NewsflareA man was left horrified when CCTV footage showed his creepy antique ventriloquist doll called Mr Fritz blinking and moving its mouth.
Michael Diamond, 48, opted to rig up a camera to find out why the 1940s puppet glass cabinet kept opening during the night, but he wasn’t expecting to see what the camera uncovered.
Mr Fritz was made by an American prisoner of war, but soon as he was given to Diamond earlier this year, the collector began to notice the glass cabinet display opening at night.
Diamond set up a GoPro camera to film the doll over two evenings, and to his horror he saw the door opening and the doll’s mouth and eyes moving, despite no one being around.
The 48-year-old, from Liverpool, was left terrified and has now secured the cabinet with a chain and covered with a blanket.
As per The Sun, he said:
When I first watched the video back I had a weird feeling in my stomach.
You can see the eyes move before the door opens and again afterwards.
The eyes flicker and his mouth moves up and down slightly.
Although his wife and daughter have been left terrified by Mr Fritz, Diamond has decided to keep him for now.
NewsflareHe said:
I wouldn’t say I’m scared of Mr Fritz but I am wary of it. I want to give it a permanent home. I get emotionally attached to my collections.
What’s the explanation is the one million dollar question isn’t it?
I have no idea myself. I don’t even know where to start. There are no open windows in the room and no airflow. The door is on a latch so shouldn’t just swing open.
I have told Sally and Amber about it and they don’t like it at all.
To stop it from happening I’ve chained the box up and covered it in a blanket.
NewsflareDiamond travels the country performing stunts with his museum, which is made up of unusual collector’s items like taxidermy animals, spiritual props, skulls and ancient weaponry.
It’s believed Mr Fritz was made by an American prisoner, who worked as a ventriloquist before being conscripted and captured, at Stalag II-B, now in the town of Czarne in Poland.
After the war it was apparently taken to America, making its way to an antiques shop in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, before coming to the UK.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.