This story must be the basis of every "lonely kid needs a friend" spooky story ever! Although Twilight Zone had a pretty good one with Talky Tina. Especially interesting were the stories told in between, like Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy with a little Candace Bergen thrown in. Oh, and the guy who stole corpses and dressed them up and lived with them. I've never been big on dolls, not even as a child, not even Barbie, and for good reason.
