Episode
The whole actual deal with Haunted Dolls - History, Science, and Spirit
- Podcast
- Gods, Ghosts & UFOs
- Published
- Mar 25, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4513
- Processing state
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Summary
Highlights: How the Mexican City Mannequins inspired this episode Ushabtis: ancient Egyptian figurines (2600–2100 BC) placed in tombs to do labor in the afterlife, in place of killing servants The Louvre Doll: a bound female clay figure pierced with 13 needles Kolossoi: ancient Greek defensive effigies designed to contain hostile spirits Victorian mourning dolls: wax effigies made at funerals with the dead child’s hair and clothing What did Mal do to her Cabbage Patch doll? Robert the Doll “It was like a metal bar running down my back... That doll was listening to us” The connection to an apparition of a biracial girl Robert exhibits both Type A and Type B inhabitation, and he might be the only one Thousands of apology letters at the museum from visitors who took photos without asking permission Poppets The Nkisi tradition from the Congo Connection to the movie Weapons How Robert the Doll became haunted (possibly) — he might be a mourning doll? The Free Robert the Doll campaign The Kuleshov Effect Projecting consciousness onto human-shaped forms Tsukumogami and vengeful yokai The Hyakki Yagyō, the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons Djinn in Islamic tradition The etymology of pandemonium Michael Singer on not resisting the snake Knowledge vs respect And in the epilogue… Mallory’s gluten-free experiment Suspicious exercise equipment at the gym Pros and cons of Western vs Traditional Chinese Medicine Some of the grossest words we know To help you share this episode, we picked out three moments we all loved and tied them up with a little copy/paste-able bow. “Mal made herself a poppet” (~9:40) — Mal put a lost tooth into her Cabbage Patch doll’s mouth as a child, and Tom points out she was accidentally participating in an ancient ritual of fixing a part of yourself into an e…