Robert the Doll: Key West's Haunted Doll

by David L. Sloan

In 1904, a doll was given as a gift to a young boy in Key West, Florida. The boy gave the doll his own name - Robert - and the two became inseparable. The doll was blamed for many things, and "I didn't do it - Robert did it" became a catchphrase in Key West. People heard the doll giggle and saw the doll move without help from any human. Voodoo was suspected. Today Robert resides in a protective case at a Key West museum where hundreds of visitors each year experience things not normally associated with dolls. The doll's origins have been questioned for years. This book reveals Robert's true origins: legends surrounding the doll are traced back to their original sources, and the true story of Robert the Doll is revealed.

Genres: Nonfiction, Paranormal, Horror

193 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 25, 2014

Reviews

[Rachel Bea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at the infamous Robert the Doll. It was cool to see the story of the humans who had him. I felt terrible for Anne. Her husband, Gene, who had Robert the Doll and obsessed over him, was a real ass. I didn't expect for the book to make me feel so down, but that part definitely did.

I enjoyed the letters sent to Robert from the people who visited him at the museum and were subsequently cursed - they better not be fake!

My copy is signed by the author.

[Renee Lepine-Downing 🌙 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating piece of Florida paranormal history that has me both inspired and wary of visiting Robert in the Key West museum.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this on a whim at the Hemingway House gift shop in Key West. Part of me regrets not visiting this haunted doll at the Fort East Martello Museum, and the other part of me is happy not to be cursed :)

[Elena portal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gave a lot of historical information and I loved the apology notes throughout the book

[Priscilla BookaddictNL · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dear Robert,

A friend of mine recommended me the documentary about you on Discovery+.

After watching this documentary, I was so curious about you and your life, so I wanted to know more.

At the end of the documentary, they told that David Sloan wrote a book about you, the history of your family and your best friend, Gene Otto.

I wanted to read this book, although David told he had a lot of problems writing it. He wrote that you didn’t like the fact he was going to write a book and that multiple harddrives crashed while he was working on it.

He finished it after all, and an other friend bought it as a gift for me.
Please don’t blame her for that, it was on my wish list. So please leave her unharmed.

I really loved to read more about your family and the history of your existence and your life. I felt sorry for you that, after Gene died, a lot of people let you down. It kinda broke my heart to read that.

I think David did a good job with writing this book, but although I loved to read it, it wasn't new compared to the documentary. I was left with a couple of questions.

I hope he asked your permission to use your photos for the book and followed your rules. Because I loved the photos.

The book get 3⭐️ from me, but you get definitely 5⭐️!

Kind regards,
Priscilla

[Kim Jeffries · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have always loved and respected Robert the Doll. I first heard about him on paranormal shows and then did my own research. My family went on vacation to Key West and had bought this book for me as a gift 1) because I couldn’t go and 2) Because of my love for Robert. I was very excited when I received the book, because I couldn’t wait to learn more about him. I approached the book with as much respect as I could, keeping an internal mantra to Robert that I truly respected him and everything he stands for. I really enjoyed reading the letters to Robert and the tiny glimpses into Robert’s journey. I will say I was a tad bit disappointed in the book as a whole, I went into it thinking I was getting 160 pages of Robert’s journey, how he came to be in Key West, where he went after his owner passed, how he ended up in the museum, how he became so well known. Instead, I read 130 pages of a family history that had more to do with Gene Otto and little to do with Robert himself, who had only 16 pages dedicated to what happened to him and how he ended up in the museum. Yes there were glimpses here and there in “Tales from the Turret”, and the letters people had submitted, but I feel like it was dedicated more to the Otto family as a whole than the biography of Robert the doll.

For example, Gene left for YEARS, what happened to the doll while he was away? Did Genes parents care for the doll? Was Robert okay during that time? Did anyone have stories? When Gene returned with Anne, how did Robert feel? How did he treat Anne? These are the things I thought would be included in the book, not Gene’s burgeoning art career, or Anne having to give up her music career, or and who cared that Gene went to Paris for years to study art, he legit just left his best friend behind. Robert must have been devastated! I know I would be :(. The book made me feel so sad for Robert and what he had gone through.

I hope Robert knows there are people who truly respect him, respect his power and what he can do, who care enough about his story to feel for him.

[Mark Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am probably like most people and knew very little about the history of Robert, other than the "well known" facts that are touted around paranormal TV programmes (many of these "facts" it turns out are not true at all - for example, Chucky is NOT based on Robert's story).

So, when this book arrived from Miami, along side my 'replica Robert' I was keen to get started on my next read.

The book is not very long, at just under 200 pages, but even so, it is still a very entertaining read and its obvious that the author has spent a good deal of time researching the entire back story, which can't have been easy considering he is over 100 years old.

All in all I am happy with the book and feel I have learnt a great deal about Robert and the only thing left now is to go see him in person (and obviously seek his permission to take his photo).

If you have any interest in Robert, I can't recommend this book highly enough.

The only downside and the reason I gave it 4 out of 5 is that some of the newspaper clippings featured in the book are a little hard to read.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting and exhaustive look at one of the most interesting dolls in the world, the famous Robert, who resides in Key West. I have always found Robert's story interesting and have heard many of the details, and yet I still learned new information from this book. Sloan definitely did his research into Robert's past and the past of the first family to own him, the Ottos. I also liked the letters sprinkled throughout of people writing to Robert, as it is through these stories that most people first learn about Robert.

[Rachel Roth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well put-together book about the famously haunted Robert the Doll. So many books about haunted objects or spots or anything supernatural go a bit overboard and by the end are leaning towards something more ridiculous than interesting or factual, but David Sloan knows that less is better and keeps things simple. He includes the legend and then goes bit by bit into the real history of Robert, so that you get the whole story by the end.
I saw Robert when I went to Key West earlier this year and I wished I had read this book before going because now it REALLY fascinates me.

[SueSue · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, comprehensively told story, if you're into this sort of thing, which I usually am not. Bought the book in the Hemmingway House gift shop in Key West.
Pictures, many taken of old records and newspaper articles, were all pretty blurry, but I dunno, maybe the best the author could do.
I took a picture of a picture of Robert from the book, and didn't ask permission.
So far I'm alive and well.

[Debbie Westerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating story. I've previously seen a documentary about Robert the Doll about 3 years ago but it didn't go into as much detail as the book. I really felt sorry for Anne when she didn't get anything from Gene"s will, I think it was a bit selfish to do that all because he didn't get anything from Anne's late mum. The details of how the family came to be living in Key West and their background is amazing. Well worth a read

[Pug · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ooooh, spooky Robert the Doll, my favorite Key West celebrity! I really enjoyed this book, which was a well-researched history of Robert and his family, with a touch of ghost story! Cannot believe that Robert was originally a clown doll???? As if he wasn't creepy enough already!!!! A fun and easy read, and an excellent Christmas present for a fan of Key West. Watch for Robert waving back!

[Seth Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good, insightful, well-researched book involving one of the most enduring "hauntings" of all time. David Sloan has truly immersed himself in the world of Robert the Doll and created a book that compiles the facts and sorts true from myth.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

A spooky tale of a haunted doll based on letters to the museum and other anecdotal accounts. Photographs are many. A quick read.

[Dorothy Drennen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and well-researched book about the world's scariest doll. Read this before you go to.meet Robert in Key West!

[C.S. Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. It's about what you'd expect from a tourist bookstore.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Key West tale at it's best. I should give it 5 stars to be sure Robert is Happy :-) You can visit him at the Martello museum, and his house on Eaton Street is beautiful.

[Kyle Rieman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative look at one of the worlds most well known haunted dolls

[Alexa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love haunted doll or object books

This was a great balance of history, theories and everything Robert. The photos and letters written in about the impact are wild too.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun quick read, my aunt wanted me to read this to tell her if it's worth it since she's visiting Florida next spring.

[theJungleBOOKIE : Jennifer Machado · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOLY SHIT BALLS WHAT A BOOK. I couldn’t put it down and went to visit Robert the very next day. Am excellent read that I’d recommend to anyone that’s into the paranormal

[Jen Parenti · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25/5⭐️ Bought this at the Key West airport on my way home to Tampa a few days ago. It was a fast read and very interesting! Thanks, Robert!

[Katherine Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bet Robert did it!

[Seneca White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have had a fascination with Robert since I was in third grade, so I had to read this book. It was beautifully written and very interesting, tho I have been having the most unlucky week since I finished reading this book, which is very seemingly odd to me, but let's just hope that Robert isn't haunting me all the way from Key West and that it's just me having a terrible week.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Did It

I really enjoyed this book about Robert the Doll and the Otto family. After seeing a program on TV, I found out about thus book! Glad I decided to read it because of course this book had more details.

This book was well written and includes many real photos, letters, and other documents. Well worth the read!

[Phillip Steinmetz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having visited Robert the Doll last October in Key West, this was a welcome volume of information detailing Robert’s background and creation as well as Gene Otto and his family. It is very well written and fills in a lot of the blanks and conjecture about the background of both Gene and Robert’s background. I enjoyed reading it very much and highly recommend it to anyone who might be remotely interested in reading about Robert and Key West history.