Horror! A topic which most of us are interested in and most of us are curious about. We've heard enough of horror stories, creepypasta, spooky tales etc. Almost all of them end with tragedy, mystery and eerie feelings. The story behind the dark shades of the Isla de las Munecas or what we call the doll island has bounds with those three words : Tragedy, mystery and eerie-feelings.
Isla de las Munecas is located on a southern borough of the Mexican City. Everywhere you turn, you'll find hundreds of creepy dolls hanging on trees and fences. The caretaker of this island was a farmer and the place was never intended to be a tourist attraction.
Don Julian Santana Barrera was an old Mexican farmer who preferred to spend his life in isolation. Julian came to this island where there was nothing fascinating or creepy about in order to do farming. Julian became the caretaker of the island and he was all alone there. He rarely came to the city, and if he did so it was either to sell what he grew in the island or to buy things which are needed for his living. (Image shows Julian Santana)
One day in the year of 1950, Julian found a little girl drowned in the canal and she was dead. The man could not answer or think of how she came to the lonely island. In the same place where the girl was found dead, a doll was also found by him floating on the water which he could assume that it belonged to the little girl. Julian buried the girl and hung the doll on a tree as respect for her.
And soon, Julian was haunted by the dead girl's spirit.
Some say that he made up the story about the girl since the question remains, "How did she come there?"
Julian started collecting dolls from trash heaps and wherever he could and started hanging them here and there in the forest in order to please the girl's spirit who haunts. Soon, he found that the dolls themselves were possessed by the spirit. In fear of her spirit he started to hang more creepy dolls around the island like hanging Christmas ornaments.
What people who were closed to him says is that it was an unseen force which changed him and turned him to a different character.
Once when Julian went to the town to sell his goods, he had visited one of his closest friends and had talked about the girl and the possessed dolls. He had told him that the dead girl's spirit forces him to bring more dolls and hang them. He had also told that she scares him in the night. Julian also believed that the dolls he hung used to move. Though Julian's friend asked him to spend the nights in his house for some time, he had refused and had gone back to his lonely island.
Over a half-century, he had collected more than 1500 of terrifying dolls and had hung them making the place a land full of creepiness.
He had had the feeling that he couldn't save the life of the little girl. It may have bothered throughout his life.
In 2001, Julian was found dead, he was drowned on the same spot where the girl's corpse was found. He had been collecting more than a thousand of eerie dolls to satisfy her. What many people of the island believe is that Julian had joined the other spirits of the island. What they say is that the locals are very faithful that "Isla de las Munecas" is a charming place.
After Julian Santana's death, his cousin Anastasio took the island to his hands and started living there. He runs the island as a tourist attraction. Visitors bring more dolls and hang them, which is similar to a ritual.
"The spirit of the little girl is still here. It is better not to remove the dolls from the island." says Anastasio. "They (dolls) move their heads and whisper to each other, it is very spooky, but I've got used to that."
Anastasio also says "Ghosts are very real, it is important to tribute them."
They really say that the dolls move their heads and hands, and whisper to each other.
"A trip to the Island of the Dolls takes about two hours by boat and leads you through quiet green pastures where birds and farm animals graze. It’s a far cry from the smog and frenzy of Mexico City, a sprawling capital that’s home to roughly 9 million people." - (source: vocativ.com)
So, today thousand of people who visit Mexico do not forget to visit the haunted doll island. The story about how the island was created by Julian Santana leaves a lot of questions. The death of the girl is still a mystery. Did the girl's spirit kill Julian by making him drown in the same way she did?
Whether to believe or to not is all up to you, however, the tourist destination of Isla de las Munecas is truly a creepy dream!
Most Helpful Opinions