Dangerous Dolls of Delaware

American Chillers #12

by Johnathan Rand

Old dolls unearthed after many years below ground slowly become alive! Brother and sister, Spencer and Serena, have become the keepers of their find... and must find a way to return the Dangerous Dolls ...who do not want to go back!

Genres: Horror, Middle Grade, Fantasy, Childrens, Mystery

163 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Christopher Wright is the author of dozens of horror fiction books for children and young adults. He writes under the pseudonyms Johnathan Rand and Christopher Knight. Almost all of Wright's books (save American Chillers) take place in his home state of Michigan.

Reviews

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Johnathan Rand treads closer than usual to R.L. Stine's domain with Dangerous Dolls of Delaware. Slappy the ventriloquist dummy is the signature villain of Stine's Goosebumps series, and this novel features a similar antagonist. In a forested part of Camden, Delaware, twelve-year-old Serena Boardman is helping her eleven-year-old brother Spencer dig up worms to fish with when they unearth a wooden box. Who buried something in this remote area? After prying open the lid, they find a pair of old children's dolls, a boy and a girl. Serena takes them home even though they give her an eerie feeling; she wants to find out if the dolls have value as collectibles. Soon, she'll wish she left them in the ground.

An antiques dealer directs Serena and her brother to Mrs. Kirwin, a collector who will better be able to appraise the dolls. Mrs. Kirwin's home looks like an oversize dollhouse, and she wears a costume to resemble a living doll. The effect is unsettling, but she's cordial toward Serena and Spencer...until they show her the two dolls. The quaint figures throw Mrs. Kirwin into a panic; she claims to have a dark history with them. Many years ago, according to her, a child's wish brought the dolls to life. They look like sweet playthings, but they prey on kids in order to animate their own plastic bodies to a greater extent. Serena and Spencer politely dismiss Mrs. Kirwin's story—she is obviously eccentric—but they feel uneasy. Could there be truth in her tale? Their concern is validated when the dolls ambush them at home alone, determined to finish what they started years ago and trade their lives for that of a human victim. Can Serena and Spencer close the Pandora's box they opened before they or Mrs. Kirwin are enslaved by the dolls?

"Sometimes...it is better if wishes don't come true. Nothing is truly free, and all dreams have a price."

—Mrs. Kirwin, Dangerous Dolls of Delaware, P. 152

Comparing this book to R.L. Stine's Night of the Living Dummy makes it obvious that Goosebumps is superior. That original novel about Slappy is more cleverly plotted and suspenseful than Dangerous Dolls of Delaware. Slappy is an almost infinitely better character than the dolls in this book; he oozes personality, whereas these dolls aren't even given names, they're just called the boy and the girl doll. There are flaws of logic surrounding the dolls' history with Mrs. Kirwin; even if you bend over backward to extend the benefit of the doubt, the discrepancies aren't reconcilable. The meta-reference on page one hundred fifty-six is mildly amusing, if less subtle than usual for Johnathan Rand. Dwayne Harris's cover art for the edition I read might be the creepiest to this point in the series, though the image doesn't match the story's description of the girl doll. Dangerous Dolls of Delaware is passably atmospheric, so I'll rate it one and a half stars, but there are better American Chillers. When you come across one, this is an entertaining series.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

YES I ENJOYED THE BOOK BECAUSE IT HAD A LOT OF SCARED PEOPLE AND IT IS FUNNY TO HERE PEOPLE BE SCARY.I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO LIKE SCARY STORES AND PEOPLE WHO LIKE KILLER DOLLS.AT FIRST I DID WANT TO BECAUSE IT WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT A BUNCH OF KIDS AND IT WAS BORING BUT WHEN IT GOT FURTHER,IT WAS GETTING BETTER AND I WAS REALLY LIKING.THE BEST PART OF THE BOOK WAS WHEN THE KID THOUGHT THAT THERE MOM WAS DEAD BUT THEY SEEN A NOTE AND IT SAID THAT SHE WHET TO GO TO THE STORE.I DIDN'T REALLY HAVE A EMOTIONAL BUT IF I DID IT WOULD BE HAPPY BECAUSE THAT BOOK WAS SO COOL.THERE WAS TWO MAIN CHARACTER ONE NAMED SPENCER BOARDMAN AND SERENA BOARDMAN SERENA TWELVE ANS SPENCER IS ELEVEN.IT WAS A DARK COLD DAY IN DELAWARE AND THE GROUND WAS WET IS JUST GOT DONE RAIN A PERFECT DAY FOR FISHING.

[Rylee/xxmoonwalkerxx · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was really good i liked it alot!

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off- yes I am 20 years old. Yes I did read this book for my own entertainment. BUT I had to reread it because when I was a kid I read it and it scared me to death. Like couldn’t sleep had nightmares refused to look at my dolls. That’s why it gets a solid 4 stars. I wanted to read it again so I could re-experience the story that really sparked my interest in horror, though I’m sad to say it didn’t scare me this time. I loved these books as a kid, it was fun to visit one of my favs from the past.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought a few of these American Chiller books when I saw a display of them a couple years ago and I’m finally reading one of them. The cover of the books is what drew me in and I liked that the titles had different states in the U.S.A. in them. I have a thing for creepy dolls so naturally I started with this book. On a sidenote, I bought a handful of creepy dolls once at an estate sale and I bought them home. I was real excited about my purchase, thinking I’d stage them around the house or outside and post pictures of them on social media, well…….that plan didn’t work. My husband saw them and he told me to get them out of the house. I didn’t think he was serious at first but he was – absolutely, dead serious! Dang! I found some people who loved creepy dolls and handed them off and now, I know my husband can’t handle creepy dolls.

What a great read! I have to say that for a children’s book, it really was a terrific read. I found that it was a fast-paced book with a handful of characters and a solid story. I liked that most of the chapters ended in a cliffhanger so that it pushed me to read the next chapter and it was hard to put the book down and do something else. Each chapter was only about 2 to 5 pages in length so I could commit to a short reading time slot, if I had to but with this story, I wanted to continue. The book wasn’t gory or difficult-to-read with complicated words or scenes that I had to configure inside my head. This book had an entertaining storyline that felt realistic and I could see myself in the shoes of one of the main characters, if I was only younger. Depending on the reader and their maturity level, I think a third grader could handle reading this book.

Spencer (11) and his sister Serena (12), were out digging for fishing worms for Spencer. Digging deeper, Serena’s shovel made a dull thud. Whatever was down there, it had been down there a long time. Hoisting the box out, they pried the lid off, and the siblings discover two ordinary-looking dolls. What a disappointment! This was no buried treasure but perhaps they might be able to sell the old dolls and make some money. That was the logic they used to take those old dolls home and this was their first big mistake.

You can imagine where this story is going as the siblings take the dolls home. Soon, the siblings begin to feel that the dolls are taking on a life of their own. They’re no longer the ordinary plain dolls that they pulled out of the muddy hole. No, these dolls are something else. Needing to get some information on these dolls, they locate a woman who knows a great deal about dolls including the two dolls that they should have left in the box, buried down in the dirt.

As this lady tells the story of the two dolls that the siblings have in their possession, I’m planning my own course of action as I felt the kids were too. Putting this plan into play became more difficult than anticipated though and the story becomes more exciting as the pages flew by. These were only dolls, right? Two dolls and two siblings, they should be able to get this under control quite quickly, right? The answer would be yes, if the dolls were just plain ordinary dolls but they’re not. They’ll need a calm day of fishing if they can ever get rid of these dolls. 5 stars

[Jarrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book that I read which was called "American Chillers Dolls of Delaware" written by Johnathan Rand was about two children who were digging in middle of the woods and they found two dolls in a box. The dolls eventually came alive and the kids had to put them back into the woods. I selected this book because I am interested in fiction books and this book appealed to me mostly because of the cover and I don't usually read often but this book was enjoyable.

Some aspects of this book that I liked were there was a lot of unexpected surprises that always left me wondering what would happen next. It was written very clearly thought out, leaving it hard to stop reading and when it ended, I wanted it to continue.

The only thing that frustrated me with this book was the first chapter. It wasn't nearly as detailed as the other chapters. The dolls coming to life was obviously an unrealistic aspect of this story but these books are meant to be unrealistic which made it still appealing.

I would give this book a five star rating because it was very interesting and detailed and it made me feel as if I was a character in this story as well. The use of imagery details really made me feel apart of the story. The book exceeded my expectations and I was greatly pleased with the outcome of this book.

[Brycen · Rating 5 out of 5]

dangerous dolls of Delaware by Jonathan rand is an amazing book about too kids that are fishing and look for some worms but dig up a box with to dolls in it; a boy and girl. they bring it back to their house when their parents then they began to move and attack them they find out their weakness is water from a lady who had those dolls when she was a little girl. but now she is turning into a doll from the dolls. the dolls have powers and are powerful will they be taken over by the dolls or not? find out to read this book. i recommend this book for all people.

[Wolverinefactor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I typed up a long review just for the app to crash and lose…

The premise of connected stories is fun but this story doesn’t feel like someone telling their tale. The meta aspect bear the end is cringe.

The next book sounds just too dumb that I’m thinking I’ll just stop now or it could be gloriously awful fun… I just don’t know…

This book was pretty bad, made little sense. Police showing up over some TP in a tree? Jesus take the wheel

[Jaida Mcnamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book because I like scary books and this book is VERY scary. This book was good because, every chapter leaves you of at a cliff hanger. This was the first american chillers book I have ever read. I did not think i would like these because the cover looks so kiddish but I did and I started loving them.

[Tarren Groce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very good very mysterious and exciting

[Michelle Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

First book of Rand I have read. Not bad.

[Tracy The Great · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it is a good book! I like it because it is chilling and after every chapter there was a cliff hanger which made me want to read more!

[Izzabell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book

[Danelle Our-Wolves-Den · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come from this read aloud

[Kenneth BLANCK · Rating 5 out of 5]

100% the most scareist book by Johnathan Rand

And if Mr. Rand is reading this, Please know that i was born in Michigan, and love the weather, and your one of my top 10 FAVROUT AUTHORS!

[Max Higgins]

This book is fucking scary as fucking shit and made me fucking terrified like a fucking fuck fuck fuck holy shit this fucking fuck fucked

[Teagan Gainforth · Rating 4 out of 5]

i loved this book it was scary fun and lt had you on a cliff hanger very chapter again awsome book you should read

[Justin Schafer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is for people who like horror books. A brother and sister find some creepy dolls in the woods and when the sun goes down and its time to go to bed things start getting scary for them and they need to fix it.

[Taylor Fedewa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dangerous Dolls of Delaware by Johnathan Rand is about Two kids Serena and Spencer. One day Serena and Spencer were digging in the woods and they found this old wood box. Inside of this box they found two very old dolls. The two kids did some research and found some lady that knew about these dolls. This lady had told them that since the dolls had been dug up they are now able to come alive! Now there families and them are in danger, to fix this they have rebury these dolls back in the forest. But it will not be easy. Can Serena and Spencer get the dolls buried, can they keep their families safe? This book would be for those people who like mystery and suspenseful books. This and most of Johnathan Rand's books you would like.

[Adeline S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading Johnathan Rand's books when I was younger, and thought I'd re-visit one last Halloween. They're wonderful little novels that take maybe thirty minutes to read. This one is about a girl and her brother who dig up a box of cursed dolls. They then, of course, come back to haunt them continuously. This one was very predictable and a little boring because of it. Rand started to slack a little after his first few books, but they're all still very good.

[Andrew Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a realy scary and deatailed with dolls and the life the caharecter is living in. This book contained a lot of scary cliff hangers and has impact on what you might think of dolls. The book gave me nightmares about dolls and such,I literaly wanted to stop reading but then it got really cool and adventure started to occur. this was a really cool and creepy book

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book a long time ago and do not really remember it. I don’t know what else to say about it besides that I recommend it to kids 8 and up (Maybe younger depends on the kid) and that everyone should read it. I may not remember this book to well but I know I did enjoy reading it.

[J.Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is one of the better American chillers it keeps you in suspence until you find out how it ends, these dolls are interesting because they interact with every thing that the heros think of .the heros have to think of a way to defeat the dolls befor it is to late!!!

[Tyler Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good book. It is about a brother and a sister that find an old box underground and when they open it two dolls were inside but what they didn't know is that the dolls are evil and come alive at night.

[TannerL2020 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very well written. The whole story was about dolls that were dug up. The dolls would come to live and torture 2 siblings. There is one weird/strange lady that helps. And in the end, the dolls are re buried.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one creeped me out. I really liked these books cause they are suspenseful and such an easy read you could have like two of them done in a day if you had the time.

[Myka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost didn't finish because it was so terifying.

[Fluffyrose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very scary, but just a little bit like chuckie.

[Chase · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought the book was really good. It was also very creepy. Now i am going to go read more american chillers

[Andrew Barash · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave this book 2 stars because I didnt really like this book.I didnt like this book because it was kind of short and in some parts it wasnt scary at all.