Watch for the 2024 Creepy Dolls!

CREEPY DOLL CONTEST 5th ANNIVERSARY PRESENTS:
Creepy Dolls:
Murder at the Masquerade!

To celebrate their 5th anniversary in the limelight, the famous Creepy Dolls of the History Center of Olmsted County (HCOC) schemed something new for Halloween 2023…a murder mystery!

2022 Creepy Doll Contest winner Blair Hanscom invited her doll friends to the historic Chateau Theatre in downtown Rochester, MN for a masquerade ball. Each doll arrived wearing a suspicious mask found in the History Center vaults. Blaire was later found murdered under mysterious circumstances. The dolls are asking the public to use their sleuthing skills to uncover the motive, weapon, and identity of the guilty doll. And be sure to vote for the creepiest suspect! Get ready to explore history and artifact preservation in a historical Halloween Who-Dunnit!

5 years, 5 doll suspects, 3 ways to experience Creepy Dolls: Murder at the Masquerade! 

HCOC Museum Exhibit Museum guests, or should we say gumshoes, will test their detective skills at the scene of the crime along with additional story displays, each holding clues and important information. The dolls each selected some of their favorite rarely-seen items hidden away in the HCOC vaults to join them in the displays. Solve the crime and vote in person at the History Center of Olmsted County NOW through October 29, Wednesday-Saturdays 9:00am-5:00pm; Sundays 12:00pm-5pm. Admission is $9 adults, $5 children and includes all of the museum’s current exhibits.

Creepy Dolls: Murder at the Masquerade Event When? Why Friday the 13th of course! The Creepy Dolls entice the public to join them for an eerie evening.  This most mysterious of masquerades will include a dinner, cash bar (hosted by Bleu Duck), costume contest, DJ, live painting, and more! Inspect the displays to see if you can solve the crime before the shocking reveal at the end of the night! This 18+ event will be from 7:00-10:00pm. $35 regular admission, $30 for HCOC members. Special thanks to Altra Federal Credit Union. HyVee Food Stores, Townsquare Media Rochester and KTTC.

HCOC Social Media: The Creepy Dolls will never forget their roots as a viral social media phenomenon and are bringing the history and the mystery online for their global online followers the entire month of October. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for scenes from the story, motives, clues, artifacts, voting, and the big reveal on Halloween night!

Facebook: www.facebook.com/OlmstedHistoryCenter

Instagram: olmstedhistorycenter

Twitter: @HCOC #creepydollcontest

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About the Creepy Dolls at HCOC

The Creepy Doll Contest began in 2019 as a series of viral social media posts featuring rarely seen, and uncannily creepy, dolls from HCOC’s artifact collection. The collection currently houses 124 vintage dolls that range from 1825 to 1985 in origin. They have been featured in numerous media spotlights including CNN, O Magazine, Hyperallergic, MPR News, and the entire museum’s favorite: Smithsonian Magazine - twice! All items in HCOC’s collection, including the Creepy Dolls, must have direct ties to Olmsted County, Minnesota’s local history.

Ever since the contest began, HCOC has received new doll donations from our area, and occasionally dolls from other regions of the U.S. which we encourage to be offered to their own local museums. Our staff can only handle opening a few terrifying boxes each year. More might be damaging to their cardiovascular health.