One of the weird days and observances on October 25 is Chucky the Notorious Killer Doll Day. (It’s also Frankenstein Friday.) In honor of Chucky, I thought it’d be fun to spend time with a creepy doll of sorts: Laughing Sal. Not that’s she’s a killer doll, but there may be one of her that’s haunted.
More than one? Haunted?
I’ll get to that, but first let me give you some background on my acquaintance with this giant doll.
The Musee Mechanique
The first time we went to San Francisco, we stumbled upon the Musee Mechanique when we were exploring Fisherman’s Wharf. Every time I’ve been back to the City by the Bay since, I find myself drawn back to the Musee.
Partly because of Laughing Sal.
She’s so…awful. Yet, not. She scares me, but she also intrigues me. I’m fairly sure she’s harmless. She’s just intimidating because she’s such a gargantuan figure. My active horror writer imagination envisions her breaking out of her cage and wreaking havoc every time I see her, laughing that laugh of hers as she does it.
And that’s part of the allure of visiting. What if that happened? What would it be like to be there to see something like that unfold?
Thankfully I’ve never gotten an answer to my question because I’m fairly sure I would immediately regret my morbid curiosity. I’d probably poo my pants. Right there in public. The only saving grace might be everyone would be so busy fleeing in terror they wouldn’t notice. If I was lucky. (What a weird thing to wish for luck about, right?)
A Twin?
I don’t remember how it happened that Southern Spirit Guide, Lewis O. Powell IV, told me Laughing Sal had a twin. Had I shared a photo of her on Facebook or Instagram, or maybe the post about visiting the Musee Mechanique?
I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure I said something about as far as I knew she wasn’t haunted, but I found her haunting nonetheless. That’s when Lewis said her twin lived in Maryland –and she was thought to be haunted.
He shared a link to a post he’d written that talked about her, “Saving the living and the dead in Maryland.”
East Coast Sal resides in the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum in Ocean City, Maryland. Unlike her West Coast twin, Ocean City Sal doesn’t move anymore. She still laughs when you push her button, though. Her distinctive laugh can also sometimes be heard when no one has pressed her button.
Okay, that’s almost as terrifying as her suddenly coming to life and breaking out of her case.
Side note: In addition to Laughing Sal, Lewis shares a story of another spirit haunting the museum. Maybe that’s what presses her button to set her laughing sometimes? Not sure. Something to think about. But check out his post. It’s a good one.
Maybe As Many as 500?
Atlas Obscura featured Laughing Sal, or Laffing Sal as she’s also known. They delve into the company who made her and how she came to be created.
According to them, “No one’s sure how many Sals were made. Some reports say 250, others push that number to 500…
Unfortunately, there’s no complete list or map of the Sals left—no one knows how many lie buried in the depths of long-forgotten warehouses, waiting to send shivers down the eventual discoverer’s spine—…”
They also had this phrase that caught my eye when they described her: “… that perfect mix of intrigue and cringe.”
Yes. That. That sums up exactly how she makes me feel.
Really a Doll?
Laughing Sal isn’t a doll in the conventional sense. She’s not the kind of doll you’ll see little girls carrying around. (If you do, that’s gonna be some kind of strong girl!)
She’s an animatronic, which many classify as dolls of sorts.
So, for all intents and purposes, even though she’s not the kind of toy doll people take home, she’s a doll.
Biggest Haunted Doll?
Chucky is a well known fictional haunted –or possessed– doll, but there are well known real-life ones too. Key West’s Robert the Doll and Annabelle may be two of the most popular. They’re “big” in the sense they’re so famous.
But none may be bigger than Laughing Sal –in a literal sense. She stands six feet tall on her own, but the way she’s displayed in her case makes her that much taller.
In that sense, the haunted Laughing Sal in Maryland may just be the biggest haunted doll in the world.
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, as well as obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of healing, to learn how she channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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