In my basement right now is one of those old plastic pink-and-white dollhouses, the one every playroom seemed to have growing up. It belonged to my sisters. Now, it belongs to the dark cellar, where I assumed it would remain forever in the way certain items become consumed by basements. But clearly my imagination has been lacking, because one woman has been bringing new life to those childhood relics. And she’s doing it by adding a major death vibe to them. This artist has been buying those old playthings at thrift stores and transforming them into incredible Gothic horror mansions.
And we’ve never wanted a “toy” more.
Samantha Browning
Artist Samantha Browning (whose work we first learned about at Bored Panda) watched videos of a woman spray-painting a wooden dollhouse black. They inspired her to make some incredible pieces of her own. Browning has been buying old plastic dollhouses at thrift stores for as little as $1 and transforming some of them with matte black and acrylic spray paint.
The result are the kinds of homes that would inspire the next season of The Haunting of Bly Manor.
Samantha Browning
Work on one piece takes the world’s coolest mom anywhere from five to ten hours. For some she adds extra details and touches, especially the dollhouses that have more features built in to them. Those creepy little additions give the mansions a kinetic energy.
The kind of energy a two-hundred-year old ghost can bring.
Samantha Browning
Not every house is black, though. But even her “lighter” ones give off a scary, unsettling vibe in the best way.
Samantha Browning
Obviously, Browning could sell these for a considerable profit. We know because we’d pay a lot for them. Even the most “expensive” thrift store dollhouses, which cost her $25, are worth much more now. They have value both as a work of art or a toy for all the little goths out there. But as of now she has no plans to sell them.
In the meantime, we can at least enjoy even more of her haunted homes at her Facebook page. That includes one house where she gave a certain famous doll a profession Mattel would not approve of.
Samantha Browning
I always thought my sister’s old plastic pink-and-white dollhouse would become a creepy part of my house. Now I want it to become a creepy home itself.
Featured Image: Samantha Browning