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During the 16th century, Christians harbored a deep fear of puppets, even considering them to be demonic entities, as the source of a puppet’s voice could not be identified.
With a reboot of Puppet Master in progress and the enduring legacy of terrifying puppets like Billy from Saw, it’s clear that many people today still find puppets unsettling. These fears have even been used to create chilling TV series such as Channel Zero: Candle Cove, which revolves around a fictional children’s show featuring eerie puppets.
Puppets aren’t limited to horror films and television. These seemingly harmless dolls and their ventriloquist counterparts have also caused chaos in real life. There are countless tales of strange occurrences involving ventriloquists, puppets, or both.
10. Puppet Seances
In 1910, a concerned citizen wrote to The New York Times about seance gatherings where mediums claimed to communicate with the deceased. The letter detailed a “trumpeted medium” who used a telescope-shaped horn (similar to a megaphone) to deliver supposed messages from the dead, which were actually the work of nearby male and female ventriloquists. This was a deceptive tactic to convince grieving individuals that their departed loved ones were reaching out to them.
These trumpets could be utilized in various ways. For instance, mediums would hold the wider end of a cone-shaped trumpet close to their mouths. They would then whisper into the device without moving their facial muscles, all while engaging in casual conversation with others seated around the seance table. This technique mirrors a method still employed by many ventriloquists today.
9. The Skull Puppet
Sebastian, Florida, is situated approximately an hour and a half north of West Palm Beach. In 2015, a homeless man appeared in the parking lot of a Publix grocery store in Sebastian, using a human skull as a puppet. This act of puppetry was intended to prompt someone at the shopping center to contact the police.
Initially, law enforcement believed the skull was a fake. However, upon closer inspection, an officer detected a foul smell. Even more unsettling, authorities have yet to identify the origin of the skull.
Authorities later suggested that the remains belonged to a transient John Doe who had died in a nearby wooded area. Given that Florida and four other states account for nearly 75 percent of all unidentified person cases reported to the National Crime Information Center, this conclusion is not unexpected.
8. The Pedophile Puppeteer Show
In 2013, Geoffrey Portway, a man from the Boston area known online as “Fat Longpig,” pleaded guilty to distributing and possessing child pornography, as well as soliciting acts of violence. During a search of Portway’s home, law enforcement discovered thousands of images and videos of child pornography, along with evidence of exchanges involving such material between Portway and his online associates.
Additionally, police discovered photographs depicting children being cooked and prepared for consumption, a metal cage with a feeding hole, a steel-topped table, various metal restraints, and a child-sized coffin constructed from plywood.
Even more horrifying, authorities uncovered that Portway had been conspiring with two other men to abduct and sexually assault children. One of these men was a puppeteer who had planned to kidnap children he worked with during puppet shows at a local Florida church.
The puppeteer, Ronald Brown, operated a party business and website named Puppets Plus, which advertised “grins and giggles” for children. In 1998, when a police officer stopped Brown for a traffic violation and noticed multiple pairs of boys’ underwear in his vehicle, Brown claimed the underwear belonged to his puppets.
7. Harassed By A Puppet
In 2017, David Sampson, a ventriloquist from Warwickshire, England, was interrogated by police after his puppet, Grisweld the Super Dog, was accused of sexually harassing a woman. Sampson denied the allegations, stating that Grisweld could not speak. The incident allegedly took place while Sampson was promoting a Valentine’s Day performance outside The Bulls Head pub, leading to over an hour of questioning by officers.
The woman alleged that the puppet made numerous sexually explicit remarks and then retreated into Sampson’s trousers, where it reportedly said, “Why don’t you come and have a feel at this?” Sampson countered by arguing that Grisweld would not fit in his pants. The final outcome of the investigation remains unknown.
6. The Horse Therapy Puppets
Eric Berry, the Kansas City Chiefs’ safety, suffers from a severe fear of horses (equinophobia). This posed a challenge since the team’s mascot is a live horse that parades around the field during games. Berry attributes his fear to a childhood incident at a petting zoo where a horse bit him.
To tackle his fear, Berry employed various methods, such as sketching horses, watching them on television, and even interacting with horse puppets. Many therapists incorporate puppets into their sessions because they help evoke patients’ emotions without requiring them to directly face the source of their discomfort.
5. The Puppet Terrorist
In 2014, a blogger raised concerns with the Egyptian government, alleging that a phone company’s commercials featured a puppet used to relay details about a terrorist plot. The ads depicted a puppet named Abla Fahita searching for her late husband’s SIM card and engaging in a phone conversation about a character called Mama Touta.
The blogger argued that “Mama Touta” was a coded reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, a designated terrorist organization. Specifically, the blogger claimed the commercial hinted at an impending bombing.
In response to the accusations, the Fahita puppet appeared on Egypt’s CBC network to refute the claims. The company behind the commercial clarified that the ad was designed to demonstrate how to reactivate SIM cards and contained no hidden messages.
The public in Egypt largely found the exchange between the blogger and Fahita humorous, even sparking a digital campaign titled “#FreeFahita.”
4. The Farting Hippo Puppet Lawsuit
In 2014, CBS faced a lawsuit over Bert the Farting Hippo, a toy hippopotamus featured in the NCIS series. After debuting in a 2003 episode of NCIS, Bert the Hippo gained popularity, prompting CBS to sell Bert the Farting Hippo merchandise in its online store.
Initially, CBS partnered with US manufacturer Folkmanis to produce around 30,000 farting hippo puppets. However, to cut costs, CBS later shifted production of Bert the Farting Hippo puppets to China.
In retaliation, Folkmanis sued CBS and its affiliated companies to halt the alleged copyright infringement and recover $733,000 in lost profits. During the lawsuit, CBS removed all Bert the Farting Hippo merchandise from its store, temporarily making the puppet a rare item.
In 2016, the companies reached a settlement, though the terms were not disclosed to the public.
3. The Puppet Gag Order
In another bizarre legal case involving puppets, a South African ventriloquist was issued a gag order against his puppet in 2014. Musician Steve Hofmeyr sought the order against comedian Conrad Koch, alleging that Koch’s puppet, Chester Missing, was spreading hate speech. The order barred Chester from publicly discussing Hofmeyr or mentioning him on social media.
Due to Chester’s actions, a local car dealership withdrew its sponsorship of Hofmeyr. Koch ultimately won the case, successfully overturning the gag order on Chester Missing.
2. The Puppet Custody Battle
Custody battles are typically associated with children, but they can also involve puppets. In 2001, a prolonged legal dispute centered on the famous marionette Howdy Doody. Despite NBC’s 1967 agreement to place the puppet in a museum, a conflict arose with the heirs of the puppeteers who had made Howdy Doody a cultural icon.
The heir involved was just six years old when NBC ended The Howdy Doody Show, leading to the puppet touring the country with Buffalo Bob. Puppeteer Rufus Rose had lent the marionette to Buffalo Bob in 1970. After Rose’s death in 1975, Howdy Doody began making public appearances. In 1998, one of Rose’s sons and Buffalo Bob agreed to sell the puppet in a 50-50 deal, but Buffalo Bob passed away before the sale could be finalized.
The judge ultimately ruled that Howdy Doody belonged to the Detroit Institute of Arts. This decision was based on a detailed 40-page ruling that examined Howdy Doody’s significance in television history and provided an overview of contract law.
1. The Gay Rights Puppets
Sheka and Teka, two puppets introduced in the late 1990s, starred in several ads for the Israel Electric Corporation. The commercials showed the puppets on a paddleboat in the Dead Sea, driving a convertible, relaxing on a couch, and sharing a room with two single beds.
For years, many viewers speculated about the puppets’ sexual orientation, much like the ongoing debate about Bert and Ernie. This speculation peaked in 2013 when the puppets introduced a third baby puppet.
In the ad, Sheka and Teka were shown in a living room chatting with a pink baby puppet sporting bright orange hair. The scene then shifted to a hospital nursery, where the baby was seen with a pacifier, and Teka congratulated Sheka on the child’s birth. Notably, the ad did not reveal the identity of the mother.
In another scene, Sheka and Teka were seated on a park bench with the child. The ad concluded by suggesting that the clean air in the park was a result of cleaner energy production.
Amid the controversy over the puppets’ sexual orientation, the Israel Electric Corporation clarified that the commercials were solely meant to promote clean air and electricity. However, a spokesperson for the Israeli national LGBT task force stated that Sheka and Teka had always been gay and would remain so.
