Fort East Martello Museum

An 1862 Civil War fort that now houses a museum — and the original Robert the Doll. The fort claims 42 documented spirits, which makes it one of Key West's more reliably strange attractions.

Fort East Martello Museum occupies a Civil War-era brick fortress at Key West's eastern shore, originally built to defend the island but never completed. Today it houses the most famous haunted artifact in America: Robert the Doll.

The museum's paranormal reputation extends far beyond its celebrity resident. USA TODAY 10Best named it the 7th Best Haunted Destination in America, with investigators believing as many as 42 individual entities haunt its walls. Soldiers in military uniforms from different eras appear throughout the fort, strange mists and orbs manifest in photographs, and an overwhelming sense of being watched pervades the space.

Robert the Doll arrived in 1994, donated by Myrtle Reuter who could no longer endure his presence in her home. Museum staff noticed strange activity almost immediately—cameras and electronic equipment malfunctioned in his presence, his facial expressions seemed to change, and he appeared to move within his glass case, sometimes pressing his hands against the glass.

Visitors who disrespect Robert allegedly suffer misfortune: car accidents, broken bones, job loss, divorce. Letters of apology arrive daily from around the world, begging forgiveness for failing to ask permission before taking his photograph. The museum displays hundreds of these letters as testament to Robert's power.

But Robert isn't the museum's only dark attraction. It also holds the tomb of Elena Milagro de Hoyos, victim of one of the strangest crimes in American history. Carl Tanzler, a radiologist who called himself Count von Cosel, became obsessed with the young tuberculosis patient. After her death in 1931, he secretly removed her body from the Key West Cemetery mausoleum he'd built for her and lived with her reconstructed corpse for years—using wire, fabric, plaster, and wax to maintain her appearance.