The Island of the Dolls (Isla de las Muñecas) - Gothic Homemaking Presents
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 พ.ย. 2024
- After hearing so much about this place in Mexico, I finally got to go to the Island of the dolls (or Isla De Las Muñecas as it's known in Spanish). The legend has it that a man found a drowned girl in the river and to appease her spirit, he hung a doll he found floating near her on a tree. Some say the girl's spirit haunted him or even possessed him and so he continued hanging discarded, broken and sometimes terrifying dolls on his property until the island he lived on became a sort of island of misfit toys. Many say the place is haunted and that the dolls come to life at night. I felt something else there. Won't you join me?
Special thanks to Antonio Hernandez
Additional photos by: Marlene Fontaine
Links to things in this episode:
The Living Dead Dolls by Mezco:
www.livingdead...
A really helpful site about the Island of the Dolls:
www.isladelasmu...
Many of the supplies I use can be found on my Amazon.com page:
www.amazon.com...
If you enjoy spooky, Gothic DIY projects, please check out other episodes of Gothic Homemaking!
Official Aurelio Voltaire website:
voltaire.net/
Aurelio Voltaire on Instagram:
/ aureliovoltaire
Aurelio Voltaire on Facebook:
/ voltairefanpage
Aurelio Voltaire US webstore:
www.industryei...
Aurelio Voltaire UK webstore:
voltaire.tmsto...
Find out when Aurelio Voltaire is performing near you here!
voltaire.net/ca...
#islademuñecas #isladelasmuñecas #islandofthedolls #haunted dolls #creepydoll #gothicdolls #hauntedplaces
#hauntings
You take a story that many reguard as horrible and nightmarish and made it relatable and sadly beautiful.
I love how respectful you were on your trip to La Isla. That island has been visited by many "ghost hunters" and they were always so disrespectful. Your interpretation of the man that lived there and his life was beautiful and sad. It shows a great depth of soul.
Thank you for honoring the memory of Senor Barrera with compassion, where so many others have chosen to sensationalize the 'ghost story' or to view him as a 'madman'.
Thank you, for giving Don Julián a voice, the respect he deserves an image other than. "a crazy dude who hoards dolls"... 🖤 Beautifully shot video
Morrigan Laveau 💖💖💖
Voltaire, what I saw in your eyes when you said, “Who am I to judge?” caused me to tear up.
🖤🧡🖤
agresticumbra Fucking THIS. Me too.
U r amazingly empathetic i always thought the same thing that the gentleman who had done this was lonely and that the dolls were friends that he would speak to through out his day.
I just got a living dead doll in the mail. I named her Carrion. Great video. I loved Don Julian's doll collection. I think he loved the dolls. And yes I do think they are alive.
This made me cry. As you were talking about the dolls being a reflection of companionship, I thought of people who collect things (hoard) as a way to fill some kind of emptiness in their lives. This is often set off by the death of a loved one or another stressful event. Even though he did not have a huge pile that made his place unliveable, it had a similar feel to it because of the sense of sadness and loss. I was also reminded of the Tom Hanks movie. Although it's just a movie, again, he turned to an inanimate object to have some kind of companionship/sense of normality.
Nothing is ever as cut and dry as it first appears
Voltaire and La isla de las muñecas, that is so perfect!!
Si, opino lo mismo
That story is tragically sad yet beautiful
this was a very good video, really liked the ending "who am I to judge" was a great closing line
This is so beautiful. Like Havensangel1 said before, you told the side of the story with humanity in it. Plus, you showed the "real" island. Everyone else that's gone there an filmed made a big to do about having to trek through overgrowth and spiders and overdone creepiness to sell their version. You just went, showed the simplicity and told the story. Showed how someone is still caring for this place and the story of it, how it's not something to be feared, but instead could make people think and teach them something. I think everyone has or should have a place to hide away in, a place to think and feel safe. He just never felt he was able to leave his whatever his reasons, maybe even now.
This was amazing and sad and strangely uplifting. This man was basically an adult toy collector. I admire him for finding a harmless way to ease his emotional pain and self medicate, and I applaid Aurelio for sharing this story so compassionately. X
Somehow this reminded me of "She had no children only dolls". It does seem more sad than scary, really.
This is the most compassionate and respectful video that I've ever seen on the island of the dolls. Thank you so much for your insights! This video made me want to visit there even more.
Voltaire, this was incredibly well done. As a consumer of spooky I had heard of the island of dolls, but you really humanized the man behind the place in a way that is sensitive and kind. Thank you.
Glad to hear you sharing the legends and story of my country with the rest of the world. Saludos desde México :)
My friend visited there and said it was actually quite beautiful, your video captured this, like poetry.
Such a beautiful telling of the story, thank you from showing it in a different light! La isla de las muñecas is typically a horror tour destination, but I find it very touching that you told the story from a different perspective, and tried to get the perspective similar to that of Don Julian
a true artist turns something to what many says is scary and horrifying into something beautiful... this is why I love artists
Such a creepy and interesting place that turned out to have a story behind it that gripped my little heart and clung for dear life. Love is such a powerful thing.
History Channel who? You’d make a perfect spooky tv host
Also 6:29 I thought I was the only person burdened with the memory of that trippy-ass show…we love obscure references
That is sad yet assuring
This is the most beautiful video I've seen about La Isla de las Muñecas.
This is the first time anyone has taken the time to focus in the man Don Julian and not the dolls. Gracias. Now it makes sense.. 🙏
I can actually see how dolls help with loniless and companionship. I feel sorry for this man that he was seen as the crazy guy with dolls. I can't imagine what he was going through.
You’ve really turned something that I one thought creepy to something tragically beautiful.... incredible work.
This was an honestly beautiful homage to a man who probably longed for the attention of another human being
This story is very different of love, sorrow, and a bit of horror. The dolls are something very special and a little creepy. Its still awesome
Your compassion, kindness and sensitivity are touching and inspiring 🖤
i want to HUG YOU SO MUCH right now!! Thank you for being so kind and so sensitive about this story.
Your summary in the end made me tear up. I have traveled just around the US to find people like this who left behind art, driven by their own stories and used creation/art to soothe their souls. Just like you (and me). What people create makes us immortal. We are at our best when we are creating! Thank you V.
Well, said Madam, well said!,Thankyou, for your lovely comment!
the story and your actual travel sounded so bittersweet. it's nice to see things in someone else's perspective.
i've always hated to see dolls like those, but you changed my perspective of them.
If this man really existed, and the incident with the drowned girl and unattainable reminder of not having a woman to cherish and protect and care for, then while I CAN see and objectively agree his method with the dolls is bizarre, I also too see his life was devastatingly sad and I empathize with his unrequited love and/or trauma of not being able to help a little girl who drowned through no fault of his own. Hopefully, in his final hours, he did find some hope and peace, perhaps he believed in an afterlife and eternity and if he was able to go to Paradise, he's in a better place and maybe the drowned girl is there and he can be with people once more and comforted and never alone again. You did a good job objectively and realistically telling his story, goth or no goth angle, Mr. Voltaire. :)
There was a slight beauty in this whole video, from the storytelling, to the folklore, to your personal feeling whilst on the little doll island to just everything else, once again, you amaze me Voltaire
What a sad tale. Thank you for recognizing this lost, lonely soul and sharing his story.
If their ghosts haunt that island... he isn't alone anymore. It's not the love he was after, but maybe he has a friend or basically daughter.
Thank you for giving your sensitive and compassionate point of view. I am fascinated by la Isla but I have never seen anyone even attempt to understand Don Julián. Thank you for reminding us that behind the spectacle was a lonely man with dreams of love. And wow I loved your singing CriCri!
After hearing the story the locals told you, it makes me wonder if the dolls could possible have represented things he wanted too. Like a family. I mean most of them are babies. Maybe he wanted a child not just a wife. But it could also be that dolls are a gift you would give to a girl, or a woman who collects them, and in his own way it was as if he was trying to collect gifts for her. But never had the heart to give them to her because they symbolized his lowly stature. So they did become comfort as you stated. Though if that is the case it is more of a double edged sword that way. As soothing as they are to his lonelyness, they served to remind him of how poor he was. Sad. May he rest in peace.
I'm from Xochimilco and I've never listened someone say that beautifully things of the island of the dolls, it's a new awesome perspective! ♡♡
I cannot find the right words to express how this video touched me. Thank you very much for sharing your adventure and even more for opening up about your own thoughts. I hope I get to meet you. You have such an honest way of expressing yourself i feel all those who get to befriend you are truly lucky. I pray that old man found his peace after death.
OMG i love this ;--; and hear you sing "la muñeca fea" was beautiful, that song was my favorite in my childhood
I have seen other people documenting this place but you did so with respect and reverence, that is so refreshing
Most people only discuss the creep factor of the dolls. I love your compassion for the man.
I think maybe there's more to it too... (I know this video is old, It's midnight and I'm nostalgic) He filled his yard and his home with lost and broken dolls, dolls no one else loved, took time for, or cared about. Dolls that weren't worth anything in gold, but deserved to mean something to someone. It sounds like that's how he felt. I wonder if giving some love and caring to take the time to place each one of those dolls made him feel like maybe it was possible for someone to care about him, even though he wasn't "worth anything". It's very sad.
so touching. I felt the sorrow! thank you for taking us on that journey! so beautiful and mysterious. I feel incredibly alone as well!
“Little tears of sawdust..”
I've heard of this place before, but never the full context behind it. Thank you for sharing your experience and giving the world a different, more human view of the island.
Voltaire have you ever heard of a Mexican group called Maquiavelia? They have a song called "Muñequita Horrenda" and it's truly fitting to the island. They have like a creepy/gothic style of music. You should check them out.
They're terrible but I like the lyrics and style
Pero sí son pésimos...
This was so unbelievably touching - that gift of finding humanity and meaning and empathy in things others might turn from as being uncomfortable is one of the things that make you such a wonderful artist - thank you for sharing it with us.
I think this might be the most compassionate and human telling of La Isle De Las Muñecas that I've ever heard, most of the time the focus is on the horror and creep factor over the humanity of the story
I've heard of this story before, but I had no idea it was this sad and lonely. Thank you for telling me the whole story. Other commenters are right in that many people have dehumanized it because of its creepiness. This was about a man that may have been unable to communicate his feelings with words, so he made them clear with art.
Your story telling is on another level! Absolutely AMAZING!!! Thank you for sharing darlin’! Adore the scarf! I must find one;) Look forward to seeing you in concert again soon!!!
You can get it from the Alexander Mcqueen store. I've also been told there are more reasonably priced knockoffs kicking around.
rprincess73 I picked up a cheaper version of that scarf from Wish if you’re still looking and have a budget anything like mine 🤫
Wow! What a beautiful, yet heartbreaking story. 🖤🖤🖤
I've always wanted to go there. Not for the ghost stories so much as the dolls themselves. I know many people find dolls creepy, but I love them. I always have. That's probably why I look for any excuse I can find to make them. I was working in one for my granddaughter while watching this video.
You have managed to make us feel right the same.
Thank you dear Artist and beloved storyteller, and best wishes, now and always
All this is sadder than scary, and this makes it even more horrifying.
Thank you for this video and all your art!
Thank you so much for sharing this and for the compassion you have for others.
This man was a sad & misunderstood artist. Thanks for posting this!
I'm not crying Dark Father Orville is!!! You are a poet I want to visit Someday but I feel if I did id never leave finally having found a place where I felt if not at home at peace. Alone but at peace.
Gothic homemaking is amazing. But subjects such as this i find truly astonishing. But than again history is my first love. Places have the ability to captivate and infuse emotions. Very well done.
I've heard of this man before, but it was pictured as a absolute horror story of an insane man. I love the perspective you give it. I like this one more.
This hit me quite hard. To be burdened with crushing loneliness is something I understand a little too well. Wanting something you know you'll never have because you don't believe you'll ever be good enough, for anyone. Sometimes I feel so worthless to feel the way I do, and then you come along with your videos and inspiring words and tell me it's okay to feel this way, and in some cases you feel it as well. It makes me feel a little less lonely in the world, despite you being too famous for me to have any sort of legitimate conversation with you. Thank you so much for sharing this with us, Voltaire. It's abundantly clear how much this meant to you, and how emotional this was. So thank you.
No one is ever to famous to have a conversation with someone. They are only too douchy. Being famous and being a self-absorbed ass do not need to go hand in hand.
The Lair of Voltaire Very true. You are the farthest from self absorbed. I suppose I meant more of the constantly busy and always traveling side of being famous. I'm not complaining though, you put all your time into what you do. Your concerts, your music, Gothic Homemaking. It's wonderful to see the passion you put in for your fans, and it's why we adore you so much. I also suppose what I meant was that it'd be hard to talk with you because I feel like I'd be wasting your time with a busy schedule like yours, and there are so many others out there who'd most likely need your attention more. I freak out even when you respond to my comments, and I never know what to say next. I know you'd never be rude or push away your fans, it's not who you are. It's just how I've always been, feeling like I'm more of an annoyance. Now I'm rambling, and I feel the need to apologize. But thank you for taking the time to read my comment.
It's strange, but seeing those dolls made me want to care for it, clean it, and hug it. Even before the backstory. I can see how one would find companionship with the dolls
Oh, what a poignant tale! I don't see the dolls as creepy. Maybe cus I'm a mom whose kids are growing up and have seen them outgrow toys that were once good friends. It seems to me that he had so much love to give, and he found a way to give some to outgrown cast-off Velveteen baby dolls, if you will. They are no longer cast-off or misfits for he made for them a home and family. If they laugh, it's out of joy to be together.
Just viewing this video from almost two years ago and I am completely humbled by your review of the doll island. I've seen it on TV on those Ghost hunter programs (to be honest, not a fan), and I've always thought the real story was hidden somewhere. Thank you so much, Voltaire, for peeling away the crap and giving us the real story (as one reviewer says, "sadly beautiful"). Hearing you talk about what you felt was strangely uplifting. Uplifting in that a real human being lived there, felt emotion, and was in all honestly, just lonely. Thank you!
I absolutely love dolls, and spend a lot of time collecting and caring for them, and it makes me so happy to see you treating the island with respect and sympathy.
I've seen a lot of stories on the Isle of Dolls. This is probably the best presentation and interpretation I have seen. Thank you and keep up the excellent work.
Apenas descubrí tu canal gracias a las canciones, puede que sea una de las pocas hispanohablantes que te siguen, soy mexicana y me da gusto ver que has podido visitar México y uno de los lugares mas asombrosos solo quiero que sepas que eres grande y admiro tu trabajo
This is such a sad yet beautiful story. Don't we all just want someone to love us as much as poor Julio loved his unrequited love? 💔
I have a feeling you aren't a Harry Potter fan, but something about this reminds me of Hagrid. He is not only a big person, but has a large heart and is able to see the beauty in animals and people most others reject. That quality shines through here.
You told this story so beautifully. You did it with such respect. Thank you !!
I related so much to this story and your take on it with the decorations and room of my own. My room is covered in my own dark paintings, but I don't see them the same as others do, they comfort me, just as the dolls may have comforted him.
My favorite video by far... in your closing, I feel similar. What is macabre to some is simply home to us.
Thank you for this video. It was touching. I see dolls (and I used dolls and doll parts to make collages and photos in the past) as empty vessels. You give them life when you use them or when you play with them. They are not necessarily creepy, they are what you fill them with.
As for unrequited love, it is not the time now but in a few hours with a cup filled with wine, I may have a story of my own to share.
Recently discovered this series and while I've enjoyed bingeing thru it this is probably my favorite episode. I actually got tears in my eyes! I really appreciate the respect, compassion and open-hearted energy with which you shared his story. Well done!
I love the piece you sang. It’s one of my favorite Cri-Cri songs. I’m glad you got the chance to visit Mexico’s Isla de las Muñecas ❤️
Mexico is full of macabre stories! and unique traditions! Thanks for visiting!
Viva mexico ! 😍
Mr. Voltaire,
I have been to "The Island of the Dolls" (Isle De Las Muñecas) & I agree with you. Wowever, I look at the broken Dolls as a petaphor for how he felt "alone & heart broken" due to he didn't feel that he had anything to offer the woman he was in love with....
Respectfully your's
Coll P. Stone
Also, I saw the indentation & the shack with the bed in it. To me the indentation & stain looked like a skull that someone at 1 time or another attempted to clea it...
Another great look at life through the gothic lens.
The title of this video reminded me of Hinamatsuri, the Doll Festival of Japan (which is totally different), but the story of the dolls themselves reminded me of a Shinto legend that if an inanimate object is used long enough, it can acquire a soul of its own and become a living creature, and how some Shinto priests will hold funerals for dolls and other 'abandoned' toys to keep them from becoming vengeful yokai (supernatural creatures) and seeking to harm the people that abandoned them...
My goodness that is incredibly touching. I would love to go there and experience that.
As a mexican i feel honored that my favorite artist give honor to the man who represents the sadness of the ones with the broken will and heart thanks...
Voltaire..this is one of your best videos..it speaks to the heart as well as giving history of a truly unique and mysterious place! Thank you so very much for posting this!!😎😎😎
So awesome
" i love,this story and how it ,has been resurfaced by you so heart warming and heart breaking at the same,time may he now rest on
And,his soul lives,on at that island thru those,dolls,😌😇😇!
What a beautiful, touching interpretation.
I love how you made this tragic story such an honorable homage, you are magnificent! Thank you for talking about such a beautiful part of Mexico! 😍😍😍
Finally someone else who sees the sadness and loneliness in the place instead of the creepiness.
Man it was great finally seeing you live... You already said it would be an annual event, we'll be waiting. Also loved your take on the island, you're such a lovely person.
I enjoyed the direction you took this video so much. It's refreshing to see the island reported on with a more human aspect, I suppose, rather than just oh look at this creepy haunted place.
Thank you so much Voltaire for sharing stories from Mexico to your audience around the world, for giving such a wonderful point of view to a man who has been considered mad by many. And that Cri Cri song gave me so much nostalgia! Oh and also thanks for saying that Mexicanas are beautiful in one one you videos from stories 🖤🖤🖤
You turned a spooky story into a sad story
1 place I'd be terrified of being left alone at ...
One of your best episodes yet. I loved hearing the song especially. I hope this was a transformative experience for you
I feel empathy for the man featured in the story, but the description at the end is heartbreaking.
You should consider making a gothic Cri Cri album
Btw, do a Song Meanings and Origins of the "Barquito (Sin Mosquito) de Cascara de Nuez"--it always struck me as fascinating why a goth artist would chose that 1930s song.
Sabes cual estaría genial en su voz? María de Café Tacvba 😱
this was so cool! best take on the old "travel vlog" model ive seen!
thank you for sharing this story
I love your perspective on things ♡♡♡ you have a morbidly beautiful soul!!