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Dolls?

Well, the genesis of the evil clown has been long debated over in the "clowns - evil or funny" thread, but IIRC no definitive conclusion has ever been reached on tnat one. Fear of dolls, on the other hand, is one of the most common phobias,one that seems to have been around for a while.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pediophobia

From a personal standpoint, my wariness of dolls was probably first triggered by the film, "Horror at 37,000 Feet"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Horror_at_37,000_Feet
Which was one of those dreadful late night movies that my older siblings subjected me to as a very small and impressionable child (thanks a lot, sibs :rolleyes:) at one point, the demon on the plane posesses a doll, and...well, frankly, all I remember is the doll's melting face, but that was plenty. :p Still, it didn't quite put me off my Baby Alive doll, but as I grew older, I became more uncomfortable with it.

In the 70's, demonic posession seemed to be the hot topic and that must have continued for a while, because it was already the 80's when my peers and I began giving our Raggedy Anns tne side-eye. Anyway, once we connected the ideas of "demonic posession" and "dolls", a whole new world of uneasiness opened up before us. ;)

So late 60' and into the 70's and 80's. Thanks for your kid memories; that was just what I'm after, from both movies and other pop culture plus personal touchstones. It's just funny (get it; clowns) that I remember when most, not all, were innocent.
 
Ah, i knew I'd seen this picture and description before!
From "horror at 37,000 feet" at Kindertrauma
http://www.kindertrauma.com/?p=3948



View attachment 1710

Man, that thing messed me up for years!

Yes, that TV movie terrified me as a kid! And I think that might be the essence of scary dolls, adults remembering their childhood fears and translating them into a warped recollection of how they grew up and the elements that went with them, even if they were innocuous at the time. Now that unease has been passed down through pop culture it's starting earlier and earlier. How many kids ascribe a personality to their favourite toys, after all?
 
Hasn't Stephen King got a lot to answer for on the clown front? I wonder if part of the doll thing is the humanoid shape. Like humanoid robots are rather scary. Is it because they are like us but not? When I was little I had a dolly that would kiss you that I loved but I also had a talking doll (I think it had a cassette) that I didn't like at all.
 
Just finished "Demonic Dolls" bu John Harker. Was being polite as it was a gift.


Hmmm.
 
A craze for eerily lifelike supernatural dolls has swept Thailand in recent months.

Their name, "luk thep", literally translates as "child angels" and people believe they bring good fortune and they are pampered by their owners as if they were children.

But the privileges lavished upon them have also drawn a backlash and warnings from Thai authorities.


They get blessings from Buddhist monks

After purchasing a doll, the owner brings it to a monk who conducts a prayer and an anointing ceremony known as "plook sek".

Such prayers are normally used to bless lucky amulets, which are also popular in Thailand, where ancient beliefs in magic are still prevalent.

In the case of "luk thep", it is often seen as a way of animating the doll, where a wandering spirit is invited to inhabit it and give it a soul.


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35416537
 
Hasn't Stephen King got a lot to answer for on the clown front? I wonder if part of the doll thing is the humanoid shape. Like humanoid robots are rather scary. Is it because they are like us but not? When I was little I had a dolly that would kiss you that I loved but I also had a talking doll (I think it had a cassette) that I didn't like at all.

Very true, check out the whole "Uncanny Valley" thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley
 
Dunno if these count as dolls, but they are giving a lot of people the creeps:

If the new Westworld TV series had any sense they'd be using these as the baddies.
 
I recall visiting relatives whose neighbours - in the flat upstairs - owned one of those 19th-Century Parisian monkey automata. Enclosed in a glass dome, I never saw it move - except in my nightmares. :eek:
 
I recall visiting relatives whose neighbours - in the flat upstairs - owned one of those 19th-Century Parisian monkey automata. Enclosed in a glass dome, I never saw it move - except in my nightmares. :eek:


Yeah I remember them, you could get them from Kays Catalogue.
 
Creepy twin doll vanishes from Galashiels charity shop leaving locals living in fear
6150062.jpg

The doll in question, left, and the town reacts, right (Credit: borders.co.uk/Facebook)

20 hrs ago / Aftab Ali / @tab_that

It’s the stuff of nightmares, but locals in the Scottish Borders are living in fear after a creepy doll - part of a twin set - mysteriously disappeared from a shop.

Similar to something from the hit horror movie Annabelle, the alarm was raised on the Borders.co.uk Facebook page, a community hub for those living in the Borders, on Wednesday.

Enough to send shivers down even the toughest of spines, the notice read: “The Red Cross shop in Galashiels was given a set of twin dolls.

“The dolls were handed in with instructions from the donor that they be sold together, never separated.

“Somehow, one of the dolls has gone AWOL. This would be around 22nd February.

“Please can the doll be returned to the shop ASAP to be reunited.”

Locals have been trying to contain themselves since the eerie turn of events.

“Looks a wee bit scary,” said one resident, while another insisted: “I’ll never sleep tonight now.”

Anyone with any information is urged to contact the Red Cross Shop in Galashiels on 01896 661098 or email [email protected].

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/...ar_after_creepy_twin_doll_vanishes_from_shop/
 
With a bunch of 'roundabout' daffodils

Why do people collect such creepy dolls?, and you would think the shop would be grateful for it going missing
 
I recall visiting relatives whose neighbours - in the flat upstairs - owned one of those 19th-Century Parisian monkey automata. Enclosed in a glass dome, I never saw it move - except in my nightmares. :eek:

Monkey automata *shudder*

I recall being utterly traumatized by this movie poster as a small child...
attic.jpg

(well, not in German, but the same picture, at any rate.)
Even learning that the movie was crushingly dull doesn't dispel the horror.
 
Was there a monkey puppet in the film The Company of Wolves? With clashing cymbals ... I could have sworn there was. Just had a look on a popular video website and can't find it.
 
Was there a monkey puppet in the film The Company of Wolves? With clashing cymbals

I think that one has gone the rounds; I last spotted it in The Woman in Black.
Even my pupils are beginning to twig that music-box tunes and automata are the small change of horror pics! :glee:
 
One of my teachers at school had both a Punch and Judy puppet on display as ornaments at home. They were kept under a glass dome, or else they had one each. Come to think of it, they must have been kept separate or else Punch would've murdered Judy.
There was no history of puppetry in this person's past, I think they were bought to ironically commemorate an acrimonious divorce.
 
So, I actually did a search for a thread like this last year - not being sure that this particular one existed, but knowing that there absolutely had to be a general dolls thread somewhere. It says something for my own capabilities and/or those of the search facilities used, that the word 'Dolls' came up with bugger-all. (Even searchmeister Rynner missed it, I see.)

So, mods, if you think it appropriate please feel free to merge the Dolls - Evil, or just...well...evil? thread I started at that time with this one.
 
This is a world I move in; the art and craft of making and painting military models, which are, in the broad sense, a sort of "doll" for grown-up men. (The broad interest area of collecting "toy soldiers" - what else is this, when you get right down to it, but doll collecting made socially acceptible for men?) A lot of skill, love and talent goes into sculpting these models. This is one I saw at the EuroMilitaire championships a year or two ago. This is a representation of the Count von Wittgenstein (not the philosopher, but a noble relative who was one of Germany's high-scoring fighter aces of WW2).

But... somebody, the unsung genius who sculpted and painted this figure, must have been making ironic comment on the close family links between the German and British Royal Houses - that a relative of H.M. the Queen was decorated with his country's highest honour for service in the Air Force and shooting down a goodly number of the other side's planes. Granted it was the Luftwaffe, he got the Iron Cross and he mainly shot down RAF planes - but still an achievement demonstrating that Royals can contribute to society and make it on their own merits.

But.. look at the guy... does he not remind you of another royal nearer to Home?

upload_2017-6-1_0-10-38.jpeg
 
This isn't my story. This didn't happen to me. My friend Claire is asking me to put this in (as she doesn't feel like doing it herself, she's "computer challenged" as she says :hmph: )


She was staying at her sister's house for the weekend, and the house has a big shelf of expensive porcelain dolls in the room she was staying in. Supposedly these dolls date back to the 1920's.
She said that all the dolls were in a row looking straight out when she fell asleep. When she woke up, two were staring directly at eachother, one had a tilted head, and the others' fingers were differently positioned.

I don't know how this is possible but Claire is still really freaked out. She read the post about Raggedy Ann but she claimed it didn't have anything to do with what she experienced.

Anyone had a similar experience?
Apologies if this has been raised before on this thread, but Manchester Museum's Egyptology Department had a similar mystery which they eventually solved:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-25034950/mystery-of-moving-egyptian-statue-is-solved
 
It goes back a long, long, long way. These are probably the oldest "toy soldiers" in existence: they were part of the grave goods in an Egyptian tomb dating from around 3000BC. Some of the figures are crafted with moveable arms - suggesting they were designed and built to be played with...

upload_2017-6-1_0-44-39.jpeg


upload_2017-6-1_0-45-2.jpeg
 
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While we're on the theme of interestingly and possibly Fortean model representations seen at the EuroMilitaire modelling show and trade expo, this was on display not too far away from Prince Charles, sorry, Count von Wittgenstein.

This is a sprite I like to think of as the Dissillusionment Fairy and is, in her way, also a work of creative genius.

upload_2017-6-1_15-46-51.jpeg


upload_2017-6-1_15-47-44.jpeg
 
AgProv, I'm a military model fan myself.
Haven't done much in recent years, but I do occasionally visit the Figure World fair that is on every July in Oundle.
Most of my figures I did when I was a teenager, and my parents have them.
I did think of buying that fairy model a couple of years ago. I like anything that's fantasy or SF.
 
Agprov,

Your 'disillusioned fairy' reminded me of Black Sabbath's song 'fairys wear boots'.

INT21
 
MorningAngel,

..Like humanoid robots are rather scary. Is it because they are like us but not?..

The uncanny valley effect.

Every time I see Jared Kushner on the tv I get this strange question. 'Is he really a human, or an android ?'.

Of course he is human, and probably a very nice guy. But he just has a strange unworldly look about him. His mannerisms also support this.

'Oh God, they're amongst us'
Where is my copy of Blade Runner, I need to bone up on this.

INT21
 
Agprov,

Your 'disillusioned fairy' reminded me of Black Sabbath's song 'fairys wear boots'.

INT21
That's actually the name of that model.
 
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