Mannequin: Tales of Wood Made Flesh
I am terrified of dolls, dummies, and mannequins, so naturally I wanted to read all about them coming to life and being malevolent! With Halloween around the corner, I thought this would be an excellently timed pick, and that cover is haunting. While the theme was there, I found the substance to be a bit lacking for many of the stories.
The introduction by Christopher Slatzky was stellar. It was terrifying all on its own, and it made me eager to dive into the stories to follow. I also immediately purchased two books by Slatzky based on this introduction alone, so that's saying something.
The stories I deemed to be outstanding were:
Cyril by Ramsey Campbell - A lonely woman entertains a man in her home and he brings her a doll who she names Cyril. Disturbing.
Window Dressing by Christine Morgan - A lady finds herself the subject of ridicule on public transit and regularly notices that a mannequin in a storefront window is always wearing the same clothes as her. Very creepy.
The Part that Dies by Nicholas Day - A housekeeper's employer dies and his twin brother is left. She discovers a statue within the home as it undergoes a special transformation. The imagery will stay with me from this one. It would have been a perfect Night Gallery episode.
Kuklalar by Matthew M. Bartlett - A company decides marionettes will become managers to save money and increase efficiency. An alarming concept.
To a Puppet, From a Dummy by Jon Padgett - This story seems to be autobiographical. It is both disturbing and hopeful in its explanation of Padgett's fear and then love for automatons. This was my favorite in the book because of its ability to make me less afraid of ventriloquist dummies, but more afraid of myself. Padgett is incomparable when he's in his element, and this is it.
I believe the above were the best stories, and they add up to five out of a total of sixteen stories. To me, that means I can only fairly give this a 3/5. However, it is a high 3 because the good ones were really good.
Don’t want to miss anything on the site? Sign up for our newsletter HERE
Want more spooky reads? Just search below.
