Glad to have a feature at the Mystery and Suspense Magazine website: “In the context of horror, puppet and dolls tend to fall into categories that connect with dread, alienation, and powerlessness. [. . .]

Surely not all puppets and dolls are demons. I looked forward to the journey to Make-Believe’s lively puppets in Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, and many episodes of the Muppets were not frightful at all, though I sometimes feared Mrs. Piggy might tear Kermit apart in her volatile rage, or that Gonzo might plunge his proboscis into some unwitting victim and deplete them of vital juices. Regardless of the horror, some puppets and dolls are examples of incredible artistry, and the subtlety of their movements achieved only by a lifetime of practice by dedicated puppeteers. Perhaps in that very compelling craft of human mimicry we perceive not only another life, but simultaneously discern an equally meaningful or unmeaningful life. Perhaps puppeteers wonder by what motions they too are moved while their puppets gaze at them with fixed grins and eyes that would not blink at the intelligence that stars explode, worlds burn, or people cry with faces puckering and crumpling while tendons pull and tug in a bundle of inscrutable nerves within.“
More at site!
https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/ho...