Less Than Three: Little Apple Dolls

12:22 PM on 05.16.2008   |   Colette Bennett

In my spare time spent not thinking about toys, I actually plow a lot of time into watching horror films. One of my favorite genres is known as J-Horror, or Japanese horror, which was made popular in the United States by Gore Verbinski's remake of a popular Japanese film called Ringu. The film set off a craze in Japan to make similar films, and soon enough the images of pale girls with long black hair hanging over their faces were ubiquitous.

Hit the jump to learn more about the creepiest children you may ever allow to grace your toy shelf: Little Apple Dolls.

Little Apple Dolls are the kind of toys that would appeal to fans of the J-Horror craze, as they look like they strolled right out of movies like Ju-On (remade as The Grudge in the US). They were created by artist Ufuoma Urie, who used them in photographic works at first. Each doll of the four series that have been released has his or her own story, which you can read more about at the Little Apple Dolls website.

Each doll stands at about 14.5 inches and comes with a "little apple" pierced with pins, which represents an inanimate object capable of showing emotion. They also come with separate masks which you can use to change their look. Some of the dolls have a look that borders on Goth Lolita, while others simply echo the J-horror look. Solus is one of the rarest of these larger dolls, having been an exclusive from San Diego Comic-Con 2007. 

A smaller series of the dolls were also made, which stand at 4 inches tall but have the same look as the larger dolls. The larger dolls usually sell for $30-$40, and the smaller for $20 for a set (best found on Ebay these days.) The official site hasn't seen an update for a while, which saddens me, but since the large dolls went through four full series, it leaves me lots left to collect.

People who have come to visit have sometimes had an adverse reaction to these dolls. One visitor commented that he could not sleep in the same room with them (they are in my bedroom). While I can see how some people could have that reaction, the right kind of person will feel right at home with their haunted little faces, especially those with stacks of Japanese import horror films next to their televisions (ahem, me).