Toddlers From the Tomb
Can there be anything eerier than a reborn doll? How about one of Bean Shanine’s undead reborn dolls?… But what in holy heck are reborn dolls? For the benefit of the uninitiated, they’re vinyl, life-sized dolls, extensively customised to resemble a real infant as convincingly as possible. Some enthusiasts insist that they are simply works of art, as worthy of a collector’s interest as any other well-crafted curio. Yet many collectors choose to treat their reborn dolls as real babies, dressing, cuddling and even taking them for walks and attempting to feed them. Critics charge that this is distasteful, and the psychiatric community remains divided on whether it’s healthy, particularly in the case of mothers who’ve lost children or miscarried and then ‘adopt’ reborn dolls.
Being brutally frank, however, many unsympathetic observers simply think reborn dolls are downright creepy. Enter Bean Shanine, who decided that reborn dolls actually weren’t creepy enough, and resolved to do something about it… A couple of years back, in a moment of inspired madness, Bean decided she wanted a little vampire reborn doll.
After searching Ebay and Etsy in vain, she resolved to make one for herself, and
the Twisted Bean Stalk Nursery was born. Bean was soon fashioning her macabre creations for other keen adoptees, creating a whole range of bespoke undead dolls, from baby bloodsuckers to zombie tots. She insists that she isn’t morbid in the slightest, but has simply found a way of expressing herself artistically that brings pleasure to others.
If you’d like to adopt a doll from the Twisted Bean Stalk Nursery, the lengthy, labour-intensive production process means they aren’t cheap – prices start at over 600 dollars and upwards – but each one is unique, and there’s plenty of demand for Bean’s bizarre creations, so you may have to wait. For further info, check out her site here http://www.thetwistedbeanstalknursery.com/ We’re not quite sure what to make of them here at Alchemy – though they’d certainly make for interesting conversation pieces.
We can at least share Bean’s passion for all things vampiric – as evinced by our extensive range of undead-inspired designs – like our exquisite Evening with a Vampire wineglass [CWT43] or our dapper Immortal Kist cufflinks [CL7]. Not ideal christening gifts, perhaps, but do vampires even get christened?…
To buy Alchemy Vampire Inspired treasures, visit the link below to search for your local Alchemy Dealer…
www.alchemyengland.com/buy
The Alchemy Editorial Team
www.AlchemyEngland.com