This couple rehomes creepy toys from people too afraid to keep them

By Brelaun Douglas via SWNS

This couple runs a business that removes creepy toys from people too scared to keep them and re-homes them with braver types.

Sara Derrickson and Brian Jillson turned their shared love for the eerie and disturbing into the thriving business Unsettling Toys.

The toys they acquire often come with chilling backstories, such as Maria, a human-sized medical dummy whose face randomly falls off.

Sara, a school psychologist from Portland, Oregon, said: “The guy who sent her to us got into a car accident on his way home when he originally got her and he was never comfortable with Maria, so now she sits in my basement and terrifies my children."

Brian, a bartender, added: “That’s the time out area, go sit with Maria for 10 minutes.”

Claudia, another doll, comes with an even more ghastly story.

“The doll’s leg broke and then a week later the little girl [who owned her] broke her leg in the same place,” Sara said.

But the stories are one of Brian and Sara’s favorite parts of the business.

“I love the stories that we get with these little creatures,” Brian said.

“The ones that come to us that have been in the families so long, the people still have an attachment to it and they don't want to just toss it, they want someone else to get some joy out of it.”

Sara added: “The stories that people give us with the toys are so neat because when you talk about what’s important to your family and what scares you, they're giving us a window into their personalities, beliefs, history and culture.”

Though the toys can be terrifying, Sara said people often find one they can relate to.

“Another side to the business is the acceptance and inclusivity side,” she said.

“A lot of people adopt dolls they find on our website because they'll have something in common with them. Someone whose eyes don't point in the same direction all the time, they'll find a doll who matches them and love it.

“We’ve had someone with scoliosis who was like ‘this doll is like me’ and they loved them and we really love pushing the concept that not being shiny and new isn't a flaw."

The couple said that they welcome all toys, no matter how old, creepy or grim.

“People just can’t believe that if they’re terrified of it and they don't want it that we’ll want it, but we do and we like them and other people do want them,” Sara said.

“We want them to know we like the toys no matter how weird they are and it’s okay to just send them to the address on our website.

“We’re not in the business of selling dolls, we’re in the business of rehoming the unsettling and our goal is for the toys to find a new home and be appreciated. So if they’re appreciated because they’re horrifying that’s okay.”