EVIL DOLLY

I have often wondered why it is that dolls are portrayed as being evil in vanilla movies and stories. It seems that the only way a totally inanimate object, especially a child's plaything, can only come to life is if enchanted or possessed by something demonic or evil and I really don't understand why.

Perhaps it is simply the fact that dolls are looked on as such innocent items that lends to the fable that they can only possibly be humanised by dark forces. A bit like children really - no one expects them to be evil and wander around moonlit houses on killing sprees!

I am sure there are a large number of people who find dolls creepy and in some ways I can understand why. The eyes for one - so blank, emotionless and dead which is not normal in something that takes on the form of a human. And the eyes appear to follow you around the room! Now, as a adult this may not bother one much as logic tends to kick in, however, as a small child, one may have had a doll like that in the bedroom and the fear may well have started there.

I suspect that this very real doll phobia (actually called 'pediophobia') is something that has been exploited by filmakers and authors, much like fear of spiders.

I would be interest to know if someone with a doll phobia would find a dollified human scary. I wonder even if a dollified human could perhaps assist a pediophobic as they would have total control over the doll.

Wanders away pondering, but leaves you with the killer dolls scene from "Barbarella".