Pupa, the possessed doll of Trieste

In short
Pupa is a 1920s felt doll, made in Trieste for a little girl who kept her all her life, between Italy, Europe and the United States, until her death in 2005. Since then her family, who keep her in a display case, say she moves on her own and taps on the glass. None of these phenomena has ever been verified.

There are many stories of objects that are believed to be possessed and many of these objects are dolls.

There are many stories of haunted or cursed dolls that are said to host the spirits of children.

The story I will tell you today is that of an Italian possessed doll, the Pupa doll.

Pupa the doll

Pupa is an antique doll, with light brown hair and blue eyes that are matched to her felt dress, the same one that it has been wearing since it was made. She is a heat-pressed felt doll, about 35 centimetres tall, with a light blue bow in her hair. It is said that she was custom-made to look like her little owner and that her hair was real, perhaps even the girl’s own, as sometimes happened at the time. The exact type of doll has never been identified: she looks like the famous Lenci dolls, which however were made in Turin, not Trieste.

It is said that this doll was given to a little girl in the ’20s in Italy, precisely in Trieste.

The girl called her doll Pupa and she never separated from it. Her family moved often and went first to the United States, then toured around Europe and eventually settled permanently in the United States.

The little girl kept it with her even as an adult and told her children and grandchildren how special her Pupa was.

She told them that when she was small she often confided in her doll, and it seemed to answer back to her.

She was convinced that her doll was alive in some way, that it had a consciousness.

But in July 2005, unfortunately, Pupa’s owner died, after keeping her all her life, since she was 5 or 6, and the doll went to her family.

Strange things related to Pupa

The woman’s family said that after her death, Pupa seems to be very active.

Currently it is in a glass case along with other objects, and the family members have noticed that it often changes position.

Other times they see the glass of the case fogged from inside and the words

Pupa hates

As if it had been written with a finger.

Sometimes they even heard tapping on the glass, as well as heard a strange little laugh, just as what happens with the Mandy doll.

It must be said that many of these stories have never been verified, including the writing on the glass, and that there has been no news of the doll since 2007: she should still be in the family’s display case.

Why have these phenomena occurred only after the death of its owner?

Many think that Pupa feels the lack of someone to take care of her in the same way as her owner used to, and therefore is trying to attract attention.

Truth? Legend? Suggestion? The word to you.

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