Inside Lisbon’s terrifying doll hospital where thousands of creepy broken toys including a Bride of Chucky are pieced back together
Doll surgeons have been lovingly mending toys on the same site for nearly 200 years
CREEPY pictures reveal the inside of Lisbon's doll hospital where broken toys are lovingly brought back to life.
Thousands of twisted dolls with cracked heads, mangled limbs and missing eyes are lying in beds and on the shelves waiting to be repaired.
The Hospital de Bonecas has operated on the same site since 1830 and is thought to be the world's oldest doll hospital.
Staff are facing their busiest time of the year as the Portuguese have a tradition of "healing" dolls for Christmas.
Inside, a macabre display of arms, heads and other parts are arranged in old-fashioned wooden cabinets and drawers.
A case of spare eyes stare out at visitors and an eerie tangle of Barbie dolls lie in a net waiting to be repaired.
The clinic began in a former herb shop where an old lady sat outside stitching cloth dolls.
A workshop was set up inside as the repair business grew.
Today it is run by former schoolteacher Manuela Cutileiro, the fourth generation of her family involved at the much-loved institution.
She and three other certified "doll surgeons" aim to cure patients ranging from priceless porcelain heirlooms to moth-eaten old teddies, Barbie dolls and even a Bride of Chucky.
Manuela said: “That’s our main difference from such hospitals abroad, which are very specialised - we accept everyone, common Barbies and really unique dolls, and we improvise.”
Repairers wear white coats and use scalpels and surgical clamps in delicate operations on the patients, most of which have only sentimental value.
Dolls are tagged with their date of admission and list of ailments, and lie in beds while waiting for surgery.
Prices range from as little as £5 for the simplest repairs to several hundred for difficult cases.
Manuela says owners are willing to pay because of Portugal's national spirit of saudade — a kind of nostalgia.
Grandparents often bring in their childhood toys to be restored and passed down to their grandchildren as Christmas or birthday presents.
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Sometimes people drop in to donate unwanted dolls to be recycled for spare parts.
Manuela said: "I often visit schools and I speak with the children.
“If we get ill or break our arms, are we to be thrown away? Is this how we will treat our family and friends one day?"
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