An anonymous proverb says "The world is brighter behind a smile," but there are places in the world that, even if filled with smiles, can never be bright. One such place is "Doll Island," among the bleakest and most macabre in the world, despite being populated by smiling dolls. Too bad that despite the smiles, their bodies are decaying, their eyes often missing and their heads populated by the island’s insects seeking shelter.Isla de las Munecas, as the locals call it, is located in Lake Teshuil about 28 kilometers south of Mexico City, and has recently become famous among explorers of the unknown and the macabre, for the hundreds of dolls hanging from the branches of its trees.Legend has it that Don Julian Santana Barrera, the island’s caretaker, one day found on the shore of the beach a little girl drowned in mysterious circumstances. Don Julian was shocked because he could do nothing to save her.
The following day, he found a doll floating not far from where he had found the girl, he imagined that it belonged to her, so he decided to hang it on the tree near her resting place, as a sign of respect, but the spirit of the girl was restless, did not belong to that place and began to torment poor Don Julian. He decided to collect as many dolls as he could find to keep him quiet. He left his island only to rummage through the garbage, looking for more gifts for the girl’s spirit.Soon, however, he realized that the girl’s spirit had taken possession of the dolls themselves, and that he always needed new toys to stay quiet and not manifest himself.
