The Wacks Museum: Exhibits of Strange People,Things, and Places in the U.S.

By Bill Russo

The Wacks Museum is a collection of strange, offbeat places, people, and things. Many are real, some are embellished, but all, it is hoped, will be fascinating to those who choose to wander through the figurative rooms of an ancient building. - a warehouse really, that stores some of the world's most fascinating,, but lesser known exhibits from the natural world as well as from the regions of horror and the supernatural.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bill Russo
• Release date: Jul 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463896938

Bill Russo

Bill Russo had lived in an area of Massachusetts called the Bridgewater Triangle for many years and never knew that it was said to be inhabited by scary swamp creatures until he met one. It happened on a midnight walk. Years later, two film producers read his blog about it and featured him and his story in their documentary, The Bridgewater Triangle. He also was approached by Discovery channel producers and was featured in the opening segment of Monsters and Mysteries in America - Season two, Episode two. Among his work, are two anthologies featuring the Bridgewater Triangle Universe. One is strictly fiction and the other contains his account of meeting the swamp creature - plus other stories from New England. As a disc jockey, he was the first person to play and promote the trucking classic "Tombstone Every Mile". He counted as a friend, the first man to cross the musical color line, in a 1940s Jazz Band. The "Human Jukebox", who opened for both Elvis and Roy Orbison, was a neighbor of his. Stories of these and other artists are included in "Crossing the Musical Color Line". Bill's background for writing comes from a Boston education at the venerable white shirt & tie, Huntington School for Boys. He followed that up with a study of journalism, music, and broadcasting at the famed Kenmore Square institution, Grahm Jr. College, where he said he learned more about music from an African American gentleman who was the school's janitor, than he ever could in a classroom. He introduced me to Gloria Lynne, Bill said. Years after he learned of her, she had a mega hit with I Wish You Love. One of Grahm's well known graduates was performance artist Andy Kaufman who created his Taxi TV character Latka while at Grahm. Andy also claimed he learned Transcendental Meditation at Grahm, although it was not taught there. But who knows? It could be true. Bill Russo learned music from the Janitor. Maybe someone in bookkeeping was a guru and gave Andy the secrets of TM. At various times during his career, Russo was a New England Newspaper Editor, a Disc Jockey, and a Radio newswriter and newscaster for a number of stations. He also has had stints as an iron worker, and a low level manager for a major mail order clothing retailer. One of his favorite jobs was partnering with Bill Barry, the inventor of a jewelry polish called Clear Bright n Shiny. The 'Bills' as they called themselves toured New England selling...

Book preview

Foreword

Because it has been reliably reported and agreed upon almost universally that Stone Walls Do Not a Prison Make, I believe it is also reasonable to state that Written Words Do a Museum of Stone Walls Make.

In other words, herein you’ll find a quantity of bizarre, offbeat, wacky tales and pictures that when taken together do constitute a real brick and mortar ‘Wacks Museum’.

This is your Curator Bill Russo inviting you to step inside. The front door awaits. You enter it through Chapter One where you’ll find the first exhibit – the Real Chuckie Doll.

Robert the Evil Doll – The Original Chuckie

Exhibit One

Photo by Cayobo as published in Wikipedia

History does not tell us what name the maker gave to the eerie devil doll whose bad behavior inspired the classic horror film Child’s Play; its six sequels, comic books, a TV series, and various articles of merchandise.

We do know this fact however. The figure that was the model for the ‘Chucky’ films was called Robert by its first owner, four year old Gene Otto, when he received it as a gift in 1906.

Nobody is certain who made the little monster or what city it came from. Some people say that Gene’s Mother and Father purchased it as a birthday present. Others state that his rich Grandfather bought it on a journey through Europe. A third faction says a Bahamian woman who worked as a maid for Gene’s wealthy parents in their Key West, Florida home, made the gruesome thing and gave it to the boy.

He is very lonely, being an only child. So I gave him a companion, three feet tall, the same as he is. Gene’s very happy now. He talks to the doll and the doll talks back to him, the maid told a friend.

I hope you cleared all the spells from the figure before you put it in his hands, said her friend. If his parents find out he’s got a doll from a Voo Doo lady, you’ll get fired for sure.

You’re right about that. I like working for them so I removed the spells. The boy and his parents don’t know about me being a Voo Doo Queen. I don’t talk about that while I’m working.

From the beginning the doll fascinated, mesmerized, and intimidated young Gene. His parents heard him speaking to it morning, noon and night. Interestingly they also heard a second, distinctly different voice answering Gene. Proudly, they thought their son quite talented to be able to create two separate voices during his play time with his little pal.

Gene dressed the doll in one of his own sailor suits and named it Robert, as previously stated. There was a reason for this. He wanted the doll to have his own first name. His parents called him Gene or Eugene, but the lad’s full name was Robert Eugene Otto.

Robert and Gene went everywhere together. From sunrise to sunset they were never apart. At night they slept in the same bed.

Good night Gene, sleep tight and I’ll see you in the morning, said Mama Otto to her son every night, bending over to plant a kiss on his forehead.

You forgot to say good night to Robert, protested Gene. Robert doesn’t like it when people don’t speak to him.

Oh sorry dear, good night Robert.

You forgot to kiss him on the forehead, added Gene.

Look darling, protested Mama, I said good night to it, but I am not going to kiss that doll. Go to sleep now.

Even before she got to the door, she heard Robert’s angry voice warning her, You’ll be sorry!

As she sat down in the living room with her husband they both listened to Robert and Gene begin a heated argument. Robert was threatening to disrupt the house while Gene pleaded with him.

Just give her a little more time Robert. I’ve lived here four years and you’ve only just arrived. She will love you but it’s going to take a little while.

No. I want Mama to kiss me now Gene. It’s not fair. We are brothers; you and I. When she kisses you she has to kiss me too. She’ll be sorry in the morning.

What are you going to do Robert?

You’ll see Gene. Everyone will see.

When Mr. and Mrs. Otto woke up shortly before six, the dawning sun pushed swaths of light through the bedroom windows. Like the beams from miners’ lamps, the rays fell upon Mrs. Otto’s dresser where she kept numerous potions, pills, perfumes, make-up and other personal items.

Even before her crusty morning-eyes saw the details, Mama Otto knew something was wrong. The combined odors/aromas of a dozen overturned bottles and jars of expensive perfumes, paints, and powders assaulted her nose.

Springing from her bed while trying to wipe away the sleepy seeds at the corners of her eyes, she soon saw that every single bottle and jar on her dresser was opened and overturned. A snow-like coating of talcum and other powders clung to the dresser, walls, and floor. Rivers of perfume ran from the dresser into the bureau drawers and on down to the floor. Piles of pills were stacked in random areas near their empty bottles. Tubes of pastes and creams had been squeezed, leaving long snaky trails. A tube of a dark liniment, used by Mr. Otto to massage his sore muscles after a round of golf, had been squirted onto the white walls of the bedroom.

John, she said, Come look at this. Something has been written on the wall using smeared muscle balm.

Mr. Otto quickly joined his wife and read the blocky printing which said,

R. U. Sorry Now?

The scrawled writing looks like it was made by a small child, said John Otto.

But who could have done this? wondered his wife. Certainly it was not Gene. He’s only four years old. He can’t write.

A few moments later when they went into the living room they found broken vases, overturned chairs, and a hundred other annoyances. As they toiled to straighten out the room, they failed to notice Gene and Robert sitting on one of the couches near the fireplace.

When they finally did spot the boy and his constant companion they moaned; look Gene. Everything is a mess. What could have happened?

Gene stared at his parents. He said nothing. He looked intently at Robert, focusing on the doll’s mouth. A moment later he nodded as if he had heard the figure in the sailor suit say something.

Robert did it. Robert says he can’t sleep without a goodnight kiss. He wants to know if you are sorry now.

At breakfast that morning, and for every meal going forward, a separate place was set at the table for Robert. That evening and for every night after, Mrs. Otto bade both ‘boys’ good night and kissed both of them on the forehead.

The house ran much more harmoniously. Still, there were occasions where either Gene or Robert was angered over one thing or another. The result was always the same; the parents would awaken in the morning to find broken furniture, vases shattered from being hurled at walls, and food taken from the pantry only to be splayed and splattered over the floor.

Robert did it, said Gene every time he was questioned after one of the periodic calamities.

Mr. and Mrs. Otto hoped that Gene would lose his fondness for Robert and consign the sailor suited figure to the cellar with his other discarded playthings, but on his seventh birthday when it was time for him to be enrolled in public school, he announced that he would not go unless Robert was also a student.

The parents knew better than to object so they tried their best to get the Key West system to accept the doll but they were refused. Fearful of what Robert would do, they arrived at a solution which satisfied Gene and Robert – they hired a tutor to instruct both.

The first year of this arrangement saw no less than five tutors, as one after another was driven off in frustration or fear. As Gene grew in size, Robert stayed the same. Though the doll never grew larger, his strange powers and abilities expanded significantly.

The school masters all claimed that they had been threatened by the doll figure. They reported that it moved. Not with a constant motion you could see, they said. But they swore that one minute it would be in one place with nobody near it and the next second it would magically be in a totally different place.

In the beginning the trouble that Gene said was caused by Robert was simply mischief – bottles being overturned or broken, the house getting messed up, and similar things. But shortly after the arrival of the schoolmasters, Robert became very dangerous, perhaps even murderous.

Following an angry exchange between master and student over Gene’s refusal to study arithmetic, the ceiling of the classroom came crashing down on the head of the teacher, knocking him silly.

Taken to the hospital, it was determined that he suffered a fractured skull and narrowly averted death. He endured a slow and painful recovery.

An examination of the ceiling revealed no structural problems and no rotting wood or beams. It appeared that the boards were somehow just wrenched from their supports and thrown to the floor.

Gene gave his usual explanation, Robert did it.

On very rare occasions Gene accompanied his parents on sojourns away from home, without his sailor suited alter ego. On the week of his 13th birthday, when he learned that a vaudeville show was to be headlined by a famed Voo Doo Queen, he demanded to be taken to the performance.

I will be going to the theater with you, he informed his parents, but Robert will be staying home alone.

The parents, long since accustomed to obeying their son’s every wish agreed and purchased the tickets. They left before dark because Gene wanted to arrive early and get a front row seat.

Gene was fascinated by the performance of the ebony lady from Haiti. She told terrifying tales of reanimated dead people that the local people called ‘zombies’. She spun yarns of spells that when cast could cure all ills, or cause all to be ill. Shortly before the end of her act, she offered private consultations to anyone who could pay her price.

Mr. and Mrs. Otto agreed when young Gene said he needed to have an audience with the Voo Doo Queen. He went to the performer’s dressing room after her performance. Forcing his parents to wait outside, he met with ‘Queen Delphine’ for 30 minutes, after which he informed his parents that it was time to go home.

The following afternoon, a typical sunny, Key West day, Mrs. Otto was working in her front gardens. Several neighbors passed by and remarked that they had seen her son the previous evening.

No, you could not have seen my son. We were not at home last night. We went to the Vaudeville show.

I mean your other son; the little one in the sailor suit. He had all the lamps lit and was walking from window to window. He leaned out and appeared to be looking for someone.

Mrs. Otto heard a similar story from other neighbors. All swore that they had seen Robert, in his white sailor suit, walking from window to window and peering out, apparently looking for his family.

You do not need to set a place for Robert at dinner tonight, or for any other meal, Gene announced that evening. Robert’s education is complete. I however will go to regular school from now on. Robert will remain at home.

From that day forward, the Otto house was calm and never again did his parents have to hear, Robert did it. Obviously things had changed. The parents suspected it had something to do with Queen Delphine of the Vaudeville show, but Gene never divulged what she had told him. He only repeated his earlier assertion, that Robert had finished his education and was now silent.

No longer did Robert sit at table or sleep in Gene’s bed. He was given a three legged stool in the back of Gene’s closet and there he would stay for many years.

Gene finished high school and college, met and married a