Celebrity psychic buys 'creepy' doll from Edinburgh charity shop

Simone Varga, St Columba's Hospice charity shop manager, with the doll she named Annabelle

A "creepy" doll which terrified shoppers after it went on display in an Edinburgh charity shop has been bought by celebrity psychic Deborah Davies.

The toy went viral after a picture of it in the window of the Morningside store was posted on social media.

The shop put up an "I'm not creepy" sign and halved the price of the doll, which it named Annabelle.

But now it has been bought by Deborah after the picture was shared by some of her social media followers.

The star of Unexplained: Caught on Camera paid £200 for the doll from the St Columba's Hospice shop and now plans to keep it at her home in Cheshire.

Deborah Davies has now received the doll at her home in Cheshire

"This doll will be with me under 24 hour surveillance," she told BBC Scotland News.

"I'm actually going to keep it at my home, which I normally never do. I keep all my dolls in my office."

Deborah has about 70 dolls - some costing as much as £10,000 each - but she said Annabelle would be the most special because of the feeling it gave her.

She said she planned to speak to the doll and carry out an "investigation" because she believed it had a human soul attached to it.

Deborah, who starred in two series of The Real Housewives of Cheshire, said she had decided to keep the name Annabelle.

Simone Varga, St Columba's Hospice charity shop manager, said one of her volunteers had originally donated the doll because she was moving away from Edinburgh.

"When I opened the box I saw its creepy long legs and real shoes and then saw its eyes had pupils and its nails had the white bits on it. I thought it looked very human," she said.

"Then I saw on the back of its neck that it was an Ashton-Drake Galleries doll, which are very expensive, so I priced it and put it in the window.

"But when everyone on social media started saying it was creepy, menacing and freaking out about it I thought it's not going to sell so I put the price down and put a sign on it saying: 'I'm not creepy."

The price of the doll was reduced from £180 to £90.

Simone Varga put a note on the doll in the window saying 'I am not creepy'

As the days went by, Ms Varga started wondering if the doll would come alive.

"It's been terrible, my mind started running away," she said.

"I kept thinking the shop door bell would ring and the doll would be standing there, so I kept looking over my shoulder."

When she received a call from Deborah asking to buy the doll, and offering to pay more than the original price, she was overjoyed.

"It's been absolutely mental all this," she added.

Ewa Well, 41, a customer who lives in Ratho, said she thought the doll was a real child when she entered the shop with her mother, Alice Drabarczyk.

"I had to have a peek closer because I thought it was real," Ms Well said.

Alice Drabarczyk with her daughter Ewa Well with the doll

Mrs Drabarczyk, 74, who is on holiday from Warsaw in Poland, said: "I remember having a special dress my uncle had sent me when I was seven from Bedford in England exactly the same as the one on this doll.

"I like the doll but I like old fashioned things. The face is too grey for a child though."

Another customer, 72-year-old Phil Canale, said: "It looks like something from an American film that could come alive. I wouldn't have it in my house."

Arne Strid, 82, from Morningside, added: "When I first saw the doll I thought it was striking and a bit creepy.

"It made me stop in my tracks then I saw the price and thought it must be special."

Ann Jones, 74, a customer, said: "It looks a bit different and makes me want to know how old it is. I think it has nice eyes and hair and looks cheery."