Toy dolls are having a Halloween moment. And it’s anything but pretty or cute.
You can purchase string lights made of baby doll heads to unsettle trick-or-treaters or shell out bigger bucks for a 2-foot animatronic version of scary doll Annabelle from the “The Conjuring” movies.
If you go the DIY route, there are a plethora of online tutorials about how to turn a standard-issue doll into a ghoul with cracked, greenish-gray skin and blackened eye sockets.
The trend gives a whole new meaning to the term “dolled up.”
Delightful as they may be to their young owners, dolls have a long history of creeping people out due to something called the “uncanny valley” effect, professors at Northeastern University say.
As to how the beloved toys have become such popular and spooky Halloween props — there are theories. And they involve baby boomers.
Read more at Northeastern Global News
Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University
