If you’re visiting Key West and feeling brave, why not stop by the Martello Museum and experience a side of the supernatural right out of a Stephen King book.

 

Wandering through the aged brick building of the museum, which was built in 1862 during the Civil War, to defend Key West against a possible Confederate assault, this fortress never saw battle, but it’s now waging war on visiting tourists.

 

Robert is a one-of-a-kind doll, created around the turn of the century.   Standing 40 inches tall,  stuffed with wood wool known as excelsior, it’s dressed in a sailor suit and once bore painted features not unlike those of a court jester. 

 

Legend has it that this handcrafted toy, once the cherished companion of a local child, comes with a storied past and a penchant for mischief.

 

A story goes that the doll was purchased on a boat from the Dry Tortugas, during a yellow fever outbreak from “a man who made those kind of dolls”.

 

Legend speculates that voodoo played a part in Robert’s formative years.   It seems the boy that owned Robert would shift blame when he misbehaved as a child pointing to the doll and said “I didn’t do it. Robert did it”.

 

As the years passed, it seemed the doll grew bored of playtime and story books.   It developed a taste for the dramatic, dabbling in the art of harmless pranks.

 

Servants and maids quit frequently because of the disturbingly unsettling experience of Robert.  They heard him giggle in the middle of the night, or furniture would be moved in the morning.

 

The doll is haunted.

 

Seated in his encased glass display, Robert’s presence has brought in the curious from around the globe.

 

Every guest must introduce themselves politely and ask permission to take his picture.

 

Guest’s have remarked “there was some kind of intelligence there, like the doll was listening to us”.

 

Cameras jam, phones lose power, sudden chills and that feeling you get when you swear someone’s watching you are rampant. Be prepared for a little extra spirit in your photographs too.

 

Robert is surrounded by apology letters from guests, many who may have insulted him while they were there. Begging his forgiveness.

 

Traumatic events, accidents and even deaths have all been attributed to Robert.

 

This doll is the prime suspect.

 

Visitors often speak of its unsettling stare, a gaze that seems to follow you around the room keeping watch like a hawk with a sense of humor.

 

Ghost hunters, psychics, skeptics and believers visit Robert on a regular basis.   Ozzy Osbourne encountered Robert the doll and he later experienced a string of misfortunes he attributed to a curse from the doll.

 

Of course Ozzy is dead now.

 

What’s a vacation without a little adventure in a story to tell you when you get back home. 

 

There are those who don’t show respect, and might just leave with a curse.

 

So go ahead test yourself against his curse.   

 

There is always people standing around outside the museum who have left their party, because they’re too afraid to venture inside. 

 

Go ahead knock yourself out, right at the end of Route 1.