While trembling windows, blinking lights, squeaky noises, and flying furniture might make you regret not having an exorcist on speed dial, nothing screams horror like a demonic doll. Little faces, eerily crooked smiles, lifeless eyes, and porcelain skin—it’s almost a cruel irony how something so graceful and cute can feel and become such a menace.

Imagine the rag doll that you hug to sleep every night, or the teddy that your lover gave you on Valentine’s Day, simply blinking at you one night (let alone talking or moving)? Can’t speak for anybody else, but I would faint.

As a pragmatist, I’m not too fond of certain kinds of horrors, especially the ones where the lead(s) go around investigating strange noises—I mean, why would you do that? If it were me, I’d just pretend to sleep and wait for the morning or sudden death. But, there’s just something about a horror involving a possessed doll. These horror stories are not only extremely frightening, but I’m a sucker for the lore and legends that are usually associated with these relics.

In this article, we’re talking about the scariest dolls in horror movies that have their own demonic journey.

The 7 Scariest Dolls in Horror Movies

1. Annabelle from Annabelle

AnnabelleCredit: Warner Bros. Pictures

One of the most infamous possessed demonic dolls is the Annabelle doll, which became a centerpiece of the Conjuring universe and the Annabelle series. While the existence of the doll is very much real, the stories about its paranormality are not proven facts. The doll’s journey is believed to begin in the early 1970s, when a 28-year-old nurse, Donna, receives it as a gift from her mother. Shortly after bringing it home, she and her roommate began experiencing unexplainable phenomena: the doll was moving on its own all over the house and leaving them handwritten notes.

On consulting a spiritual investigator, they are informed that a poor child’s spirit, Annabelle Higgins, who died on the property years ago, is possessing the doll. Feeling pity, the two roommates grant the spirit permission to stay with them, inside the doll, only to thoroughly regret their decision shortly after. Ultimately, the doll is taken away by famed paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, to be kept away safely in their occult museum. They claim that the doll wasn’t possessed by a child’s spirit, but by an inhuman, malevolent force, which was manipulating the roommates, seeking a human host.

The Annabelle doll, reimagined as a porcelain doll, unlike the real Raggedy Ann doll, made its first appearance in The Conjuring (2013).

2. Chucky from Child’s Play

Child’s PlayCredit: MGM/UA Communications Co

Red hair, chubby cheeks, bulging sky-blue eyes—if you’ve not watched this doll in action, consider yourself lucky, because he will give you nightmares for days! Inspired by the popular dolls of the 1980s, Don Mancini and Tom Holland’s concept of a doll that kills in Child’s Play (1988) was meticulously designed to embody both innocence and unsettling menace.

Chucky is born when Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif), a malicious serial killer, transfers his soul into a “Good Guy” doll using a voodoo ritual moments before his death.

The doll is then inadvertently purchased for young Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent), making the child both custodian and first target of the demonic doll. While Chucky’s journey started as a possessed doll, the 2019 reboot reimagined him as a high-tech ‘Buddi” doll, gone rogue after its safety protocols are disabled. Whether possessed or glitching, Chucky’s core is built with malice under its guise of innocence.

3. Billy the Puppet from Saw

SawCredit: Lionsgate

This evil puppet is not possessed, nor does it have any supernatural powers. To be frank, it doesn’t even kill, but his mere sight will send a chill down your spine.

Billy the Puppet (voiced by Tobin Bell) is created by John “Jigsaw” Kramer (Tobin Bell), the primary antagonist of the Saw franchise, as a response to his trauma of losing his unborn child. According to the story, Kramer had originally crafted a puppet similar to Billy as a gift for his unborn child, but Kramer’s wife, Jill, had a tragic miscarriage, and they lost the baby. Struck by grief and anger, Kramer sets out on a killing spree and makes a puppet to be his messenger of death. An eerie grin on his blood-red lips, blood-red bulging eyes, and red spirals on his cheeks—Billy simply haunts with his mere presence.

4. Clown Doll from Poltergeist

Clown DollCredit: MGM/UA Entertainment Company

Although the Clown Doll is not the primary antagonist of Poltergeist (1982), you don’t need to be the Warrens to know at first sight that that doll is up to no good. It suddenly makes an appearance in Robbie Freeling’s bedroom: creepy but seemingly harmless, so little Robbie is allowed to keep it. The audacity! Not too long after, the doll transforms into an instrument of terror, nearly killing little Robbie in one of the climactic moments of the film (which still remains an iconic scene).

I guess Phil Dunphy (Modern Family) was right after all to be terrified of clowns!

5. Brahms’ Doll from The Boy

The BoyCredit: STX Entertainment

One of the deadliest exploitations of parental grief and guilt, The Boy (2016) is terrifying and heartbreaking at the same time. Brahms, the doll, is a life-sized porcelain doll created by the Heelshire family in the exact image of their 8-year-old son, Brahms, who died in a mysterious fire (or so they thought).
The Heelshires believed that their son was living inside this doll, and they cared for it as if it were alive, but the real Brahms wasn’t dead and was living secretly within the family mansion. Brahms, the doll, wasn’t possessed and didn’t have any supernatural powers—it was simply being manipulated by the now adult Brahms (James Russel), who uses the doll to act out his will and punish individuals who don’t align with his will.

What makes the horror crawl into your skin is the ever-present innocence on the face of this beautiful boy doll.

6. Lilith aka Lily from Finders Keepers

Finders KeepersCredit: Circus Road Films

The central conduit in Finders Keepers (2014), Lily is discovered by young Claire (Kylie Rogers) after she moves into a new home with her mother. It’s surprising to me how a little girl gets obsessed with such a grisly, terrifying-looking doll, but yes, Carla keeps it, unaware that Lily is basically a malignant force of evil. Her influence steadily changes Carla, who becomes increasingly physically and emotionally bound to Lily.

Lily seems to be a variation of a Guatemalan worry doll, which is like a talisman, meant to absorb a child’s anxieties according to folklore. But the movie subverts Lily’s role in Carla’s life to do the exact opposite—her power ensnares rather than heals, corrupting the little girl to her core. A doll that literally sucks joy and life out of you? No! Please keep that Barbie away from me!

7. M3GAN from M3GAN

M3GANCredit: Universal Pictures

Every time I watch M3GAN, I can’t help but think that, if our future were to look like this, robots that cohabitate with humans go rogue, did they go wrong, or was it us all along?

M3GAN (Jenna Davis) is a life-sized AI doll-like robot, created to be a companion and babysitter to a recently orphaned child, Cady (Violet McGraw), as she goes to live with her aunt after her parents are killed in a car crash. Her aunt Gemma (Allison Williams), a robotics scientist, is too busy with work and has assigned M3GAN to look after her niece. She is finally relieved that she is in good hands in her absence. Or so she thought!

Soon, M3GAN and the little girl are inseparable, and M3GAN grows dangerously possessive of her friend to the extent that she begins killing both humans and animals to eliminate even the slightest threats to Cady. By the time Gemma realizes what is happening, love has turned the machine into a monster (the irony!).

These are some of the scariest dolls, with the most interesting origin stories that Hollywood has created! There are many more! Do let us know if you’d like part 2!

Did your favorite scary doll make it to this list?