Twisted Tug’s doll-sized version of Sid Vicious. It sold for $700.
 
Twisted Tug’s, an artist studio out of San Diego, California specializes in creating “one of a kind edgy art collectibles,” such as horror props, eerie original conceptions and designs, and, as the title of this post indicates, dolls. But not the kind of dolls you might get for your uncool niece—unless of course, she prefers bad guys (and girls) to Barbie. All joking aside, Twisted Tug’s dolls, which are crafted from vintage ventriloquist puppets (YIKES!), are true collector’s items and have garnered praise from their famous fans, including director James Wan (Saw, The Conjuring, Insidious, and most recently Malignant). Another distinction Twisted Tugs’ dolls is that they are true works of art – and true works of art do not come cheap. Tug’s spot-on doll-version of hatchet-loving Annie Wilkes from the film adaptation of Stephen King’s 1987 novel Misery (as played by actress Kathy Bates) sells for $800. Though some consider works of art created in the image of infamous serial killers as poor taste, the fact is the market and fanbase for such things has been around as long as serial killers themselves. Homicidal sicko John Wayne Gacy started painting and sketching while waiting for his execution by lethal injection. Later, many of his works of “art” would be displayed in galleries and at auction would sell for several thousands of dollars, and in one instance, $20K (noted in the 1990 book Murder Casebook, Investigations into the Ultimate Crime, Vol. 4, Part 54, Orgy of Killings (Murder Casebook) by Marshall Cavendish). So while you might not like it, there are plenty of people who dig things that exist in a realm completely removed from what is generally considered an acceptable standard.

Getting back to Twisted Tug’s’ dangerous dolls, yes, you can purchase them, though TT sadly does not take commissions. For more information on how you might obtain one of Twisted Tugs’ insidious dolls, feel free to drop Tug’s a line here. Now, as it is October, the time of year when we celebrate all things grim and gross, let’s take a look at some of the inhabitants of Twisted Tugs’ equally twisted world.
 

Twisted Tug’s Annie Wilkes (as played by actress Kathy Bates) in the 1990 film adaptation of Stephen King’s 1987 novel, ‘Misery.’
 

A frozen version of Jack Torrance (played by actor Jack Nicholson ) in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film ‘The Shining.’
 

Zelda Goldman (played by actor Andrew Hubatsek) in ‘Pet Sematary’ (1989).
 

Madison Mitchell (played by actress Annabelle Wallis) in James Wan’s 2021 film ‘Malignant.’
 
Many more after the jump…

 
There are many stories about the Island of the Dolls. There is the story of the man who lived on the island who hung hundreds of dolls from the trees. Some said he hung the dolls because he thought they were alive. Others said he did it to appease the spirit of a dead girl who he had found drowned in waters near the island. Then there were those who said the dolls were possessed by evil spirits, whose voices could be heard at night calling for the living to join them.

The man was called Don Julian Santana. He moved to the island some sixty years ago. The island is a small area of land located in the canals of Xochimilco, to the south of Mexico City. One day Santana found the body of a young girl who had drowned in one of the canals. This grim discovery obsessed Santana. Whenever he returned to the canal where he had found the body he discovered discarded dolls in the water. He began to hang these dolls from the trees. It was said the girl’s ghost haunted the island and Santana offered up these dolls as a way to appease the girl’s troubled spirit and to protect the island from evil. But no one really knows why he did it.

Over the next five decades, Santana covered the trees with hundreds of dolls—dirty, broken, discarded—that hung like corpses from the branches. The place was called Isla de Las Muñecas—Island of the Dolls.

In 2001, Santana was found drowned at the very spot of the same canal where he had found the girl’s body. Now Santana’s family look after Santana’s eerie shrine which is open to the public—details here.
 

 

 
More gruesome things, after the jump…
 

 
The 1970s were the great libidinous decade of unbridled gay consciousness. With the Stonewall riots in the rear-view mirror and the lethal threat of AIDS entirely unknown, the image of the strapping male homosexual became a quasi-accepted topic of pop culture contemplation. The Boys in the Band transferred from stage to screen in 1970, Tom of Finland’s arresting images were increasing in visibility—a man named Hal Fischer would even catalogue the strictly codified practices of gay apparel in a semi-serious volume called Gay Semiotics.

In keeping with the times, in 1978 a man named Harvey Rosenberg introduced to the market a variant of the Ken doll (of Barbie and Ken fame) that was explicitly homosexual. The doll, straightforwardly named “Gay Bob,” distinguished itself from Ken primarily in its wardrobe and in its possession of a penis (although, as we’ll see, the term “anatomically correct” is not quite accurate).

Gay Bob’s blond hair, unlike that of Ken, came all done up in a perm, and naturellement Ken sported a blue earring in one ear. The doll came with a single accessory in the form of a purse, and the box that the doll came in was fashioned as a closet, in order to make it possible for Gay Bob to come out of it. Indeed, on the front of the box was printed the text “Come out of the closet with Gay Bob—the world’s first gay doll for everyone.”
 

 
Two print advertisements for Gay Bob survive from the era, and they give differing prices for the doll. The one just above this paragraph cites a price of $14.95 with a $1.50 fee for postage and handling. (Keep in mind, the base price of $14.95 is about the same as $60 today.) The ad further down mentions that you can get one for $19.50 (which is about $75 today). 
 

 
Rosenberg was not a homosexual—press coverage of the day invariably pointed this out—but merely a canny entrepreneur seizing on an opportunity. Most accounts of Gay Bob’s arrival on the market refer to the product as having been introduced in 1977 but the bulk of the press coverage stems from the summer of 1978, most prominently an Associated Press article made the rounds in the first week of August 1978. (The Anniston, Alabama Star ran the AP story under the headline, “Are you ready for ‘Gay Bob?’”)

A couple of weeks before that, Howard Smith, in his well-known “Scenes” column in the Village Voice, published a spiffy 10-paragraph item about Rosenberg’s creation that is a model of witty journalism. Smith describes Gay Bob thus: “Dressed in blue denims and plaid shirt, the 11 inch vinyl creation is neatly coiffed, wears one earring and sports a full-fledged cock.” Smith also pressed Rosenberg on a specific way in which, despite the ad copy, Gay Bob was not anatomically correct. To Smith’s sensible question, “How can you have a homosexual toy figure that doesn’t come with an anus?” Rosenberg lamely replied that “the special requirements of the mold” made it impossible.

Smith’s report ends with an amazing paragraph that has the feel of parody but probably was not.

Keep reading after the jump…

A realistic piece of doll-sized BDSM furniture made by a Russian artist going by the name of Mick. Mick sells his dollhouse dungeon furniture on his Etsy site, BdsmFan.
 
A few years ago I wrote about UK-based artist Jennie Nightfall and her naughty doll-sized BDSM furniture here on Dangerous Minds. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the post was a huge hit, proving once again that DM readers like to let their freak-flags wave and give zero fucks if you are offended at the sight of a doll spanking another doll who bent over a little wooden horse. This logical approach to life is shared by a Russian architect, artist, and designer named Mick—the man behind the doll-sized BDSM playthings and contraptions seen in this post.

Mick resides Novosibirsk—a city in the southwestern region of Siberia near the Ob River.  According to his Etsy page, Mick has been making his little torture devices and equipment for about a year and will allegedly make custom BDSM pieces for you in either doll or human scale. His doll-sized work is rather authentic-looking and includes all kinds of bondage furniture such as benches, various “punishment boards” (or pillories), cages, and even a little BDSM toilet. Mick also crafts kinky accessories like paddles, masks and fishnet stockings because even inanimate dolls want to look good while they are behaving badly. Most of Mick’s little bondage gear will run you anywhere from five bucks for a mini-mask to $95 for a deviant doll-sized dungeon diorama. I’ve posted photos of Mick’s adult-oriented doll furniture below which contains images of nude dolls making this post perplexingly NSFW.
 

One of Mick’s doll-sized punishment boards. Dolls not included.
 

 
More after the jump…

A collection of tiny hand-made doll heads in jars by artist Polina Verbitskaya.
 
Ukrainian Artist Polina Verbitskaya is a self-described illustrator, dollmaker and “body artist” who lives and works in Kiev. Of all the oddities I found in Verbitskaya Etsy shop, I was instantly drawn to her macabre pendants made from little glass jars, each with a tiny hand-made doll head inside. Verbitskaya fills the jars with clear resin to make it appear as if the disembodied doll heads are floating in formaldehyde. Fantastic.

If these creepy charms don’t bring out your inner ghoul—I don’t know what will. Each single doll-head-in-a-jar necklace will run you $30 plus shipping from the Ukraine. I’ve posted images of Verbitskaya’s sinister doll-head jewelry below.
 

 

 
More after the jump…

 
There are many days while I’m doing my “job” here at Dangerous Minds when I think I’ve pretty much seen it all. Then there are days that I stumble across something on the Internet that reminds me that there is still plenty of fantastic trash out there for all of us, specifically those of us who are connoisseurs of filth and all thing low brow. Which is exactly what I have for you today—a sixteen-inch doll in the image of John Waters’ greatest muse, the legendary Divine.

Made by My Best Fiendz based in Rockland, Maine, little Divine was made by a horror-movie-loving husband and wife duo who used a standard baby doll as the base then transformed it into a pretty spot-on “Babs Johnson” who looks like she’s dying to tell you to “eat shit” in full makeup, custom-dyed flaming-hot hair and a pistol. There are also a few other strange items in the Fiendz’s Etsy store that might also be of interest to our sleazier/horror-inclined readers such as a bizarre “jumpin’ jack” of GG Allin that would keep everyone (including dogs and rats mind you) off your lawn, an utterly fantastic jumper of Swedish pro-wrestler/actor Tor Johnson, and that nasty murderous clown “Captain Spaulding” aka “Johnny Lee Johns” as portrayed by actor Sid Haig in the films House of 1000 Corpsess and The Devil’s Rejects. The Divine doll will run you $130 and the wooden jumpers are about $40. I’ve posted images of the oddities below. If any of this is your thing (because filth really is your life), more details on ordering and other items in the shop can be found here.
 

 

 
More after the jump…

Edith “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale

I’m totally smitten with these handmade dolls by artist Dennis Beltran. They’re lovingly handcrafted works of art, in my opinion. Just amazing. The dolls’ approximate height is 15”. As for the price of each doll, depending on how intricate the beading is for the costumes or how elaborate the hair is, the average price for one is $500. Beltran also does work on commission. I noticed some fantastic The Mighty Boosh dolls on his Instagram page (which you MUST follow, btw). 

I think I need to own the Louise Lasser doll, in her signature role as Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. It’s truly adorable.

I picked my personal favorite dolls for this post on Dangerous Minds, but there are sooooooooo many others! Visit Dennis Beltran’s Facebook and Instagram to see more of his work.

If you’re interested in purchasing one of these fabulous dolls or have any questions, you can contact Dennis Beltran at DoubleSupaFantastico@yahoo.com.

Jerri Blank
 

Barbra Streisand in ‘Funny Girl’
 

Leigh Bowery
 

Truman Capote
 

‘Clash of the Titans’
 
More after the jump…

‘Forbidden Fruit,’ by doll artist Mari Shimizu.
 
Fantasy doll maker Mari Shimizu hails from Amakusa, Kumamoto Japan where after graduating from Tama Art University, she dedicated herself to creating and photographing her intricate ball-joint dolls. Shimizu is deeply inspired by the Surrealist movement, especially Nazi-hating Dadaist, photographer Hans Bellmer whose scandalous work often incorporated dolls. Here are a few words from Bellmer on his artistic approach that appear to directly align to Shimizu’s ethos:

The body resembles a sentence that seems to invite us to dismantle it into its component letters, so that its true meaning may be revealed ever anew through an endless stream of anagrams.

Shimizu carves openings in her dead-eyed dolls in order to provide the viewer insight into the inner-workings of her inanimate creations. Themes that run through her work include mythology, religion, death and nature in which rabbits are common themes. Rabbits are symbolic for a myriad of reasons and perhaps as it pertains to Shimizu’s work is how the rabbit is regarded as an “Earth” symbol—as it is the earthly aspect of its existence that allows the animal to retain its composure in the midst of chaos. Rabbits are also categorized as being “tricksters” in various mythological tales and folklore from around the world including Japan. Shimizu’s utilization of the dolls as unconventional artistic vehicles is about as tricky as it gets.

I’ve included a large selection of images of Shimizu’s ethereal dolls below. Some are NSFW. 
 

‘Music of the Summit.’
 

‘Compass’
 
More after the jump…

A trio of dolls made by Leo Moss, early 1900s.
 
An article published in The New York Times on January 9th, 1978 about avid doll collector and author Myla J. Perkins provided some background on Leo Moss, a doll maker from Macon, Georgia. As the article alleges, many doll collectors—even those who primarily collected dolls with black “skin” had never heard of Moss or his incredibly poignant dolls until the 1970s.

According to this vintage piece from the Times, Moss would make “white” dolls in the image of the white children who lived in his neighborhood, and would then trade them for whatever he needed to create his black dolls and food for his family. The vast majority of Moss’ dolls were based on members of his own family, including his children. A jack-of-all-trades, Moss started making his paper maché dolls back in the late 1800s through the early part of the 1900s. In order to make his black dolls, Moss used discarded doll parts and soot from chimneys as well as boot dye to color their skin, and his wife Lee Ann made the delicate doll clothing. Moss also bought rejected or defective doll parts from a white man who worked for a New York toy supply company. And according to the folklore associated with Leo Moss, the helpful salesman was apparently the reason as to why many of Moss’ dolls faces are filled with sadness and authentic looking tears. Because at some point Lee Ann ran off with the New York doll parts dealer, taking the couple’s youngest child Mina along with her.

While this is about the most depressing thing I’ve read in awhile, author and historian Debbie Behan Garrett noted an equally sad explanation for Moss’ unhappy dolls in her 2008 book Black Dolls: A Comprehensive Guide to Celebrating, Collecting, and Experiencing the Passion. According to Garrett if one of Moss’ young models was unhappy or crying while he was trying to capture their image, he added the tears. Moss’ dolls are extremely rare and perhaps only 100 of them still exist today. Highly sought after by collectors the dolls sell for thousands of dollars, with one selling in 2010 for $10,350.

More photos of Moss’ dolls can be seen below.
 

1920.
 

‘Cleo.’
 
More after the jump…

A 12-inch version of Boy George made by toy company, LJN in 1984.
 
Back in the magical year of 1984 toy company LJN put out a 12-inch version of a prominent member of the New Romantic movement, George Alan O’Dowd—otherwise known as Boy George—which came ready to party dressed in a “Color By Numbers” themed outfit.
 

A print ad for the Boy George doll by LJN.
 
Billed on the box as “The Original Outrageous Boy of Rock!” the toy Boy was fully poseable and his long hair came styled in one of his signature looks—braids tied with colorful ribbons to match the makeup on his face. Little Boy George also came with a microphone, hat and “posing stand.” Noted as an appropriate plaything for ages four and up, had I received a Boy George doll when I was a kid I would have promptly burned all of my Barbies in the backyard while Boy and I twirled around the fire to the sounds of “Karma Chameleon” playing on my boom box. Good times.

If you’re like me and had no idea that this delightfully dolled-up version of Boy George even existed and now must have one of your very own, you’re in luck as I found a few for sale on eBay. During my very important “research” for this post I also came across footage from a UK television show doing a feature on a Boy George doll (that came in two sizes—one rather alarmingly large) put out by a UK Culture Club fan club during which the gorgeous looking Mr. O’Dowd is presented with one of his very own—which he holds while singing a version of Cliff Richard and The Drifters song “Living Doll.” You can see that surreal event below along with a few images from die-hard CC fan, Flickr user KAZZ who went the extra mile and created custom outfits for her Boy George doll. All of this proves once again that the 80s were indeed much cooler (and a lot weirder) than most of our collective memories give it credit for. Enjoy!
 

 
Continues after the jump…

An up-close look at a sculpture made from discarded doll parts by Freya Jobbins.
 
Referring to herself as a “plastic surgeon” of sorts, Australia-based artist and sculptor Freya Jobbins uses pieces of dolls and other toys to create eerie human looking faces, busts and figures that appear to be holding themselves together with their own inanimate plastic parts.
 

 
Unlike many of her artistically inclined peers Jobbins didn’t start out as an artist and after figuring out that being a policewoman wasn’t as much fun as Angie Dickinson made it look, she decided to go back to school and graduated with a major in both printmaking and sculpture in 2004. Jobbins collects her materials from second-hand sources and her thought-provoking works conjure up a full range of responses from fascination to fear.

Here’s Jobbins’ own take on her compelling sculptures:

I am interested in generating a range of responses to existing cultural objects, which have been placed out of context. The irony of my plastic works is that I take a material that was created to be touched, and I make it untouchable as an artwork.

Jobbins’ choice of materials help reinforce the importance of reuse and recycling—something the artist takes very seriously not only when it comes to her line of work but also in her life. Jobbins even donates her unused doll hair to a friend—a weaver who uses the materials for her own creative pursuits.
 

 

 
More of Jobbins’ dazzling and disturbing works follow after the jump…

Le Petit Prince at ‘Lake Minnetonka’ with his customized Honda CB400A.
 
Tuesday, May 3rd marked the sadly poignant moment when it became “seven hours and thirteen days” since Prince left this world. And I for one have still not (and probably never will) come to terms with his passing. His loss is a truly immeasurable one that has left his fans (including myself and my colleagues here at DM), dumbfounded. 
 

Le Petit Prince in his ‘Dirty Mind’ outfit.
 
If you’re a Prince fan (and I wouldn’t trust anyone who said they weren’t, it’s one of my rules), you know that he was an incredibly private person—and was quick to put the kibosh on video footage of his mind-bogglingly epic live performances that somehow made their way to the Internet. In the past when DM has posted footage of Prince blowing-minds live, it’s always come with a warning to watch it before it gets taken down. Such was the case with Prince and his request to Seattle artist Troy Gua, who created a lifelike figure of Prince called “Le Petit Prince” (or “LPP”) sometime in 2012, and was swiftly served with a “cease and desist” notice by The Purple One himself. Gua, a huge Prince fan, was devastated. Figuring out a way around the order, he continued to take photos of his “LPP,” only now it had a sculpted head in Gua’s own image. In 2015, Gua started to once again publish images of Le Petit Prince and one of his most recent posts on his Instagram featured the realistic looking figure beginning his ascent to heaven by way of a ladder. Sigh.

Gua (who also makes all of Le Petit Prince’s painstakingly detailed clothes) says he doesn’t want to profit from Prince’s death, so you can’t actually purchase a small version of Prince dressed in era-specific attire (although Gua didn’t rule out this possibility in the future or selling prints of Le Petit Prince in action). When I say that the images in this post are almost as beguiling as Prince himself (almost), I’m not exaggerating. From Le Petit Prince riding a tiny replica of his customized 1981 Honda CB400A from the film Purple Rain, to the open trenchcoat and tiny black thong Prince wore on the cover of his 1980 album, Dirty Mind, Gua (who might be the greatest person ever) has created so many perfect Princes that I couldn’t possibly post them all here.
 

Prince as seen in the video for ‘Automatic’ from the 1982 album, ‘1999.’
 
More after the jump…

Dolls waiting around in a doll factory in France, 1930.
 
When I came across these photos I immediately drew the conclusion that they could have been shot by Alfred Hitchcock during his downtime, as most of them are (and I’m pretty sure it’s intentional), as terrifying as fuck.

Taken over the course of two decades from 1931 - 1955, the images were culled from photos of doll factories in the United States, England, Germany, France and Italy. And I’m not kidding when I say these photos will give you the creeps -  because the photos, such as the one of a group of disembodied, freshly cast doll heads impaled on iron stakes, or say dangling doll legs that are hanging up to dry (pictured below), look like they belong at a gourmet cannibal meat market run by Hannibal Lecter. You can thank me later for not sleeping tonight after checking out the rest of the photos. If you need me, I’ll be under the bed.
 

Dangling doll legs in a factory in England, 1951.
 

Drying doll heads, 1947.
 

Trimming doll eyelashes, 1949.
 

Various rather terrifying looking dolls being painted inside a doll factory in Italy, 1950.
 
More scary dolls after the jump…

 
Out of polymer clay, Russian artist Michael Zajkov creates doll faces and moveable doll body parts that are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The detail within his work is utterly exquisite. The handpainted glass eyes are from Germany and the dolls’ hair is fashioned from French mohair. The end result, to me, is quite spooky. The longer I stare at them, the more lifelike they seem. The quality of the expressions is haunting, like they’re lost souls or have tortured pasts.

All images via Michael Zajkov’s Instagram.

 

 

 
More after the jump…
 

Kraftwerk plush dolls by Uriel Valentin

Uriel Valentin is the talented Argentinian-based doll maker and artist behind a massive line of plush, hand-painted dolls that are about to send you running for your credit card. I often blog about these kinds of collectibles here on Dangerous Minds but didn’t know until today how much I needed a plush Robert Smith doll clad in look-alike pajamas like the ones that he wore in the 1989 video for “Lullaby.” Did you?
 

Robert Smith of The Cure in his “Lullaby” PJs
 

Frank Zappa in his iconic “PIPCO” shirt.
 
Among the illustrious and eclectic inhabitants of Valentin’s cool world are plush versions of everyone from famous punks like Elvis Costello, director Jim Jarmusch, Charlotte Gainsbourg (covered in blood clutching the disemboweled fox from Antichrist), Andy Warhol and Jean Basquiat (wearing boxing gloves and attire no less, as in the poster for their 1985 collaboration), Iron Maiden’s “Eddie” (as well as Maiden bassist Steve Harris, squeee!), two delightful versions of Robert Smith of The Cure and every member of fucking KRAFTWERK.

Valentin’s figures stand about fourteen inches tall, are hand-painted and sealed with a transparent acrylic varnish, and have wire inside of them so they are able to be put into posed positions. I’ve included over 40 (!) images of Valentin’s dolls for you to digest after the jump that will run you around $100 (including international shipping). The talented Argentinian also does custom orders (which are $115) - contact him via his Flickr page for more information.
 

Jim Jarmusch
 

Bette Davis and Joan Crawford from the 1962 film, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
 

Hedwig as played by actor James Cameron Mitchell from Hedwig and the Angry Inch)
 
Way more of these amazing handmade dolls after the jump…