I am slightly offended at Bloody Disgusting.. Not by the name, but by some the content. Actually on a regular basis. For a horror site it pales in comparison to others.. for a mainstream locale for the latest in scary news, it is not the best.
That all being said, an article appearing today is even worse.. they offended one of my favorite childhood toys: The Lester Doll.
Here is what “Mr Disgusting” writes,
As young as I can remember I was mortified of ventriloquist dummies. I’m not anymore, but I still have a reoccurring nightmare I’ve been having since I was 8 years old.
The earliest recollection of the fear I have is of the below 1984 McDonald’s commercial featuring Willie Tyler and his ventriloquist dummy, Lester. Any time that commercial would pop on I would be in my parents bed that night – and I want to go as far as to say my parents were so annoyed they mailed letters of complaint to McDonald’s (like that does any good).
While Tyler is my earliest memory, the one that haunted me the most was spawned by Paul Winchell, who has his own variety show called “The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Show.” Jerry Mahoney, pictured above left, was the scariest looking doll I had ever seen – so scary to a child that he would haunt my nightmares for 30 years. I’m not exactly sure how I saw this 1950’s show in the 80’s, but clearly it had a profound impact on me.
Ok, I get it.. the doll is a wee bit creepy to some. But for me, as a kid, it provided comfort and solace. It was my friend.
I actually recall two distinct memories of Lester. First, a Christmas when he was under the tree.. I was as sick as a dog, vomiting from Christmas Eve straight through Santa and into the night the next day. Lester was cradled in my arms.. The second memory is another Christmas. The year prior, I cracked his face. And thankfully under the tree was a brand new Lester. Either from the Sears Catalog or Santa . . I have a photo of me somewhere with the doll .. I will try to find it and post it for you to see, as proof that Lester was not scary but quite friendly indeed.
Lester was a fine toy. There were plenty more nasty memories of toys and creepy things from childhood.. Don’t pick on Lester.
You want something really, really scary?
TRY LADY ABERLIN FROM MR. ROGERS.. Now that was creepy.
I never had a Raggedy Ann doll.. I never wanted to to be honest. When I was younger, it was the one toy that honestly freaked me out. Something was just un-quaint about it.. it was anti-calming, like a piece of folklore got disheveled with paranormal hauntings, made into a doll for you to own.
For that reason, I was most interested in an article appearing on my newsfeed this morning hypothesizing that the origin of Raggedy Ann came from a tragic vaccine injury that led to a girl’s death..
Not long after the creation of the much beloved Raggedy Ann, Gruelle’s only child and 13 year old daughter Marcella died a painful death after receiving a routine small pox vaccination at school, which was given without parental consent.
Reports indicate that after the initial inoculation Marcella had, “… lost her appetite, and became feverish and fatigued.” Amazingly, more inoculations were given despite her negative reaction from the first jab. Predictably Marcella’s health continued to decline to the point where she lost all muscle control, “becoming listless and lifeless like a rag doll.”
While all this was going on at school, her parents knew nothing about it and had never ever given their consent for any vaccinations.
Sadly, Marcella died a slow and agonizing death. The Gruelle’s were convinced beyond any doubt that the vaccination was the culprit behind the death of their only child, even though school authorities and vaccination proponents insisted Marcella had died from a preexisting heart defect.
Ultimately, “Seven leading physicians are called upon to opine about the cause of her death. Six consented it is the result of vaccine induced poisoning and call it malpractice. The seventh, being the head of the school board and a supporter of vaccination, declines to comment.”
If this story is to believed, the doll was created to entertain a child who was slowly dying after being given vaccines that injured her..
There are more legends about Raggedy Ann and Andy than there is space to recount them. Like any popular phenomenon – especially those for which well-documented information may not be plentiful– legends become a way to explain the unexplainable, fill in the gaps, and make sense of conflicting or confusing data. In interpreting the Raggedys’ 75-plus year history, the facts are extremely important. But, not at the exclusion of the legends. These fanciful accountings not only round out the story of the Raggedys (and shed light on the whimsical heart of their creator, Johnny Gruelle) – they also reveal our own unerring desire for Raggedy Ann and Andy to stay in perpetual possession of the whimsical, magical, make-believe dossiers Johnny Gruelle created for them.”
I want to delve deeper into this–and not only Raggedy Ann, but the origins of some other ‘well meaninged’ toys and symbols of innocence..
Clowns.. bright red noses. Death. Raggedy Ann.. a little doll providing comfort to a sick child before death.. So many things that we have somehow come to accept as symbols of life actually tend to be reminders of peril.
It happens so often.. not a month goes by–or full moon or solstice in this case–where we aren’t worried about end times..
Timothy Halloran, who runs the Rasa Lila Healing YouTube astrology channel, filmed a chilling video in woods in Savannah, Georgia, on Thursday warning that the events around the Pagan-celebrated solstice may not be a calm and spiritual as people imagine.
He spoke of fears of an “increased energy” bringing about “madness, hallucinations and delusions of grandeur” among the population.
Mr Halloran, whose facial expressions and mannerisms have been compared to those of Russell Brand, the British comic turned turned revolutionist, prioduced promotional material for the video, called Full Moon in Sagittarius, June 16 2016 – Psychic Warfare and Crusading.
He urged people to “bite the bullet” to see the “mechanism beneath the surface” rather than becoming “more delusional, even more crazy and even more in denial”.
After another rocky time of eclipses in September, will come peace through the dwarf planet Ceres.
He said: “What is light at the end of the tunnel is Ceres is saying peace and love
“Things will start to calm down going into the future.
"After all the changes, all the awaking, the electro shock, then comes Cancer nurturing time – back into our beloved ones circles, our tribes and empathy for one another.”
My son paused from games and playing this weekend to note something to me.. In his innocent five year old voice, he conjectured that ‘there are a lot of bad people on the planet.’
It was a remarkable statement from someone still new to this big hot pale blue mess.
On Friday night he overheard a bit of evening local news describing a small town criminal who killed an infant. I knew he heard it but when I noticed him watching he turned away.
My Tv was glued–a bit–to tragic news of Christina Grimmie being killed and then over 100 being shot at the Pulse night club. It clearly was notice for my son, who had a puzzled looked of sadness on his face when he realized just how many bad guys there were on the planet.
I told him that he was right.. That there were bad people. But I reassured him that there were more good than bad.
Then I secretly pondered how I’d reassure myself of that very sentiment..
Firsthand eyewitness reports indicated the more than one shooter may have been present.. That accomplices were acting ‘together.’ That potentially more suspects are on the loose and that a media blackout is occurring.
A few points.
If there are multiple suspects on the loose that could explain the complete strange lack of real a tail concrete facts so far..
But also these investigations take time.
This was one of the worst shootings on American soil and is a dramatic escalation of terror on the American home land by ISIS. This is a big deal. Is law enforcement is cautious that makes logical sense..
But I also think, regardless of what facts stem from all of this in the final equation, that this is a new form of fear other nations have seen by America has yet to grow to understand. This is the American Bataclan. And it’s just as big of a deal..
My only enduring question….with smartphones and technology, and all of the modern marvels of CCTV, why haven’t we seen any videos inside? No footage. No Periscopes or snapchats. In not calling it a conspiracy but I’m certainly calling it weird.
After a horrible Sunday.. a terrible weekend.. IT still is a wonderful world. We are stuck on this planet of misery, a planet filled with death and insecurity.. sadness and grief.. hunger and terror.
And fear.
The worst thing a human can have in his or her heart is fear.. fear is the future, the present.. sadness of the past.
But this is still a wonderful world..
Somehow, between all of the pain and heartache, bloodshed and turmoil….The world still is a wonderful experiment by some force of nature beyond our collective imaginations…
Eyes are glued to news and the entire world suddenly is engrossed in the aftermath of what the media calls the worst shooting in American history. Before getting to the meat of the matter, it’s worth noting that the media is wrong on one point. Though what has occurred in Orlando at the Pulse nightclub is horrific, it’s not the ‘worst in history.’ In the year 1890, the United States government shot and killed nearly 300 Native Americans. But that’s for another day.
This day has headlines ravaged in blood.. The digital universe is also responding.
The Pulse Nightclub in Orlando Florida is a location known to be friendly to the LGBT community–though it’s welcoming to all.
Last night as music pulsed through the crowd, Omar Mateen–we are told–opened fire on the crowd. He killed at least 50. Injured another 50.. It was as Ramadan began.
This is what is known so far–or at least what the media has told us..
‘He got angry when he saw two men kissing’: Father of New York-born shooter Omar Mateen, 29, says son responsible for worst mass shooting in US history was homophobic
Suspected Islamic extremist opened fire inside Pulse gay club in Orlando in the early hours of this morning
Law enforcement sources have identified the shooter as US citizen Omar Mateen, from Port St. Lucie in Florida
He killed at least 50 people and injured 53 and took party-goers hostage before being killed by police
Shooter, 29, was carrying a suspicious device, possibly a suicide vest, when he began shooting in the nightclub
Police used an explosive device to distract the gunman and rescue around 30 people who had been taken hostage
Police engaged in gunfire with the man and an officer was shot in the head, but he was saved by his helmet
FBI says gunman may have ‘leanings to radical Islamic terrorism’ and it is being investigated as ‘an act of terrorism’
Took place four miles from where The Voice singer Christina Grimmie, 22, was shot dead at The Plaza Live on Friday
