Dolls are one of the most likely objects to become haunted. Why is this?

Dolls that have human forms are ideal vessels for residual energy and spirits. Owners, whether adult or child, often form strong emotional bonds to dolls—they become human substitutes.

If something tragic happens to the owner, or if the owner suffers intense unhappy and negative feelings, the bad energy can be transferred to the doll. This energy is residual, but if it is strong enough, it can take on a thought-form presence as a "bad" personality of the doll.

Residual energy can be dormant for long periods of time, but if the doll goes to a new home and owner, and the place and person have the right energy, the residual personality can become activated and cause phenomena in the new house.

There are other ways that dolls can become haunted. Spirits can be attracted to dolls and take up residence in them. They may be attracted by the doll's owner, by the residual energy lodged in the doll, or other unknown factors. Spirits can range from low-level tricksters to more hostile and powerful entities.

They, too, can be dormant until activated by the right circumstanes.

In some cases, the spirit might be the earthbound soul of a person, someone who has not made a full transition to the afterlife. An example is a doll owner who dies suddently and tragically and for various reasons does not cross over because they were lost, confused, or hanging on to unfinished business.

Dolls can also become haunted if they are deliberately used in spirit summoning and spellcasting work. In such cases, spirits are invited to inhabit the dolls.

Removing the doll from the premises alleviates the haunting phenomena in the house in most cases. Sometimes binding spells must be performed on dolls to keep pesky spirits from getting loose and causing havoc.

Earthbound souls need to be helped to the afterlife. If a doll becomes attached due to a spirit attachment to a person, then that becomes an entirely different issue that must be addressed accordingly.

Excerpted from the foreword of Norman by Stephen Lancaster.