Island of the Dolls · A Shrine That Outlived Its Builder

In the canals on the edge of Mexico City there is a small island, and it is covered in dolls. They hang from the trees, the walls and the fences: broken-necked, missing eyes, faded to grey.

The story is that the island's owner heard a girl calling for help as she drowned and reached her too late. After that he pulled the dolls floating in the canal out of the water and hung them in the trees, believing it would calm her. In 2001 he drowned in the same canal.

The island is reached by boat and is guarded today. The caretaker's one piece of advice is that after dark you should not shine a torch into the trees.

Bureau note: the shrine outlived the man who started it.

Haunted Ruins / Xochimilco · Mexico / 1950s