A mum believes she owns the UK’s most haunted doll and claims it’s brought “lots of pain” on her family.
From the outside, Norman may look like an ordinary child’s doll. With blonde locks and a striped shirt, his baby-like face draws people in – but the reality is much darker.
He made headlines last year after his previous owner, Christian Hawksworth, claimed he had been riddled with bad luck ever since he purchased the £3 toy. Now, though, he’s got a new owner – Candice Collins, 42 – who says pain has been inflicted on her family ever since.
And that she regularly hears him speaking with her son, aged three.
(Image: Jam Press/Cornish Ghost Whispers)
“In the night, I can hear my little boy talking to someone,” the paranormal hunter and haunted doll collector, from Cornwall, told What’s The Jam. He also starts laughing, which is very strange.
“I’ve had nightmares, which can be troublesome. I wake up in a panic because I’m drowning or being attacked by an unseen figure. I’ve even felt my hand being bitten while dreaming.
“I sensed something making sounds in our bathroom and heard an evil voice calling my name in my sleep. It all felt so real.”
The mum keeps Norman in a little outhouse in their garden, so he’s kept at a distance from her family. However, it appears he’s found a way through.
She said: “My health hasn’t always been great, but it was under control. Since getting him, it’s much worse. I have arthritis, headaches and also random bruises that come up on my body for no reason. I’ve got a scratch on my back that looks like deep claw marks, too.
“My partner, Nick, needs a hip replacement, as that has taken a turn for the worse. It just feels like never ending bad luck. I don’t know if it’s a result of this demonic doll.”
(Image: Jam Press/Cornish Ghost Whispers)
The previous owner bought Norman for his five-year-old daughter, Violet. However, she quickly warned her dad that she didn’t like him.
Christian then suffered an exploding appendix, being shot, his car brakes failing and his salary severely reduced – which he put down to the possessed doll.
After having enough, he listed him on eBay for £200 and Candice became intrigued. Though when he arrived in June 2023, her streak of bad luck began.
She said: “As soon as I opened the box, the room went freezing cold and a heavy depression filled the air. I knew then there was definitely something attached to this doll.
(Image: Jam Press/Cornish Ghost Whispers)
“It didn’t feel right from the beginning to keep him in the house, so I put him in a glass box with some holy water. Since then, I’ve worked with Norman a few times, but that same feeling comes washing over me. It fills my bones with dread.”
Candice claims she’s captured him moving on his own in the glass box and also asked him if his name was, in fact, Norman – to which he replied: “Norman here.” She’s also heard giggling coming from her shed where he is stored, which sounds “sinister”.
While she does find him “quite horrifying” due to his past, she’s keen to work with him for the foreseeable future.
She said: “He does remind me of something out of the Chucky movies. It seems he’s out to get anyone that stands in his way.
(Image: Jam Press/Cornish Ghost Whispers)
“The bottom line is that you’re not safe around him, especially if you have children, as he wants them all to himself. I would never trust him around a child, as I think he’s focused on manipulating them.
“It whispers things, words that can cause real harm; even death. I really do think he’s the most possessed doll in the UK – maybe the world. To be able to inflict such pain and accidents as he has done really makes you wonder how far he will go.”
Candice, who has spent a few thousand on collecting haunted dolls, has always been fascinated with the paranormal.
She hopes to one day open a museum to store and share her eerie figurines, including Clive the Demonic Clown, who she caught on camera last Halloween moving by himself.
For now, though, she’s focusing on keeping her family safe – and away from Norman’s wrath.
Candice added: “I do all of what is needed to protect them. I use sage, crystals, holy water – anything I can.
“I want to prove that there is life after death, and that not all objects are evil, some just need help. But I’ve got to keep my wits about me, as I don’t know what could happen next.”