Controversial TikTok comedian Matt Rife has caused a stir online after taking guardianship of one of the world’s spookiest dolls. But why is TikTok so petrified?
In one of 2025’s most unexpected crossovers, TikTok comedian Matt Rife has taken custody over one of America’s most “haunted” dolls: the Annabelle Doll.
Arguably best known (he claims to his own chagrin) for his classic pretty-boy looks, Matt Rife has been described by some on social media as leaning into a “frat boy” persona. Over recent years, he’s caused his fair share of controversy online, so the Internet was shocked when he announced his new guardianship of one of the paranormal world’s most talked about curiosities, after buying Ed and Lorraine Warren’s home and Occult Museum.
The large red-nosed round-faced Raggedy Ann toy may not look like anything special to the uninitiated eye, but it’s been paraded around the US over the past few months to a lot of curious (and terrified) onlookers. The reason? It’s believed to house an evil entity that seeks to possess people, and has even been the inspiration behind the famous Conjuring movies.
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Unsurprisingly, the tour sparked an intense reaction online, with many fearful over the consequences of releasing the doll from its cage and others accusing the handler Dan Riviera of exploiting superstition. Last month, Dan Riviera was found dead in his hotel room, further igniting rumours of the doll’s capabilities.
Of course, the paranormal sceptics among you might be rolling your eyes. But the fears around the doll aren’t completely unfounded. Strange occurrences have been reported to have happened around it and many have been left unexplained. But what are the origins behind it? And why is TikTok’s paranormal community so on edge?
The story of Annabelle dates back to 1968, according to a timeline from the New England Society for Psychic Research, when a Raggedy Ann doll was gifted to a nursing student. She then brought back to an apartment which she shared with a roommate.
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The pair later “noticed strange occurrences with the doll” before a medium told them it was “inhabited by the spirit of a young girl named Annabelle,” according to the website. The roommates reportedly “tried to accept the doll’s spirit and please it” but instead were met with “maliciousness and violent intent.”
This is when Ed and Lorraine Warren were called. The couple had made a name for themselves as paranormal investigators and took possession of the doll, which they kept encased within a glass box.
According to the New England Society for Psychic Research, the Warren’s “came to the immediate conclusion that the doll itself was not in fact possessed but manipulated by an inhuman presence… Truly, the spirit was not looking to stay attached to the doll, it was looking to possess a human host.”
Since the Devils on the Run tour began in May, paranormal enthusiasts have claimed the doll has been linked to strange happenings. Most notably, the doll was rumoured to have disappeared while stopping in New Orleans – the same week that a fire blazed through a nearby plantation and 10 prisoners escaped from a jail.
A TikTok video has since gone viral pointing out that appears the Annabelle doll is staring at Matt Rife with a demonic red glint in its eye. “Jaw dropped. That’s a nope from me,” one said. “He is in danger,” a second wrote.
Not everyone is scared on the comedian’s behalf, though. Some have their own theories about why he has bought Warren’s paranormal home: “He’s been cancelled so he’s trying to do something to capture people’s attention again.” Another commenter added: “The man’s already possessed by the spirit of fragile masculinity.”
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