Matt Rife becomes “legal guardian” of Annabelle doll after handler died on US tour

Comedian Matt Rife is now the “legal guardian” of the Annabelle doll that inspired The Conjuring movie franchise.

• READ MORE: ‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’ review: witchy threequel scares up a storm

Annabelle’s origins date back to the 1970s, when the Raggedy Ann brand doll was given to a nursing student who soon began exhibiting strange behaviour, leading paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren to conclude a demonic spirit inhibited the doll.

It was eventually locked in a glass case at their Occult Museum, going on to inspire the 2013 horror film The Conjuring and its subsequent spin-offs.

Now, Rife and fellow YouTuber Elton Castee have reportedly obtained guardianship of the Warren’s collection, including the doll, for at least five years after purchasing their home and Connecticut museum.

“Ed and Lorain Warren arguably put demonology and paranormal into the mainstream and are the very heart of some of the most famous haunted stories of all time, The Conjuring House, Amityville Horror, etc.,” Rife shared in a post to Instagram earlier this week, shortly after the purchase.

“We plan to open the house for overnight stays and museum tours so you yourself can experience and learn all the haunted history surrounding this amazing place.”

While some of Rife’s fans applauded his “insane” news in the comments section, others shared serious concerns, given his acquisition of the Warren collection comes only weeks after paranormal investigator Dan Rivera died suddenly while on tour with the original Annabelle doll.

Like the Warren’s, Rivera was a paranormal investigator and was the primary caretaker of the Annabelle doll. He was on a tour of the US, titled Devils on the Run Tour, hosted by Ghostly Images of Gettysburg and the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR). According to a report from The Independent, the doll will continue to tour on the remaining dates.

The Warrens were portrayed by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga in The Conjuring franchise, which was based on their case files. Annabelle, a prequel and spin-off to those movies, was released in 2014. While the doll is based on the real-life Annabelle, its design was changed for copyright reasons.

The success of Annabelle let to two sequels – Annabelle: Creation (2017), and Annabelle Comes Home (2019). The trilogy has collectively grossed over $800Million (around £600Million) worldwide at the box office.