Taking inspiration from horror classics and everyday objects, in our Build-Your-Own-Monster series, Blogger Elizabeth envisions a horrifying monster that is certain to keep you up at night.
By Elizabeth Shay
Dolls. The common children’s toys tainted by pop culture and horror movies. From Chucky to Anabelle…these names cause us to conjure up creepy images in our minds. The fear of dolls is so common that a word has been created to describe this affliction: pediophobia. “Pediophobia is a type of phobia . . . or an irrational fear of something that poses no actual threat” and affects more than 9% of adults in the US (Healthline).
When Editor Erik tasked us with building our own monster, I drew inspiration from movies as well as from the work of artist Shawn Coss to create my monster, a personification of pediophobia.
Appearance
The monster appears to be simply a giant doll that stands at an imposing eight feet tall. However, much like Russian nesting dolls or Oogie Boogie from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, the large doll nests smaller creatures inside. The outermost doll is a sentient being, but like parasites, the small dolls exist within the body cavity of the big doll, controlling its actions. The doll on the outside is a classic porcelain doll, much like Chucky or Annabelle, as the hard material provides protection to the dolls on the interior. The miniature dolls are of various styles. Artist Shawn Coss illustrated 31 phobias, including pediophobia, and the drawing provided inspiration for my monster and what I imagine to be some of the internal dolls.
Characteristics
My monster only comes out in the cover of darkness. Like the people inside the Trojan Horse, the little dolls emerge from their host doll in order to cause mischief and mayhem amongst unsuspecting people. Inside the homes of innocent families, the dolls are responsible for the mysterious and unexplained noises that seem to come from within the walls or in the unexplored attic above. They move around in the pitch black night, stealing and destroying whatever they can find. These animated dolls capture lifeless dolls and bring them back to the host where they are instilled with evil magic that turns them conscious so that the cycle of fear and destruction can repeat.
Thankfully this monster is just a figment of my imagination, but the phobia that it is based on is all too real, frightening adults and children alike. If you have dolls around, you might want to sleep with one eye open after reading this post. There are hundreds of different phobias that describe and encompass an infinite number of specific objects and situations (Healthline). Do you have any phobias? What might a monster that personifies that fear look like?
Build-Your-Own-Monster Editor: Erik Bearman
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