Comedian Matt Rife has been cautioned about potential danger after acquiring the world’s most haunted doll, with plans to publicly exhibit the renowned item.

Rife surprised his followers by announcing the purchase of Ed and Lorraine Warren’s former residence and Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut, and in doing so, became the new caretaker of the notorious ‘demonic’ Annabelle doll.

The paranormal tale of the Raggedy Anne Doll dates back to the 1970s. It was originally gifted to a nurse in Hartford, Connecticut, and soon began to display unsettling behavior.

When the Warrens took ownership of Annabelle, they locked her in a specially built glass case in their museum to contain the ‘evil spirited entity’, and warned that she should never be moved. 

However, Annabelle recently toured the US as part of the exhibition called Devils on the Run – and Rife now plans to reopen the house for overnight stays and museum tours.

Veteran ghost hunter Dan Rivera, died in July at age 54 while touring with Annabelle. The mysterious death ignited fierce speculation that the doll was to blame.

But authorities revealed that Rivera died from ‘natural causes’ and that there was ‘nothing unusual or suspicious observed at the scene’. Though, that hasn’t stopped folks from wondering if something more powerful was at play.

Matt Fraser – known for When Heaven Calls: Life Lessons from America’s Top Psychic Medium and reality show Meet The Frasers – exclusively told the Daily Mail that he fears Rife’s plans to monetize the doll will unleash ‘dark, aggressive energy’.

‘Because of all the hype surrounding the Annabelle doll, from naming her to interacting with her and now putting her on display, people are unintentionally breathing life into something that should never be awakened,’ Fraser said.

‘The energy builds with every mention, every photo, and every attempt to provoke a reaction. This is not just an old doll, it is a vessel tied to dark, earthbound energy. 

‘Dolls do not just become possessed on their own. A spirit must be invited in, often through dark rituals or intentional acts of black magic.’

Fraser said Rife’s plans to invite hordes of guests into the house and museum after its 2019 closure will endanger himself and others.

‘That is how the soul became attached in the first place,’ Fraser warned. ‘Spirits that have not crossed over feed off attention, and the more fascination there is, the more active and aggressive the energy becomes.

‘It is like dealing with a bully. You can yell, push back and try to assert control, but in the end you are left drained while the bully feels stronger. That is exactly how dark energy works. It pulls from your strength, your peace of mind, and your spiritual protection. 

‘The more it is acknowledged, the more power it gains. This is exactly why Ed and Lorraine Warren never wanted the Annabelle doll to be glorified or used for entertainment.’

Fraser believes the late couple, who founded the New England Society for Psychic Research, ‘understood the danger’ that lived within the doll. 

‘People think they are just observing something creepy, but what they are really doing is inviting chaos.’

He calls the possessed items ‘spiritually active’ and says they are ‘tied to dark, earthbound souls that never crossed over’.

According to biographer Gerald Brittle’s book The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warren, the Warrens first came across Annabelle in 1970 after a priest called and asked for their assistance.

They were told that two young nurses believed a human spirit was possessing their doll and were desperate for help.

During a taped meeting with the Warrens, one of the nurses named Deirdre explained that the doll was a 28th birthday present from her mother, according to Brittle’s book.

She told the couple that it started ‘moving around their apartment by itself’ soon after, and left eerie, handwritten notes that said ‘help me’. It was further claimed the doll had attacked someone.

The women said they had hired a medium who told them a little girl named Annabelle had died on their property years prior.

They came to believe she was possessing the doll, but after investigating, Ed said they had been ‘duped’ and that there was no Annabelle. He believed the doll was ‘taken over by something inhuman’ and ‘demonic’ instead.

The Warrens performed an exorcism before taking the doll away. They claimed their car brakes failed on the drive home and they had to throw ‘holy water’ on the doll to get home safely.

The Warrens alleged a priest nearly died after he did not take the doll seriously. 

He reportedly ‘picked up the doll’ and said, ‘You’re just a rag doll, Annabelle, you can’t hurt anything,’ before he ‘tossed it back on the chair,’ according to the Warrens’ biography.

That night, he is said to have called Lorraine and told her, ‘The brake system failed [in my car on the way home]. I was almost killed in a traffic accident. My car is a wreck.’

And according to a family member of the Warrens, tragedy struck when another visitor failed to treat the doll with respect.

It’s been said that the guest knocked on the glass case and taunted the doll before he was thrown out of the museum.

But on his way home, he got into a fatal motorcycle accident, per the Warrens’ son-in-law Tony Spera.

It wasn’t until the release of the 2013 horror film The Conjuring and the 2014 sequel named after and based on Annabelle that the legend became popular in mainstream media – proven by the subsequent release of two more movies.

The topic remains hot to this day. 

Paranormal fans recently went into a frenzy when visitors claimed the doll was missing from her case – however this theory was later debunked and Annabelle was shown to still be in her box.

Even renowned paranormal investigator and Ghost Adventures star Zak Bagans was not immune to Annabelle, claiming he was left ‘very affected’ when he crossed paths with her in 2017. 

‘It was a demonic infestation and severely affected me, and I was literally in the hospital the next day’ he claimed.