“Any hints on which haunted location(s) Paranormal Reserve Batch No. 2 will rest at?” I asked Harridan Vodka founder Bridgette Taylor last year when I spoke with her after the release of Batch No. 1.
“We’re heavily looking at some places in Massachusetts,” she said.
In 2021, Harridan Vodka released its first Paranormal Reserve, a small batch of 60 bottles of vodka. Each bottle had rested for seven days in one of three of America’s most haunted places: the Conjuring House, the Villisca Axe Murder House, or the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum.
This year’s batch once again contains a Conjuring connection —at least to part of its Universe. The “Paranormal Reserve – Annabelle Edition,” a limited collection of 666 bottles, rested for 30 days at the Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut.
The museum is home to the infamous Annabelle doll, which was reportedly demonically possessed in the 1970s. It went on to inspire the spin-off Conjuring Universe Annabelle horror movies, including Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation and Annabelle Comes Home.
“We are a brand fascinated by the uncanny and unexplained, so this year we wanted to bring the Reserve to one of the most well-known paranormal institutions in the world,” says Bridgette Tayor, CEO, President & Founder, Harridan Vodka. “We partnered with the Occult Museum, which houses some of the most terrifying artifacts in the U.S., most notably the infamous Annabelle doll. Given that the museum is now closed to the public, the Paranormal Reserve is the closest that fans of horror and the occult will get to the doll.”
And when she means “close,” she’s not kidding. Let’s check it out, starting with Annabelle’s story.
Ed and Lorraine Warren’s Investigation of the Annabelle Doll
A mother initially gifted her daughter the doll as a gift for graduating from nursing school. At first, the doll appeared normal like any other. Then it exhibited increasingly disturbing behavior, like moving on its own and even leaving handwritten parchment notes.
Ed and Lorraine Warren, two of the nation’s most famous demonologists and paranormal investigators at the time, were called to investigate the case. After they deemed the Annabelle doll demonically possessed, they took it home and enclosed it in a glass case. That’s how it joined their collection at what later became the Occult Museum.
Annabelle Doll Vodka 666th Bottle Most Chilling
The 666th bottle of Paranormal Reserve was placed directly in front of Annabelle’s case, which was opened by the museum’s proprietor, Tony Spera. The bottle then rested inside Annabelle’s original case, built by Ed Warren, for 30 days.
The bottle, priced at $13,000, is packaged in a one-of-a-kind wooden case that is a replica of Annabelle’s current confines. It will be available for purchase at www.convivewines.com/the-harridan-paranormal-reserve. (Heads up. Someone might’ve already snagged it.)
Paranormal Reserve Annabelle Edition Packaging
Paranormal Reserve is packaged in a bespoke engraved wooden box featuring a functional Ouija board on its lid. It comes with a certificate of authenticity, as well as gloves for handling the bottle. “Help Me, Help Us,” is inscribed on the back of the label, which was inspired by the mysterious parchment notes purportedly found by Annabelle’s original owner in her apartment.
Vodka with a Cause
A portion of all Paranormal Reserve sales will benefit Toys for Tots, transforming the legacy of a toy that embodied evil into a positive force today.
For More Info
Visit https://www.harridan.com.
Check-In
Would you be brave enough to take a shot of any of the Annabelle vodka? What about a shot from the 666th bottle?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
I am not brave enough to take a drink of either of those! But my hat is off to those who are!
I’ll raise a non-alcoholic glass of non-Annabelle something or other an drink to that, Pricilla! lol