by Stacey Rue

Created on: December 04, 2008

A tiny newborn infant with rosy lips, pinch-able dimpled cheeks and wearing a pink baby Dior pleated dress sleeps in a pretty pram pushed by its Mommy. Oh, how cute- wait a minute that little, cuddly infant is not even a real life baby. It is a doll. But it looks like it is breathing, because it "is"- mechanically breathing but still its chest moves up and down. Yeah, that becomes eerie and totally freaky. Now, the doll looks as if it might jump up and draw a large knife on you. Or worse it looks like a tiny baby that has lost its life and is awaiting burial. Any time a doll looks like it can open its eyes while laying down really ups the freaky factor considerably.

These dolls are called reborns. Talented artists have unquestionably done a remarkable job in creating pieces of creepy artwork. Lifelike features, including freckles, birth marks or visible veins, really make them look like real babies. Reborn artists can take a plastic doll give it a fake beating heart and paint it to look like an actual baby. Then they stick them in the oven to bake and set all the paint. Some customers request reborns of their own baby or of their grown child as they looked as a baby. These artists recreate the baby with pictures the customers give them. Bronzed baby shoes are not enough for some today. They need a believable recreation of the child itself.

Perhaps a larger leap in the hard to understand are the mostly women who purchase these baby dolls to carry around, change their diapers, feed fake formula and put down for naps in beautiful bassinets. Having a doll made of your own child and put into a cabinet as a memento can be a little bit understandable, but treating them as real babies in public has taken it a step into the difficult to believe. The BBC had a document on this subject titled, "My Fake Baby." These women, often against their spouse's wishes, take care of these dolls as if they were their living baby. While technically speaking these women hurt no one, it is clear that therapy might help better.

Whether its visions of Chuckie running through your head or snippets of old Twilight Zone episodes these dolls often conjure up visions that are better left to horror movies. It is a good thing these dolls often come with their own personalized blanket, it will come in handy for covering the freaky things up and sticking them in the dryer out in the garage. Be sure to lock that door and put the chain up. Really any strange banging noises with sounds of metal scraping are simply your imagination. Go back to sleep and hope the doll is not at the foot of your bed when you wake up in the morning.

Learn more about this author, Stacey Rue.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.