Marionettes vs. Ventriloquists

Last night we had Tex Mex at a great restaurant called Esparza's that had numerous bizarre items hanging from the ceiling including a skunk, a deer butt, various antlers, signs and over 50 marionettes (and they had great food).

I'm trying to figure out why I'm creeped out by these dolls and by the dummies used by ventriloquists. Is it because they are just a little too lifelike when activated or because I saw a couple of very scary versions of The Twilight Zone with two separate storylines based on one of each years ago, and I mean really scary.


Just in case you're not familiar with The Twilight Zone, I can always tell when one of these episodes was especially effective because they continue to randomly haunt my mind, 35 years later. There was one that starred William Shatner (this is where you make the gagging noise but that's irrelevant in this case) and featured a monster outside the plane ripping up the wings at 30,000 feet. I know, I know, completely ludicrous, out of the question and silly, right? Nevertheless, this single, black & white Rod Serling episode of TZ was so scary, I still find my eyes straying out to the wings, whatever plane I'm on, mid-flight.

There was another one where the dummy took on a life of its own and murdered its ventriloquist. I can still see that dummy's face very clearly. That's good tv but it's also the exact reason I don't watch scary stuff anymore.