'That's A Danged Demon': Doll's Creepy Voice Terrorizes NJ

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Just ahead of Halloween, the folks at the National Park Service recently reminded New Jersey residents they don't have to go far to see — or, better yet, hear — something that will fuel their nightmares straight through the spooky season.

In a social media post shared last weekend, the National Park Service introduced followers to a toy doll with blonde curls wearing a blue dress that's on display at the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange.

According to the National Park Service, the doll was one of Edison's earliest inventions. In fact, it was also the world's first recorded audio product designed, manufactured and sold for home entertainment.

Originally, the doll was designed to talk using a miniature phonograph, but it was only on the market for a month because the phonograph proved too fragile when children played with it.

Ultimately, Edison "exorcised" the phonograph in hopes the remaining dolls would be sold, the National Park Service said.

Historians have had few opportunities to hear recordings taken from the talking dolls as surviving examples are rare, officials said. Before 2011, just two Edison doll recordings were widely available online in digital form.

By April 2015, however, eight Edison Talking Doll soundbites were made available to the public after a government laboratory was able to scan the fragile recordings.

That's where the history stops and the nightmares begin.

While the National Park Service has the eight recordings available on its website, PBS News Hour also shared a compilation in this YouTube video.

According to the reactions left on the National Park Service's social media post, the doll's voice left many understandably disturbed.

"That voice is no doll, that’s a danged demon," one person wrote.

"Coincidentally, Edison invented the light bulb shortly thereafter. And never turned it off again at night. Ever," another quipped.

"I’ll forward my therapy bill to you. Thanks," another wrote.

Same.