10 of the creepiest dolls in horror movies and TV history (2024)

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Megan, of "M3GAN," has already cemented herself as an all-time creepy doll.

In "M3GAN," which releases in theaters on January 6, a young girl who lost her parents is gifted a toy android doll designed by her aunt Gemma, played by Allison Williams, named Megan.

Megan is designed to comfort, but since she's only a prototype, she malfunctions and becomes too self-aware and protective of Cady, Gemma's niece. In her quest to help Cady, Megan becomes a violent killer, with amazing dance moves to boot.

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Annabelle is so horrifying that she's at the center of not one, not two, but four horror films.

Annabelle, a real doll in the possession of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren before their deaths, was introduced to audiences in "The Conjuring." While not the main villain of the film, there's a terrifying scene where Annabelle tries to possess the body of a young girl.

She proved so hauntingly memorable that Annabelle has now been at the center of three films of her own: "Annabelle," "Annabelle: Creation," and "Annabelle Comes Home."

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The star of the "Child's Play" franchise, Chucky, is one of the most famous dolls in pop culture.

Chucky, a doll possessed by the spirit of a vicious serial killer of the same name, is one of the most recognizable and memorable horror villains of all time, ever since his debut in the 1988 film "Child's Play."

Since then, audiences have seen Chucky marry another horrifying doll in "Bride of Chucky," his offspring in "Seed of Chucky," and more. There have been eight "Child's Play" films, plus one TV show that's critically acclaimed.

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Brahms first appeared in "The Boy."

We won't spoil "The Boy" or its sequel, "Brahms II: The Boy," for you, but rest assured that this doll, Brahms, is more than what he seems. In the film, an American woman is hired to care for a young British boy, but when she arrives, she discovers she's actually there to look after a life-size porcelain doll that's been named Brahms by the elderly couple who hired her.

As you might suspect, creepy things start happening with Brahms; the babysitter hears children's laughter when no one is around, Brahms seems to move on its own, and phone calls keep dropping.

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Billy from the "Saw" franchise" is another iconic horror-movie doll.

Nope, this puppet isn't Jigsaw — that's the creepy scientist who devises the deadly logic puzzles that populate the entire "Saw" franchise. Jigsaw uses Billy, a scary doll/puppet with bull's-eyes on its cheeks who magically bikes around, to communicate with his victims.

Billy has appeared in all but one of the nine "Saw" films. In the latest, "Spiral: From the Book of Saw," just a photograph of him is seen.

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The ventriloquist dummy in "Dead Silence" is also named Billy, perhaps as an homage.

In "Dead Silence," Billy appears as a ventriloquist dummy who is possessed by the spirit of a woman, Mary, trying to enact revenge on those who wronged her. To do this, Billy kills people by ripping out their tongues, preventing them from screaming. He also somehow makes all sound disappear.

Billy is an exceptionally creepy doll, especially when the camera lingers on him, just waiting for him to make the slightest movement without any help.

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Talky Tina is a horrifying adversary in an episode of "The Twilight Zone."

In this episode of "The Twilight Zone," a young girl is gifted a Talky Tina, but her father discovers the doll might be more than they bargained for, especially when Talky Tina says she doesn't like her new owner's dad, or threatens that everyone better be nice to her.

Even worse, the rest of his family gaslights him about the horrifying doll, until it's too late.

"Dead of Night" was released in 1945, meaning that this doll, Hugo, might be the original scary doll.

"Dead of Night" is an anthology horror film — the most famous part involves Hugo, the dummy, who seems to somehow have a mind of his own. His owner blames all his problems on Hugo, claims Hugo bites him, and is generally a horrible presence in his life.

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The one big jump scare of "Poltergeist" involves a horrifying clown doll.

"Poltergeist," a classic ghost story, follows the Freeling family as they are haunted by malevolent ghosts at their home, which is located on a former cemetery.

Overall, "Poltergeist" is more creepy than downright scary, but the one scene involving 8-year-old Robbie and his unnerving clown doll attacking him remains embedded in the brains of '80s kids everywhere.

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If '80s kids are scared of "Poltergeist," '90s and 2000s kids are scared of Slappy from "Goosebumps."

Slappy the ventriloquist dummy is one of the most enduring characters from "Goosebumps," a kid-friendly horror anthology book series that was turned into a TV series and two feature films.

Slappy made his first appearance in the book "Night of the Living Dummy" in 1993. He went on to make multiple appearances in later books, appeared in four episodes of the TV series, and he was the primary antagonist of the 2015 "Goosebumps" film. Slappy also appears in the sequel "Goosebumps 2," which was released in 2018.