Living (and unliving) dolls haunt new museum
Creepy old dolls will always have a home with Giovanna Albrecht, specifically in the pokey attic and backyard of her Retro Fun Store & Museum (Facebook: @retrofun museum) at 619 W. Hildebrand Ave.
Upstairs, a low-ceiling attic holds hundreds of porcelain and plastic dolls, their large heads and vacant eyes poking out from curtained little tea parties like mini tableaus of “Downton Abbey” by way of the Spirit Halloween store.
Outside, clown-painted baby doll heads and notquite-right Barbies dot tented torture chambers like a farmers market run by Chucky and Annabelle.
Welcome to the Haunted Dollhouse, San Antonio’s latest Halloween attraction. The toy chest from hell runs through Nov. 13. Tickets cost $10 at the store and online through Eventbrite.
Albrecht got the idea for the unsettling exhibit about seven years ago, hitting garage sales and thrift stores for discarded dolls. She opened Retro Fun, a toy and pop culture curios shop, in May and figures she now has at least 2,000 dolls to equally delight and frighten their visitors.
“There were no doll museums in San Antonio,” she said on a recent afternoon, as she and her curator niece, Jireh Hoover, tiptoed through the attic. “And I thought that dolls were fascinating because they’re cute to some and creepy to others. And I don’t understand how a doll can create both emotions in different people. So I thought, why not? Let’s do that.”
Most of the Haunted Dollhouse attic space is packed with floor displays, each a small curtained stage of antique, vintage and modern dolls
grouped by theme. Ballerinas and harlequins. China dolls and rag dolls. Dolls in Victorian dresses and wedding gowns. Voodoo dolls and clowns. So. Many. Clowns.
“Honestly, every doll that we saw we were going to find a place for them,” Hoover said.
Albrecht plans to make the Retro Fun attic a permanent exhibit space for her dolls, perhaps with seasonal setups such as a winter wonderland theme for the holidays. Or whatever the dolls dictate. With those eyes. And those heads tilted just so.
“They’re fascinating,” she said. “For somebody that didn’t like dolls, I just get fascinated by their spirit, how creepy they can be.”
Here are some other Halloween attractions in San Antonio to toy with your threshold for terror.
13th Floor Haunted House
This year marks the 13th Floor’s 13th anniversary, and they’re pulling out all the stops. Feast your eyes on the undead trick-or-treaters of All Hallows Eve. Outlast the hungry sideshow performers of the Outcast Carnival. And lose what’s left of your mind with the deranged denizens of The Asylum. Tickets cost $19.99 to $49.99.
Open select nights through Oct. 31. 1203 E. Commerce St .,13 th floor san antonio. com, 210-910-6450
Haunted Oaks
The haunted house attraction inside Rolling Oaks Mall returns with 10,000 square feet of terror. Tickets are $16.99 for Sundays and $19.99 for Thursdays, Fridays or Saturdays, as well as Halloween.
Rolling Oaks Mall, 6909 N. Loop 1604 E., haunted oaks.org
Horrific Pix Horror Studios
Joining the frightful fun at Rolling Oaks is Horrific Pix, a new selfie spot to die for with 13 immersive spaces. Tickets cost $20 for just the Horrific Pix experience or $10 with the purchase of a Haunted Oaks pass.
Open Thursday through Sunday through 2022. Rolling Oaks Mall, 6909 N. Loop 1604 E., hauntedoaks. org
Seaworld Howl-o-scream
Dive into six horrorfilled haunts and eight “Terror-tories” included with park admission. Tickets start at $44.99.
Friday through Sunday nights through Oct. 30. 10500 Seaworld Drive, seaworldsanantonio.com, 210-520-4732
Six Flags Fiesta Texas Kids Boo Fest and Fright Fest
Daytime activities skew to the younger crowd with the Kids Boo Fest, featuring family-friendly rides and a trick-or-treat trail. In the evening, Fright Fest lives up to its billing with scare zones and live undead entertainment, plus haunted attractions. Online tickets start at $14.99 for premium haunted attractions only; one-day admission with haunted attractions passes start at $69.99.
Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday through Oct. 31, and Oct. 10. 17000 Interstate 10 W., sixflags.com/
fiestatexas, 210-697-5050