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A killer toy or a killer doll is a
stock character A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a type of character in a narrative (e.g. a novel, play, television show, or film) whom audiences recognize across many narratives or as part of a storytelling tradition or convention. Th ...
in
horror fiction Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defin ...
. They include
toys A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and ...
, such as
doll A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...
s and ventriloquist dummies, that come to life and seek to kill or otherwise carry out violence. The killer toy subverts the associations of childhood with innocence and lack of agency while invoking the
uncanny The uncanny is the psychological experience of an event or thing that is unsettling in a way that feels oddly familiar, rather than simply mysterious. This phenomenon is used to describe incidents where a familiar entity is encountered in a frig ...
nature of a lifelike toy. Killer toy fiction often invokes ideas of companionship and the corruption of children, sometimes taking place in
dysfunctional In psychology, abnormality (also dysfunctional behavior, maladaptive behavior, or deviant behavior) is a behavioral characteristic assigned to those with conditions that are regarded as dysfunctional. Behavior is considered to be abnormal when i ...
or
single parent A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include death, divorce, break-up, abandonment, bec ...
homes. They have historically been associated with
occultism The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mystic ...
and
spirit possession Spirit Possession is an altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors which are purportedly caused by the control of a human body and its functions by Supernatural#Spirit, spirits, ghosts, demons, angels, or Deity, gods. The concept ...
, though
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
became more common in later works. The killer toy most commonly appears in film, where it dates back to ''
Dead of Night ''Dead of Night'' is a 1945 British supernatural horror anthology film directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, and Robert Hamer. It stars Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers, Sally Ann Howes, and Michael Redgrave. Produ ...
'' (1945) and expands on earlier films such as ''
The Great Gabbo ''The Great Gabbo'' is a 1929 American Pre-Code early sound musical drama film directed by James Cruze, based on Ben Hecht's 1928 short story "The Rival Dummy", and starring Erich von Stroheim and Betty Compson. The film features songs by Lynn C ...
'' (1929) and ''
The Devil-Doll ''The Devil-Doll'' is a 1936 American horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring Lionel Barrymore and Maureen O'Sullivan. The film was adapted from the novel ''Burn Witch Burn!'' (1932) by Abraham Merritt. It has become a cult film.Paul ...
'' (1936). These early examples primarily featured ventriloquist dummies, with works featuring killer dolls developing in the 1960s through the 1980s. The genre of killer toy fiction was popularized by '' Child's Play'' (1988) and its killer doll Chucky, which has become widely recognized as a horror icon in popular culture. Killer toy fiction has remained prevalent in horror, and other popular killer doll franchises have been created since then, including '' Puppet Master'' and ''The Conjuring''.


History


Precursors and ventriloquist dummies

Nineteenth-century precursors to the killer toy include " The Sandman" (1816) by
E. T. A. Hoffmann Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (born Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann; 24 January 1776 – 25 June 1822) was a German Romantic author of fantasy and Gothic horror, a jurist, composer, music critic and artist.Penrith Goff, "E.T.A. Hoffmann" in ...
and ''
The Adventures of Pinocchio ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' ( ; , i.e. "The Adventures of Pinocchio. Story of a Puppet"), commonly shortened to ''Pinocchio'', is an 1883 Children's literature, children's fantasy novel by Italian author Carlo Collodi. It is about the mischi ...
'' (1883) by
Carlo Collodi Carlo Lorenzini (; 24 November 1826 – 26 October 1890), better known by the pen name Carlo Collodi ( ; ), was an Italian author, humourist, and journalist, widely known for his fairy tale novel '' The Adventures of Pinocchio''. Early lif ...
, both of which experimented with the idea of a puppet's identity becoming more humanlike. Many American children's stories in the late 19th century emphasized
doll A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...
s, sometimes marketing themselves as being written by the doll. These stories acknowledged the bond between children and dolls and the personification of dolls by children, both of which would be subverted by later killer-toy fiction. Ventriloquist dummies served as some of the earliest examples of unnatural toys in horror films, being established with "Otto" in the musical drama ''
The Great Gabbo ''The Great Gabbo'' is a 1929 American Pre-Code early sound musical drama film directed by James Cruze, based on Ben Hecht's 1928 short story "The Rival Dummy", and starring Erich von Stroheim and Betty Compson. The film features songs by Lynn C ...
'' (1929). The dummy was a convenient prop for early film, as it could largely be operated onscreen without any technical
special effect Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...
s. ''
Dead of Night ''Dead of Night'' is a 1945 British supernatural horror anthology film directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, and Robert Hamer. It stars Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers, Sally Ann Howes, and Michael Redgrave. Produ ...
'' (1945) is the first identified example of a killer dummy in film, establishing its dummy Hugo by building on the ideas in ''The Great Gabbo''. The killer dummy became a stock character in horror over the following decades, with appearances in ''
The Dummy Talks ''The Dummy Talks'' is a 1943 British crime film directed by Oswald Mitchell and starring Jack Warner (actor), Jack Warner, Claude Hulbert and Beryl Orde. It marked the film debut of Jack Warner (actor), Jack Warner. Synopsis Set over the cours ...
'' (1943), ''
Alfred Hitchcock Presents ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 ...
'' (1957), ''
The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...
'' (1962 and 1964), and ''
Magic Magic or magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces ** ''Magick'' (with ''-ck'') can specifically refer to ceremonial magic * Magic (illusion), also known as sta ...
'' (1978). The relationship between the ventriloquist and the dummy influenced later killer toy characters, even as they moved away from strictly psychological elements toward the supernatural.


Killer dolls in the mid-20th century

''
The Devil-Doll ''The Devil-Doll'' is a 1936 American horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring Lionel Barrymore and Maureen O'Sullivan. The film was adapted from the novel ''Burn Witch Burn!'' (1932) by Abraham Merritt. It has become a cult film.Paul ...
'' (1936) developed a predecessor to the killer doll, featuring shrunken humans controlled psychokinetically. ''The Twilight Zone'' introduced Talky Tina, one of the first on-screen killer dolls, in the episode " Living Doll" (1963). This use of the killer doll was contrasted with the idea of a
dysfunctional family In psychology, abnormality (also dysfunctional behavior, maladaptive behavior, or deviant behavior) is a behavioral characteristic assigned to those with conditions that are regarded as dysfunctional. Behavior is considered to be abnormal when i ...
, with the narrator describing the doll as the child's "guardian". This portrayal was inspired by the advent of talking dolls like
Chatty Cathy Chatty Cathy is a pull-string "talking" doll originally created by Ruth and Elliot Handler and manufactured by the Mattel toy company from 1959 to 1965. The doll was first released in stores and appeared in television commercials beginning in 1 ...
in the 1960s, which allowed for increased characterization and uncanniness of killer toys. In the 1960s, the trend of ugly and "monstrous" toys began, with toy manufacturers such as
Aurora Plastics Corporation The Aurora Plastics Corporation was an American toy and hobby manufacturing company. It is known primarily for its production of plastic scale models of cars, airplanes, and TV and movie figures in the 1960s. Its principal competition in modeli ...
expanding from traditional dolls and toys that complied with conceptions of morality at the time. These toys included
merchandising Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of Product (business), products ("merch" colloquially) to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative w ...
based on popular
monster movie A monster movie, monster film, creature feature or giant monster film is a film that focuses on one or more characters struggling to survive attacks by one or more antagonistic monsters, often abnormally megafauna, large ones. The film may also ...
s as well as other "unattractive" toys such as toy insects. By the 1970s, this trend became associated with
counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...
and
teenage rebellion Teenage rebellion is a part of social development in adolescents in order for them to develop an identity independent from their parents or family and a capacity for independent decision-making. Teenage rebellion usually begins at around 13 years o ...
, incorporating imagery that would go on to be associated with horror fiction and
goth subculture Goth is a music-based subculture that began in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s. It was developed by fans of gothic rock, an offshoot of the post-punk music genre. Post-punk artists who presaged the gothic rock genre and helped develo ...
. ''Poltergeist'' (1982) portrayed a killer toy with an
evil clown The evil clown is a subversion of the traditional comic clown character, in which the playful trope is instead depicted in a more disturbing nature through the use of Horror (genre), horror elements and dark humor. The modern archetype of the ...
toy that was possessed while in a supernatural realm. The film demonstrated the clown's agency by having it move while
offscreen The terms off-screen, off-camera, and off-stage refer to fictional events in theatre, television, or film which are not seen on stage or in frame, but are merely heard by the audience, or described (or implied) by the characters or narrator. Off ...
before having the child establish his own agency by killing the clown toy in self-defense. ''
Dolls A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...
'' (1987) introduced the concept of explicitly creating horror through the imagery of childhood manifested by dolls.


''Child's Play'' and contemporary killer toys

The development of
animatronics An animatronic is a puppet controlled electronically to move in a fluent way. Animatronics are the modern adaptation of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions. Anim ...
allowed for more sophisticated killer toy characters beginning in the 1980s. The film '' Child's Play'' (1988) popularized killer toy films and established its killer doll, Chucky, as a defining example of the killer doll in popular culture. This incarnation of the killer doll incorporated many of the ideas that defined such characters, including the subversion of childhood innocence, the share of agency between the toy and a child, and the emergence of the
occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...
into the living world. The film was distinct in the source of its killer toy; rather than an undefined demonic presence, the character of Chucky is created in the physical world from a previously established character. ''Child's Play'' defined the genre, inspiring numerous successors and other similar films. Killer doll films proliferated over the following years, including further ''Child's Play'' films, the '' Puppet Master'' film series, ''
Dolly Dearest ''Dolly Dearest'' is a 1991 American supernatural horror film starring Denise Crosby, Rip Torn, Sam Bottoms, Chris Demetral, Candace Hutson and Lupe Ontiveros. The film was initially supposed to be direct-to-video, but it did get a limited t ...
'' (1991), and ''
Pinocchio's Revenge ''Pinocchio's Revenge'' is a 1996 American psychological horror film written and directed by Kevin S. Tenney and distributed by Trimark Pictures. It stars Rosalind Allen and Todd Allen and was released direct-to-video. The film's plot conc ...
'' (1996). ''
Saw A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, Wire saw, wire, or Chainsaw, chain with a hard toothed edge used to cut through material. Various terms are used to describe toothed and abrasive saws. Saws began as serrated materials, and when man ...
'' (2004) modified the idea of the killer toy by portraying its ventriloquist dummy, Billy the Puppet, as a lifeless messenger used by the film's antagonist. By the 2010s, the killer doll became a
cliché A cliché ( or ; ) is a saying, idea, or element of an artistic work that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning, novelty, or literal and figurative language, figurative or artistic power, even to the point of now being b ...
of horror stock characters. The killer doll Annabelle, allegedly based on a real haunted doll, was prominent in the 2010s. The character was created for ''
The Conjuring ''The Conjuring'' is a 2013 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wan and written by Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes. It is the inaugural film in ''The Conjuring'' Universe franchise. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga star as E ...
'' (2013) before receiving a dedicated film series within the ''Conjuring'' franchise. In 2016, fiction anthologist
Ellen Datlow Ellen Datlow (born December 31, 1949) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror editor and anthologist. She is a winner of the World Fantasy Award and the Bram Stoker Award ( Horror Writers Association). Career Datlow began her car ...
published ''The Doll Collection'' as the first book that specifically collected killer toy fiction. Beginning in the 2010s, killer toy fiction increasingly emphasized
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
over occultism as the cause of killer dolls. The ''Child's Play'' remake (2019) introduced Chucky as a product of technology rather than occultism. ''
M3GAN ''M3GAN'' (pronounced "Megan") is a 2022 American science fiction horror film directed by Gerard Johnstone from a screenplay by Akela Cooper, based on a story by Cooper and James Wan. Allison Williams and Violet McGraw star, Amie Donald phys ...
'' (2022) incorporated similar themes, inverting the tradition of making a doll look more humanlike by taking a human actress and making her look less humanlike.


Psychological effects

Dolls represent objects that appear corpse-like or both alive and dead, creating a sense of the
uncanny The uncanny is the psychological experience of an event or thing that is unsettling in a way that feels oddly familiar, rather than simply mysterious. This phenomenon is used to describe incidents where a familiar entity is encountered in a frig ...
. The uncanny nature of a killer toy creates a strong visual element, allowing for a prominent role in visual media such as film. Creators of killer toy films invoke the
uncanny valley The effect is a hypothesized psychological and aesthetic relation between an object's degree of resemblance to a human being and the emotional response to the object. The uncanny valley hypothesis predicts that an entity appearing almost huma ...
, in which the toy looks realistic enough to be disconcerting without looking realistic enough to look natural. The human mind naturally seeks out human faces and is more inclined to interpret personality from an object with a recognizable face. Killer toys in film can produce horror by invoking
uncertainty Uncertainty or incertitude refers to situations involving imperfect or unknown information. It applies to predictions of future events, to physical measurements that are already made, or to the unknown, and is particularly relevant for decision ...
before revealing the toy's nature with subtle changes or movements to create
suspense Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict (which may be heightened by a viol ...
when it is unclear whether the toy is acting autonomously.
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...
's analysis of uncanniness in his essay "The Uncanny" (1919) has informed the phenomenon's role in horror, and it has regularly been used as a reference for the psychological effects that killer toys have on audiences. Freud posited that children do not make the same "distinction between the animate and the inanimate", while adults have an aversion to this blurring of living and non-living due to a repression of childlike ideas. Killer toy fiction that features
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
can invoke an additional sense of horror not present in stories based on occultism. These stories reflect fears that are expressed in real-world discussions about artificial intelligence, providing a more plausible justification for the toy's behavior and creating a villain that could conceivably exist in the real world. They also invoke the uncanny in the toy's personality as well as its appearance, with artificial intelligence providing it with a nearly human demeanor.


Themes

Killer toys feature prominently in contemporary
Gothic fiction Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean me ...
. They are most commonly established as a type of occultism or
spirit possession Spirit Possession is an altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors which are purportedly caused by the control of a human body and its functions by Supernatural#Spirit, spirits, ghosts, demons, angels, or Deity, gods. The concept ...
in which a toy is inhabited by a
demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...
. The killer toy can be contrasted with stories in which friendly toys come to life, such as ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) and ''
Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the first installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' franchise and the Firsts in animation, firs ...
'' (1995), as well as with
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
stories of
androids An android is a humanoid robot or other artificial being, often made from a flesh-like material. Historically, androids existed only in the domain of science fiction and were frequently seen in film and television, but advances in robot techno ...
and
automaton An automaton (; : automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions. Some automata, such as bellstrikers i ...
s. In popular consciousness, killer toys may also be associated with other uncanny humanlike constructs, such as
golem A golem ( ; ) is an animated Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is created entirely from inanimate matter, usually clay or mud. The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century ...
s,
mannequin A mannequin (sometimes spelled as manikin and also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off dif ...
s,
scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin that is often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops. ...
s, and
statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...
s. Killer toys subvert the traditional association of childhood with innocence and dependence, to the point that the doll has become a shorthand for childhood in the horror genre. The image of the toy accentuates this theme, conflating the childish appearance of a doll with gratuitously violent and profane behavior. The threat of a killer toy includes both the threat of physical harm and the loss of innocence. The climax of killer toy fiction often involves a child killing or destroying the killer toy, granting agency to the child and completing a "cycle" of violence that exists between the toy and the child. Killer toys invoke parental fears that children may become corrupted or that a parent may accidentally provide them with a negative influence. Stories about killer toys often involve homes with a
single parent A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include death, divorce, break-up, abandonment, bec ...
and an
only child An only child is a person with no siblings, by birth or adoption. Overview Throughout history, only-children were relatively uncommon. From around the middle of the 20th century, birth rates and average family sizes fell sharply for a number of ...
, allowing for the killer toy to fulfill an emotional role for a lonely child. In these cases, the child character may develop an attachment to the toy, reminiscent of real-life
projection Projection or projections may refer to: Physics * Projection (physics), the action/process of light, heat, or sound reflecting from a surface to another in a different direction * The display of images by a projector Optics, graphics, and carto ...
of children's identities onto dolls. The toy may also be dependent on the child to carry out its violence, creating a system of
codependency In psychology, codependency is a theory that attempts to explain imbalanced relationships where one person enables another person's self-destructive behavior, such as addiction, poor mental health, immaturity, irresponsibility, or under-ach ...
and further blurring the individual identities of the child and the toy. The killer toy may also be used as a criticism of adulthood and
consumerism Consumerism is a socio-cultural and economic phenomenon that is typical of industrialized societies. It is characterized by the continuous acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing quantities. In contemporary consumer society, the ...
, particularly in how these concepts interact with children. Under this interpretation, the toy can be seen as carrying out revenge on adults as a proxy of the child. Feminine portrayals of killer toys rarely differ from masculine portrayals, with the focus typically being on innocence and monstrosity rather than sexuality. One practical consideration in killer toy films is the need to convince a viewer that the toy is a legitimate physical threat to its victims. Due to the small size of most toys, killer toys are often depicted as using creative or sudden attacks that do not provide an opportunity for self-defense. Killer ventriloquist dummies invoke additional symbolic meanings by imbuing life into a toy that already appears to be living and serves as an extension of an already living person, and this connection between the puppeteer and the puppet can invoke the idea of an evil
doppelgänger A doppelgänger ( ), sometimes spelled doppelgaenger or doppelganger, is a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its own fleshly counterpart. In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or p ...
. The puppeteer has been recognized as a symbol for the extension of an identity since ancient times, and the merging of identities between the puppeteer and the puppet has influenced the killer toy character beyond its use with ventriloquist dummies. Dummies also reinforce the elements of childhood found in killer toy fiction due to their small stature and the childlike behavior of sitting on the ventriloquist's lap.


See also

*
History of horror films The history of horror films was described by author Siegbert Salomon Prawer, Siegbert Solomon Prawer as difficult to read as a linear path, with the genre changing through the decades, based on the History of film, state of cinema, Audience theo ...
*
Slasher film A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic ...


References

{{Stock characters Fiction about dolls * Horror fiction Sentient toys in fiction Stock characters