Residents of Pinson, Alabama were horrified to see a "real life" Chucky roaming the neighborhood. The human version of the fear-inducing doll was later found to be a child named Jackson, who likes to wear the costume in his house and around his community.
Jackson's Chucky went viral after Kendra Walden, a Pinson resident, clicked picutres of him roaming around the street and posted them on Facebook, sharing that the sight "almost" gave her a heart attack.
For the uninitiated, Chucky was the name of the haunted doll who was the antagonist in the 1988 hit movie Child’s Play, which stands as one of the most terrifying horror movies of all time even today.
Kendra said that she and her colleague were driving down a hilly, residential street in Pinson when they spotted the doll. He waited for the car to pass and stared at them as they drove past him.
She took some pictures and uploaded them to Facebook, and within a week the images were shared over 100k times.
The "real-life" Chucky from Alabama is a 5-year-old who was identified by his mother
The walking horror doll was a 5-year-old boy named Jackson, who was identified by his mother, Britnee Reed, when one of her co-workers showed her the pictures.
Britnee told WDHN that her colleague had shown her the post, saying that it was something her son would do. When she looked at the images, she was astounded to find that it was indeed her son Jackson. She said:
"I zoomed in and said, ‘Oh my goodness,’ that’s my kid."
She quickly called up her mother who was looking after Jackson and was informed that her mother had indeed helped him get into the costume before he went for his regular neighborhood watch.
Britnee added that her son loves horror and costumes, and said:
“That’s just kind of how his personality is. He dresses up in different costumes throughout the week. He loves to make people laugh.”
Britnee shared that while they have received a few negative comments on social media, most viewers have loved Jackson and his scary persona. Some have even asked him to be a guest at birthday parties - invitations which he has politely declined.
The 5-year-old said that he was happy about the whole incident and that he got to scare so many people on the internet. He told WDHN reporters:
“Tell them I was a good Chucky, and make sure you send my grandma a copy of the pictures, too.”
Jackson's images have gained over 50k likes and 104k shares on Facebook.
Who is Chucky? The origin story of the infamous haunted doll
Chucky is said to be based on a “haunted” real-life doll named Robert. Robert the Doll was gifted to Robert Eugene Otto by his family's maid in Key West, Florida in 1906. It is believed that the maid practiced voodoo and put a curse on the doll because she wasn't happy with the family.
Rumors say that the doll was first called Gene but was later named Robert.
According to Ranker, Robert Eugene Otto loved the 40-inch doll and carried it everywhere, but things slowly turned sour when strange incidents started to occur in the Otto household.
Robert's parents would hear deep, unfamiliar voices and creepy giggling coming from their son's bedroom. They would also hear the footsteps of someone running around in the house.
Things got worse when they heard little Robert scream in his room and complained that the doll had messed up his toys. Neighbors reported sighting a boy who resembled the doll in the house while the family was away. The stories continued and earned the house a "haunted" reputation.
Despite everything, Robert kept the doll until he passed away due to old age. The doll was then stored away in the attic of the house and later found by the daughter of its new occupants.
It is said that the doll got back to its old habit of throwing things around, before ending up in the East Martello Museum, where it is currently kept behind a layer of safety glass.
Visitors can check out the doll in the museum, but are strongly advised not to take pictures of the doll and to ask permission from it if at all they decide to click images.
While Child's Play director Tom Holland has not confirmed any link between Chucky and Robert, internet users are convinced that the movie is based on Eugene's doll.
