Goosebumps was a 90s childhood staple, telling terrifying tales and scarring many a child. R.L. Stine was known as the childhood master of horror. One story in particular that caused an uptick in nightmares was that of Night Of the Living Dummy, which told the story of Lindy and her new ventriloquist dummy named Slappy. However, her sister Kris became jealous of the attention her sister gets and was given a dummy of her own, Mr. Wood. Soon, strange things begin happening and the two sisters start to suspect that the dummy is alive. There would be two subsequent books focused around Slappy and his shenanigans, which were adapted for the TV show.
Nowadays, people find different avenues for chills and thrills. The internet and advancements in mobile technology make consuming media easier than ever. The app WEBTOON is a popular selection as it allows anybody to upload their stories in a format that's ideal for phones and tablets. Anyone can upload their own webcomic to WEBTOON CANVAS and even get paid from ads once certain criteria are met. This is where The Dummy's Dummy got its start.
Created by user Mochamura, the story follows young Yumi who has lost her beloved grandfather. Yumi's new adoptive mother Nora gives her a teddy bear she found in her antique shop to try and cheer Yumi up, but the poor thing has a nightmare about it coming to life and eating her. Her grandfather appears to her in the dream, telling her to check the basement before Yumi jolts awake from her nightmare. She's left alone for a little while as her step-mother needs to accept a large shipment to the store and the babysitter Lily is running a little late. Yumi assures Nora she'll be fine by herself for a little while, but as soon as she's alone, her teddy bear does indeed come to life and wants to eat her.
Yumi runs to the basement to find something to defend herself, following her grandfather's advice from the dream. While hiding, she remembers a time when she saw a creepy spirit, a gift both she and her grandfather shared. After thinking back on his encouraging words, Yumi finds new determination and as she searches, she finds a strange box with a dummy inside. When she touches the dummy, it comes to life, introducing himself as Paris. He quickly rips the attacking teddy to shreds and explains to Yumi that his creator made things that would make people happy, but they came to life and caused pain and death, so Paris was created to combat these creations. Thus began the partnership between the frightened little girl and the strange puppet as they hunt down the other creations that are beginning to come back around before they can hurt anyone else.
The idea of dummies, puppets, and dolls coming to life harkens back to the uncanny valley and the fear of things that look human, but with something off about them. Slappy the Dummy, the puppets from the movie Dead Silence, and Chucky feed into these fears and uncomfortable feelings. Top that off with man-eating teddy bears, shoes that make you dance to death, and other mundane items that cause pain and death and you have the making of a story that will definitely cause some chills.
The series was originally published on WEBTOON CANVAS but was picked up as an Original with updated art and a new upload schedule. As of writing, the new version has five episodes uploaded, and the CANVAS version is no longer available on WEBTOON but can be found on Graphite Comics to read, though it doesn't feature the updated art. On GC, there are 455 episodes of the first version available.
