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Dollface: The Awakening

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Mr. Smyles loves being a toy maker, but one toy he has designed holds a sinister meaning to him. Her name is Dollface. With special ingredients, Mr. Smyles crafts his dream doll using silicone and the skin of his victims. Now, Dollface is awake, and she’s ready to show him what it means to be a toy.

Dollface: The Awakening is a prequel in RJ Powell's series, The Dollhouse Collection.

82 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2026

25 people want to read

About the author

Ryan J. Powell

18 books227 followers

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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
Profile Image for Steph's_Creepy _Reads.
309 reviews86 followers
February 26, 2026
I didn't know how much I needed this in my life until I read it.
I always wanted the origin story of Dolly and how and why she came to be.
This scratched every itch in my brain.
I loved this. The gore, revenge and sharpness of the plot was brilliant.
Profile Image for Alex.
333 reviews12 followers
February 26, 2026
This is the prequel entry in the "Dollface" series, and it's another brutal but fantastic tale by RJ Powell!

Personally, I've always wondered where the Dolly character originally came from and how she received her 'magic.' I was satisfied with the explanation and I'm sure you won't be disappointed either!

Once again, the violence and gore is not held back. The author has a way of writing it so well that can make you physically uncomfortable, but also having a fun time along with our main character.

I absolutely love Dolly and her mindset to help others and take vengeance on the horrible people who deserve it. I find myself always cheering for her!

The ending is perfect and the way it connects to the first book of the saga could not have been told better.

Nasty and vile but entertaining and fun!

4/5

Oh, and no spaghetti for me for awhile!
Profile Image for JRo Splatter Shelf.
25 reviews4 followers
February 21, 2026
Want to hate the adults more in the Dollhouse Collection?

Well then do I have the origin story for you!

We learn about how the dolls are created, why, and the sickening ways they come to life!

RJ ruins another food for and left me saying WTF in a couple spots making my wife ask me if I was OK.

If you think Papa was loathsome I’m Dollface wait until you meet Mr. Smyles. Don’t worry you’ll hate Papa more than ever before this is over.


As for Dolly, she is a bad bish!

I think reading this book last was the play for me, but reading it first then going through Dollface to Puppet to Dolly&Pip would be a hell of a ride! You make your own choice, but be warned, this series hits hard!!!
Profile Image for Dani-Lynn Harris.
Author 4 books10 followers
March 1, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓮
🌶️ - 𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓬𝓮
🔥🔥🔥 - 𝓹𝓵𝓸𝓽
🩸🩸🩸 - 𝓰𝓸𝓻𝓮

🖤 𝓶𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼🖤
Dolly and Mr. Smyles

🖤 𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓼🖤
📕genital mutilation
📕forced self-cannibalism
📕desecration of a corpse
📕soul possession
📕ped0philia

🖤 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀🖤
Ah! I love a good origin story and Dollface: The Awakening did NOT disappoint. It was still full of the oory gooey disturbing visuals and sickening revenge on someone who clearly deserves to go through such atrocious activities. Dolly is our main focus and I love that we get to find out who she was before this disaster happened. A heart-warmer in the extreme horror world.

*spoilers*

Mr. Smyles is a downright disgusting individual with a fixation on putting his genitals inside something soulless. When introduced to him, he's already mutilating into a lifeless victim, desecrating the corpse. And let me tell you. Powell didn't hold back on the details.

Well, in the words of his father who told him to hide his discrepancies with business, he decides to make dolls for the sick and twisted. Not just ordinary dolls. But ones with souls. Dolls that couldn't fight back when being used intimately. Dolls that look like children.

But when this soul starts to recover her own memories, she immediately starts to fight back. And her revenge is a dish best served excruciatingly. Until the end, when she finds out that once she's used up her powers of life, she returns to being a doll until a child gives up something of theirs to her. At the end, the range of dolls are discovered with her being outside a box. A man takes her home and introduces himself as Papa.

This book fits on with the rest of the series perfectly, as we get to find out a little more about who dolly used to be and how she became the murderous dolly she is now. It's paced perfectly and pleasantly as the bad guy always goes through horrendous ordeals. A satisfying treat of vengeance.
Profile Image for Andrew Wilkes.
104 reviews1 follower
March 3, 2026
This series was one of the first that got me into really extreme stories, and this one did not disappoint! It really is a shame what happened to the poor girl in this story at the disgusting hands of Mr. Smyles, but, the revenge/torture was rather satisfying. RJ always knows how to gross out your imagination while keeping your attention, and the mental imagery in these pages was rather hardcore, to say the least. I am a huge splatter, and extreme horror fan, now, and I always appreciate some good, old fashioned genital torture, and mutilated, when it is well deserved, and this author never fails to write some of the most fucked up types imaginable, and I love it! This had a great way of tying into the rest of the series without being too on your face about it, and the end has a smooth transition into stories that follow. Dolly is a badass! I highly recommend this story, and entire series!
5🍒/5
Profile Image for Jolene.
116 reviews12 followers
February 26, 2026
Dollface: The Awakening and let me tell you — this prequel hits like a scalpel to your moral compass.

Mr. Smyles, obsessed, vile, playing god in his rancid little workshop, curating his “perfect” doll. He thinks he’s in control. He is profoundly, deliciously not.
Dollface comes alive, and everything shifts. Watching her turn the tables? Glorious. Beautiful. Terrifying.
Mr. Smyles’ arrogance? Pulverized.

This is grimy, sharp, origin-story extreme horror at its finest. It sets the stage for everything you love about the series while delivering a new kind of teeth-and-claws satisfaction. Dolly isn’t just a doll. She’s vengeance. She’s awareness. She’s chaos made perfect.
He made her.
Big mistake.
✂️🩸🍝
Profile Image for Roberta Kime.
133 reviews8 followers
February 27, 2026
This was a crazy read! It’s the prequel to the “DollFace” series of how Dolly came to be! It is sickening, entertaining and gory AF. I am new to the genre of extreme horror so some parts were quite shocking to me, but that didn’t deter me…if anything, it put me out of my comfort zone in a good way!

I loved how vengeance was served as spaghetti with a side of “mushrooms” 🍝 in all its gory splendour!

This is not for the faint hearted, please remember to check your trigger warnings before going into this book- it covers some very dark and taboo topics!
Profile Image for Christopher Steele.
Author 13 books22 followers
February 26, 2026
The Prequel for Dollface was an amazing way to build Dolly's back story. The gore and extreme is there like the others while also offering up answers to her origin. Love the way it end, tying it into the first story with Papa.
R.J Powell is not for the faint of heart. With each new addition to her universe, she shows just how talented she is at slinging gore that hooks you.
Profile Image for Laura.
1 review
February 25, 2026
I liked it a lot, or rather, I LOVED it
Dolly's origin reminds me of those horror movies, for example, the origin of Chucky.
But it's totally worth it, it's better than I thought.
Many thanks to this wonderful writer for giving us this origin ♡♡♡♡
Profile Image for Pearl.
115 reviews30 followers
February 28, 2026
I lovee how the story ended, it's a short but very intense story, a prequel to Dollface.
I enjoyed watching her come to life and destroy Mr Smyles. 😌 R.J Powell didn't shy away from the gruesome horror and gore in this book.
Horror is political. 🙂‍↕️
Thankyou to the author for the e-ARC. ❤️
Profile Image for Lisa van Dam.
22 reviews
March 6, 2026
This is an amazing beginning of Dolly, and i love it. I needed this bcs i wanted to know how “papa” got Dolly. And now we know.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Oliver Behegan.
106 reviews1 follower
March 10, 2026
A quick, grubby and nasty little read. all in a good way, obviously.
Profile Image for Bee.
141 reviews15 followers
March 11, 2026
If there's one thing I love more than a woman getting revenge on an evil man, it's an origin story of the evil man and why he is the way he is.

absolute banger of a prequel.
Profile Image for Rayven.
63 reviews2 followers
March 11, 2026
this was a great prequel to dollfaces story, what i loved about this you knew at the end what comes after..
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews

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