The Doll Collection

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Evil dolls are practically a subgenre of horror fiction and film: More recently, saw the release of The Conjuring , featuring Annabelle, a possessed doll, whose own spin-off was released in October With this venerable tradition in mind, when I approached writers about contributing to this anthology, I made one condition: Surely, I thought, there was horror and darkness to be found in the world of dolls beyond that well-trodden path.

As you shall shortly see, I was right: But he also suggested that uncanniness in general was the result of something familiar that should have been kept secret instead of being brought to light—the cognitive disjuncture produces that feeling of unease which we attribute to the uncanny. What do dolls bring to light? In these stories, what they so often highlight is the malevolence that lurks not in dolls—which are, after all, only poor copies of ourselves, only objects at our mercy—but in the human beings who interact with them.

Not horrific in themselves, but imbued with horror by their owners or controllers, what the dolls in these stories often reveal is the evil within us, the evil that we try to keep hidden, but that dolls bring to light.

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It posits that objects with features that are human-like, that look and move almost—but not quite—like actual human beings, elicit visceral feelings of revulsion in many people. Our comfort level increases as the objects look more human, until, suddenly, they look simultaneously too human and not quite human enough, and our comfort level drops off sharply, only to rise again on the other side of the valley when something appears and moves exactly like a human being.

It is in this valley, the realm of the too human but still not human enough, that dolls have taken up residence, and it is this valley that seventeen writers invite you to visit. Receive notification by email when a new comment is added. You must be a registered user to subscribe to threads. All comments must meet the community standards outlined in Tor. I'm not sure how well this piece fits in with the theme of the collection, but it's an excellent story.

However, this story brings both a wealth of authentic detail and a new twist to the old horror trope. A town has had the idea of hiring a ventriloquist to animate an old doll found in the museum's archives for a local festival. But the interview with a ventriloquist doesn't quite go how the curator expected. I love the 'haunted antique' trope, and it's done well here. When a dealer is contacted by a stranger asking if she might be interested in a matching item to one of her pieces, she's intrigued. Miniatures featuring only an eye are rare, and her new contact has a fascinating and extensive provenance for his item.

But answering his e-mail has opened the door to far more than she could have expected. She throws herself into the work willingly - but when a small, intriguing doll falls out of a patient's pocket, her fascination with it seems likely to lost he co-workers' newfound trust. But is there truly something odd about this doll, that no one else seems to have seen? However, it's fairly certain that you won't have guessed at the one this narrator has.

The Doll Collection by Ellen Datlow

If on the other hand, you ARE going to call the police; don't say no to the restraining order! Overall, a very good story. Loved the Pinocchio tie-in! An aspiring reporter is willing to put his career before anything else in his life - but doesn't have the instincts needed for the job. And there are an awful lot of kewpie dolls. The narrator tells us there's always been something And then he tells us about how his family handled the miscarriage of a much-anticipated infant, and how that incident scarred them all.

And then things just keep getting stranger There are some 'adults' here as well, but I was still reminded in tone of Star Trek's 'Miri,' for example. It's good, but there are a few disorienting shifts, and I don't think the 'shocking reveal' fully worked as a dramatic climax. Here, some well-intentioned set design goes horribly wrong, in a brief and bloody tale. When these dreams start intruding into real life, there's a potential for true eeriness - but that's undercut by a thread of silliness to the whole thing.

The writing here is beautiful, and the imagery memorable. I also like how the piece plays with the readers' preconceptions and expectations. However, I still wish that it had all been tied up a bit more conclusively. Two lowlifes decide to burglarize the home of an old man whose eerie, doll-festooned, dilapidated house was always rumored to be haunted.

The house looks like it was upper-class, once upon a time, and they suspect he's got something good stashed away. However, the 'something' in the house is more than they bargained for. You know, you could've just written a bad yelp review instead of this story.

All I can say is, I'm sure it's true enough that the elderly proprietor may have been cantankerous, and his prices were surely high, but I actually feel like this piece is an uncalled-for slandering of the dead. A man coincidentally sharing the author's name has his curiosity piqued by a small sign for a "Word Doll Museum. I have to give a bonus point for an off-hand mention of a Sotheby's employee named Althea The item is a fortune-telling doll, and the letters that are included as provenance tell the strange story of the fortunes that she 'told.

As always, my opinions are solely my own. View all 3 comments. I just roll on by and look while goose-bumps crawl all over my skin. I have never been into dolls.

Barbie some what, I use to cut and color on her, but "dolls" not really. This book did the same and I didn't even need a doll to stare at. Great book of doll stories and very edge of your seat details. Feb 16, Kelly rated it really liked it Shelves: I really liked this one.

Sorry I never posted the link to my review! Mar 09, Richard Thomas rated it it was amazing. This review was originally published at LitReactor. Plot in a Box: These are short stories about dolls, in every possible shape, form, and myth. There are all kinds here—masks, kewpies, puppets, poppets, and mannequins. The closest I can come is the film Annabelle. She reminds me of a lot of the dolls in this anthology. And I guess I have to mention Chucky, right? Would You Want to Live There? What Was Your Favorite Sentence? You save one doll from inside a woman, and you start over with hair from one of the other women.

By soliciting a wide variety of authors, not just horror, but also dark fantasy, and other surreal voices, Ellen certainly has something for everyone in this book. I wanted to list my three favorites. I hate when that happens.

In this anthology, Joyce Carol Oates brings the goods. And yet, this tale is so dark and strange, so violent and yet peaceful, quiet and still deafening with its impact. He finds a way to tap into our primal fears, and does so in this story with the subtle touch of a maestro. What I loved about this story was how different it was, tapping into ancient folklore and myth, while remaining in a contemporary setting.

Overall, this is a great collection, not a weak story in the bunch, but certainly some that will get to you more than others—depending on where exactly your fears lie. Jul 20, Majanka rated it it was amazing Shelves: Book Review originally published here: A range of haunted dolls, mad doll owners, creepy doctors and ventriloquists pass by, and each story is unique and strong in its own way. Mar 07, Josh rated it really liked it. While the stories gathered here adhere to that on a surface level, there are a few clever workarounds. For the most part, though, it holds true: Horror, fantasy of both the urban and post-apocalyptic varieties , mystery, lit-fic, and various tough-to-classify elements rest well beside each other and are often woven together in the same story.

It's a wild and varied bunch of tales, but the thematic connection holds it all together and keeps things fresh from first page to last. His mind, however, is decidedly as broken as the pieces in his macabre collection. The one playing with the dolls has no intention of growing up at all, let alone moving on. While some of the stories are stronger than others, they're all fine reads for their own reasons and prime examples of their respective genres. Chilling, thrilling, and memorable moments abound, and there's a great deal of poignancy running through and between the lines. Apr 27, Carolyn F.

I was planning on reading every short story in this book but I'm not really into horror so much anymore so I'm going to pick and choose. So for the 3 stories I finished, the average rating is 3.

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Better than I thought. If you're into creepy stories, then this anthology is for you! Skin and Bone by Tim Lebbon. The guys were idiots to even try this trek in my opinion. A creepy story of a otherworldly doll maker. Goodness and Kindness by Carrie Vaughn. Are the Kewpies good or bad? Dec 18, Kris - My Novelesque Life rated it liked it. This collection of short stories are edited by Ellen Datlow but the draw for me was definitely Oates. There were about two other authors I have heard of but never read Carrie Vaughn was probably the next big name in the collection - at least for me.

I didn't read every story in this collection but did attempt to read them all. These stories are classified as horror and thriller and read them with that in mind. It was the right amount of creepy and was written so well. The writing style reminded me of her novel, Rape: A Love Story - disturbing yet so interesting. I would recommend this book for Oates story alone. Great collection of creepy doll stories.

This was the perfect time for me to read this because I was creating my own creepy dolls for Halloween. Obviously Joyce Carol Oates was one of my favorites and I loved the story about the girl in the hospital working in the ER. Some misses, but no fails. I would highly suggest this to anyone who is looking for something other than "possessed doll" stories. Ellen Datlow specifically tells the Authors to avoid this, she was convinced that there are untapped Great collection of creepy doll stories. Ellen Datlow specifically tells the Authors to avoid this, she was convinced that there are untapped stories that don't have to deal with evil dolls This might have to come down off my shelf every now and then for a re-read.

Mar 30, Crowinator rated it really liked it Shelves: I feel like horror really shines in short story form. This collection has everything from creeping psychological horror to gory serial murder, and everything from realistic monsters to supernatural ones. Plus, the pictures of antique dolls add to the disturbing atmosphere, though I wish they were bigger, and in color or at least glossy. Hands down one of the best short stories I've read. Next I feel like horror really shines in short story form. I neglected this one too long and my NetGalley copy expired and they now have it archived.

View all 4 comments. Feb 10, Jack Haringa rated it really liked it Shelves: I found The Doll Collection less consistent than most Datlow anthologies I've read over the last five years, but it contains enough gems to warrant three and a half stars at any rate. The restriction of "no evil dolls" forced writers to be more creative than the theme might initially have suggested, which results in some unusual pieces that straddle the line between fantasy and horror nicely.

Most of the anthology's strongest stories are bunched toward the end, though both Tim Lebbon and Stephen I found The Doll Collection less consistent than most Datlow anthologies I've read over the last five years, but it contains enough gems to warrant three and a half stars at any rate. Most of the anthology's strongest stories are bunched toward the end, though both Tim Lebbon and Stephen Gallagher turn in effective tales early on and Lebbon's story could easily be a part of a much larger work.

The biggest disappointment had to be Joyce Carol Oates' entry, "The Doll Master," a story so obvious and over-extended that even someone with the only the most cursory experience in genre work could have easily predicted its ending.

The Doll Collection

This isn't always a death-knell for a story, but in this case the resolution is presented as a shocking twist. I've very much enjoyed Oates' Gothic stories in the past, so this came as quite surprise. Other than that piece, the stories were all quite inventive, even the ones that didn't particularly work for me.

A worthwhile read overall. Feb 16, Bibliotropic rated it really liked it Shelves: If you buy any one anthology this month, it ought to be this one. Datlow worked wonders with this idea and the selection of submitted stories, and the authors pulled out all the stops to make this a fantastic collection. Highly recommended for those nights when the rain is pourin Full review here: Highly recommended for those nights when the rain is pouring, the wind is howling, and you want a little more tingle in your spine. Need to be reviewed.

Surprisingly, this was a pretty solid collection, with a few gems but no real duffers. Even the middling ones weren't a chore to read. The ones that didn't shine weren't badly written, but you could see where the doll theme had been crowbarred in. The last story was "Word Dolls" and it had one of those abrupt endings that short stories frequently suffer from, but it was a very cool idea that I Surprisingly, this was a pretty solid collection, with a few gems but no real duffers.

The last story was "Word Dolls" and it had one of those abrupt endings that short stories frequently suffer from, but it was a very cool idea that I now need to go and look into to see if it's true o. Feb 06, Grace Troxel rated it really liked it. This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures: Dolls are a staple in horror media, and for good reason. The Doll Collection, edited by anthologist Ellen Datlow, presents seventeen short stories, each of which feature dolls.

But the dolls in this collection are not themselves so horrifying, rather, they serve as a mirror to reflect t This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures: But the dolls in this collection are not themselves so horrifying, rather, they serve as a mirror to reflect the darkest parts of human nature. Many of the short stories in The Doll Collection were a bit too gruesome for my taste, but others were haunting and thought-provoking.

Here are some brief thoughts about and reactions to each of the short stories in this compilation: Heroes and Villains by Stephen Gallagher The doll in this story is actually a ventriloquist dummy. It starts out innocently enough as a young boy describes his experiences playing with dolls, but as the story progresses, we realize that he should not be. The narrator is an alien-like creature who makes dolls to keep her overflowing emotions from cracking her into pieces. A haunting tale of grief, death, and the cycle of creation.

Goodness and Kindness by Carrie Vaughn A reporter looking for his big break falls into a depression, and has an encounter with Kewpie dolls. Daniel goes to dig up the body, but finds a doll instead. After and Back Before by Miranda Siemienowicz A dystopian and post-apocalyptic tale about two children who leave their commune.

Doll Court by Richard Bowes If you do not treat dolls properly, they will come after you. Visit Lovely Cornwall on the Western Railway Line by Genevieve Valentine A girl with a doll rides on a train, and we see brief vignettes of the travelers she encounters along her way. This one started off promisingly, but then later felt incomplete.

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