Stage 89 - The Faceless Dolls of Herr Grimmel

Once upon a time, in a village on the edge of a deep, forbidden forest, there lived a toymaker named Herr Grimmel. His shop, Six of One, Half a Dozen Other was famed far and wide, not for its trinkets, toys or wooden carvings, but for the dolls that stood in rows along the shelves. These dolls were unlike the dolls sold in other shops, with smooth, featureless faces and simple, unadorned clothing. Despite their plainness—or perhaps because of it—the villagers found themselves oddly drawn to them. People from as far away as London would take the day's train ride to the small village just to purchase one of these dolls for their spoiled child.

“Give it time,” Herr Grimmel would say with a sly smile as he sold the dolls to eager, selfish children and their indulgent parents. “It will become what you desire most.” Children and their parents never understood what that meant but they felt that it had to be something good. Perhaps it was a line that Herr would say to all of his customers when he sold them their wares.

Many left his shop clutching faceless dolls, charmed by the idea that these strange playthings would somehow become special. A friend, a brother, an eternal playmate. Just theirs of course and at such a low price, it was practically a steal.

Herr's words proved true, in a sense. Over time, the dolls began to change. Slowly, subtly, they took on the features of their owners—first a pair of button eyes, then a nose, then the faintest curve of a smile. At first, the villagers marveled at the transformation. Children adored their dolls, delighted by how closely they mirrored their own appearances. From their long dark hair to their rosy cheeks, to even small things that made every child unique like a crooked smile, a strange color to their eyes, a birthmark the toymaker could not possibly know.

It seemed charming. A tale of vanity and pride, and how that which these children loved most was themselves just as the toymaker suggested. But strange, terrible things began to happen.

A young girl named Marta was the first to notice. One day, her doll—a spindly thing she had named Annika who had taken on the girl's ringlets of golden curls and the thick glasses she wore over her big, grey eyes—appeared at the kitchen table with its tiny hands resting on a spilled jar of honey. Marta’s mother scolded Marta for being careless, but Marta was sure she had left Annika in her room. Another boy, Klaus, who swore he saw his freckle-faced doll crouching beside the pantry one morning, though when his parents arrived, the doll was sitting innocently in its usual place.

The mischief grew worse. Buckets tipped over, windows were left open during storms, and plates shattered mysteriously on the floor. Each time, the children blamed the dolls, but there was never any proof. Just children unwilling to take the blame for their misdeeds. The dolls always seemed to return to their shelves or beds, as still and silent as the day they were bought.

As time went on, the dolls grew more lifelike. Their features sharpened, their smiles widened, and their eyes—painted but unsettlingly bright—seemed to follow their owners. And always, always, the mischief escalated. Accidents, like falls down flights of stairs, trees falling over and crashing down on homesteads in the dead of night. Terrible accidents that could easily be accounted for as terrible, tragic even, luck.

One night, Marta woke to the sound of whispering. She opened her eyes and saw her doll, Annika, standing at the foot of her bed. Its painted face now looked exactly like hers, down to the small scar on her cheek from a fall Marta had recently suffered. Its tiny mouth was moving, though Marta couldn’t hear the words.

Terrified, Marta threw a blanket over the doll and ran to her parents, but by the time they returned, Annika was back in its place, its face blank and smooth once more.

“It’s just your imagination,” her parents said. But Marta knew better.

Soon after, strange rumors began to spread through the village. Klaus had disappeared, leaving behind only his doll, which now looked eerily alive. Another girl’s family claimed she had fallen into a deep sleep, her doll sitting beside her, grinning with her very own face. Fear gripped the villagers, but no one dared confront Herr Grimmel.

One brave boy, Jakob, decided to uncover the truth. Late one night, he snuck into Herr Grimmel’s workshop. The toymaker was not there, but the shelves were lined with dozens of dolls, each one with a face—human faces, bright and cruel, all grinning wickedly in the candlelight. In the corner, Jakob found an empty cradle, its wooden frame engraved with strange, twisting symbols.

As he turned to leave, Jakob heard a faint rustling behind him. When he looked back, the dolls were no longer on the shelves. They stood in a semicircle around the cradle, their painted eyes fixed on him, their smiles wider than before.

Jakob fled the shop, but he was never the same after that night. The next morning, Herr Grimmel’s shop was gone, leaving behind nothing but an empty lot.

The village, though relieved, was left with the haunting memory of the toymaker and his faceless dolls. Some claimed to see them still, peeking out from the forest edge, waiting for someone to look away.

And it is said that if you come across a doll with no face, you must never turn your back on it. For if you do, it may one day wear your face—and your life—forever.If they wanted you to see them, Avis, it’s because they’re not done. They never stop. And now…” His words trailed off, but his meaning was clear. Now they might want you too.

Long ago, in a small, quiet village at the edge of a dark forest, there lived a toymaker named Herr Grimmel. His workshop was filled with wonders—intricate wooden trains, delicate clockwork animals, and, most of all, dolls. But Herr Grimmel’s dolls were unlike any others. They began as blank slates, faceless and featureless, but over time, these dolls would grow to resemble their child owners.

No one could explain how it happened. Perhaps it was the quality of the wood, or some enchantment in the lacquer. Whatever the cause, villagers flocked to Herr Grimmel’s shop to buy these extraordinary dolls, marveling at how they slowly transformed, taking on the hair, eyes, and smiles of the children who owned them. A reflection of the one their parents with the coin loved most, the change was seen as complementary rather than eerie or strange. It was as if the children had a sibling of their own, someone to play with and love that resembled them. It made the otherness of being different hurt a little less and parents embraced these wonders.

But Herr Grimmel was a strange man, secretive and quiet. He never married. He never had any children. He claimed that he was never lonely with so many friends at his side forever more. Many thought it was odd that he expressed such affection for the crafts that he sold, but a man had every right to be odd as long as he was not cruel. As long as Herr Grimmel's wares remained cheap the villagers had no qualms with the reclusive old man even if he was a bit unusual. Herr's creations brought joy to many, but some whispered that his dolls were unnatural, and that his prices were far too low for craftsmanship so fine. A few villagers even claimed to hear soft whispers in the night, as though the dolls were alive.

One cold autumn day, a poor girl named Lena wandered into the shop. Her grey dress was patched, her shoes scuffed, and her cheeks smudged with soot from tending her family’s fire. Herr Grimmel’s dolls filled her with awe, their lifelike features and intricate clothes making her forget, for a moment, how hungry she was.

Herr Grimmel noticed her staring and smiled. “You’ve a kind soul, child,” he said, his voice as smooth as oil. He knew that Lena did not enter this shop of frivolity at their parent's bidding, nor did she have the coin to afford his wonders. She was looking for a hand out. Slipping away from her duties, if just for a short time while her parents continued to toil but he said none of that. “And kind souls deserve kindness in return,” he announced.

From a shelf, he took a doll. It was small and blank, its smooth face devoid of features, its body clothed in plain gray fabric that was like her own. It should have been eerie, but something about it called to Lena.

“It’s yours,” Herr Grimmel said. “A gift.” No cost, not even a penny from the child's tattered garb. An act of kind charity towards a child that had no business in the store.

Overwhelmed, Lena thanked him and hurried home, clutching the doll tightly in har dry, calloused hands.

At first, the doll seemed ordinary. Lena named the doll Clara and kept it close, whispering her dreams and fears into her small proxy at night. She often dreamt of a warm hearth and a full belly, feared the winters and that her mother might grow ill. Her father worked the fields, toiling in the soil in hopes of earth's bounty but an inclimate season could prove ruinous to the small, impoverished family. She dreamed of a good harvest and of prosperity. She did not want to live the life she was given, one that would mark her from birth as being barely more than the earth her family tilled. After a few days, something strange began to happen. A faint outline appeared on the doll’s face—a suggestion of eyes and a mouth, so faint it was almost a trick of the light. Clara was changing.

Lena was delighted. She brushed the doll’s hair that seemed to resemble her own long, dark locks, sewed the doll tiny clothes that were finer than her own, and shared every waking moment with it. She was in a lot of ways living vicariously though the doll, calling the doll 'Lady Clara' rather than simply Clara. Day by day, the doll’s features grew clearer, more defined. The eyes took on Lena’s own shape, the color a bright green that seemed to sparkle with like. The doll's mouth curved into her smile, and soon, the doll looked unmistakably like her. The rosy cheeks, the slightly round face, even the small gap between her front teeth seemed to be reflected in the doll.

But with each new detail, Lena began to feel… different. Her limbs felt heavy, her reflection in the mirror seemed duller, and she tired more easily. At first, she thought it was nothing. But the doll, now unmistakably vibrant and lifelike, filled her with unease. Its painted eyes gleamed as though they were truly watching her.

One night, Lena woke to find Clara sitting upright on the table across the room. She was sure she had left it in her toy chest. She shivered but said nothing, pushing the thought aside. She had not been feeling well, she had forgotten that she had moved Clara surely.

The next morning, Lena’s mother remarked that Clara looked remarkably like her now, even more so than the day before. But Lena looked pale, almost ill. The doll seemed to glow with life while Lena seemed to fade.

Then, Clara began to move. Small things at first—turning its head, shifting its limbs—but soon it was standing beside Lena’s bed in the dead of night, its painted lips curling into an all-too-familiar smile.

Terrified, Lena ran to Herr Grimmel’s shop. “The doll,” she stammered. “Clara—she’s alive! She’s trying to… to take something from me!” She did not know how to explain it. How the doll seemed to be alive and how she felt like she was slowly dying.

Herr Grimmel’s smile was thin and knowing. “Ah, my dear, you’ve discovered their nature,” he said calmly. “The dolls are made to reflect their owners. But reflection requires something to be taken.”

She had finally realized the truth, but it was too late for her. Lena stared at him in horror. “She’s taking me?”

Herr Grimmel’s eyes gleamed. “Only as much as you give, child. It is the way of all things. What is given willingly cannot be reclaimed.”

Lena fled the shop, but it was too late. If she had realized sooner, then perhaps she could have escaped. That night, Clara stood by her bed, fully alive, her face now indistinguishable from Lena’s. The doll’s painted hand reached out, and Lena felt the last piece of herself slip away.

The next morning, Clara woke in Lena’s bed, bright-eyed and cheerful, while Lena herself was nowhere to be found.

The villagers noticed Clara’s sudden vibrancy and remarked on Lena's good fortune, the doll now a perfect replica of her former owner. But some villagers said they saw another figure, pale and featureless, wandering the edges of the forest. It looked like a doll—blank and lifeless—clutching a single gray dress in its wooden hands. Some believed it to be a specter, those that recognized something in that featureless being said it was Lena or Clara, not sure which was real and which was the lie any longer.

And Herr Grimmel? He was already preparing a new batch of faceless dolls for his next customers, each waiting to claim a new life.