Why do we find dolls creepy? Is it the staring eyes, their uncanny likeness, the possibility that they have minds of their own? This collection of stories, another in the British Library Tales of the Weird, promised to be ‘doll’-lightfully scary but I found it merely OK.
The stories I thought were the best: ‘The Dancing Partner’ by Jerome K Jerome, ‘Crespian and Clairan’ by Joan Aiken and ‘The Dressmaker’s Doll’ by Agatha Christie. I had read ‘The Doll’ by Daphne du Maurier before. ‘Supertoys Last All Summer Long’ by Brian Aldiss is another I’ve read before, but it didn’t fit the ‘Tales of the Weird’ brand, although there is of course a crossover between robots / AI and dolls. My least favourite story in the collection was ‘The Patchwork Dolls’ by Ysabelle Cheung, a very recent work with a cosmetic surgery theme, which beats the reader over the head with repeated messages about feminism, race and society. Important and clever as the story is, the content doesn’t fit the ‘Deadly Dolls’ premise. I just wanted 100% creepy stories about haunted, possessed or evil dolls.
There is quite an informative and exhausting introduction to the collection and each story has a mini introduction. This should be interesting for readers who are into the contexts of the stories.
In summary, there are some good stories in this book, but it’s not one of the best volume in this series.
Published in 2024.