Louvre Doll: Is the doll in THE NIGHT HOUSE a real thing?

Updated March 9, 2023

The trailer for The Night House was exceptional. Its job worked immediately, making me wonder where the house was located and what was up with the creepy-looking doll, which I’ve since learned is called a Louvre doll.

Sadly, the movie wasn’t the blow-my-mind haunted house film I was hoping for. Rebecca Hall was, as always, marvelous in her performance. None of the acting was the problem. The storyline on the other hand?

Well, it left a little something to be desired.

It started out pretty good, if not a little slow. But then it spiraled down an unexpected path, which was good. No one likes a predictable plot. But where it ended up ultimately proved unsatisfying. I was happy when David over at The Ghost Attic admitted to me after he watched it that the ending left him perplexed too.

However, how I felt about the movie isn’t important. It’s all about that creepy, disturbing doll.

What is a Louvre doll?

Is it even a real thing? In 2013, The Oddment Emporium shared a post that described it like this:

The Louvre Doll is a 4th century clay figure impaled with thirteen bronze needles. It was discovered within a terracotta vase alongside a lead curse tablet engraved with a binding spell – a type of curse in which usually someone has asked the gods to do harm to another. The figure, with its hands bound behind its back, represents the intended target.

However, limiting it to the 4th-century may not be accurate. Many of the curse tablets —and any Louvre dolls that have accompanied them— date to Greek and Roman times, which was BC.

Greece is where they’ve mostly been found, but in 1979/1980 some were even found in Bath, England. (Which once upon a time was Aquae Sulis, a Roman province of Britannia.)

What do Louvre dolls do?

Because they accompanied curse tablets and were meant to resemble the target of the curse, they’re often called “voodoo” dolls. Which is understandable. Similar principal. But they’re not voodoo dolls.

One thing that’s interesting is that not all curses were bad. Some were meant to conjure love spells and compel certain desired outcomes or actions.

And some “curses” were as simple as just wanting someone to pay a debt or return a stolen item. They weren’t as doom and gloom and dire like we’ve seen curses portrayed in horror movies and books. Which, as artist Arthur B. Cole pointed out to me, means calling them “spell” tablets may be more appropriate. Since curses are bad, blessings are good, but spells can be both.

Although, it makes me wonder if some of the people who believe their families are cursed may be on to something. Maybe if they dug back far enough in their lineage they might find Greek or Roman roots and perhaps a curse tablet or Louvre doll in their ancestry?

Why is it called a Louvre doll?

But does the Louvre have one? Is that why it’s called that?

Yes!

And according to Signal Horizon in a post that explains The Night House‘s ending, the Louvre doll is even an exhibit currently on display in the famous Parisian museum.

But as artist Arthur B. Cole also pointed out to me, the only reason it’s called a “Louvre Doll” is because it belongs to the Louvre museum. The type of doll it is is actually a “kolossoi.”

The Night House Trailer

You can see the movie’s Louvre doll in the trailer. A couple of times actually, including right at the beginning.

Check-In

Had you ever heard of a Louvre doll before? Or maybe even seen one?