'Creepy' Edinburgh doll ‘possessed by ghost of local person who lost a child', says TV psychic who bought it

A ‘creepy’ doll that terrified locals after it went on sale in an Edinburgh shop has been bought – by a celebrity psychic who believes an old spirit who lost a child has attached themselves to it. And if that wasn’t spooky enough, she claims to have heard the doll laughing behind her back, just hours after it was delivered to her home.

As reported in the Evening News last week, the toy, which was spotted at a charity store in Morningside, went viral after it was photographed by a local and shared on social media. When Ms Marchmont, who posts on X (formerly Twitter), uploaded the eerie images, it didn’t take long for people to reply, with dozens of locals saying the sight of the doll would give them nightmares. The shop then put up an ‘I'm not creepy’ sign and halved the price of the doll from £180 to £90.

Now, the doll, which has been named Annabelle, has been bought by Deborah Davies, the star of Unexplained: Caught on Camera, who actually paid £200 for it from the St Columba's Hospice shop.

Deborah, who also starred in two series of The Real Housewives of Cheshire, told the Evening News: “To be honest, I think before the doll went into that charity shop it was probably absolutely fine. Just a normal doll and somebody loved it dearly. But I do feel there is something that is attached to this doll now.

“I think this is an old spirit from the area where that charity shop is… an old spirit who lost a child who looked like that doll.

“I was just on the phone to my daughter, and I said ‘do you know what’s funny about it? Why does it have hair like grandma? She laughed and I laughed, and then I heard ‘heh he heh’. A little giggle [from the doll]. It was very faint, but I heard it.”

Deborah, who says she has around 70 other dolls, now plans to speak to the doll and carry out a full investigation, live streamed so no one can say it’s fake. She says: “This doll will be with me under 24 hour surveillance. I'm actually going to keep it at my home, which I normally never do. I keep all my dolls in my office.

“I’ll use two-way audio through a CCTV camera, with me not in the house, and cameras in the room to show there’s no one else in here. I’ll use that talk facility on the CCTV camera to say ‘hello’. And if there’s a voice that answers back, then, yeah! I’ll be happy to say there’s an attachment.”

She adds: “It’s just a case of asking the questions to see what the responses are – and just finding out what’s going on with it.”