The Island of the Dolls - Tour the Haunted Island in Mexico

The tale of Don Julian Santana Barrera is deeply interwoven with the tale of La Isla de las Muñecas ("The Island of the Dolls"). Don Julian, who was born in the Mexico City district of Xochimilco, abandoned his family and wife in the middle of the 20th century to live alone on an island in Teshuilo Lake. His motivations are vague at best, but it quickly became evident that Santana Barrera was not always mentally competent.

According to legend, Don Julian Santana Barrera, who looked after the island, found a drowned girl's motionless body in the waterways around the island in 1950. He discovered a doll floating down the canal the following day. He hung the doll from a tree in honor of the girl, believing it to be hers, and used it as a charm to fend off evil spirits.

Local tour guide, José Gabriel González Franco, who knew Don Julian said, “The detail is that a girl fell into the water, she had an accident." "Don Julián tried to help but unfortunately, all he did was be an eyewitness to the death of this person in this place”, he added.

Soon enough, she became a source of obsession and haunting for Don Julian! At least in the perspective of the guy who now saw himself as the custodian of the island, one doll was insufficient. Digging through trash cans and fishing in canals for old and abandoned dolls was Don Julian's daily routine, for the next 50 years. He even used to exchange them for his vegetables.

Don Julian Santana Barrera died in 2001 in a mysterious way. As you might expect, his body was found drowned in the canal, right where he claimed to have seen the young girl.

Thousands of ancient, worn dolls cover this little island of the dolls in Mexico, strewn about the terrain and dangling from trees. The size, age, and condition of the dolls on the island varies. The creepy atmosphere is enhanced by the deteriorating features and missing limbs of some.
Don Julian would hang some entirely, while others were in different states of disarray, such as decapitated, torsoless, or otherwise disassembled.

"For over 17 years of his life he collected dolls from trash cans or dumpsters, from friends, from the channels. The majority have a particularity: being ugly dolls, old dolls, burnt dolls, mutilated or deformed. That was the condition," says González Franco, the local tour guide.

The first doll Don Julian is reported to have discovered floating in the Xochimilco waterways, is a doll with a straw hat adorned with sunflowers. Now the island has around 4000 dolls, making it the only Island of the Dead Dolls.

Interestingly, there is one particular doll which takes most of the attention, known as Agustinita, who wears a turquoise outfit and glasses. What makes Agustinita special is that it is the only doll with a name present on the island of the dolls, Mexico!

"Agustinita has become the most important doll of the collection, the one he spent time with, his companion, the one he talked to, his protector," said by the local guide González Franco.

The lifeless, lifelike glances on dolls' faces are thought to be the source of pediophobia, a fear of dolls. But the Island of the Dolls in Mexico frightens those who aren't pediophobes alone.
On the other hand, it is a popular tourist destination and a source of intrigue for others.

"Apparatus have been set up and yes, there's paranormal activity," said the local tour guide González Franco.

According to the locals, the dolls are possessed by the ghosts of the deceased and come to life at night. They claim that the dolls move their limbs, swivel their heads, whistle, and murmur in an attempt to entice the naïve to drown in the island's waterways.

"At night, we tour the place, I go inside, with another workmate, waiting for the people and we hear a young lady cry or a moan," says Santana's nephew, Javier Romero Santa, who is the current caretaker of the island.

People who don't believe in spirits, say that it's just winds making fun of their fears, as wind pressure is the one which is moving the heads of the dolls at night.

Don's nephew visited the island in 2001 in order to assist his uncle. Don, who was 80 at the time, sang fervently as they fished in the canal, saying that mermaids in the water were inviting him. After a brief absence, the nephew returned to discover Don face down in the canal, where the girl was rumored to have drowned, dead from a heart attack (only logical reasoning in medical terms).

Don's family made the place a tourism destination after his passing, making it popular as the Island of the dead dolls. Curious tourists from all over the world are still drawn to it.

Tourists brought their own dolls, and many now hang dolls in remembrance of Don Julian Santana Barrera and the girl, whether or not she was genuine. You can also bring and hang your doll in the island of the Dolls, Mexico. Many ferries stop here, making it an unmissable stop on any tour of the historic Aztec canals.

The grounds include three houses, hundreds of dolls, and a tiny museum featuring articles on Barrera and the island from local media.

It is said that the mental condition of the caretaker Don Julian Santana Barrera was vague and known to be in bad condition due to his loneliness and guilt from abandoning his whole family.
But many paranormal investigators and local perspectives say that the place is haunted as they have experienced spooky activities such as turning of dolls heads and hearing the whispers and whistles at night.

It is even said that following the cross's placement in one of the spots, Don Julian felt that a strange and sinister event began to occur on the island. He said he started hearing cries and seeing shadows, which he thought were the sounds of a soul in great pain.

"Here the concentration of energy is strong, you can actually feel it. That is why the Island of the Dolls ranks as one of the top most terrifying places in the world." says tourists visiting the island.

While some believe that Don Julian was possessed by the spirit of the drowned girl, others believe it was his bad mental condition which led him to his spooky and sad ending.

In any case, it is advised to present the dolls with a gift as soon as you arrive on the Island of the Dead Dolls. Who knows? You might end up like Don Julian Santana Barrera if you don't.

"If now during the day you feel like, I don't know, a little weird, now imagine at night when everything is in silence, you hear a strange noise. I don't know, I would not sleep over here, not even if I was paid," says Teresa Reina, a tourist from Mexico.

Hence, it is up to you if you are adventurous enough to experience a spooky night at the Island of the Dolls Mexico!