Corinne (2:14)

Oh, people were just talking about this on our Patreon. It's so like community chat.

Sabrina (2:19)

It's so good. So the concept is this woman and her fiance are driving to like her fiance's family's retreat in like the wilderness to get married. And immediately it opens on like blood and then it goes back in time and it's like six days until I do or whatever it is. But it's like a lot about generational trauma in a horror tropes, like in a horror landscape.

Corinne (2:46)

Okay. No, I'll definitely watch it.

Sabrina (2:47)

It's so good.

Corinne (2:48)

Actually, this is reminding me I might have had a paranormal experience yesterday. I don't actually know.

Sabrina (2:54)

It's so which whenever you say that, it for sure is what what is it? What happened? Okay, here's.

Corinne (2:59)

Here's a scenario. Our living room faces the road and the walkway up to our front door. I'm sitting on the floor playing with Noah, and I see out of my peripheral vision someone in a white T shirt walking past. There's two windows to walk past. Walking past the first window and then the second window, which is to our front door. So I'm thinking it's someone dropping off a package. I'm not looking directly at them, but I, like, can see enough of them. And I'm starting to, like, push my body weight up on the couch to look. And I lean over, and I look out the window to see, like, oh, what, did they just drop off a package? Is this solar soliciting? Like, who's there? Yeah, no one's there. I was like, that's really confusing. So then I look on the road. I look in the driveway. There's no cars. So I'm like, oh, my God. Someone's just creeping and walking around our yard.

Sabrina (3:44)

Don't you have a camera?

Corinne (3:45)

Oh, we have many. So I pulled up the security footage so I can see everything. No one. No one's there. There was no alert that anyone had been there. No alert that anyone had even, like, encroached an inch onto the driveway.

Sabrina (4:01)

Yeah. So paranormal experience. What else would it be? Unless you're hallucinating.

Corinne (4:04)

I don't know. It's just weird because it was outside, and it was, like, on the sidewalk.

Sabrina (4:08)

Yeah. But I feel like it was passing by.

Corinne (4:10)

It was so strange. That is really weird. And they were, like, walking at a clip. That. Like an Amazon delivery truck.

Sabrina (4:15)

I love that you used that phrase.

Corinne (4:17)

Walking at a clip.

Sabrina (4:18)

Yeah. Like, I don't.

Corinne (4:19)

Is that old?

Sabrina (4:19)

I don't think I've ever tried to say that. And I really enjoyed it. But there were.

Corinne (4:25)

It wasn't just, like, leisurely.

Sabrina (4:27)

Yeah.

Corinne (4:27)

It was someone coming to. Yeah. Drop something off. Like, there was an intention. I was so confused. It seemed like I was on FaceTime with my parents.

Sabrina (4:35)

Like, maybe it was like, that's gonna happen later. And you kind of, like, glitched in time real quick. Maybe.

Corinne (4:40)

Was it you in your white shirt walking up?

Sabrina (4:42)

I. I was wearing, like, many jackets on top of this.

Corinne (4:45)

Yeah. It was, like, confusing enough that I. So we were FaceTiming my parents, Grandma and grandpa at the time, and I literally was like. I. As I was talking to them, I was like, wait, where did the person go? Like, they were there as they saw my confusion of, like, I just. Where. How did they disappear that quick?

Sabrina (5:01)

That's really weird.

Corinne (5:02)

I was like, I don't know. Was someone creeping around? My first thought was not paranormal. It was that someone was creeping around our yard because it. It was strange.

Sabrina (5:10)

I am glad.

Corinne (5:10)

Anyway, normal, right?

Sabrina (5:12)

I'm glad no one was creeping around your yard. Yeah. And you do have video to prove that it wasn't a real person. But yeah, that is weird.

Corinne (5:19)

Part of me was like, is there going to be some sort of, like, weird thing on the cameras where, like, I see a little ghostly apparition? But no, there was literally nothing. And yet I saw a man with dark brown, like, black short hair and a white T shirt walking by both of the windows.

Sabrina (5:37)

Yeah.

Corinne (5:38)

And like, temperature appropriate for that. That afternoon too.

Sabrina (5:41)

Nice, huh?

Corinne (5:43)

So it was really weird. Anyway, I don't know. Or a vampire just disappear in the

Sabrina (5:49)

middle of the day. Good for you, vampire. If you walk in, walk.

Corinne (5:52)

They glisten in the sun. Walk in the street. They caught my attention.

Sabrina (5:56)

Wait, we're doing a. We'll have already had it by the time this episode comes out. But we decided to do. Because Ash and I have been, like, hanging out to watch Summerhous and Bravo stuff. But we were like, I feel like we don't have enough events and reasons to get dressed up and feel cute. So we were talking about doing a whimsical night, and we were like, let's all go. So you, me, Ash and Elena are in a group chat talking about a whimsical evening we're going to have. Let's start.

Corinne (6:24)

The first couple texts referenced whimsy.

Sabrina (6:28)

Yes.

Corinne (6:28)

But then it went hard into sparkles and glitter. Yes. And I'm quickly scanning the text.

Sabrina (6:35)

Right. So you're like, oh, am I coming as a vampire?

Corinne (6:37)

Well, no. So I said, how hard are we going? And then you guys gave some descriptions of what you were gonna wear. And I was like, oh, shit. Okay. I'm glad I asked because I completely forgot the whimsy part and went straight to glitter and sparkles and had fully planned to show up dressed as Edward Cullen, glistening in the sun. I was like, oh, yeah, I can go hard on glitter.

Sabrina (6:58)

That's what makes you feel whimsical, Corinne. Hell, yeah.

Corinne (7:01)

But that is not the vibe that everyone else is bringing.

Sabrina (7:05)

I have no idea what the vibe is going to be. And I'm so. I'm the most excited to see Elena's version of whimsy.

Corinne (7:12)

That's true.

Sabrina (7:13)

Because I don't think I've seen her out of black.

Corinne (7:16)

I've Seen her in red?

Sabrina (7:18)

Sure. Like a maroon.

Corinne (7:19)

Blood.

Sabrina (7:19)

Yeah. I'm excited. Anyway.

Corinne (7:22)

Really dark emerald green.

Sabrina (7:24)

Maybe you need to plan a whimsical evening after listening to this episode. Because it ain't whimsical. It's scary. Should we get into it?

Corinne (7:34)

Yes.

Sabrina (7:34)

Okay. This is one of those stories that started with a business idea, a simple idea to make profit. An antique dealer had an antique doll in his shop, and he looked at it and thought, hmm, I could sell this doll in my shop for $9.99, or I could make a hell of a lot more on ebay if I give it a story. So he did. He gave this doll a haunting past. And at first, that's all it was, a story and a sales tactic. But it didn't take long for that fake story to turn into something very real and very dangerous. People reported headaches, confusion, unease just from looking at images of this doll. And over the years, the reports got worse. The hauntings intensified and even became lethal. It is believed that this doll now has a body count and is responsible for two deaths. At least two. This is the true story of a haunted doll that began as an innocent marketing tactic and turned into a waking nightmare. This is Harold the haunted doll.

Corinne (8:43)

Immediately my mind goes, what came first, this guy's idea to create a haunted backstory? Or was this implanted into him so that Harold, who was already haunted, could find a home that was susceptible to its powers?

Sabrina (8:59)

Well, that's gonna be like the biggest question about all of this. And I don't know that we'll get an answer. I do wanna, like, before I get into the episode, I wanna be upfront and very clear, like, yes, this doesn't start with a true or in known. Known haunted doll. Or at least they didn't think they were dealing with a haunted doll. It straight up started as a hoax, but what started as a hoax turned into very real hauntings. One that has been documented for years. Like, I want to say upwards of like 15 years of documented hauntings. EVPs. There have been paranormal investigators, there have been psychics who've done readings. There's so much evidence. And the doll has passed between multiple owners. It's tormented people through the Internet, and it has even been exercised.

Corinne (9:41)

Are you gonna talk about the different owners?

Sabrina (9:42)

I sure am. Okay, this is why this is going to be a two parter, because I read a 300 page book for this episode episodes. And there are so many incredible stories. And like, usually I can be like, oh, I'll just trim the fat. There's no fat.

Corinne (9:58)

It's hard to.

Sabrina (9:59)

There's no fat here.

Corinne (9:59)

I felt that way about, like, the Smurl family possession and some of those stories where I'm just like, how do you even edit things out of this?

Sabrina (10:05)

No, like, you. So anyway, like, it's going to be a two parter. Even though it did start as a hoax, this is one of those episodes again that I'm going to give a warning for. It is likely, given our reputation and our history of haunting listeners, it is likely that this episode could haunt you. So maybe don't listen while driving. Don't listen. I wrote specifically if you are Kat, who is our Patreon donor, or if you are dealing similar to Kat with like, maybe potentially demonic entities. It's okay, Skip. Next. Most podcasters aren't gonna say, hey, don't listen to this. We just want you to. We care about your well being.

Corinne (10:41)

But we've had too many episodes that we didn't know were gonna be haunted. Haunt people. And we don't want you to be haunted in a negative way. And so now I do feel like we have a decent read when we're like, going through a story on what might slip out of the phone and into your waking lives.

Sabrina (11:00)

And Sven, you might be working overtime this week because you got to protect our listeners.

Corinne (11:03)

Yes.

Sabrina (11:04)

Yeah. Set some intentions. If you are, like, now I need to listen. Like, if you're like me and you feel more tempted right after that, press the red button. Cautionary tale.

Corinne (11:13)

Do not push.

Sabrina (11:14)

And if you do decide to listen, or even if you don't decide to listen, I think the biggest thing is to not mock Harold at all.

Corinne (11:23)

Okay?

Sabrina (11:23)

Don't laugh at him. Don't say, ha ha. Yeah, right. Just be respectful just to be safe. So I did write, like, this is one of those topics that does make us stop and ask to, like, what it means to be haunted and how exactly haunted objects become haunted. And the like couple of theories that I thought about while going into this is like, reminiscent of the Philip Experiment and like this idea of like a group putting thought into something and creating a haunting or a tulpa, which we've kind of talked about briefly but never done, like a full episode.

Corinne (11:59)

And I feel like listeners often will bring up tulpas.

Sabrina (12:02)

But the idea is that something can become haunted through focused thought and intention. So, like, if everyone believes something is haunted, can it then become haunted? Or like you were saying, was this always haunted? And it was like a thought implanted into the original person.

Corinne (12:18)

I didn't even Recognize or realize what was going on.

Sabrina (12:22)

Or this is an antiques dealer. He has many, many objects. Maybe an entity from another object was like, oh, this is my opportunity to shine. And took advantage of, you know, a door opened and they said, sign me up.

Corinne (12:36)

God, this is just reminding me of when I walked through that antique store. I think it was like in Rowley or something, Massachusetts. And I took a picture. Cause I felt horrible in that one corner and it had a bunch of dolls. I took a picture and I was like, I feel terrible here. And every single person who responded out of the like 13 dolls in the picture named this one specific doll as being the culprit.

Sabrina (13:00)

Yeah.

Corinne (13:01)

So, you know, sometimes you can identify it in a sea full of antiques, but it's not always that easy.

Sabrina (13:06)

No. So we don't exactly know what we are dealing with here, but we will discuss either way. This doll is haunted. Af and yeah, I just wanted to be upfront because I feel like a lot of different versions and like people who talk about Harold tell you the beginning part as if it was all real from the start. But I wanted to. I didn't wanna trick any of you guys.

Corinne (13:27)

Being honest, we've only done a couple, covered a couple hoaxes on this podcast. And we always say when it's real,

Sabrina (13:33)

we try to let you know up front.

Corinne (13:34)

Yeah.

Sabrina (13:35)

All that being said, I am going to tell the story from the very beginning when it was first presented as this haunted object and no one knew it was a hoax. And I got all of my research for this episode from a book written by Harold's current owner and Anthony Quinata. It is so good. I'm like, it's the. I want to read it as a book club book.

Corinne (13:55)

We could. We've never read something like that. It's always fiction.

Sabrina (13:59)

It doesn't have to be this one because I feel like I'm kind of giving everyone. I'm spoiling all of the information. But there's so much more that I obviously can't include because it's nearly 300 pages. So if you don't get haunted by this episode and you want to know more, go read Anthony's book. This story begins with a man named Greg. Back in 2001, Greg moved in with his brother in New York City. And he didn't have a job at the time, so he was like, how can I make a little bit of money? And he decided he was gonna help his brother, who is an antiques dealer and collected and sold antiques. And at this point, I think Greg's brother had decided to forego having an actual storefront because it's expensive, it's New York rent, it's not cheap. And he was like, I can make so much more money if I just have a storage unit with all of my antiques and then list them on ebay and sell them that way.

Corinne (14:47)

Yeah.

Sabrina (14:48)

So Greg decided to go through some of the items that his brother had collected. And this is when he found this doll. An old, beat up composition doll. Would you like to look at it?

Corinne (14:59)

I guess I feel like I need to. But I will say no comments once I see it.

Sabrina (15:04)

Yeah.

Corinne (15:05)

And I will have no thoughts. These are my intentions, my pep talk to myself in preparation of seeing Harold the Haunted doll. I couldn't stop the remarks from coming through my mind, but I say nothing out loud. It's a little baby doll.

Sabrina (15:19)

Like it's.

Corinne (15:20)

It's a baby doll, but also just the out. The outfit just reminded me of like a sumo wrestler, which is what I was thinking of in a little way. It looks like a wrestling leotard. Yeah.

Sabrina (15:31)

I think it's almost like it. I wonder if it's one of those dolls where, like, where part of it is more. It's not porcelain, but like whatever the plastic is. And then like the body is kind of more foamy.

Corinne (15:41)

It looks like he looks like he's missing his clothes.

Sabrina (15:44)

It does look like that.

Corinne (15:45)

Like, that we're seeing just his base.

Sabrina (15:48)

Yeah. So this is. It's pretty beat up. Right. Unsure what year this was made, but it's been through. It's been through life. And so Greg finds it and he. He's like, okay, my brother probably bought this for like a couple of bucks. And if they did have a store, like, they could probably sell it for $10, making a very, very small profit.

Corinne (16:07)

Yeah.

Sabrina (16:08)

But Greg had an idea, an idea to get a lot more money for a simple old scraggly doll listed on ebay as a haunted doll. And keep in mind, this is like 2001 to 2003. Ish.

Corinne (16:20)

Oh, prime eBay days.

Sabrina (16:21)

Mm.

Corinne (16:22)

God, I like that. Just reminded me of all the times that my dad would be like, I can't do something. I have to be here during the bid. And like, bidding on stuff on ebay.

Sabrina (16:33)

I'm drunk off coffee. So Greg lists it up for auction on ebay with the following listing. And I'm going to read it verbatim. I'm sure it's happened to all of us at least once or twice. You're walking around the flea market or antique mall looking for a treasure or two and you come upon a beat up looking doll, you think to yourself, oh, that's charming. Or the child who owned that doll must have really loved this thing. But what I thought after seeing the doll that is offered today should never ever be repeated. This doll was purchased in a small dirt lot flea market in the quaint town of Webster, Florida. Webster is very charming. It's an industrious town about 60 miles southwest of Gainesville, and they have a weekly flea market offering treasures, bargains and aisles of kernel corn. Anyway, I digress. I'd arrived at the flea market fairly late in the day when most people were packing up to go home. And that is when I saw an elderly man placing this doll in a box. It looked interesting. So I approached and asked the man if I could see it. And the conversation went something like, the man, you don't want to see this doll. Sure I do. What do you want for it? Well, that is a good question because it is very old. The man looked like he was about to cry as he continued. It was my son's. I bought it for him when he was born and he passed away a few years after. This doll has now sat in my workshed for over 60 years. I wasn't going to bring it out today, but I figured I just needed to get it out of there anyway. 20 bucks. So I gave the guy 20 bucks. I put the doll in the bag and walked away. When I was halfway down the aisle, the man came running, chasing me out of breath. I have to warn you about something. I can't just let you take him like this. The reason it has been in my shed is that, well, the doll brought an eerie presence into our house. After our son died, we would hear crying and singing from his bedroom. And when we went to check it out, there was nothing, just the doll. Other things started to happen and the priest told me I should burn the doll. I tried and tried, but it wouldn't burn. And this thing, like, just looking at it, you can tell it's made out of very flammable materials.

Corinne (18:37)

Yeah, this is also. I could see some people being like, well, of course this is a creative narrative for this ebay. But also, if you've ever been antiquing, I feel like antique sellers are chatty people. You do get a lot of backstory on pieces.

Sabrina (18:52)

Yeah, but the reason that the legs and arms and head were so worn is because this man had tried to burn it so much. The man goes, anyway, I just wanted to let you know, I told him okay. And chuckled to myself as I walked away. That was until I got home. And my life has never been the same. Two days later, my cat died.

Corinne (19:10)

Oh, my God.

Sabrina (19:11)

My girlfriend left me for the pool guy. I love that. That's the stereotype in it. And I began to have chronic migraines. This is only two days after purchasing the doll. A week later, I began to hear children laughing and crying in my basement. And every time I went to go check, of course, nothing after that. I put the doll in an armadillo coffin, which it has been in. And in my basement, it's an armadillo coffin. I think it's, like, made out of, like, armadillo, like, shell. So it's like a very secure.

Corinne (19:36)

Oh, interesting.

Sabrina (19:37)

Yeah. So now it's been in my basement for the last year and a half, and I need to get rid of the doll. I really do believe it's cursed. Sometimes I touch it and it seems like it has a pulse.

Corinne (19:47)

You. I hate that description.

Sabrina (19:49)

Maybe I'm just paranoid. Maybe I'm not. This cursed doll measures 21 inches tall. His, her. Its head, arms, and legs are all composition. And the eyes are closed when it's lying down. And this is a distinction that will become important. The doll's eyes are blue. Okay, that's not what some people see.

Corinne (20:10)

And blue eyed people are creepy.

Sabrina (20:14)

I am jealous of blue eyed people. I literally wore blue contacts for years.

Corinne (20:19)

So that's so funny. I feel cursed in a way, because. Not for blue, but I have a bunch of green eyes on both sides of my family. My mom's side and my dad's side. Green, green, green, green, green, green, Poop, brown.

Sabrina (20:34)

Well, you and I both girlfriend.

Corinne (20:36)

Yeah.

Sabrina (20:36)

Okay, so Greg ends this listing with, please ask any and all questions before you bid on this doll. I have not had it out of the coffin for years, so if anything else happens this week, I'll be sure to let you know. The auction is sold as is with no returns. Winner pays exact shipping and optional insurance. Ask all questions before you bid, even if you think you are sure about condition, pictures, et cetera. Please ask all specific questions before bidding. Thanks for looking and good luck. So that's the original listing. And apparently, which, like, are all of

Corinne (21:08)

the doll's owners such great writers? Who's the first and last at least?

Sabrina (21:12)

Yeah, I don't know. Apparently with this listing, Greg had posted a video where the doll looks like it's moving and talking. I couldn't find those videos. I mean, that was back in, like, 2001. 2002. So it' they're probably somewhere on the Internet, but I don't know. According to the book that I read, the videos did look hokey, but they were kind of convincing. It was a trick.

Corinne (21:33)

Like a Dear David esque thing where you're constantly looking for 100%.

Sabrina (21:38)

Feels like dear David in the beginning, but almost immediately things start happening for people.

Corinne (21:43)

Wow.

Sabrina (21:43)

He posts this listing and it gets over 100,000 views. And art Bell even talks about it on coast to coast. So it becomes this like worldwide nationwide sensation that everyone like paranormal investigators, paranormal enthusiasts, Art Bell are so interested in.

Corinne (22:02)

Wow.

Sabrina (22:02)

And curiosity is piqued. So many rumors start circulating about this doll. Like there's one that is clearly not true, but there's one that says that the FBI got interested in this doll when Greg posted it and they even did X rays on the doll and found the like, remains of a human baby inside of it. Oh, dark. It's so, so dark.

Corinne (22:23)

So dark. But also that exact era when this was published on ebay was when like the baby blender jokes were happening. So it makes sense.

Sabrina (22:31)

And also like, if that were true, the FBI wouldn't be like, oh, we found that. Sure. Keep it up there for auction. All good. There you go.

Corinne (22:39)

We'll give it right back to you and see what people bid.

Sabrina (22:43)

So this is up and there's an auction going. I'm not sure how many days it's up, but someone wins the bid. But then like when Greg tries to reach out to them to like complete the payment and whatnot, this person ghosts them. So Greg has to put it back up for auction. And this time he has another updated description, which I'll summarize. Greg informs people that in the two weeks since he first posted Harold for Sale, he has started to receive emails daily about it that he and others have been reporting various incidents they all attribute to Harold. And Greg himself states that since the first auction ended, his his own life has taken a turn. He became violently ill with high fever, stomach pains, coughs. He was like, so certain that this was all attributed to Harold that he decided to go back to the flea market where he first found the doll in order to track down this man. In the story, he claimed that they found this doll like years prior. So he was like, maybe I'll find that man again. He goes to the flea market again. This part is like fabricated, but I do think the emails are real. But he says he goes back to the flea market and he couldn't find that original man, but he found someone who knew him. And the man tells Greg that the original owner of this doll's name was Walter and that Walter had recently passed away. He goes on to tell Greg that Walter's son did in fact pass away when he was just one to two years old, and his son's name was Harry, and that Harry had been born severely disfigured and passed away very soon after being born. But that was it. That's all that Greg could find out. And the man that's telling him this story about Walter and Harry gets really uncomfortable. Like, starts to be, like, shifty and just, like, short and is like, I don't know anymore. I'm sorry. Like, I'm sorry. And, like, leaves. But whatever the background, Greg is now, like, I really need to get this out of my possession. I want to sell this. Like, please, someone. Someone who can help contain and research this doll. Like, please, like, that's the type of person I'm trying to sell it to. And, like, in quotes, he wrote, this doll needs to either be locked away in a controlled environment or destroyed. Although so far, that seems to be impossible. He concludes this new auction posting with the final sentence. This doll has affected my business tremendously. It has made me severely depressed, and I haven't been physically able to list anything else on ebay in the past two weeks because of my sickness and how weak I have been. So now Harold is officially listed for auction again. During this time, like, the auction's going on. It's like, a few days. Greg does add multiple updates. People were asking for updates on Greg's health and the hauntings, to which Greg responded that it actually had been very quiet. He wrote, it's not like the doll is running around and trying to kill me. You would just have to live with this thing to really get it. He admits that he's afraid of the doll and had received multiple emails from people regarding the doll. Some people who have looked directly into the doll's eyes started having really strange and unsettling experiences. Someone was, like, looking just at the image online, and almost like a scrying mirror in the eye of Harold, the doll saw, like, a really scary image of themselves. Ooh, yeah, an ebay user's kid. So this is where it starts to turn real. So someone say, I was looking at ebay, and my kid's like, next to me. The kid starts, like, screaming and crying and is like, oh, my God, like, what's happening? What's happening? And starts complaining that the doll is laughing and winking at her.

Corinne (26:14)

Trust your kids.

Sabrina (26:15)

Yeah. Psychics were claiming an angry male spirit was attached to the doll. And based on all these emails that he was getting, Greg is like, do not look directly into Harold's eyes. He's just giving a warning. He also received a really disturbing email from, like, another ebay user who was like, I had a vision that Harold is really mad at you for trying to sell him. And I keep seeing your flesh burning.

Corinne (26:38)

What? That's so sick.

Sabrina (26:40)

Right? Which also, like, hundreds of thousands of people are looking at this. Who knows if that's, like, a real vision someone had.

Corinne (26:46)

Yeah.

Sabrina (26:47)

But either way, that's terrifying to get.

Corinne (26:49)

Ew. It's. It's like a death threat.

Sabrina (26:51)

Mm. Mm. At this point, he's getting so many emails, it's kind of freaking him out. And he was like, I don't think you can destroy the doll, but I really want to get rid of him or get him to someone who can, like, control it. And that is how Kathy became the proud new owner of Harold the Haunted Doll. Leia's getting a little bit older. My kitty cat, she just turned 13 because of that. As she's getting older, her stomach has been getting more sensitive. So I'm very, very careful about what type of food I' giving her.

Corinne (27:23)

Yeah.

Sabrina (27:24)

And Smalls is my go to Smalls.

Corinne (27:27)

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Sabrina (27:35)

The protein packed is the most important thing because I feel like a lot of other cat foods are, like, packed with, like, fillers, but this is protein forward. And so it helps keep Leia fuller

Corinne (27:45)

for longer and more digestible. So easier on their little tummy.

Sabrina (27:49)

On her sensitive tummy.

Corinne (27:51)

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Sabrina (27:56)

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Corinne (28:24)

Yeah, she is.

Sabrina (28:25)

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And I love how convenient it is. It ships to your door. So if you are tired of switching litters and looking for the one, get 30% off your boxy order at box I.e cat.com tgog and use code tgog, that's boxycat.com tgog and make sure to use our code tgog so they know we sent you. This is the point when what began as a hoax turned into a very real haunting. Because up until this point, Greg's controlling the narrative. I don't know how much of what he wrote in any of these postings is factual. Yeah, I do know that he did get all these emails from people and, like, people were commenting saying, like, I'm having such strange experiences.

Corinne (29:53)

But this is which, like, how weird for him. If he truly believed that he made all of this up to be like, yeah, like, is he just thinking that everyone's just kind of, like, losing it or, like, wanting to believe? Or is he actually having a moment where he's like, oh, shit, yeah, what did I do right?

Sabrina (30:08)

I don't know. And I was. I was texting you about this last night, but I couldn't find Greg's full name. So was like, you know what? I'm just gonna, like, ask AI like, if they can find sources with Greg's full name. And it responded. Greg Newkirk was the original owner and poster of this. And I was so mad because Greg Newkirk.

Corinne (30:29)

Well, not only that, but never do that. It, like, insulted him. Oh, oh, you said, keep in mind this is about some random.

Sabrina (30:36)

Yeah, yeah.

Corinne (30:37)

Oh. I had misread it last night, and I thought that that's what it said. I thought that it was calling Greg a random guy.

Sabrina (30:45)

No, but this is why you can't

Corinne (30:47)

trust AI watch Greg actually have.

Sabrina (30:49)

What if it was. If it was him? Well, I corrected AI. I said, you're Dumb. That's wrong. Greg would never do that.

Corinne (30:59)

I know Greg. And Greg would never.

Sabrina (31:01)

We have not heard back from Greg and Dana yet. So.

Corinne (31:04)

Although they did create haunted objects. So that's true. Maybe that's kind of where. Where the Internet got a little confused.

Sabrina (31:10)

Yeah, maybe. I don't know. Anyway, this is when what began as a hoax really turns into a very, very true and real haunting. And Kathy's experiences are very real and very scary. Kathy, and I do not know how to say her last name. Krusk was a woman from Dublin. I'm not gonna say her last name ever again. She was a woman from Dublin who had recently found interest in doll restoration. So she first found Harold listed on ebay, and she, like, didn't really believe the whole haunted doll story. She was like, this is a great story. But she saw it for what it actually was, which was like someone trying to upsell.

Corinne (31:47)

Yeah. Which doll restoration. I feel like it's a beautiful thing for people to take objects and make them anew. But I feel like I've never seen a doll restoration workshop or space that isn't the creepiest thing I've ever fucking seen because there's body parts everywhere.

Sabrina (32:02)

I always think of Gendy. Jendy's one of our listeners.

Corinne (32:05)

I am thinking of Jendi Stalston.

Sabrina (32:07)

And Jenny joins us on Patreon often. And Jenny makes, like, the most amazing dolls.

Corinne (32:12)

Yes.

Sabrina (32:13)

But when she joins us on, like, campfire stories and stuff, it's just shelves of dolls. Some of them, like, don't have heads. And it's. They're all.

Corinne (32:22)

That part is creepy. It's because it's, like. It's symbolic of humans. Right. And then, like, we were. They're just missing body parts in these random rooms.

Sabrina (32:30)

It's the stereotype of it.

Corinne (32:32)

Yeah.

Sabrina (32:32)

Yeah. It's very. What's his name from Toy Story?

Corinne (32:35)

Sid.

Sabrina (32:36)

Sid. So she's like, yeah, I don't really believe in the haunted story, but I do find it really intriguing. And she also was like, this doll clearly needs restoration. Like, she, like, feels empathy for the doll. Like, it looks really badly beat up. And she thought, okay, I can use the doll to practice and learn doll restoration. And I guess I'm not totally clear on this, but I guess Kathy had, like, knew Greg. Like, he was a friend of a friend.

Corinne (33:03)

Okay.

Sabrina (33:04)

So she wins the auction. I don't know for how much. And she was about to go to the States for her aunt's wedding, and I think she was getting married in Connecticut. And then, like, the Whole family, Aunt, the new husband Kathy and her fiance Rick were all gonna go on a cruise to Bermuda afterwards. So because of this, Kathy's like, hey, Greg, don't ship it. I will pick it up. I'll come meet you in New York and pick it up. And so she meets up with Greg the seller, and grabs Harold the doll, and Greg hands her the doll in a plastic Duane Reade bag. Kathy thanked him before putting the doll in her trunk, where she planned to keep him until the end of her travels before bringing him home with her to Dublin. After the pickup, Kathy and her fiance Rick drive back to Connecticut to Kathy's aunt's house, which I don't know her name, but Kathy's aunt had like, heard about Kathy's new purchase and like, the story about Harold. So she's like, I really want to see the doll. So they go over to Cathy's trunk, she pops up in the trunk, she opens the Duane Reade plastic bag, and they look at Harold the doll, and they're discussing it and they're both like, dismissing the haunting, like, oh, no, it's definitely not haunted. I don't believe that's cursed. Whatever. And her aunt goes, oh, my gosh. You know what you should do is you should bring Harold on the cruise. We're going to the infamous Bermuda Triangle. Maybe if it really is haunted, that's like how we'll find out.

Corinne (34:25)

Yeah, it's a joke.

Sabrina (34:26)

Like, it's just like, ahaha. Maybe we do this. They go on with their day. The very next day, Kathy receives a call from her aunt who was at work, when all of a sudden her back went out and she can't walk. So she needs Kathy to come pick her up and bring her to the doctor. They go to the doctor and the doctor's like, you have a herniated disc and you just need a rest. Keep in mind this is like the week of her wedding.

Corinne (34:47)

Brutal.

Sabrina (34:48)

The very next day, her aunt's fiance, his back goes out. He goes to the doctor. Herniated disc, the same.

Corinne (34:56)

It's almost trying to break people's backs, doing like the closest that it can possibly do to that.

Sabrina (35:03)

Then Kathy's back went out. Same thing.

Corinne (35:06)

That's too many.

Sabrina (35:07)

It's too many.

Corinne (35:08)

Two. You could argue. I wouldn't argue, but some could argue coincidence.

Sabrina (35:13)

But at the time, like, obviously it's easy for us retelling the story, attribute it to Harold. But at the time they're like, this is just a freak weird thing. She really genuinely doesn't believe this. Doll is haunted. Somehow they all make it to the wedding, but the groom had to do his vows in a wheelchair due to his herniated disc. And, like, a lot of things were going wrong at the wedding. The hairdresser just didn't show up. The cake fell apart. But the wedding happened.

Corinne (35:37)

Oh, my gosh.

Sabrina (35:39)

One week after the wedding.

Corinne (35:40)

Let's pray that none of them were getting cold feet or had any, like, second questions or anxiety about getting married. Because wouldn't you look around and be like, these are all the signs. Right.

Sabrina (35:51)

Right. So the wedding happens. Then the cruise is coming up to go to Bermuda. But on the day of the cruise, Kathy receives a call from her aunt, and she tells Kathy that she and her husband unfortunately won't be able to go on the cruise anymore because they both have bronchitis and strep throat and Kathy's aunt has shingles.

Corinne (36:11)

Holy shit.

Sabrina (36:12)

Which I feel like a lot of people do get sick after their weddings because it's like, you've been doing all this planning. There's been so much going on. True people, there's germs.

Corinne (36:19)

My parents went to Bermuda for their honeymoon, and my dad got mono. Spent, like, the whole time in the hotel room. Yeah.

Sabrina (36:27)

But so Kathy and Rick still go on the cruise, and they decide to bring Harold. Why? I do not know. But they do. Again, Kathy still does not believe Harold is actually haunted. Just like these are all random, strange occurrences. Right. They go on the cruise, and while they made it out okay and didn't have any physical accidents during the trip, the second they get on the cruise, Kathy's luggage is missing. Because when you go on a cruise, like, you kind of drop it with a porter, and then they bring them to your room, and it's supposed to be there when you get on your. On the boat. The entirety of the trip, no one can find Kathy's luggage. Until the day that they dock back in wherever, like, they're starting port was like, a random group of four men were staying in a room. And as they were packing up, they find the suitcase.

Corinne (37:10)

That's so weird.

Sabrina (37:12)

It's so weird.

Corinne (37:13)

I thought you were going to say it was like, floating right there.

Sabrina (37:15)

That would be crazy.

Corinne (37:17)

Which I have been on a cruise where the luggage has gone overboard.

Sabrina (37:20)

Oh, that's crazy.

Corinne (37:21)

Yeah. People are.

Sabrina (37:22)

That's awful.

Corinne (37:23)

Shop in the gift shop.

Sabrina (37:24)

Right? So this is another reason that it's like nothing crazy happened. That's like an. It's more of an annoyance. Right. So they get back. Kathy finally gets all her luggage back and they go to visit the aunt before going back to Dublin. This aunt who had like a herniated disc, shingles, bronchitis, strep throat, she's in perfect health. And she's like, it was so weird, like, the day that you guys left for the cruise, I all of a sudden started feeling so much better and great, yada, yada, yada. All those things which, like, these are

Corinne (37:52)

things that you don't recover in a split second from. Like, these are weeks long recoveries. Antibiotics, specialty medication.

Sabrina (38:01)

But now that Harold is back in her presence, Kathy's aunt's back goes out again.

Corinne (38:06)

Oh, my God.

Sabrina (38:07)

And so this is when Kathy starts to question. I don't know if it's like, her posing the question or if it's the aunt or, like, family members. People are like, maybe it's not a hoax. Like, maybe Harold is actually haunted. She's dubious, a little stitious enough to think it's best that she ship Harold back to Dublin instead of bringing him on the plane with her.

Corinne (38:31)

Jesus. Like, in one part, I'm like, okay, yeah, don't put him on a plane with a bunch of people where things could go horribly wrong. But then it's also like, how many people is he gonna come in contact with? That's true when being shipped and will probably likely still be on a plane. Like, he's not going on a cargo ship, right?

Sabrina (38:48)

Just less people on that type of. I don't know. Anyway, they make it to Dublin, Harold makes it to Dublin. As far as we know. I don't know how long that process was. Nothing strange. But now Kathy and Rick one night decide to have their friends John and Veronica over. And I guess their friends from work and Veronica also, like, had, like, an affinity and love and passion for collecting antiques and had heard about Kathy's new purchase, this doll, Herald, and she wanted to see him. Up until that point, Kathy had been keeping Harold in a shed in their backyard. So that evening, before Veronica and John show up for dinner, she grabs Harold and brings him inside. That night at dinner, Kathy shows Veronica the doll. And Veronica, like, makes a comment like, wow, he's in bad shape and kind of laughs. Laughs. Keep in mind what I've. What was my disclaimer? Do not mock, do not laugh at. Do not make fun of Harold.

Corinne (39:40)

Yeah, well, like, was she intending to make fun of him or was she more concerned? Like, no, it was like, oh, no. Like, he's really, you know, been maybe mishandled throughout his life.

Sabrina (39:51)

I think it was like an offhanded like, wow, he's in bad shape, you know? And we'll learn a lot more about the entity or entities. They're not rationally thinking.

Corinne (40:01)

They are out to get people.

Sabrina (40:04)

Yeah. They'll find any reason to get people.

Corinne (40:05)

Yeah.

Sabrina (40:06)

So whatever. They, like, talk about it, whatnot. Kathy decides to put Harold because it's, like, getting late. It's cold. She doesn't want to go back out to the shed. So she puts Harold in the guest room closet and forgets about him. Just three days later, Veronica's husband John calls Kathy and Rick with terrible news. Veronica had gone out to the balcony to have a cigarette and fell down the stairs, fracturing her skull in the fall and died. Whoa.

Corinne (40:35)

Holy shit. This is not where I thought that that was gonna go.

Sabrina (40:38)

No.

Corinne (40:38)

Oh, my God, I feel sick. Right?

Sabrina (40:41)

So this is not.

Corinne (40:41)

And this is. We are not in the fake narrative of this story anymore. Like, this is a real death. Oh, Jesus.

Sabrina (40:50)

Not long after this, another friend named Steven calls Kathy and Rick and is like, hey, I found myself without an apartment. Like, is there any chance I can stay with you just, like, for a short while? Like, as I figure out where I go next? Kathy and Rick are like, absolutely, of course. Come stay in our guest bedroom. Remember where Kathy put Harold and forgot about him?

Corinne (41:09)

That was literally my first thought when you said that she put him away in the guest bedroom closet. Because I was like, oh, just for the guest to deal with.

Sabrina (41:16)

She forgot that she put him in there. So now Steven moves into the guest room. And he's there for like, two to three months. And I guess he's from Wales, and he was in Wales before coming to Dublin to stay with Kathy and Rick. He had just gone to a doctor, like, for his yearly physical. And everything was great. He was healthy, perfect condition. He's there for three months. And all of a sudden, Steven wakes up one morning unable to swallow. It's so difficult for him to swallow. He starts to lose his voice. And he's like, oh, it's probably just a cold. Something strep or whatever it is. It will pass. This doesn't go away. If anything, it starts to get worse to the point where he's really having a hard time even eating cause he can't swallow. So he decides to go back to his doctor, and he's diagnosed with stage four cancer of the larynx. This was three weeks after having a clean bill of health from his doctor.

Corinne (42:07)

That is so scary.

Sabrina (42:09)

So it is now after this news and after their friend Veronica's passing, that Rick is like, which is Kathy's husband is like, I don't know what you believe or not, but I don't think we should have this doll in our possession anymore. So Kathy decides to put Harold back up for sale on ebay because even if all of these incidents are coincidences, she's not willing to risk it. And they're all getting very worried. Kathy now, like, she kind of changes her mindset. She's like, I don't believe it's haunted, but it's cursed.

Corinne (42:41)

Yeah.

Sabrina (42:42)

Which I guess is a distinction for people, but.

Corinne (42:47)

Well, it's kind of like it like changes the seriousness of it in a way where it's like, it's not just like someone being attached to this possession, it comes with malice.

Sabrina (42:58)

Okay. So Kathy decides to list Harold the doll for auction again on eBay. It's 2003 now, and Kathy uses Greg's original listing. She doesn't add any of her personal experiences to the details because she's not sure it's connected and she's not trying to like terrify people, especially with the death stuff. And this is when a man named Anthony Quinata, the author of the book I mentioned, first sees Harold. And similar to how Kathy felt when she saw the auction, Anthony's like, oh, this is clearly a fabricated story, but I'm interested. And as some context at this time, Anthony had like really gotten fascinated with this like trend of selling haunted objects on ebay. And so he had decided to basically do an experiment and write a book about haunted objects and how they're sold on ebay. And basically he wanted to prove that they're not haunted.

Corinne (43:53)

Interesting. So very niche book.

Sabrina (43:55)

It's very niche. I mean, so is the book you did write.

Corinne (43:59)

Yeah, yeah.

Sabrina (44:00)

But I think he had always been interested in the paranormal but was a skeptic, didn't believe in it.

Corinne (44:06)

Oh, interesting.

Sabrina (44:07)

So he had been like buying and purchasing a lot of things from ebay that claim to be haunted and then working with people. He's an interesting character and we'll get a lot more into him next week. But he's like kind of reckless in his skepticism. Oh, he had all these friends who claimed to be psychics and he was very like, he's kind of like demeaning about people. He's like so called psychics. Like, let's see what you read on this so called haunted object. He wanted to prove that things weren't haunted.

Corinne (44:36)

Okay.

Sabrina (44:36)

That's just some context.

Corinne (44:37)

I'm glad I did. I was about to liken him to Greg and Dana and how they go about collecting objects and just like their belief that a lot of objects aren't actually haunted. It's the people. Specific people's relationships with objects that change energy and, like, maybe potentially create vessels.

Sabrina (44:54)

Yeah.

Corinne (44:54)

But they don't do that.

Sabrina (44:56)

No, no. And this is Anthony.

Corinne (44:58)

He looks very cheery for a guy who has possessed a lot of haunted objects.

Sabrina (45:03)

Nothing quite like Harold, though. Okay. So, yeah, his interest has peaked. And like, this is another item that he's like, okay, well, maybe this is another item that I can do my test on. The way that the auction for Harold worked was like, you couldn't see the current bidding price unless you were like, actively bidding yourself. And because of how many views the listing had, Anthony's kind of like, well, I'm curious how much people are trying to pay for this thing.

Corinne (45:27)

Yeah.

Sabrina (45:28)

So he puts in what he thinks is a low bid. $299.

Corinne (45:33)

That's what was it at before then?

Sabrina (45:36)

Well, he couldn't see.

Corinne (45:37)

Oh, oh, oh.

Sabrina (45:38)

He thought he was like, not gonna be, you know, he thought like, little bid.

Corinne (45:42)

I'm like, I know, $31. And that would feel still expensive.

Sabrina (45:47)

Yeah, well, he's the highest bidder, so he once he like puts that in, it's like, congratulations, you're the highest bidder. But it's still like actively going. So then Kathy sends Anthony email because she sees he's bidding, and I think she wants to do some due diligence of like, who's trying to buy this doll. So she emails Anthony as like, hey, why are you interested in this doll? And Anthony's like, honestly, I'm not really. I just wanted to see how much people are willing to pay for this thing.

Corinne (46:14)

That's. Dude, is Anthony rich? Like, where does he just willy nilly have a few hundred bucks just to, like, test people's money threshold? Like, can't you just ask around? Ask sellers, take a survey.

Sabrina (46:27)

Right.

Corinne (46:27)

What do you sell your haunted dolls for?

Sabrina (46:30)

But I also feel like this is like a little bit of fate.

Corinne (46:33)

So anyway, the doll is pushing people to write the ebay listing, pushing people to spend a few hundred bucks to ensure that he gets to go to his next home. Yep.

Sabrina (46:45)

We'll get into that in part two, where, like, the truth is, Harold has been in control this whole time.

Corinne (46:50)

I'm definitely getting that from the get go.

Sabrina (46:52)

Right.

Corinne (46:53)

Because people are unaware of what they're doing and why, and their Reasoning is like 100%. Doesn't really make sense to me.

Sabrina (46:59)

So Kathy and Anthony, like, Are emailing, like back and forth, exchanging things. And Kathy's like, hey, I just want to be honest with you. Like, I didn't believe that this was haunted or cursed either, But I've had some really weird things happen since owning Harold, and now I really do believe it's cursed. And Anthony doesn't know Kathy. He has no reason to trust her. You know, he's probably like, oh, she's trying to convince me to buy this doll.

Corinne (47:23)

Well, and also like, we know his attitude towards people who claim to be inclined to the paranormal or just like have any sort of read on something. And this energetically, this next little tidbit

Sabrina (47:36)

will like also show you the type of person he is. So he's just like, haha, great story. It's like, great way to sell this story, bro. Yeah, totally. And then he's just like waiting for someone to outbid him. And all of a sudden this guy, this user, ebay user, Strange Magic does outbid him. But who's Strange Magic? Well, and then Strange Magic sends Anthony a message that's kind of like challenging. Like, hey, no matter what you bid, I'm going to outbid you. So like, don't even bother. Which pisses Anthony off. And keep in mind, he didn't actually want Harold, but because Strange Magic messaged him this, he's like, well, you know what? F you, I'm just going to keep outbidding you to get you to pay a ridiculous amount for this haunted doll.

Corinne (48:17)

Was that actually Kathy, right? Just like trolling potential buyers to like up the bid.

Sabrina (48:24)

Right?

Corinne (48:24)

Which is like such a wild thing to just like come at people that you don't know on ebay, like other bidders.

Sabrina (48:32)

And just the Internet's a weird place.

Corinne (48:34)

It is.

Sabrina (48:35)

So the bidding gets up to $700. And like strange Magic and Anthony are like talking shit to each other this whole time. Anthony goes up to 720. Foley expects strange Magic to outbid him. But next thing you know, Anthony gets a message. Congratulations, you have won Harold the haunted doll. And Anthony's like, well, shit. And so because Kathy and Anthony have been messaging back and forth, Kathy sends him an email, is like, hey, if you don't want him, don't worry about it. Like, I'll relist him. Like, don't. You don't need to pay. And Anthony's like, you know what? A deal's a deal. I won this. Like, I'll pay you for it. And Kathy's like, why don't you think about it? I'll give you like two weeks. If you don't. If, like at the end of the two weeks you still want him, great. If you don't want him, I'll just relist it. And she's even like.

Corinne (49:20)

Which is very nice of her.

Sabrina (49:22)

Yeah.

Corinne (49:22)

And it does seem like I know the first seller, Greg had created this story, but even in his description, it was very much like a make sure you know what you're doing. Like, take care in this sort of decision in your life. Yep. And I do appreciate all of that extra effort.

Sabrina (49:41)

By the end of the two weeks, Anthony's like, you know what? Like I said, a deal is a deal. Like, I will do it again. Fate, as you can expect, Harold doesn't make it easy for the journey to get to Anthony because it's like Dublin to. I think he's in Denver or something like that. Apparently, like, the day that Kathy drops Harold off at the, like, post office, there was a strike. And then it took two weeks to actually get to Anthony. The day it arrives, Anthony's postman, Gary, knocks on Anthony's door and says something really strange. He goes, anthony, I have a monster for you today. And Anthony, like I said, was buying a bunch of things on ebay, including haunted mirrors and bigger. So he's like, oh, you have a big package.

Corinne (50:25)

A big pack. Monster pack.

Sabrina (50:26)

I've got a big package for you.

Corinne (50:28)

Was that. Did you just hear thunder?

Sabrina (50:29)

Yeah, it sounded like thunder. Anthony walks with Gary to the post van, postal van, fully expecting he's gonna have to help Gary with this, like, big box.

Corinne (50:38)

Yeah.

Sabrina (50:39)

Instead, Gary hands Anthony a two by two box.

Corinne (50:42)

Two by two?

Sabrina (50:43)

Yeah, like two foot by two foot. Like, so it's small.

Corinne (50:47)

Yeah.

Sabrina (50:47)

And Anthony's confused and he's like, wait, why'd you say I have a monster for you? But he can't really ask more questions. Cause Gary's got. Gary's got some mail to deliver.

Corinne (50:56)

He's off.

Sabrina (50:58)

So Anthony's like, I know what this is. It's Harold. Anthony is like, feels like kind of

Corinne (51:03)

a big package though, for. For just a doll. Like that's.

Sabrina (51:06)

Well, he's like wrapped up and in there.

Corinne (51:08)

Yeah.

Sabrina (51:08)

2x2 is not that big.

Corinne (51:10)

Okay. I feel like one thing that I wasn't prepared for with my first postpartum journey was how different my hair would be. And you had actually recommended that I take the postpartum neutrful formula because your sister had used it and it worked so well. I don't mean to brag, but look at me now.

Sabrina (51:27)

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Corinne (52:57)

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Sabrina (53:14)

They have crisp mint which is the strongest flavor, so best for heavy users. Then they also have raspberry which is tangy and on the sweeter end. And I love to play with the tool.

Corinne (53:23)

Like yeah, even when I was describing

Sabrina (53:24)

that I was like I like to fidget.

Corinne (53:26)

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Sabrina (53:49)

So Anthony brings the box inside. He places it on his dining room table and sits before it. He stares at the unopened box and replays the conversations and emails that he has exchanged with Kathy. Could any of it be true? But again, he's a skeptic, so he's not really questioning it. But because he'd been doing these tests for a book, he kind of had like a routine. He had these different tests that he would do before even opening the box. He grabs an EMF reader and he like puts it around the box. It does not spike at all. He has a different EMF reader that he uses. He brings that one over. Nothing. Literally nothing at all. No movement. So then he's like, typical me, I just spent $720 on like a not haunted doll.

Corinne (54:30)

I cannot believe he spent $720 and this was what, the early ish, 2000s?

Sabrina (54:36)

2003.

Corinne (54:37)

Yeah. That's a lot of money.

Sabrina (54:39)

Yeah. So he opens the box and he takes Harold out. It's still wrapped in the Duane Reade plastic bag that, like, Kathy had originally got it from Greg in. He stares at this doll. This thing's haunted. So he's gonna do more tests. But again he has his, like, pattern, his routine. Like, he sprinkles some holy water on the doll just in case. Then he brings Harold to his couch and takes a bunch of pictures with it. And because he wants to see if like anything shows up in photos, nothing. He does an EVP session. Nothing. After an hour or two of tests, he decides to put Harold away for now. He wraps Harold back in that plastic Duane Reade bag, but this time he puts the bottle of holy water and the crucifix in that bag as well and like tucks Harold away. But he's not done running tests because there are more tests that he's been doing in this journey. He likes to do EMF, EVPs, photos, and he also likes to see if one of his so called psychic friends could pick up on anything. And like I was saying, he's kind of like demeaning to his so called psychic friends and he's like, this is also my way to test these psychic friends, so called psychic friends, because he doesn't tell them anything about the haunted objects and like, the listings. He just like, will bring the haunted objects to his friends and like, see if they can do a reading on it, and if it matches up with the listing.

Corinne (55:58)

But then that's trusting a listing more than totally. Like, I would almost rather like two psychic friends if their accounts match, than that's true. Like, who cares about what the listing said?

Sabrina (56:09)

Right? But he's doing tests, and I do appreciate that. Like, he's trying to leave less room for manipulation or, like, falsity. Okay. So he reaches out to his friend April, who I believe he met through prepping for this book. And April was a psychic. And even in his book, he says, but I didn't know whether I believed her or not. So he calls April, and he's like, hey, I've just recently got a bunch more items that are so called haunted. I would love for you to do readings of them. So this is not just about Harold, but Harold's amongst these objects. They meet at a local bookstore called Tattered Cover in Cherry Creek, Colorado, which I looked up pictures of it. It looks magical.

Corinne (56:50)

Oh, wow.

Sabrina (56:51)

Yeah. So he brought multiple haunted objects with him, Harold being one of them. And he did not tell April anything about the objects he was bringing with him. April told Anthony she had the ability known as psychometry, which is, like, when you touch an object, you can discern information about it. So Anthony starts bringing out his items, like, placing them on the table that they're sitting at. And as soon as he brought Harold out, April's eyes light up, and she's like, is that Harold? Because at this point, this doll has, like, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of views on ebay.

Corinne (57:23)

Like, people knew about him. Yeah, he's a famous haunted doll already.

Sabrina (57:27)

And Anthony's, like, pissed. He's like, ugh, God damn it. Like, now this is, like, ruined. Yeah, yeah, it's skewed. But he's like, you know what? I'm just gonna give it a go anyway. And, like, see? And he. While another part of his process. While his psychic friends do these readings, he has a recorder recording. Again, just to, like, one document it so he can re listen to it for his book, but then also for EVPs. They both sit down at the table. The recording's going. April picks Harold up into her hands, and the first thing she says is, you're using holy water on him. Like, kind of like, in a joking manner. And Anthony kind of, like, chuckles back and just, like, sprinkles more holy water. Like, they're kind of. Especially with Anthony's mindset, like, it. It's mocking.

Corinne (58:11)

Yeah. It's, like, weird, because they're doing things that would make you Think that they are scared and trying to go about it, but, like, their intention behind those actions.

Sabrina (58:21)

And I also wonder if. Because April knows Anthony is such a skeptic, if she's like, you're using holy water. Like, I thought you don't believe in this.

Corinne (58:29)

Right. Like, the comment might have been just about him.

Sabrina (58:32)

Yeah. April keeps holding him and looking at Harold, and she comments on, like, wow, he's in bad shape. And then she says she thinks the doll was made sometime in the 1930s. Then she says, I'm getting something about the spirit in the doll being a child molester.

Corinne (58:47)

Oh.

Sabrina (58:48)

Or it's a child that was molested. And then she pauses, clarifying. She's getting both.

Corinne (58:54)

So this is the first indication, so

Sabrina (58:56)

sickening that there's like, two spirits or there's a spirit that's, you know, like generational trauma, like, repeating.

Corinne (59:02)

Yeah.

Sabrina (59:03)

Anyway, within seconds, April starts fully shaking, trembling, crying. And she, like, puts Harold back down, like she can no longer touch him. And she looks at Anthony and she's like, I'm so sorry. I can't do this. I cannot do this. I can't do this. Anthony's like, what? April looks at Anthony and says, he just told me he's going to kill me. And Anthony kind of, like, rolls his eyes. Like, oh, my God, April's so dramatic. And I guess, like, in his book, he even says, like, she had a knack for the dramatics. Like, he's a little bit demeaning.

Corinne (59:34)

Does he still, like, not truly believe.

Sabrina (59:36)

No, he doesn't. He does now. He does know. But it's so interesting how he writes this. But he's being honest, so, you know, I understand that.

Corinne (59:42)

Does he change his perspective and how he writes about people over the. Like, is he trying to depict how he felt about people in that moment or that's what he's trying to do? Okay.

Sabrina (59:52)

Yeah, I think. But he's like, in the moment, he's just kind of annoyed because he looks at the recorder. It's like, only been going for a minute and 45 seconds. And he's just like, so much for getting this reading. They're hardly into it, and April is still crying. So I think Anthony can also tell that she's really shaken up. And April goes on to say that she has a heart murmur. And after she heard Harold, or the spirit inside Harold say he was going to kill her, she felt as if something had literally stuck its hand into her chest and grabbed her heart and was squeezing it. So they. Paul, they stop this. Anthony wraps Harold up puts him and the other objects like in a box to go home that night. Once he got home, Anthony decided to review the recording he had made of the interaction. Anthony presses play. On the recording, he hears him and April conversing. Then he hears like the exchange where April and Anthony kind of laugh about using holy water. Immediately after this interaction, there is a angry male voice on the recording that says, shut up. He's so stunned by this voice he has to rewind. Sure enough, this voice sounds like it's right in the microphone. It is loud. It is angry. Shut up. And then he hears a agonizing scream. He replays the moment in the bookstore, like in his mind. And he's like, oh my gosh. That agonizing scream is like timed up perfectly with when he had sprinkled more holy water on the doll.

Corinne (61:19)

Oh my God.

Sabrina (61:21)

They were alone in this area, like of the bookstore. Like, sure, other people were in the bookstore, but there was no one near them. Like, the voice sounds like it is literally at the microphone.

Corinne (61:32)

Is it not exhausting for these entities to just be so angry all the time? I feel like that is using up energy.

Sabrina (61:40)

I don't know. Anthony doesn't even know what to think, but he keeps listening. He presses play again on the recorder. When April starts talking about the spirit, the child molester or a child that was molested, this voice comes again, but this time it growls angry. And almost instantly, as if fueled by rage, that same voice says, I'm going to kill you, bitch. Seconds later, April starts shaking and crying and says, I can't do this anymore. It just told me it was going to kill me.

Corinne (62:08)

This better be the moment that he fully believes every single person.

Sabrina (62:11)

Nope. I'm going to kill you, bitch. Anthony had not heard anyone else speaking with him in April. It was clear as day though, in this recording. It was so haunting. It was the most haunting thing he had ever heard. And he's like, it was threatening to actually kill April, so she wasn't being dramatic. And at this point, Anthony had to reconsider everything he knew. What if everything Kathy, who he had bought the doll from, said was true? What if Harold the doll was cursed or haunted? And if that were the case, Harold had already contributed to multiple deaths or death sentences. And now here he is again, threatening to kill. But you'll have to wait until next week to find out what happens with Harold. Oh my God. I know you said it was gonna

Corinne (62:59)

be a two parter, but I wasn't ready to end it.

Sabrina (63:02)

Now I know I Know, and we've already been recording for, like, an hour, so.

Corinne (63:05)

Holy shit.

Sabrina (63:06)

Shit.

Corinne (63:07)

And we've already had a death. Yeah.

Sabrina (63:09)

And. Or. And then like a death sentence. Someone was stage two cancer. And also, at this point, if you're reading the book, that's only 11% of the way through the book. Yeah. So next week, the story of Harold is far from over.

Corinne (63:23)

So you have to put 90% into part two.

Sabrina (63:25)

There's so many stories. So I'm not going to read every single story, obviously.

Corinne (63:29)

Right.

Sabrina (63:29)

But yeah, next week, the story of Harold is far from over. But Anthony decides, you know what? Yeah. I'm gonna keep Harold for whatever reason. And this is crazy. Anthony's life becomes so entangled with Harold the haunted doll. He spends the next 10 years taking Harold places. He, she, it, whatever it is, never should have gone. Like, literally takes Harold on vacation. There's a whole series in part two where it's like, Harold and Anthony go to. Go to see a psychic play a Ouija board, Go to the Stanley Hotel. Okay.

Corinne (63:59)

Things like that. I was literally, like, thinking that they were going to, like, the JW Marriott in Aruba. Cocktails.

Sabrina (64:07)

They kind of are.

Corinne (64:08)

They go see the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Sabrina (64:10)

I mean, they basically are.

Corinne (64:12)

I was literally thinking it was a flat Stanley style, like, just whatever, vacation, really go on.

Sabrina (64:18)

Like, I. When I wrote that in part two, like, that was what I was imagining. Like, almost like a children's book series where, like, Harold and Anthony go, do. Go do this. But it's scary.

Corinne (64:29)

Oh, my God.

Sabrina (64:30)

Escalate fast. Harold takes a bite out of a medium. A child hundreds of miles away from Harold starts having accurate visions and starts drawing them and sending them to Anthony.

Corinne (64:42)

Ooh, I just got chills.

Sabrina (64:44)

And we will unpack what spirit or spirits inhabit Harold the doll. And I'll just give you a little teaser. One spirit claims they are a demon, a demon that has danced with the devil. So, yeah, that's fun. Next episode, we'll also talk about how people from all over the world are impacted by Harold just by simply looking at a photo of him online. And it gets so bad that an exorcism is needed to be performed. All that and more next week.

Corinne (65:07)

See you then. Great. Stay safe, everyone. We have seven more days.

Sabrina (65:13)

Isn't that.

Corinne (65:14)

We have seven days.

Sabrina (65:15)

Seven days.

Corinne (65:17)

Oh, my God.

Sabrina (65:19)

This is.

Corinne (65:20)

You had texted me and you're like, I cannot believe we've never covered this doll. He's on all the list. Yeah.

Sabrina (65:25)

It's shocking to me.

Corinne (65:26)

And somehow we never covered Yeah, I

Sabrina (65:29)

think also because it's such a big topic.

Corinne (65:30)

Yeah, yeah. This is terrifying. A bite out of a psychic. Well, I won't force you to tell

Sabrina (65:36)

me until one of my chapters for next week is Harold and Anthony Go for a bite.

Corinne (65:43)

Very clever. Very punny and punny. Oh, my gosh. Okay. Well, you had warned me that this was going to be a scary and darker type of story, so did you

Sabrina (65:54)

do a lighter listener story for both of these?

Corinne (65:58)

Part one and part two? I have found doll. Haunted dolls that kind of have a redemption.

Sabrina (66:04)

Oh, okay. Okay.

Corinne (66:06)

To end on a lighter note, because Harold.

Sabrina (66:09)

Okay, I will say Harold doesn't have a redemption story, but there are. I mean, I'll just say it. Like, there are multiple spirits that are stuck inside Harold. And, like, aside from the really horrible one, the other spirits are like. You really do feel for them.

Corinne (66:23)

Okay. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Geez. I already feel bad for. Based on what you said could be happening.

Sabrina (66:31)

Yep.

Corinne (66:31)

Okay. This is called Demonic Doll Plaguing My Dreams.

Sabrina (66:35)

Lovely. Okay.

Corinne (66:36)

Hey, ghouls. I've been listening to the podcast for a few years now, and I've never sent any stories in, despite my love of all things spooky. But I figured this could be a good one to start with. A couple years ago, I had this dream that my mom, who's an avid thrifter and antiquer, brought home a porcelain doll.

Sabrina (66:51)

A dream. A dream. Okay.

Corinne (66:53)

She had a face familiar to the Blythe dolls. Blythe? Blythe.

Sabrina (66:57)

Oh, oops. People have pronounced it before.

Corinne (67:01)

Oh.

Sabrina (67:02)

They kind of look like Bratz dolls, but they're, like, more antiquey looking.

Corinne (67:07)

Okay. Yeah, yeah. And she writes with abnormally large eyes and auburn hair, so a little bit creepier than most dolls. My mom chose a spot for her in the living room, and we carried on. And again, we're in a dream, right?

Sabrina (67:18)

Yeah.

Corinne (67:19)

Then we started noticing that she would be in different positions if we left the room and came back. And it started small, like an arm in a different position, her head tilted slightly. And then things escalated. She would be in a different location, standing instead of sitting. And then she started moving right in front of us. And then she became fully alive, moving freely, and she wanted to kill us.

Sabrina (67:42)

Great. It does sound like Harold.

Corinne (67:44)

I would wake up after she started chasing us to attack, and I didn't really think anything of it. Dolls have always creeped me out, and I did a deep dive into the Annabelle case when I was way too young. So I chalked it up to being the stress induced nightmare Until I had the exact same dream a few weeks later. It was in a different place in the house, but the exact same plot, the exact same doll. Over the span of a year, I probably had five dreams exactly like this. And I didn't really know what to make of it other than telling my mom not to bring home any dolls. Okay, so the final dream I had was in a different house. She was chasing us around. We were hiding from her. And I did.

Sabrina (68:20)

The doll was chasing them? Yes.

Corinne (68:22)

And I didn't wake up this time. We ended up in an attic. And from what I can remember, we sat in a circle around a sort of Tesla coil, and we were connected to it with wires on caps, kind of like an electric chair. And this is where things get fuzzy. But I remember that there was a lot of blue light and a lot of electricity. And I have no idea if we were trying to defeat this doll or if she was trying to electrocute us or what was going on. All I know is that after that dream, I did not have any more dreams about that dollar. It was over. Or so I thought. A few months ago, my aunt passed away, leaving behind quite a few dolls. No, one of them is a life size porcelain doll. She doesn't look exactly like the doll from my dreams, but very close. I told my mom that she needed to get that doll out of the house asap. I do not play when it comes to demonic dolls. The night she brought this dollar doll home, I had my old nightmares again. The doll came to life just like before. But this time I thought, well, maybe she's just confused because her owner passed away. So then I explained it to her and she freaked out. I had one more dream like that, exactly the same a few weeks later, but this time my aunt was also there. I remember being shocked that she was back, but I was able to reassure the doll that her owner was right there. And ever since that dream, nothing has happened. Has it been my aunt's doll this whole time haunting my nightmares? Is there some haunted doll out there calling to me and projecting these fears onto my aunt's doll? Do I really have a deep fear of dolls coming to life? I may never know. See you on the other side, Shelby.

Sabrina (70:03)

I think most people have a deep fear of haunted dolls. Yeah.

Corinne (70:05)

Yeah, I definitely had some murderous American girl doll dreams. Yeah, but isn't that interesting? Was like the. I can't really explain the nightmares that

Sabrina (70:13)

happened before ever seeing that doll.

Corinne (70:16)

But as soon as the aunt spirit came. Yeah, the doll. The spirit felt reassured and was like Okay. I might be safe. Although I do wonder where she was kept, because Shelby had her mom remove that doll from their house.

Sabrina (70:29)

It's also just so creepy. Like, the nightmares itself are like. It's not like a confused spirit. It's like a. I'm going to chase you and hurt you and kill you. Yeah.

Corinne (70:38)

So it's a questionable redemption.

Sabrina (70:40)

Yeah. I was like, where's the redemption?

Corinne (70:42)

Well, it just. It could have been confused and taken out its energy in a weird way. And, like, what is time? And maybe it, like, always knew that Shelby was going to be somehow a part of the doll getting separated from the aunt and, like, didn't want that to happen and was like, this was its way of threatening her in the past to influence the future. I don't know.

Sabrina (71:02)

It does remind me of Harold because a lot of people will start having dreams about Harold in part two and based on simply seeing a photo of him online.

Corinne (71:11)

Yeah.

Sabrina (71:12)

And then, like, the multiple spirits have different messages. Yeah.

Corinne (71:15)

Peggy also haunted many people from just photos.

Sabrina (71:20)

Yep.

Corinne (71:21)

Stay safe out there, you guys.

Sabrina (71:23)

See you next week for part two, which is.

Corinne (71:26)

And when Harold and his owner go

Sabrina (71:28)

to go on adventures.

Corinne (71:30)

Get a bite.

Sabrina (71:31)

Yeah.

Corinne (71:32)

Oh, geez.

Sabrina (71:33)

If you have any paranormal stories about dolls, about if you get haunted from this episode, or if you just have paranormal stories in general, please email them to us@2girls1ghost podcastmail.com and you can also join us on Patreon for episodes one week early and ad free, plus bonus content, plus witch class and book club. And there's so many things over there, it's fun.

Corinne (71:57)

Tell everyone about the podcast. Maybe don't have them start with this episode just in case they get haunted.

Sabrina (72:02)

Unless they want to get haunted.

Corinne (72:03)

I don't know.

Sabrina (72:04)

Yeah. True, true.

Corinne (72:04)

Send this one to all the skeptics out there.

Sabrina (72:08)

What do you say about this?

Corinne (72:09)

Shout out to Jamie Ryan, who edits and produces our podcast.

Sabrina (72:12)

Thanks to Sven, who's protecting and or maybe haunting all of you out there. Who knows?

Corinne (72:17)

Yeah. In a good way.

Sabrina (72:18)

Yeah. We love you all, and we will

Corinne (72:21)

see you on the other side.

Sabrina (72:26)

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