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Did you ever find dolls creepy before you got into BJDs?

Aug 30, 2021

    1. I’ve always liked watching haunted doll videos. There’s a lot of videos on YouTube with people claiming they have haunted dolls. Weirdly enough, despite loving watching them, I get so creeped out by them XD
      I even like to take note of what position I leave my dolls in, just to make sure their heads don’t move XD So I am still scared by certain dolls and always have a small suspicion that all second hand antique dolls are haunted
       
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    2. I was never really creeped out by dolls in general as a child... Disney's animatronic figures were a little freaky to me, but never really in "OMGGetMeAwayFromTheMechanicalCorpse!"-territory. Likewise antique dolls with teeth, for some reason. I didn't like them, but they didn't trigger any really serious Uncanny Valley reactions.

      No... I didn't experience *THAT* until the first time I was "introduced" to a Reborn.

      Those creeped me right the f- out. And still do. :horror:

      As far as BJDs go, the only ones that have ever even come close to being freaky to me are the ones with wide-open mouths. Especially if they also have tongues lolling around... They don't give me the heebies as badly as those dead rubber babies by a long shot, but they're still 110% pure NOPE as far as I'm concerned.
       
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    3. My mother started collecting Soft Sculpture Cabbage Patch Kids when I was born, so I was raised around her love of them and her dedicated "doll room". I'm definitely freaked out by old porcelain dolls, but these Soft Sculpture dolls are completely made of cloth and yarn so they feel and look very safe (if that makes sense). As an adult collector, I'm very much draw to the childlike bjds and animals more than the adult ones. The mature bjds don't creep me out per say, but I don't feel comfortable owning them since there seems to be a ton of sexualization around them that I just don't vibe with ^^"
       
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    4. It’s more about the feeling I get from an individual doll than their type. I adore BJDs but I have met ones I could not look in the eye. I’m not put off by teeth, tongues, blood or piercing stares. Gore is kinda ehhh but mostly because it seems more depressing than scary. I don’t care for porcelain dolls at all aesthetically, but I’ve held both friendly and unfriendly ones and it didn’t really have anything to do with their looks.

      I am leery of any doll at a thrift shop; I can’t know its history, and from unfortunate experience I don’t trust myself not to be inadvertently drawn to the exact one that does happen to have something wrong with it. But my grandmother gave my daughter an old porcelain doll recently and I find her funny, kind of pitiful. Yeesh you’re ugly, your hair’s a wreck and you’ve got that “I have seen some serious ****” stare… ok, I promise I’ll reattach your leg one of these days, hang in there…

      It was similar when I was a child. But as a funny story, I was once somewhat afraid of a very old heirloom doll that was passed to us when my granny purged family relics from her attic to move—I don’t know much about her but she had real human hair and her eyes were weighted to close when she was laid down, but got stuck and would droop on their own, and her teeth were bared in a very tense expression, and she was discoloured and faded and just filled a whole room with the smell of OLD whenever she was out. It might have been ok if not for comments by cousins. “She looks right out of a horror movie.” “Human hair? Does that mean they killed someone to make this doll?” or worse: “She probably belonged to Great-Great-Great Aunt Beulah—” whose hazy photograph still sits on the antique pedal organ, looking very stern in front of the same piece of furniture with her fancy dress and snooty bun, “—and she’s DEAD!” And that was all it took. As a child I was irrationally afraid of anything associated with death. You could tell me a lace doily was made by someone who is now deceased and I’d be sure contact was going to infect me somehow.

      Mom thought we were ridiculous to be afraid of the old doll. She fashioned her a pair of glasses out of a pipe cleaner, stuck them on her in the hutch and said THERE, as if that would help. I remember holding my breath walking through the dining room at night thinking all those furry glasses did was surely just make her angry…

      The doll is fine, honestly. I don’t like to touch her because she looks and smells gross, but she doesn’t creep me out anymore.
       
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    5. Yes, I used to.

      Now - the creepier, the better. Uncanny valley? Sign me up. Haunted? I’ll take two, please (I figure they can keep each other company).

      Still can’t get into the extremely gory dolls, though. I’m not referring to the spotted blood or skeleton look - I mean bloody internal organs/missing teeth gore. Can’t do it.
       
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    6. I had a few human shaped dolls growing up but most of my dolls were ponies. Most dolls are fine and there is a big difference between not to my taste and never bring that into my home. It tends to be the ones that are made to mimic a baby or small child that fall into the uncanny valley for me. Dolls that are not meant to be a human are almost always fine.
       
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    7. Life size dolls are creepy. They've become collectable? A fact that surprises me!
      (Ugg, there are some true stories out there, that luckily I never knew as a child!)

      I guess I should add that I have an extensive collection of old dolls, bisque and compo mostly. I appreciate that some have been adored and cherished, and some were forgotten and rejected. They all have 'lived' so long! And with my help, they will live much longer than I. When I bring in a new doll, I have a ritual of introduction, to the other girls. Only a few of the big girls make demands. *wink*

      And yes, reborns are just gross! Lol.
       
      #27 Valdemagra, Aug 30, 2021
      Last edited: Aug 30, 2021
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    8. I’ve been a doll lover for my entire life, I can only remember thinking one was creepy. It was a porcelain doll my grandma gave me for Christmas. I had wanted one for so long and she got me one with the most wide eyed stare and wasn’t smiling. I did play with her but she had to go in the closet at night!

      otherwise, I loved all types of dolls and finding BJDs was a dream come true since I could have exactly the look I wanted!
       
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    9. As a child dolls were just yucky, I preferred animals. My grandmother gave me a reproduction porcelain doll one Christmas, and I was so disappointed. She wasn’t scary, just ugly. I didn’t like dolls until bjds came into my life, and they were the first dolls I would even consider collecting. I still prefer anthros and anime dolls, and have a couple realistic guys.
       
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    10. yeah. I had a panic attack at age 12 in a doll museum; there was this creepy antique doll that was nearly as tall as I was and I was convinced it was going to kill me if I walked past it. Barbies, Monster High, and American girl dolls I was fine with, though.

      Weirdly enough, I love creepy BJDs. Monster dolls are great! But porcelain dolls, reborns, and antiques? nope nope nope. I really only tend to like dolls that are less than 50 years old for some reason.

      I guess I only like *intentionally* creepy dolls-- not dolls that were meant to look cute and... don't.

      I totally relate to your point about thrift stores-- it doesn't bother me so much anymore, but I used to leave any doll I bought used outdoors in a shed for a few weeks, until I could 'trust' it. I don't think dolls are alive or anything, and I'm not even particularly superstitious, but for some reason not letting my dolls inside for a bit made me feel better about them :mwahaha I don't think they're haunted, they just give me the creeps immediately after purchase because I don't know where they've been. I need time to warm up to them and get over my mild fears that their contaminated or something lol.
       
      #30 mohnblumendolls, Aug 30, 2021
      Last edited: Aug 31, 2021
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    11. I hated any baby dolls as a kid but I liked to collect the “fancy” Barbies. I got the holiday editions for Christmas and I loved my celebrity Barbies like Spice Girls and Britney Spears. I liked glamorous dolls with a focus on fashion. I gravitated towards BJD because of the customization I could do. I could finally shell my D&D characters into a doll that looked exactly like them, right down to the little details. I love to collect clothes for me and my pretty dolls. :)
       
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    12. I grew up with Barbies and other fashion dolls. I had My Little Ponies too. I even did American Girl doll - who I find a little off putting now - but I never found any particular doll creepy.

      I think I thought BJDs were creepy at first because all the dolls I used to have had very limited mobility. These dolls can move any which way! But eventually, I found head sculpts I like and now I can't stop haha. I do tend to buy the more stylized elf heads though. The super realistic ones aren't my jam - they're not creepy but are too real to be a doll to me.

      I too dislike the Reborn line. No thank you!
       
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    13. I once saw a woman with a reborn in a baby carrier walking around Walmart but it turns out it was a real baby. That's when I knew it was too late for me.

      That's so funny! I love it!

      I always make sure to tell my secondhand dolls how beautiful they are for a few days after getting them. I doubt a haunted doll would cause any harm to someone who loves it. If I were a haunted doll, I would haunt anyone who leaves me in a shed, just sayin. :lol:
       
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    14. It's a warm, dry, fairly finished (and totally doll-safe; I wouldn't leave doll anywhere they'd get damaged) shed that's probably more organized than my actual designated doll space, so I'm sure if I bought any haunted dolls then they would actually be more upset about being moved from it than being left there for a bit lol. I do like that you tell your dolls they're beautiful, though. that's pretty sweet :)
       
      #34 mohnblumendolls, Aug 31, 2021
      Last edited: Aug 31, 2021
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    15. No, never really felt afraid of dolls or thought they were cl creepy. I didn’t like dolls as a child and Barbie was never a thing for me but, it’s not like I thought they were creepy. I just felt nothing.
      There are some sculpt I don’t like at all, but I see them more as “ugly” than “creepy” I guess.
       
      #35 Lillyevergold, Aug 31, 2021
      Last edited: Aug 31, 2021
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    16. I was never scared of dolls, however, I cant have them out when I'm trying to sleep since I don't want to wake up with one of them having moved or something(as in my BJDs, i'm fine with barbies/licca being out), I recently saw some edited video of someone messing with a dollfie's hair and her eye moving. It was freaky lmao.
       
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    17. When i was a little girl, my mother gave me her favorite doll from when she was a child. It was cracked all over and then her foot broke. I remember hiding her in my closet because I was afraid of her but didn't want to disappoint my mother. Now the dolls that creep me out the most are the Newborns. When I'm on Instagram, I find that I have to scroll past them really fast! Bjds aren't creepy to me unless they are meant to be creepy but sometimes that's fun!
       
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    18. No, I was a doll collector before BJDs and still continue to collect other dolls in tandem. I think I've got just about everything that ticks people's boxes in this thread! Antique bisque dolls. Composition dolls with cloudy eyes and crazing. Blythe. Reborns. Puppets and ventriloquist dummies, several of whom are also clowns. I don't know, I just love them all!
       
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    19. I will say - so called "reborns" used to freak me out until my sibling had their first baby (my nephew). I spent hours holding him, just watching him sleep and breathe, marveling at how amazing he was. Just this perfect little person in my arms.
      That period when you can just hold them for hours is so brief - maybe a month if you're really lucky.
      I can't have kids of my own. I miss that time with him, and thanks to the panorama, I missed almost all of it with my nieces. So now when I see a reborn, I seriously consider getting one. Just so I can relive those brief, magical times with my infant nephew.
       
      #39 MaleficentMrsofEvil, Aug 31, 2021
      Last edited: Sep 1, 2021
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    20. Porcelain dolls kinda creeped me out.. also realistic new born babies...
      I watched the movie Dolls in the 80s. That might have contributed. Love the movie now though.
       
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