What is it with dolls? In Ghostly Attachments, I used a doll to aid PEEPs in dealing with the horrors of the nursery. The doll that gave me inspiration in the book is my husband’s doll, Hansel, bought for him when he was a baby in France. Hansel is really loveable, but maybe it’s because he obviously likes me best and we’ve become quite attached. The Red Pen, like Jesse Holden in CID, hates clown dolls.
John Oliver recently insulted a doll on a segment, and it cleverly ended up on his desk after scaring the crap out of him. I loved it! Warning mature language.
This brings up Annabelle in all her incarnations. The Warrens originally brought her antics to our attention. She is portrayed in the movie franchise as a large doll, but I believe the original Annabelle was a Raggedy Ann ragdoll. My little sister had a Raggedy Ann and my older sister had a Chatty Cathy. I thought Raggedy Ann was cool, but Chatty Cathy always creeped me out. I don’t know if it was the things she said when you pulled the string or the things she didn’t say…
I’ve read theories about why spirits would take up residence in dolls. One is that the way the doll is constructed with a hollow head, it can become an empty vessel. You know, a cozy place to house a spirit or demon. (Yes, but Annabelle was stuffed, explain that.) Another is that the doll is so loved by the child that they become attached to it. When the child leaves this world, part of them stays with the doll.
Destination Truth did a segment on Doll Island which is worth seeing. Warning very creepy.
I’ve been unnerved by dolls whose heads turn or appear to turn to an overactive imagination. I used this in the haunted mall in Never Forget. In this case, I didn’t just use one doll to illustrate this; I used shelves of them. I believe Burt suggested a wood chipper to get rid of the lurkers…
I have two lurkers. They like to hang out on the stairs. This is Becky Lee and Billy Jim. Cute and cuddly, don’t you think?
One last word about dolls. They can be beautiful or creepy. They can give us a feeling of security when we’re young and upset us when we come upon them in dark when we’re adults. They have beautiful little china faces, some with blinking eyes. Eyes that stare out at you and dare you to ask them, “What, dear dolly, have you seen staring back at you in the darkness?”