Daughter’s attempt to get rid of ‘creepy’ china doll uncovered after toy goes viral

‘Horrifying’ human-like toy gained attention on social media but all for the wrong reasons

A woman, who tried to secretly give away her mother’s “creepy” china doll, was caught when the spooky toy went viral.
Nathalie Ramirez, 51, had long disliked the “horrifying” doll, which had been owned by her 74-year-old mother, Angela Henderson, for 12 years.
Her opportunity to get rid of it came when Mrs Henderson, a keen doll collector, decided to move from the family home in Oxgangs, Edinburgh, to Tobermory, on the Isle of Mull, to live with Ms Ramirez.
While boxing up her mother’s 100-strong doll collection ahead of the move, Ms Ramirez slipped the doll, originally named Hannah, into a box destined for the St Columba’s charity shop in the suburb of Morningside.
“I always thought it was horrifying and that she would never notice if I just stuffed it in a box,” she told BBC Scotland News.
“St Columba’s came round to take stuff off to the shop and the doll was in the first box I gave to the guy. But I did think whoever opened it, I would give them a heart attack.”
Once displayed in the shop window, the doll soon started to attract attention on social media – but for all the wrong reasons.
Manager Simone Varga said she “wondered if the doll would come alive” before it was sold.
“When I opened the box I saw its creepy long legs and real shoes, and then saw its eyes had pupils and its nails had the white bits on it. I thought it looked very human,” she said.
So unpopular did the red-haired Ashton-Drake Galleries doll prove with customers that Ms Varga was forced to halve its price from £180 to £90 and display it with a sign insisting, “I am not creepy”.
“I thought I had managed to get away with it and the next thing is it is on the front page of the paper,” Ms Ramirez said.
She added: “Mum was initially quite annoyed. But I think now she is having to smile about it, but through gritted teeth.”
The doll was eventually bought by Deborah Davies, a celebrity psychic, for £200.
Ms Davies said she planned to keep the doll at home “under 24 hour surveillance” and speak to it as part of an “investigation”.
She believes it has a human soul attached to it and said it is the most special of her collection of 70 dolls, some of which cost as much as £10,000.