Creepiest Places – The Island Of Dolls

La Isla De Las Munecas – Mexico

Just south of Mexico City, there is an island habituated entirely by abandoned dolls. It is considered one of the most haunted places in Mexico, and by far one of the creepiest in the world. Between the canals of Xochimico, this island has become a tourist attraction due to it’s allure and paranormal nature. It has amassed a large collection of strange looking dolls since the 1950’s. It’s origin story is dark and sinister. Legend says that spirits control the island through the dolls.

Drowned Girl Curses The Island

The legend begins circa 1951 when a nearby local named Don Julian Santana Barrera came across a tragedy. He found a small girl floating upside down on the water. He attempted to save her life, but it was too late. She had died, presumably from drowning in the river. Shortly thereafter, he discovered a floating doll nearby which he assumed belonged to the girl. As tribute to her spirit and sign of respect, he grabbed the doll and decided to hang it from a tree on the island.

Dolls Take Over The Island

It is believed that Don Julian was haunted by the spirit of the girl that drowned. In an attempt to appease her soul, he started to hang more dolls throughout the island. Those close to Don Julian claimed he was very shaken up at the fact that he couldn’t save the girl. After some time, Don Julian realized that a lot of dolls were propping up on trees that he did not hang. As the caretaker of the island, he never noticed anyone else go near the island. Eventually he came to the conclusion that the dolls were possessed by spirits, and started to collect creepy dolls to hang them throughout the island. Soon the entire island will be covered in dolls that were in poor condition, often missing limbs or even heads. Many of the dolls were very old, with torn clothes, and extremely dirty. Then Don Julian’s personality greatly changed, and those who knew him said he became obsessed with the island.

Scary Events Occurring At Night

Don Julian often spoke about how the dolls would move at night. They would twitch their eyelids, move their limbs, and sometimes even speak in the middle of the night. Locals believed he had lost his mind until they would take a boat to paddle near the island at night only to notice the doll’s voices in the eerie silence of the night. Then after 50 years, in 2001, Don Julian was found dead. To make matters worse, he was found in the same exact spot where the girl had died five decades prior. Many believe that Don Julian’s spirit joined the dolls in the island. Since then many tourists travel to the Island of the Dolls to try to witness the paranormal activity first hand.