Annabelle became a household name in 2014 when a horror film followed the story of a doll that became possessed, haunting a couple nearly to their death. Now, the real doll that inspired the movie and its sequels — also called Annabelle — is in the spotlight.

After the doll's handler, Dan Rivera, died suddenly while on tour with the real Annabelle, his friend pushes for the remaining stops to be axed.

Pennsylvania State Police said officers found 'nothing unusual or suspicious' in the hotel room where paranormal investigator Dan Rivera was found dead.

While Annabelle the doll is real, the movie is not a true story. In Annabelle, a female cult member named Annabelle Higgins kills herself while holding the doll, and the demon she helped summon possesses it afterward.

The 2014 film, which sees the eponymous evil doll causing havoc for all, was hatched from a supporting character in James Wan’s The Conjuring (2013). Annabelle’s debut was so terrifying that she arguably stole the spotlight from much more established ghosts in the franchise’s first entry.

The movies were based on a real doll, owned by paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren. ... including Annabelle,” Lorraine Warren said in the same USA Today interview.