Dolls are already the stuff of nightmares if you look at them long enough. Arrange a small patch of your yard as a tiny, decaying burial ground, but instead of stones, the grave markers are old, mutilated dolls. To pull this off, hit thrift stores and garage sales for porcelain dolls, baby dolls, and anything with unblinking eyes. Go ahead and “distress” them—buy, don’t break your own, but paint over their faces with pale white and gray, draw dark cracks on their cheeks, mess up their hair, and most importantly, remove or rotate the eyes in an unnatural way. If a doll has an eye missing, even better. Bury each doll up to its neck in dirt, or place them in a circle with their bodies emerging from the ground like they are clawing their way out. You can also lay them flat in small, open cardboard coffins covered in moss and dry leaves.
Add small, crudely painted signs that say words like “Forgotten,” “Betrayed,” or “Never Alone.” For extra terror, place a baby monitor hidden in the dirt nearby and play a low, intermittent recording of a child’s giggle or a lullaby played backward. The dolls’ glassy stare will feel like it is following guests. And here is a pro trick: pour some glowing paint on their eyes, or install small LED dots where their pupils should be. That will make the entire yard seem alive in the dark. The Abandoned Doll Graveyard is terrifying because it feels personal—like a memory of a childhood that went wrong, and a warning to anyone who comes close.
—