Welcome to the Dollhouse: Collectible Creepy Dolls
Uh oh — the dolls are fighting again! M3GAN, the robotic star of the upcoming film, recently got into it with Chucky in a battle of the wits. M3GAN will be released January 13, 2023, while Chucky season 2 is now streaming on Hulu. Evil dolls certainly have plenty of attitude to spare.
Everyone knows about the powerful creep factor of dolls. From porcelain-faced Victorian children to serial killer-possessed figures and dolls infused with AI, there’s no shortage of toy-based terror. Their innocent facade is at once both appealing and unsettling, but each doll offers something different to the horror genre. And more than that, each one has a different story.
Let’s meet some of the most iconic creepy dolls in horror. Haunted, malfunctioning, possessed- however they scare you, maybe it’s best not to talk back.
Talky Tina
In arguably one of the most popular episodes of The Twilight Zone, a mother gifts her daughter, Christie, a brand new talking doll called Talky Tina. She’s supposed to say, “My name’s Talky Tina, and I love you very much!” But Christie’s callous and miserly stepfather, Erich, is livid that they spent money on such a thing.
Talky Tina doesn’t like his attitude and when we winds her up to speak, she says, “My name is Talky Tina and I don’t think I like you. My name is Talky Tina and I think I could even hate you.” Horrified by the sentient doll, Erich tries to destroy it. He tries a vice, a blowtorch, a saw, anything! But nothing works. Nothing will destroy Talky Tina.
Talky Tina plots her revenge against Erich, and makes him go for a little tumble down the stairs. When Christie’s mother picks up the doll, she says, “My name is Talky Tina … and you better be nice to me!”
Talky Tina just wants to be loved and appreciated. She’ll play nice so long as everyone else does too. But with little more information to go off of, we have to wonder … is this Talky Tina special? Or are those beady eyes less lifeless than we think, all across the nation where Talky Tinas were sold?
Chucky
While attempting to flee a failed robbery, the killer Charles “Chucky” Lee Ray is shot. He would have died if it weren’t for his voodoo amulet, the Heart of Damballa, that allows him to transfer his soul into the body of a children’s toy. The Good Guys doll appears to be just like any other toy, and is shipped off to its first loving family. Chucky is gifted to Andy and soon reveals that he’s a real person.
Chucky spends his time fighting to get back into a human’s body, and killing anyone who gets in his way. Chucky’s mentor, John Bishop, explains that Chucky can only take the body of the person he revealed himself to first. So throughout the entire franchise, Chucky must pursue Andy to try and take his body.
Chucky takes it one step further than Talky Tina. He wants more than love and appreciation. He wants to steal a body. And the fact that the Good Guys doll is made again and again throughout the years is just as terrifying to think about! Chucky will never run out of dolls to transfer his soul into.
[email protected] Good Guy / [email protected] Chucky
Listen, he’s a Good Guy, really! Underneath that sweet grin and floppy orange hair lies the heart of a killer — almost literally. It’s almost like one of those Sour Patch commercials except one of these dolls has a few extra doses of sour thrown in.
These two [email protected] combine the charm of a Good Guys doll with the familiar shape of a [email protected] masterpiece. Display the duality of doll when you combine the [email protected] Good Guy 1000% with the [email protected] Chucky 1000%. One is sweet and kind while the other has Chucky’s signature snarl plus a few well-placed marks. Are they burns or blood? Who can say for sure when it comes to Chucky. Half good, half bad, and all Child’s Play!
Tiffany
Even devilish dolls need love — sick, twisted, murder-obsessed love, but love nonetheless. Chucky and Tiffany are truly a match made in hell. On that note, make sure all the matches and knives are safely stowed away.
Tiffany Valentine sticks by her man Charles Lee Ray whether he’s all locked up or all dolled up. She’ll do whatever it takes to keep her love from falling apart, even if that means trading in flesh for plastic or raising a nonbinary nuisance named Glen/Glenda.
Muse of Flesh
Sometimes looks can be deceiving, especially when it comes to ghoulish Court of the Dead dolls. The Muse of Flesh: Atelier Cryptus might appear as if she’s just bathed in blood, but her allure is so much more than guts and gore. In fact, she and her sisters even lent their knowledge to Death as he constructed the Underworld.
Vleseena and her two sisters, the Muses of Bone and Spirit, bestowed their eternal grace on the Alltaker and his newly formed realm. The Muse of Flesh is attuned to the fleeting whims of desire, and her crimson chaos takes shape in elegant, hand-crafted garments. The only thing more dangerous than a beautiful doll is a doll who knows what to do with that beauty.
Annabelle
Toy maker Samuel Mullins made a brand new porcelain doll for his daughter Annabelle, AKA “Bee.” She loved it, and they were a happy family. But tragedy struck, and Bee died in a freak accident.
Devastated, her parents prayed and begged any being that could hear them to bring their daughter back. They didn’t expect a demon to be listening in on their prayers. The demon seized the opportunity and pretended to be Bee’s spirit. Her parents were overjoyed.
The demon needed permission to cling to any physical form. So, still pretending to be sweet young Annabelle, the demon asked if it could use the porcelain doll as a temporary vessel. The Mullins gladly welcomed their “Bee” home. But it wasn’t long before they realized that Annabelle was truly a demon out for blood.
They did everything they could to lock her up and keep the world safe from her but Annabelle would wait as long as she had to to steal a soul.
Annabelle might be the most terrifying creepy doll of all. She is a true demon wreaking havoc to try and steal souls. Nothing can satiate a demon. Not love and affection. Not even a body to be in. She wants your very soul.
Who’s your favorite creepy doll in the horror genre? Share your thoughts with other fans at side.show/geekgroup, and don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!
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