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Interview with Ed and Damien the creators of the
Interview by: Cindy Smith
   On a night in early August, I had the opportunity to meet up with Ed Long & Damien Glonek, creators of the Living Dead Dolls. I am so sorry to disappoint many of you, including my 15 year old son, but the men I met were not the Anti-Christ, but entertaining and charming with an articulate intelligence that is refreshing in a world where people are taught what to think and where original thoughts are few. In a dimly lit bar, over a few beers and some wings, I learned how the dolls came about, what they represent, what makes GOOD horror, what scares THEM, and how, in this society of media induced morality, we should be wary of labels and the threat they hold to our personal freedoms.

  
I set off to meet the guys in their neck of the woods, minus my partner who had come home so very sick from work that day. I was a little nervous about the drive and finding the bar where we had agreed to meet, as well as conducting “the interview” by myself, so I ventured forth a bit early, mentally rehearsing my questions on the drive, hypothesizing responses, picturing a cocktail napkin somewhere with a rough sketch of the first doll, born in a magic moment of great epiphany….
  I found the bar quickly enough and introduced myself to the guys, whose easygoing manners immediately set my nerves at ease.
Wanting to know about the men behind the dolls, I started off asking their ages, and am “oh so happy” to find that both are younger than me, in their early thirties, both are “attached,” and both maintain day jobs, which they did not care to comment on. (Which should come as a surprise to those who feel the two have “sold out.”)

  So, “Why dolls?” I asked. According to Ed, “They just happened.” So much for the brilliant epiphany.
  Ed’s Mom had always made dolls, and had bought several doll kits that she had intended to turn into angels, but son Ed had seen something else in their pale pallor, and asked if he could have one of the kits. Having a background of building kits and models as a hobby, assembling the doll would not be too far of a stretch (that, and his experience in painting his sister’s Barbies). After painting the face, he drew out a simple dress, which his mother helped him create, and “Sin” was born. He showed the doll to Damien, who had the existing mail order company “Unearthly Possessions,” and the two worked together to make 12 more of the dolls which sold immediately. Sensing there was a market for their product, they set out to give the people what they didn’t know they needed.
  As Damien explained, they had managed to combine the creepiest of elements, dolls, which alone could be disturbing, the characters of the dolls were children, which brought along an expectation of innocence juxtaposed against the evilness of the characters, and the mechanical. The mechanical?
  In the sense that a little girl’s baby doll is meant to represent a “real baby,” their creations were never meant to represent “dead children.” They were always meant to be seen as evil dolls, and this is where “the mechanical” come in. As much as I loathe using this reference, they were always dolls in the sense that “Chucky” was never meant to represent a real boy; he was a child’s toy. The comparison ends there though. Chucky was based on comedic revelry, the Living Dead Dolls are “evil at heart” and if they are funny too, that is by accident.
Out of the thousands of emails they have received from fans young and old, Goth girls to businessmen, they have received one hate mail, fueled by the misunderstanding of this concept.
  The mother of a thirteen year old girl who had come home with “Posie,” found herself shocked and horrified by the doll and did not know how anyone could make such a creation. Did they not know that there are parents mourning the loss of children? And the letter continued with moral rage and indignation, and without the use of spell check. Consistent as they are with answering their email, they responded asking the questions that SHOULD be asked of parents who expect society to raise their children for them. “What was your thirteen year old daughter doing at the mall by herself? Don’t you know that’s when REAL bad things happen to REAL children? If you have been teaching her the right values, why do you now not trust her judgment? And I hope you’re not teaching her to spell.” (Ed Note: Moral indignation is best expressed with proper spelling.)

  The dolls were never meant to shock, but to unnerve. To take the norm and tilt it 15 degrees.
   “So, what’s up with the Japanese exclusives?” I asked. Laughing Damien explains it’s closer to where their made…. But in truth it was a Mezco decision. And for their detractors who complain about this “injustice,” they are marketing to a worldwide audience, and there are more American exclusives that are equally difficult for their Japanese fans to obtain. The dolls have been immensely popular in Japan too.
   “Do you ever miss making them by hand?” They still do occasionally, and it’s much more enjoyable now that they are not needing 50 or 60 prior to “Chiller” (local show) and once again not starting them until two weeks prior. The handmade dolls are now auctioned off at events or are used to enhance their displays. These handmade versions originally sold for $40, would sell at their table within the hour, and later would be available several tables down for $120. Some are now selling in the $600 to $1200 range.
   Ed and Damien began turning a profit immediately with the dolls, they would occasionally bring home 1 or 2, but generally sold out at every show.
Of the commercially manufactured dolls, Posie is now in demand, going for $150. The first series was not manufactured in equal increments. There were 5 different dolls, sold at 6 per case. The Sadies and Sins were doubled up. (Now it is just one per case).

  This brings us to “Eggzorcist.” Eggs was one of the original handmade dolls, created by Ed for a former girlfriend (who returned the doll at the end of their relationship…. Wonder how she feels about that NOW). As collectors ourselves, she graces our shelves, but she was harder and more expensive to attain. Hearing all the internet inspired rumors, “that she had been pulled from the shelves due to pressure from “religious groups” (thus the retaliation with “Sinister Minister & Bad Habit” released the following year) or the secondary rumor that had something to do with the film “The Exorcist” and how film producers had ceased the distribution of the doll. I was excited to finally hear the real story.
  Slightly surprised and amused at this mistaken belief, they explained that Eggzorcist was never pulled from shelves for any controversial reasons, there were less produced, because there were less ordered. The dolls premiered around Easter, and the store’s buyers just didn’t get it. Seeing the bunny suit, they labeled her as an Easter item and they did not want to get stuck with surplus inventory after the holiday. The buyers were skeptical of the product to begin with; at that time they were not a licensed property, there was no movie to back them, and they had little chance to succeed in their eyes.
  Well, since Eggs was not pulled for political reasons, the next logical step was that Sinister Ministry was not a political commentary or backlash. Both men were raised Catholic (and per Ed, still recovering), but the dolls are not a statement. Bad Habit was another of the original handmade dolls made before their affiliation with Mezco. Prior to series one even hitting the shelves, Mez set out to market the dolls. Upon seeing Bad Habit, Spencer Gifts said, get a Priest to go with it, and we want it.
  On their collaboration with Mezco, Ed and Damien only had good things to say. “MacFarlane is credited with changing the face of the toy industry, but Mez is the most dangerous man in toy making.” Still taking chances on creative material, he has done nothing to temper the theme of the dolls, except to perhaps reign in their creators when the cost of clothing combined with numerous accessories would make the production costs too high for the dolls to maintain their current sale value. Mezco does not re-release the dolls as MacFarlane does with his figures, devaluing them to the collector.

  Sadistic as it was, and much like asking a mother who her favorite child is, I asked if they had favorite dolls. Per Damien, usually the newest doll is the favorite, reveling in the moment, it’s “Wow, we did good with this one.” For Ed, it was (at that moment) his favorites were Hazel and Hattie (the subtleness of that one raised eyebrow, who could resist?), Posie, Kitty, Schitzo, and Died & Doom.
  Again, trying to glimpse into the minds of the men, I inquired which dolls they felt most closely related to their own personas. One would think that Damien’s namesake would be obvious, but according to Ed, that doll is of mutual influence, and if you look closely enough, you will see that. They had originally intended to name the doll “Daemon,” but were advised that it would go over people’s heads, so the name was altered to the more widely recognized “Damien,” and he was the first boy doll.
  It was a difficult question for the guys, as they put a piece of themselves into each doll. We catch a glimpse of Damien in Sheena’s punk rock attitude, and Ed considers himself a cross between Sinister Minister and Eggzorcist, he could definitely see himself in a bunny suit.
One might question the upbringing of people who would bring you such creations. Damien put it simply, that “Horror” <the genre> was always there in my childhood, you mean it wasn’t in yours? Ed furthers that sentiment explaining that in nearly every photo of him, even in diapers, he is holding some sort of “monster.”

  So that brought me to question, “What scares you?” For Ed, it was insects and clowns. Not evil clowns mind you, you know what you’re dealing with when you have an evil clown, it’s the other one’s you need to watch out for. No one can be happy all the time and that permanent smile fixed upon their faces says to him “’I am a tortured soul,’ it’s just not right.” (And embellishing his arm is a tattoo of Gacey’s clown to add emphasis to that point).
   And insects? It turns out insects would be a fear he shared with partner Damien. Ed came home one night to find a note on the closed bathroom door. “LARGE SPIDER SPOTTED IN CORNER OF SHOWER. KILL IT BEFORE IT KILLS US.” At the time of the interview, Ed could not wait to see “Eight Legged Freaks” with Damien, Damien further explained, “When the rest of the world sees a “little spider,” I see the spiders in that movie.”
  For Damien, joining the insects were small children. Laughing at this point, I told him he’ll make a great father… The guys tell me of a barbeque that Damien had hosted, where one of the guests had brought a little girl, Ashley, who had taken a liking to Damien. Damien had gone up to his art room, and stood with his back to the door looking for more CDs, when he heard a small voice behind him, “Hi Damien.” The little girl stood, blocking the doorway, and our fearless LDD creator stood planted, chilled to the core, staring at the little face, positive at any moment she would begin speaking in an inhumanely deep voice and that her eyes would begin to roll back into her head. Eventually he was able to “shoo” the tyke from the doorway, and shakily, he returned to the party, explaining it was one of the creepiest moments of his life.


Moving on to scary movies, I got their list for the 5 SCARIEST movies (not their favorites, but the scariest).
    • Exorcist
    • The Ring
    • Omen
    • Salem’s Lot
    • Jaws (Damien still won’t go in the water)

Other movies to note were:

    • The Sentinel
    • The Ring (Japanese version)
    • Changeling
    • Burnt Offerings

  For their list of favorites, they lamented they would all be Italian. The Italians have retained the atmosphere in their horror movies where American Producers have not. Salem’s Lot was the only good movie by Tobe Hooper since Texas Chainsaw Massacre, John Capenter’s are nothing but bloated comic book heroes, Wes Craven attempted to break thru the walls of reality with the last Nightmare movie, and Romero was great, but has not done anything worthy since Day of the Dead.
   It was here that I first heard of “The Ring.” At this time, the American version had not been released, and the guys had their doubts that the American version would have the same bite as the Japanese version. The original Japanese film was said to have an amazing “creepiness factor.”
  Both huge fans of “The Blair Witch Project,” they both agreed that prior to the movie’s release, Pet Semetary was the most unsettling film out there. Surprisingly, it was not Gage that unnerved the two, but rather Zelda, whom neither can watch on screen to this day.
  On to the Exorcist, because nearly everyone has an “Exorcist” tale, and as Ed explained, everyone has spots that they turn away from the screen because they can’t look, but even the SOUND of that movie was terrible. Ed could not sit thru the whole thing until he was 13, and was completely freaked when she spider walked down the stairs. He laughs as he describes how he had seen the movie in a theater filled with an obnoxious teenage crowd, who put forth a running comedic commentary until the infamous “cross” scene when the theater went silent, except with a softly murmured, “yo, that’s fucked up.” Damien was 15, but then he managed to watch the whole thing ALONE. These older movies had atmosphere. That was what they found so great about Blair Witch; it focused on average people and had blurred the lines of reality and fiction. While there are varying opinions on the sequel, and they agreed that contained terrible stereotypical characters, if you could view the movie with an open mind, then the eeriness outweighed the poorness of the film.

  Ok, since my living room is filled with the first three series of LDD, and several of the exclusives, I wanted to know what THEY had to dust. For Ed it is anything to do with serial killers, sideshow stuff, toys, their dolls, classic Aurora kits, or just anything so bizarre or off kilter that someone thinks you shouldn’t have it.
  Damien is drawn to model kits, movies, monster cereal stuff, movie posters (old rare movie posters, “there has not been a good movie poster since Scream…all pretty faces now”), Rocky Horror memorabilia, T-shirts (which he explains that he refuses to ever get rid of his t-shirts, having ones dating from 1984 despite the fact that they will never fit him again), skulls, and anything unique appeals to the collector.

  
Wanting to find out what other collectors were saying before our meeting, I spent an evening going thru a few of the many fan sites I came across, and their message boards. While they love the fan sites (and who wouldn’t?) they have mixed emotions about the message boards. Unfortunately, and it is something we all come across in the web industry at one time or another, while they can be entertaining and informative, they are often the home of the chronic complainer too. (Ed. Note: At the time of this interview, LivingDeadDolls.com had no message board. Due to the demise of an immensely popular fan site, DeaderIsBetter.com, which contained a well frequented message board, Ed and Damien decided to put a board on their official site for their fans. They maintain the best way to contact them though would be to email them directly).
  Bad pictures of Series Three leaked out, and Ed & Damien were crucified on line. They were listed as the death of LDD, a “throwaway series,” the guys had “jumped the shark,” and at the time of this interview, Series Three had been the most popular series thus far, and certain dolls were still breaking out as sleeper hits. Lilith, who they had received the most abuse for (Some claim she looked like Roseanne Barr) was now in demand at shows, along with Lottie and the Bride of Valentine.

  All of my “interview” questions over, but not quite ready to leave yet, the tables were turned, and I was asked about our experiences with the website, what was the best attraction we’d been to and where we had gone the prior year. I could not comment on the prior year’s haunts without mentioning the effect 9/11 had had on the industry that past October, which led to the discussion of media vilification and labels. In complete concurrence with our opinions, they echoed our thoughts by stating that there is a big difference between real life horror and made up horror. “The horror genre allows you to get it our of your system, the day to day stuff…. But you have to be wary of labels.”
  “I don’t believe in morality and good and evil,” says Ed, “Sometimes things just are what they are, and who’s to say what’s right and wrong? At one time you could be beheaded for seeing a king eat, and that was considered ‘right’ for the day. Now the new enemy is labels, and we need to be careful of what labels we are given. If the label is terrorist, and you might see jail for it. If anyone were to hang an inverted American flag right now as any sort if artistic statement, the act would be labeled terrorist. These labels will take away our freedom if we’re not careful.”
They are upset by what the average person has been whitewashed into thinking, and we could not agree with them more. Summed up well, Ed stated “they do not believe that life imitates art, but that art will take from life and embellish upon it.”
  As I bid the guys good-bye, I asked what they had in store for us for the next year. The smirks were unmistakable, but they weren’t saying too much, except that it would be a very interesting year and I look forward to the surprises….

Updates:

   It’s been few months since I met up with the guys, so I touched base with Damien before the posting of this article. Seems that things are going well for the pair, and we’re happy to hear that. Wanting their opinion on “The Ring,” Damien said they were very impressed. “While a few things, like the end, were a little better in the Japanese version, they did an excellent job with the remake. It is certainly hands down, one of the scariest movies to come along in quite a while….” They did get out to see “Eight Legged Freaks,” and it did creep out our favorite “arachnophobe,” but they were a little disappointed in the film (was that a surprise? It’s David Arquette and giant spiders!). Series Four is in the stores, and Series Five is already completed and will be coming out next year. You can read more about the guys in “Lee’s Toy Review #120,” “Outlook Magazine #1,” the latest issue of “Rue Morgue” (great magazine!), or the latest issue of Horror Biz. We hope to catch up with them soon, and wish them the best of luck and much success…..

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