Spiritual warfare is not a metaphor or a superstition, it is a present reality. The Bible warns that demonic forces seek to kill, steal and destroy, and when Christians dismiss this as fiction, we leave ourselves and our families vulnerable. Culture has long painted the occult as entertainment, but recent events surrounding the infamous Annabelle doll remind us that the spiritual battle is deadly serious.
Annabelle on Tour
As reported by The Blaze, the doll at the center of the Conjuring film franchise is now traveling across the country on the “Devil’s on the Run” tour. Ticket-holders are invited to pose for selfies, laugh, and even touch the case holding the doll. “Although well intentioned, this tour is exceptionally irresponsible,” Christopher Reese wrote, warning of the dangers of trivializing demonic power.
Breaking News. Spirit-Filled Stories. Subscribe to Charisma on YouTube now!
Reese recalled that Ed Warren himself placed a sign on the doll’s case that read, “Warning, positively do not open.” Yet videos show attendees mocking the doll and treating it as a spectacle. Reese asked soberly: “If the stories of those who made light of the doll are true, what might happen to scores or hundreds of other people now engaging in similar behavior?”
A History of Darkness
The true story behind Annabelle is far more chilling than Hollywood portrays. According to Reese, the doll began moving on its own, leaving messages like “Help us,” and even manifested drops of blood on its chest. Violence escalated when a man was attacked with “seven claw-like slashes across his chest.” The Warrens concluded the doll was not haunted by a child’s spirit, but was a vessel for a demon.
The Warrens also documented incidents where individuals who mocked the doll suffered fatal accidents the same day. To Reese, this shows that “all the evidence pointed to demonic activity.”
A Tragic Warning
In July, tour organizer Dan Rivera died suddenly in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, after hosting an Annabelle event. He was only 54. The coroner said there was “nothing suspicious,” but Reese raised a sobering question: “Given that this doll, which has allegedly killed or severely injured people in the past, was being transported around the country and made into a carnival-like spectacle, one has to wonder if his death was more than a coincidence.”
Even the Warrens’ grandson, Chris McKinnell, rebuked the tour: “My grandfather’s warning still stands: ‘Positively do not open.’ If they keep doing this without understanding what they’re handling, someone is going to get seriously hurt.”
False Safety and True Power
Reese pointed out that many in the paranormal community claim protection through rituals, crosses, or holy water. But these are powerless without Christ. “It’s not holy water or rituals that protect a person from the attacks of Satan,” he wrote, “but the fact that through regeneration the person has been delivered from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.”
Quoting Scripture, he reminded believers of the authority given through Christ: “Because Christians have become children of the King, they gain his divine protection and can call upon his authority to drive away the enemy” (Luke 10:19; Eph. 6:11-13; James 4:7).
This Is Spiritual Warfare
Reese warned against trivializing the demonic, stressing that Annabelle is not simply an object with “negative energy,” but one attached to “a spiritual being with a will and intelligence” whose “intentions are malevolent.”
He compared today’s fascination with the doll to the failed exorcism of the sons of Sceva in Acts 19, who were overpowered by a demon because they lacked the authority of Christ: “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” The result was humiliation and injury—a reminder that demons are not to be toyed with.
Time To Take the Fight Seriously
The rise of occult tourism, paranormal entertainment, and now even plans to turn the Warrens’ home into a paranormal Airbnb is a sign that our culture has forgotten the seriousness of the demonic. Reese’s conclusion is sobering but essential: those without Christ have “no defense from demonic attacks,” while even Christians must avoid reckless curiosity.
The truth is simple but urgent: only Jesus Christ has the power to break demonic chains, and only the Holy Spirit equips believers to stand firm in the evil day.
Join Charisma Magazine Online to follow everything the Holy Spirit is doing around the world!
It is time for Christians to stop treating spiritual warfare lightly. We are not called to play games with the enemy but to put on the full armor of God and resist him. The devil is on the offensive, and the church must no longer sit back in complacency. It is time to take the fight to him.
James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
