Taking a haunted doll that experts advised should never be moved sounds like the kind of thing that most horror movies are made of. Unfortunately for paranormal investigator Dan Rivera, it wasn’t a movie. It turns that when you fuck around with Annabelle, sometimes the “find out” is… yikes.
Annabelle is the famously “possessed” Raggedy Ann doll that is housed by the Warrens. Yes, those Warrens, for those of you who’ve watched The Conjuring. Her claim to fame is allegedly being responsible for demonic possessions, unexplainable scratches, and some general evil-girlfriend energy. She’s been “locked up” for decades inside of a glass case, but as is often the case with creepy-ass haunted things, she got out. Sort of.
Dan Rivera was a long-time paranormal investigator, a U.S. Army veteran, a Santeria expert, and Annabelle’s unofficial travel manager. He’d worked with NESPR (the New England Society for Psychic Research), IE, the Warren’s OG crew. He was known for educating the public about the paranormal, and occasionally taking buddy road trips with cursed objects. He was on such a road trip with Annabelle herself when he died suddenly over the weekend.
Rivera was crucial in organizing the Devils on the Run tour, bringing Annabelle’s haunted self to paranormal conventions, and other haunted hotspots. The demon-doll herself reportedly stayed locked up inside her glass case, but vibes can’t be contained by glass. The tour went to Gettysburg, because taking a doll that is famous for demonic possessions happening around her to a major ghost town is a terrific idea. Tour insiders have spoken about strange things happening around tour events. Cold spots, flickering lights, tech fails, and that good, ole fashioned “nope, nope, nope, I shouldn’t be here,” energy that follows the queen of the cursed dolls anywhere she goes.
While on the Gettysburg stop, in the same area as the brutal battle of the Civil War that resulted in so many lives lost, Rivera joined those on the other side of the veil. He was found unresponsive, and pronounced dead at the age of only 54. His cause of death hasn’t been confirmed publicly, and officials don’t suspect foul play… but the man was on tour with a doll that is allegedly possessed, after it was known that moving Annabelle was a grade-A bad idea. Conspiracy theorists and horror fans are simultaneously aghast at Rivera’s sudden passing, but also doing the slow “I told you so,” nod that is unique to horror buffs watching what happens when someone opens the attic door just as the music gets especially creepy. Rivera’s team is, understandably, in mourning, calling their lost colleague “passionate, kind, and deeply respected.”
Regardless of whether or not you buy into the whole “haunted doll = scary bad things happening” hype, Rivera’s passing added a dark chapter to an already creeptastic legend. Moral of the story? Maybe don’t flip fate the bird by handing Annabelle a tour schedule.
Or do, just be prepared to fork over your soul.
