Island of Dolls

 Island of dolls, Mexico

Mexico is a tourist attraction for many around the world. It is famous for its nachos, Mexican grills and the list goes on and on. However, I do doubt that many of us are unaware of an island that exists in Mexico and it is called the Island of Dolls. Located in Xochimico, Mexico, the Island of Dolls, also known as Isla de Las Munecas is situated. It is said to be located on top of a floating bay. The sight of this island itself is extremely sinister and creepy, with dolls hanging everywhere without hands and legs. The island used to have a caretaker in the name of Don Julian Santana Barrera. People believe that the birth of the island was due to an incident that happened, where a girl on the island died by drowning in the water surrounding the island. Julian had tried to save the girl’s life, but failed. After the girl’s death, Julian had found a doll floating on the bay of the island. Assuming that the floating doll belonged to the dead girl, Julian had taken the doll and had tied it to one of the trees in the island. When visitors of that island spoke to Julian about it, they thought that Julian was possessed by the dead girl’s spirit which was why he had begun to tie more dolls to the trees in that area. People whom have interacted with Julian have said that Julian was very guilty about the fact that he wasn’t able to save the girl’s life. What was most spine-chilling was the death of Julian after some time, at the same spot where the girl had drowned. Since then, many people have been to this island and have tied countless dolls to the trees to the extent where in present day, the dolls look like a string of ‘decorative’ items on the trees. Many have also claimed that they have actually seen the eyes of the dolls moving and have even heard the dolls talking to each other. Now, this island is open to tourists as a tourist attraction. (source:http://www.isladelasmunecas.com/)

After analyzing the history of the Island of Dolls, my personal take on this is that all the stories of a girl’s spirit haunting the place is false, where what might have really happened is that a person living nearby the area might have some old, broken dolls that were no longer used by the children and having no idea on how to dispose of them, might have tied them to trees. People who came across this island may have seen these dolls and might have thought that it was some kind of custom to tie dolls to trees. This might have eventually evolved into a story involving paranormal activities and many have started spinning tales about this island. Just for the perk of it, I personally feel that paying a visit to this island might be interesting, to find out for ourselves if all the stories revolving around this strange island is really true or not. What do you think?

Blog posted by: Sujani Ganesan