| “ | And there's a creepy doll that always follows you. It's got a ruined eye that's always open. And there's a creepy doll that always follows you. It's got a pretty mouth, to swallow you whole. | „ |
| ~ Chorus of the song describing the doll. |
The Creepy Doll is the titular main antagonist of the song of the same name by Jonathan Coulton. It is a mischievous possessed doll that antagonizes the protagonist of the song.
Story
The song tells the story of the protagonist, who moves to a house at the top of a hill in a small town near the woods. Everything seems fine until that night, when the protagonist hears a noise upstairs. Investigating with a flashlight, the protagonist finds an old attic and feels a feeling of dread that he/she has felt somewhere before. He/she looks into the room, and sees the doll staring at him/her. Frightened, the protagonist slams the door and runs, but the doll does nothing.
The next day, the protagonist goes antiquing and buys a small wooden box from a creepy man, with the key having his/her name engraved into it. The protagonist returns home, and the doll is waiting, fully animated and alive now, and begins pestering the protagonist.
Over the next few days, the doll continually scares and pesters the protagonist, waiting for him/her at night, eating his/her food, and generally stalking and psychologically torturing him/her. The song also says that the doll has the capability to eat a human whole, though this is never described or elaborated on.
One night, the protagonist gets up to make some tea, and the doll follows him/her and mocks them. Deciding that he/she has had enough, the protagonist locks the doll in the antique box and throws both it and the rest of his/her money into the fireplace.
The song then says "As the smoke fills up your tiny room, there's nothing you can do. Far too late you see the one inside the box is you." This can be interpreted as: the doll and the protagonist switched places and the protagonist is burning to death; the box is figurative and the protagonist feels trapped; or both the protagonist and the doll perished in flames, with the fire spreading across the entire home.
Personality
While more tricky and mischievous than outright deadly, the doll is still very threatening, with its constant tricks and annoyances wearing down the psychological health of its victims. It is unknown why the doll acts this way or even how it became possessed/alive in the first place.
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