Welcome to the Doll House - How Monster High Took Over My Life

Howdy, friends. I’m switching gears this time around. 

I want to talk about one of my favorite things - Monster High dolls.

Vampire doll wearing pink and black gothic outfit

Image Source: Monster High Wiki

When Monster High launched in 2010, I was 12 years old. I’ve always loved dolls and Barbie was my bread and butter. But as a lifelong goth, I was always vigilantly searching for something a little darker to no avail. Then they came out - Frankie Stein, Draculaura, Cleo de Nile, Clawdeen Wolf, and all the other ghouls. And you know what?

I hated the way they looked. 

I was gifted a Clawdeen Wolf doll that I later sold at a garage sale in my mid teens (how foolish of me). Her unnaturally contorted torso that was horrifically thin gave me the creeps in a bad way. I didn’t find her, or any of the other G1 dolls, to be particularly fashionable or chic. To be honest, I was never a fan of how the G1 dolls were dressed. My mother is a very traditional woman, so maybe I had a little too much practicality for a pre teen? Either way, I disliked these dolls and promptly ignored them. I thought the official artwork for them was strange and not aesthetically pleasing in the slightest. 

Until last year. My lord, 2023 brought us the Barbie movie and a new addiction. For years, I ignored dolls in favor of feeling more adult. What kind of 20-something has a doll collection? What a weirdo. I would stare longingly at the doll aisles in Target but keep moving after a few seconds. Adults didn’t buy dolls; those are for kids.

And boy was I wrong. Being an adult is indulging in whatever makes you happy without worrying what other people think. And you know what? I know so many people who collect dolls. And they’re all my age or older. Hell, I know people in their 50s and 60s who still collect dolls. All my preconceived notions of an adult doll collector were quickly washed away one evening when, after a viewing of Barbie in theaters, my friend and I visited the Target next door on a mission to buy a little Barbie doll just to commemorate the occasion. 

Here’s where my addiction starts. We wander around the store and land in the Rainbow High and Monster High aisle. The Barbies weren’t scratching the itch we had - they were too much like us.

Then we saw them - dolls of different shapes and sizes in all colors of the rainbow. The Rainbow Highs were a little odd looking at first, the L.O.L. dolls were just a little too childish at first, but the Monster High dolls were beautiful in a new way. They looked nothing like they did when I was a pre teen, and since I had been ignoring dolls for years, I never realized they had changed the look and branding. 

Since pink is my favorite color, I naturally gravitated towards Draculaura - pinky goth vampire girl with a really weird pet. Is he a bat? Is he a cat? Both at the same time? It didn’t matter - I knew who I was purchasing. And for about $25, it wasn’t a crazy expensive purchase. And who can put a price on happiness? My friend chose Abbey Bominable, a tall yeti girl who had the biggest body I’d seen on a doll. 

I put Draculaura in my bag, and took her home in the late evening, excited to open her the next day and see what she was all about. I didn’t feel any buyer’s remorse - I knew I’d picked something amazing. And this was the start of an addiction. And I find that now, I really appreciate the look of the older dolls.

Oh, and the best part? I had Dragula by Rob Zombie stuck in my head the entire 30 minute drive home. 🤦‍♀️

See you soon!