendship with Robert was not normal. “He brought it everywhere, he talked about it in the first person as if he weren’t a doll, he was Robert. As in he is a live entity,” she says. The story of Robert The Doll.Currently locked up in a glass case in Florida. Sound familiar? pic.twitter.com/Te0sr56yzm— The Maverick Approach (@Maveapproach) October 1, 2025 Gene never got rid of Robert, even when he grew up. He became a painter and moved into a big house on Eaton Street in Key West that people called The Artist House. Gene put Robert in a window upstairs so the doll could look outside. Kids who walked past the house on their way to school told their parents they saw Robert move around in the window. Some said his head would turn to watch them. The children got so scared that they would cross the street to avoid walking near the house. Forget Annabelle. The true story of Robert the Doll is far more chilling than any Hollywood script.A Doll Too Real pic.twitter.com/m2KcYt6y0h— Tamraaj (@tam_raaz) September 6, 2025 When Gene died in 1974, a woman named Myrtle Reuter bought his house. She kept Robert with her for the next twenty years. Reuter told people she heard someone walking around in the attic even when no one was up there. She also heard what sounded like a child laughing. She swore that Robert would move from room to room without anyone touching him. People who came to visit said Robert’s face would change and look mean if they said anything bad about Gene. After dealing with this for two decades, Reuter finally gave Robert to the museum. Robert is not the only object believed to bring bad luck to those who ignore warnings. A grandmother’s final words warned her family never to hang a certain painting in their home, and what happened next terrified them. When Robert the Doll Sends You a Warning… pic.twitter.com/Nx0P1gDmML— suru.clips (@SuruClips) September 19, 2025 The strange events did not stop when Robert got to the museum. People say their cameras suddenly stop working when they point them at Robert. Then the cameras work fine again once they leave the museum. The museum put up a sign telling visitors they need to ask Robert if they can take his picture. A lot of people think this rule is silly and do not follow it. If you look at the walls near Robert’s case, you will see them covered with letters. These are sorry letters from people all around the world who think Robert put a curse on them. They write about losing their jobs, getting divorced, having car crashes, and getting sick. All of them beg Robert to forgive them and take away the bad luck. Another haunted painting reportedly caused nightmares and even death to those who viewed it.