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Are you afraid of dolls? Feel slightly uncanny valley’d if you have a look at a model’s face? If so, I’ve obtained simply what you want under. These 10 horror books about dolls, puppets, and dummies may have you sleeping with the lights on — and rethinking all of your childhood playthings.
The older I get, the extra folks I meet who’re downright scared of dolls. I’ll be the primary to confess that I don’t perceive the worry; I grew up sleeping in a tiny bed room with a dozen dolls dealing with the mattress, and by no means thought twice about it — aside from the one time I dreamed one doll’s head turned 180 levels whereas I used to be holding it, however who’s counting?
Still, there’s one thing about dolls, mannequins, puppets, and different inanimate humanoids that makes massive swathes of individuals uneasy. It’s the uncanny valley, certain, nevertheless it goes past that for a lot of — condensing into abject terror. Others, like 3-year-old Briar Rose Beard and myself, stay unfazed. There doesn’t appear to be a impartial camp; you’re both down with the dolls or “Down with the dolls!” if you already know what I imply.
We’ll check out 10 implausible horror books about dolls under, however first: a short and incomplete historical past of doll horror.
A Brief and Incomplete History of Doll Horror
Creepy dolls, puppets, and mannequins have lengthy been a horror staple. Contemporary movies like M3GAN and The Boy are simply the tip of the iceberg. Real-life dolls named Robert and Annabelle allegedly haunted their house owners for years — greater than a century, in Robert’s case — earlier than a lot creepier-looking variations of them grew to become Hollywood fodder. The fictional dolls from Algernon Blackwood’s The Doll and One Other, Richard Matheson’s “Prey,” and William Goldman’s Magic got here to life in Rod Serling’s Night Gallery (“The Doll”), the “Amelia” phase from Trilogy of Terror, and 1978’s Anthony Hopkins-led Magic.
Speaking of Serling, The Twilight Zone deserves a particular point out right here. The Sixties anthology sequence served up various chilling dolls in its time. Beyond the murderous Talky Tina (“Living Doll”), division retailer mannequins (“The After Hours”), and ventriloquist dummies (“Caesar and Me” and “The Dummy”), The Twilight Zone managed to make even the friendliest of humanoids majorly unsettling (“The Lateness of the Hour” and “The Lonely”).
During the Nineteen Eighties horror growth, Child’s Play, Dolls, Poltergeist, and Puppet Master introduced pediophobia and pupaphobia to the filmgoing lots. In the ’90s, one Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode, “The Tale of the Dollmaker,” scarred many Millennials with its yarn about an evil Dollhouse that turns kids into dolls. And who might neglect Slappy from the Goosebumps sequence?
In quick, creepy dolls are right here to remain. Here are some creepy books about dolls you owe it to your self to take a look at.
Horror Books About Dolls
Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell
Taking its title from the morbidly named doll, Alex Bell’s Frozen Charlotte follows Sophie as she takes a summer season vacation at her disturbed cousins’ residence. Inside the home — previously an all-girls faculty — are three kids who’ve been scarred in and out, a room crammed with porcelain dolls, and a fourth youngster: the ghost trapped among the many collectible figurines.
The Voice of the Clown by Brenda Brown Canary
Still out of print on the time of this writing, Brenda Brown Canary’s The Voice of the Clown has been in excessive demand ever for the reason that publication of Paperbacks from Hell, some 35 years after its launch. Those who aren’t #blessed sufficient to personal a duplicate must make do with the premise alone, at the very least till we get a second spherical of Paperbacks from Hell books.
The Voice of the Clown facilities on 6-year-old Laura, whose beloved clown doll has been possessed by a malevolent drive out of Native American delusion. Problematic? Yes. A complete lot of enjoyable? You betcha.
The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco
As if the onryō weren’t scary sufficient, Rin Chupeco went and added possessed dolls to the combo. The story right here facilities on Okiku: a vengeful spirit within the vein of Kayako and Sadako/Samara. Rather than looking down anybody who crosses her path, nonetheless, this ghost targets child-killers. The creepy dolls right here quantity within the lots of, however the doll-horror shenanigans get cranked as much as 11 within the sequel novel: The Suffering.
Fun truth: Okiku can be the identify of a purportedly haunted doll in actual life.
Magic by William Goldman
From the creator of Marathon Man and The Princess Bride comes Magic: the story of a down-on-his-luck purveyor of close-up magic. Corky Withers’s profession had stagnated earlier than he added a ventriloquist dummy named Fats to the combo. On the brink of superstardom, Corky will get the chance to reconnect together with his highschool crush. He can’t escape the ghosts of his haunted childhood, nonetheless, and the key to his success may be the catalyst for his downfall.
The Toymaker by Sergio Gomez
With shades of Stephen King and R.L. Stine, The Toymaker follows 5 children as they got down to cease the evil drive possessing an aged toymaker’s handcrafted ventriloquist dummy from destroying the city. This 2020 novel from the creator of Camp Slaughter has extra ’90s nostalgia than you possibly can shake a management at.
Took by Mary Downing Hahn
Old Auntie and her pet razorback, Bloody Bones, are one thing of an area legend within the West Virginia city the place the Andersons have relocated from Connecticut. Thirteen-year-old Daniel thinks it’s all a bunch of hooey — till his child sister disappears. Erica had a doll that regarded similar to her, one she carried all over the place and instructed every thing. It’s lacking too. Is it a part of Old Auntie’s plot to lure Erica up the hill to her home…or is one thing extra mundane however simply as sinister afoot?
Dolly by Susan Hill
The Woman in Black creator Susan Hill is behind this missed 2012 horror gem. Set in a crumbling Fenlands manor, Hill’s novella follows two younger cousins on an ill-fated summer season vacation. Staying with their aunt and her housekeeper isn’t precisely probably the most thrilling option to trip. Edward’s simply attempting to make the most effective of it, however the home — and the folks in it — are beginning to crack his nice demeanor. But all hell is about to interrupt unfastened over Leonora’s birthday current, and nobody who witnesses what’s to return will ever be the identical.
Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones
Another novella, Stephen Graham Jones’s Night of the Mannequins facilities on an harmless prank gone horribly flawed. I received’t spoil the enjoyable for you. Just learn this helluva opening line after which go learn the guide for your self: “So Shanna got a new job at the movie theater, we thought we’d play a fun prank on her, and now most of us are dead, and I’m really starting to feel kind of guilty about it all.”
Nothing however Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
Getting married in an historic manor the place a girl was buried alive was a mistake. Who’d’ve thunk it? The ohaguro bettari begins stalking her victims the second they arrive. Too unhealthy they’re all too distracted by the abundance of alcohol and creepy dolls to note.
The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni
It’s been 5 years since Jess was imprisoned for murdering her boyfriend in a home stuffed with creepy dolls. She hasn’t mentioned a phrase since. Now, it’s as much as the titular Puzzle Master, Mike, to unravel a riddle Jess has crafted only for him. Will the reply reveal the reality about what occurred to the homicide sufferer, or will it solely serve to place Mike within the line of fireside? With well-earned comparisons to the works of Dan Brown and Alex Michaelides, it is a must-read for any crime-fiction reader.
Want extra creepy books so as to add to your TBR? Check out these horror books about evil children, cursed objects, and — sure — creepy dolls.
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