A Little Bit Zombie, and a Little Bit Rock and Roll

I have a quart of mint-flavored fake blood and a snappily-dressed skeleton torso in my closet. The highlight of Thomas' night, last night, was finding a fake severed tongue for five bucks on ebay. We're not exactly normal people.

(I assure you, we're perfectly nice. Okay, maybe not perfectly, but nice. We're definitely nice. Just odd.)

Photo Credit: Mattel

So, a couple of years ago, we ran across this rag doll in a new collection called Monster High, we had to pick one up for our niece (she's not normal, either. She's just plain awesome). Niece went nuts for it, and even went as Frankie Stein for Halloween last year. Now, since she enjoys the brand so much, I tend to keep my eyes peeled for anything new and cool, especially with her birthday creeping closer. That's how I discovered that this existed:

Photo Credit: Walmart

Forget the munchkin; I want this one!!

She is Operetta, the daughter of the Phantom of the Opera (a mystery never fully explained). I promise, I will keep her in the original packaging, and place the box in a place of honor on the shelf in my office! She can keep me company while I practice singing! Please, please, please!! My birthday's first, you know!

*ahem*

Excuse me for that sudden outburst. My love of the Phantom goes back a long, long time, and runs deep. I apologize. 

The doll is gorgeous. She's styled in rockabilly fashion, which I think was a bold, amusing choice. Considering she's supposed to be a teenager, it makes sense she'd rebel against her father's love of classical music by embracing a wildly differing genre. Rockabilly is also so stylized that it borders on theatrical. A lot of careful thought went into her look, and it shows. 

I'm a fan of Monster High. The dolls are cute without being cookie cutter, and I feel like it teaches kids to accept each others' differences. It's those differences that make us special. There's also a coordinating book series, and I'm always up for anything that makes a child want to pick up a book. Plus, there's always a chance that they'll want to read about their favorite character's dear old Mom or Dad when they get a little older. Somewhere, I think Mary Shelley and Gaston Leroux are smiling.

Monster High dolls are manufactured by Mattel, and can be found at Toys R Us, Walmart, Target, Amazon, and many other retailers. For more information, click here, or check out this forum here. If you want to lose a day, click here for a downright addictive dress-up game.