Haunted dolls and sadistic puppets may sound like the stuff of bargain basement horror films, but in the hands of the talented writers edited by Ellen Datlow (Best Horror of the Year), they become delectably creepy fodder for nightmares.
Although Datlow outlawed the cliché of the outright evil doll for The Doll Collection, the writers mine the strangeness of dolls and the twisted natures of a few human characters to chilling effect. In "Heroes and Villains" by Stephen Gallagher (The Bedlam Detective), a dead ventriloquist's dummy gets a new voice to tell its secrets. Gemma Files's (A Book of Tongues) "Gaze" centers on a miniature portrait of an eye that brings a malevolent presence into the life of an antiques dealer. The titular doll in "Miss Sibyl-Cassandra" by Lucy Sussex (Thief of Lives) gives out gypsy-blessed fortunes that come true in surprising ways for their recipients.
From poppets that prolong human lives to simulacra that steal them, readers will find variety here, not only in the types of spine-tinglers but in the styles of the writers as well. The richly diverse tales are accented with photos by Datlow and others of particularly odd or grotesque dolls, each chosen to reflect its accompanying piece. Datlow's introduction, though brief, demonstrates a deep reflection on the subject that deserves as much attention as the stories. As always, her focus on the psychology and folklore behind the central topic of the anthology demonstrate why Datlow's name appears on so many high-quality volumes of speculative fiction. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads