Monster High was an unusual franchise to enter my life. I learned about it through reading the Bogleech horror blog, which highlighted the toy brand as exceptional in the girl’s toy market for having genuinely freaky and creatively spooky dolls, including the gnarly Inner Monster line that had brains under their wigs serving as eye-change buttons, and translucent bodies with skeletons inside that could be customized with different organ-style mood charms. I was interested in this toy, a toy so wicked that it could have easily been a 1980s parody of a girl’s toy, a toy that was earnestly being sold to girls. Through this doll, I discovered the Toy Box Philosopher blog, which has remained an informative, thoughtful, and funny source of doll reviews, and my primary inspiration for writing my own toy reviews (Hi, Emily--love your work!) Then I started looking up the Monster High catalogue. Then things turned into a doll collection.