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AARON MAHNKE: Just south of Mexico City,

in the middle of the Xochimilco canals,

is an island...

an island with a disturbing history.

Isla de Las Muñecas... Island of the Dolls...

so named because, in the mid-1950s,

a man named Julian Santana moved here.

He told some people

he was abandoning his wife and child.

One day, after years of seclusion,

Julian is said to have made a horrifying discovery...

the lifeless body of a drowned girl.

Nearby, he found something else...

a doll.

A precious possession

she must have clutched in her final moments.

According to those who knew Don Julian,

he believed the spirit of the girl began to haunt him...

a curse for leaving his family.

So he retrieved the doll

and cared for it as if it were his child.

He hoped that this might appease the girl's ghost.

He began searching the banks of the river

looking for more dolls.

Sometimes he would even sneak to the mainland to find them.

He hung these offerings to her everywhere.

[CHILDREN GIGGLING]

For Don Julian, it seemed that they pleased her spirit.

As the dolls swayed in the wind,

he believed she was playing with them.

He believed they were alive and protected him.

As a father myself,

I know that children can grow tired of their toys.

Maybe that's what Don Julian

came to believe...

That the spirit of the girl

lost interest in her old dolls

and wanted more and more new ones,

dolls that, as he aged, he had trouble providing.

For the old man, the banks of the river became treacherous.

But still he had to feed the spirit's hunger

until one day he may have sought out one doll too many.

Don Julian was found drowned in the same dark water

where he'd discovered the girl

all those years before.

To this day,

there are more than 1,500 dolls

hanging in the tropical sun.

I'm Aaron Mahnke,

and this is Lore.

A doll can be a lot of things...

a guardian or the companion we'll always remember.

DOLL: Let's play house.

GIRL: She does talk!

Like a real little girl!

MAHNKE: A toy we can't live without.

A trusted friend...

a confidant.

Yet it's not uncommon

for people to feel uneasy around dolls.

Those glass eyes almost seem

like they're staring right back at us...

[WHIMPERING]

which, is something we can blame our brains for.

They're hardwired to recognize faces.

But it doesn't always work out.

There's a concept in psychology

known as the uncanny valley,

where our minds instinctively reject human look-alikes

that are almost but not quite perfectly accurate.

It has a way of setting off alarms

within our basic instincts.

Despite that, we're still all too willing

to project humanity upon objects,

and in doing so, we give them control.

DOLL: I love you.

But that's a dangerous game to play

because sometimes, it seems, they refuse to give it back.

Thomas and Minnie Otto were natives of Key West, Florida,

and in 1898, they completed building a new home,

nestled there on Eaton Street.

They were a well-off and well-traveled couple

who had a deep love for the arts.

And they had a young son named Robert Eugene Otto.

But everyone called him Gene.

Gene was quiet.

Some might say he was an odd child.

He kept to himself,

and it was hard for Gene to make friends.

- THOMAS: ...the fingers. - MINNIE: So delicate.

Gene!

Never touch the art, Gene.

Do you understand me? Never touch it.

You have your own toys. Go play with them.

A gift was mailed to Gene by Thomas' aunt Bridget,

who was traveling overseas.

While in Germany,

Aunt Bridget found the perfect present

for her great-nephew.

It had been a window display

and was larger than most dolls.

"Met this little sailor in a store window in Germany."

"He said he'd be a good friend to Gene."

The doll had an immediate hold on Gene.

He even named it AFTER HIMSELF: Robert.

Robert the doll.

Gene, take the doll away from the table.

Robert isn't hurting anyone.

How long do you intend

to permit this childish behavior?

As long as Robert likes the food we serve.

[CHUCKLE]

You know the neighbors all laugh

about the Otto boy and his doll.

And did you write to Aunt Bridget again

about what the neighbors might think?

Wanting her advice over mine?

No, I'm too ashamed

to reply to her letters asking about him.

She's the one responsible

for bringing it into this house.

Robert is Gene's friend.

If you spoke to your son,

you'd know that doll might well be his only friend.

And you're fixing to take that away?

[DISTANT CHATTER]

Thomas, I thought you went to the office.

[CHATTER CONTINUES]

Thomas?

Are you up here with Gene?

Are you up here with Gene?

I thought I heard your father.

Gene.

[LAUGHING]

[CLATTER OVERHEAD]

Gene, I told you to go to bed!

[CLATTER CONTINUE]

[CLATTER]

MINNIE: Why would you do this to your toys?

- GENE: I didn't. - [SIGH] I am so sick

of you being ugly to us, and the behavior and the lies.

Well, you won't get any new toys

until you prove you can be responsible.

You did this, and you will suffer the consequences.

I didn't do it.

Robert did it.

Tell me, Eugene, how did the doll do this?

Hmm?

I can't keep help around this home

for all the things you swear that Robert did.

Locking doors, making noises in dark rooms,

scaring the housekeepers.

Now, I will not allow my son to make excuses.

Robert is a doll.

It isn't real.

Yes, he is.

Robert is real.

[SIGH]

And he doesn't like it when you scold me.

[LAUGH TRACK]

Hi, Bergy!

I'll give you two minutes to get dressed.

Remember, we're doing a show tonight.

[LAUGH TRACK]

On Thanksgiving Day in 1950,

one of the biggest acts in vaudeville

made its television debut.

Where's Charlie?

We want to see Charlie McCarthy!

Yeah, where is he?

Broadcast across the country,

Edgar Bergen introduced viewers

to his alter ego Charlie McCarthy.

Why, you old rascal, you.

You just know all the gossip, don't you?

No, no, no, no.

You keep on interrupting me, young man,

and I may not finish this story.

Well, that's the best news we've had so far.

There was no doubt

that Charlie had the upper hand.

That's what made them so popular.

But if you think about it,

ventriloquism can also be a little bit unsettling.

[APPLAUSE]

Audiences in 19th century Europe and America

were entertained but also unnerved

by how a ventriloquist could give life

to an inanimate object.

So it wasn't surprising that, for centuries,

they were suspected of meddling with dark forces.

Some were even persecuted as witches.

Others were thought to be

channeling the voices of the dead.

And the bond between man and doll

was certainly uncanny.

Yeah, well, I hope you won't embarrass me

like you did in Las Vegas.

What about Las Vegas?

I thought I gave a very moving performance.

Yes, it was moving, all right.

Especially your lips.

Oh, no.

Edgar and Charlie went on

to become the most popular ventriloquist act in America.

Sort of makes you want to give up show business, doesn't it?

It wasn't until many years later

that Edgar's daughter provided

disturbing details from her childhood...

stories of how Edgar seemed

to treat Charlie as her real sibling.

How Charlie was given a bedroom in the family home,

a room that was larger than her own.

And how, when Edgar died in 1978,

he left her nothing

and $10,000 for the care of Charlie.

For what it's worth, that bizarre relationship

did nothing to keep Edgar's daughter

from pursuing her own career in entertainment.

His daughter is none other

than film and television actress Candice Bergen.

[APPLAUSE]

Isn't she beautiful?

Well, thank you, Charlie.

Just my luck she has to be my sister.

MINNIE: I must say, It's a nice surprise

to have a visit from you, Aunt Bridget.

Um, if we'd known you were coming,

I could have had a bedroom prepared.

And Thomas is always pleased to see his favorite aunt,