While the borough of Xochimilco in the south of Mexico City is famed for its stunning collection of canals and well-preserved remnants of Aztec life, one area within it has grown to be come very popular among dark tourists.

Hidden among the canals lies a site famous for the hundreds of dolls – and their severed limbs, decapitated heads and blank eyes – which hang from trees and lie scattered on the ground.

The artificial island was once the home of a now-deceased reclusive man, Julian Santa Barrera. The story goes that in the mid-19th century, after finding a dead girl’s body in a nearby canal, Barrera collected and displayed the toys in the hopes of warding off evil spirits.

It was also claimed that, after her death, the young girl’s spirit haunted the island, and to appease her, Barrera began scouring the rubbish and trading produce from his garden in exchange for more dolls. Evidence of the girl’s existence has yet to be found.

Since the Island of the Dolls became open to the public, there have been reports of the dolls moving their heads and arms and evening opening their eyes. Some also claim to have heard the dolls whispering to each other.

The island first gained its infamous reputation in 1943, when Mexican director Emilio Fernández used it as the location of the melodrama film María Candelaria.

After Barrera died in 2001, his family opened the island to the public as a tourist attraction.

Even the circumstances of his death are fascinating and shrouded in mystery. Barrera’s nephew came to the island to help his then-80-year-old uncle. As they fished in the canal, Barrera sang passionately, claiming that mermaids in the water were calling for him.

The nephew left briefly and, upon his return, found Barrera lifeless, face down in the canal, in the same spot where the girl was said to have drowned.

In addition to the dolls themselves, the grounds host three huts and a small museum, with articles from local newspapers about the island and its previous owner. In the one-room hut where Barrera slept, the first doll Barrera collected and Agustina, his favourite doll, are displayed.

The Island of the Dolls is accessible to the public by gondola-like boats called trajineras.

Some passengers succeed in convincing their drivers to visit the island, but several refuse to out of superstition.