
Demon dolls: Chucky, The Conjuring and more creepy toys you'll never forget
Come play with us! The Showmax toy box is filled with fun friends like these...
Chucky
Chucky hasn’t changed fun-demonically since writer Don Mancini created him to terrorise moviegoers in the first-ever Child’s Play film back in 1988. The core team, including Don and doll voice actors Brad Dourif, Brad’s daughter Fiona, and Jennifer Tilly, are along for the ride in this TV series, too.
Chucky’s name comes from dying serial killer Charles Lee "Chucky" Ray (born in 1958), who possessed a “Good Guy” brand doll via voodoo ritual. Yes, horror fans, Chucky is a Boomer! For demon doll lovers and franchise fanatics, Chucky Season 2 is peak mayhem, with good vs evil Chucky dolls, a Chucky exorcism, Chucky’s treacherous ex Tiffany doing a doll-body swap with actress Jennifer Tilly, the return of Glen and Glenda, and one Chucky doll getting a makeover that slays, as it becomes a glamorous Gigi doll.

Doll design: Chucky works so well because he looks so ordinary and, in 2023, even stylishly retro (it helps that the series has given him one of the most believable boy faces in the whole franchise in his resting state). Kevin Yagher, the designer behind Freddy Krueger, based the Chucky doll design on the real-life My Buddy toddler-sized dolls, released by Hasbro in 1985 as a toy especially for helping young boys to learn and express empathy. Oh, the irony! And there’s a touch of that other 1980s sensation, The Cabbage Patch Kid, in him. The best bit of Chucky lore is that the longer a Good Guy doll is possessed, the more “human” it becomes. The face ages, and it develops male pattern baldness, and grows blood, guts and gore beneath the vinyl.
The Conjuring

The 2013 horror film The Conjuring follows two paranormal investigators and demonologists named the Warrens, who’re called in to help a family who’s just bought a cursed house. But the movie opens with the Warrens giving a lecture about a former case, that of the cursed doll, Annabelle. Annabelle was known for sneaking around while people’s backs were turned, writing messages in red crayon, attracting evil, haunting dreams, and allegedly being possessed by the spirit of a little dead girl (well, at least that’s what some evil spirits wanted her owner to believe).

Doll design: A real haunted doll named Annabelle inspired the story in The Conjuring. However, the original Annebelle is a trademarked, soft-bodied Raggedy Ann doll. As the film was unable to get licensing rights to the doll, doll designer Tony Rosen reimagined Annabelle for The Conjuring as a child-sized porcelain doll with dark blonde wig in pigtails with red ribbons, matching the sash of her white Sunday dress. She’s a pretty child’s treasure that turns sinister. Close up, her eyes are deep set, shadowed and hyper-realistic, with white showing around the iris, which gives her a fixed stare and emphasises one cracked pupil. Her pale face is grimy and worn, and her wig is slightly askew. The furrows around her mouth also give the otherwise childlike face an adult look, which is enhanced by her makeup. Annabelle would go on to haunt her own movie franchise.
True Blood

True Blood’s haunted doll first turns up on the floor of Jessica and Hoyt’s house in the Season 3 finale. It’s an absolutely filthy porcelain baby doll. In Season 4, between episodes 3 and 9, the doll magically reappears in the house after being thrown into the town dump and actually chucked into a lake. The doll is possessed by the spirit of a Black woman named Mavis (played by South African actress Nondumiso Tembe), whose white married lover murdered their baby the night she was bringing home the doll as a gift. Later it turns out the lover murdered her, too, and buried mother, baby and doll together under Hoyt and Jessica’s house during the 1930s.
Doll Design: Mavis scraped and saved to buy this classic male baby doll, which originally had neat, painted-on black hair, a composition head, arms and legs, and jointed canvas body. The face and body design seem based on the Horsman company’s Baby Dimples doll, which was made from 1928.
Composition is moulded and lacquered sawdust and glue, which was more resilient than porcelain, and used in dolls until the arrival of hard plastics in the 1940s. What helps make composition dolls creepy is that any moisture that seeps into the sawdust and glue layer makes it swell, leading to the painted surface cracking and peeling, and dirt getting stuck in the cracks. So now you have something with a baby’s face that seems to be rotting.
More like this

Ace your Matric exams with 10 Afrikaans series and movies
Looking for the less-sweat, more-fun way to study? Brush up your Afrikaans before exam time with these shows and movies.

Chicago Fire S13
Scorching hot drama that follows a group of dedicated firefighters in Chicago. House MD's Jesse Spencer stars.

Landman S1
Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone) creates this enthralling Billy Bob Thornton lead drama set in the heart of Texas. Roughnecks and billionaires collide as everyone tries to get rich quick in the oil industry.

10 Afrikaans movies to stream now
Looking for a fliek to stream? Whether you're after comedy or a serious drama, you'll find an excellent Afrikaans pick on Showmax.

“This was the most fun I’ve ever had on a set” - Liam Bosman on record-breaking Khaki Fever
Liam Bosman talks about his role in Khaki Fever, the record-breaking film streaming on Showmax, fresh from its sold-out premiere at the Silwerskermfees.

Bea's Block S1
Join Bea and her friends as they spread kindness and build empathy through playful adventures in their community.

Nelisa Ntabeni on finding love in Married at First Sight
Nelisa Ntabeni shares the best things about being on Married at First Sight. Catch new episodes every Sunday on Mzansi Magic and Showmax.

Is HBO’s Task “the best crime thriller of the year”?
Brad Ingelsby talks Task, HBO’s gritty crime thriller with Mark Ruffalo and Thuso Mbedu. New episodes Mondays on Showmax, express from the US.
Parable: A South African horror to haunt you
Toni Collette stars in creepy horror Hereditary
Looking for British shows and movies?

Ace your Matric exams with 10 Afrikaans series and movies
Looking for the less-sweat, more-fun way to study? Brush up your Afrikaans before exam time with these shows and movies.

Chicago Fire S13
Scorching hot drama that follows a group of dedicated firefighters in Chicago. House MD's Jesse Spencer stars.

Landman S1
Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone) creates this enthralling Billy Bob Thornton lead drama set in the heart of Texas. Roughnecks and billionaires collide as everyone tries to get rich quick in the oil industry.

10 Afrikaans movies to stream now
Looking for a fliek to stream? Whether you're after comedy or a serious drama, you'll find an excellent Afrikaans pick on Showmax.
Latest Stories

Glory awaits: From MTN8 Kings to Manchester's Crown, football's biggest stage is on Showmax

Uncover the soul of South African football with the boxset of Giants

The best Premier League signings of 2025's summer window

SA siblings’ debut film chosen for BFI London Film Festival

Simo Magwaza on his challenging role as De Klerk in Youngins

Christopher Jaftha gets top billing in raunchy Khaki Fever

Nkululeko Mahlangu on Makoto, marriage and more

Alexander Isak a great option for LFC's attack, say former Liverpool striker David Ngog

What to watch on Showmax in September 2025

Kate and Annie take charge in Ten Pound Poms Season 2

Tshepo Miya talks about being on Married at First Sight

Vilakazi's verdict: Sundowns to "edge it" in high-stakes MTN8 semi-final

Khaki Fever and more sexy Afrikaans movies and series

Rivalries reignite in thrilling Premier League games on Showmax

5 patients you’ll meet in The Pitt Season 1
.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
Ilana Glazer delivers in Babes

Makoto on what really went down in her Married at First Sight journey

Palesa Mphaki on being Married at First Sight, her husband and more

5 new reality shows on Showmax in August

The Big 6ix on new Premier League season and their SA adventure

Will anyone stop the champs? Booth on Downs' quest for a 9th title

The curtain rises: Wembley Showdown - LFC vs Crystal Palace

Showmax Premier League weekly watchlist: 8-14 September 2025

Showmax PL kicks off football fiesta with MTN8 quarter-finals