Terrifying dolls: What mystery is hidden behind a gloomy balcony in the center of Caracas?

In the center of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, there is a gloomy and eccentric place that demands the gaze of locals and strangers, by recreating an image that seems to come out of a horror movie and that has dolls as protagonists. The site can go unnoticed by those who walk at the dizzying pace imposed by the city and who do not have time to look up.

However, those who decide to take a break and observe the details that dress the concrete of the city, stop in amazement and intrigue when they see a balcony full of doll heads that seem to follow in the footsteps of everything that happens around them and that when it rains, they release black tears formed by the polluting soot from the cars.

The balcony is in the highest part of a three-story house, between two large buildings within the Santa Rosalía parish of Caracas. Those who know the place usually refer to the so-called El Muerto (The Dead) corner, although its real location is in the middle of Avenida Este 12, between Fuerzas Armadas and Sur 5.

To unveil the plot around the mysterious house, RT went to the place to talk with its owners and learn the meaning of this irreverent space. Once at the site, popularly known as «the doll’s house», no one answered the bell.

In the lower part of the house there is a commercial premises that sells a variety of products. When asked if they could help so as to know the history of the house, a man with strong glasses said, without giving reasons, that they were no longer giving interviews, that they did not allow the entry of strangers and that if they wanted to investigate they would have to do so based on testimonies they had previously provided.

Why so much mystery?

The man who at some point decided not to give any more interviews on «the doll’s house» is the visual artist Etanís González, owner of the house and the commercial premises. A man who has dedicated a large part of his life to the realization of works of art that are clustered in his home.

One of the most notable pieces that this Venezuelan has made is precisely «the balcony of the dolls», a work known among Caracas people as «the house of a thousand heads».

One of the sons of this Venezuelan artist is Jonathan González, who offered an interview years ago where he explains that behind the mysterious balcony there is nothing scary or terrifying, but a conceptual work that is part of a house converted into a museum.

Jonathan, who is also a visual artist and teacher, comments that the work – created more than 15 years ago – was inspired by the friendship that the González family started with Mr. Jesús Poleo, a Caracas transport driver who has a truck decorated with dolls .

«The art piece of the dolls took 3 years», he says and explains that the work was created with «a lot of patience», placing «one by one» of the striking heads that now hang in front of the house.

The recycled art museum

Beyond the striking and «terrifying» balcony that is for some passersby, there is the art museum created by the González family and in which there are a variety of works inspired by different artistic currents.

«There is criticism for and against, especially from people who do not know that what we really did was an art installation on the balcony», says Jonathan about the work started by his father, an admirer of the Venezuelan artist Armando Reverón.

Jonathan explains that most of the artworks they do are made with recycled materials. “We rely on garbage, on giving importance to recycling, what for some is garbage for others can serve as support material or to carry out an artwork, that is why most of the artworks in the house are made with waste and trash».

The idea of turning the house into a museum – he adds – started with his grandfather, a craftsman who also worked as a chef at the Israeli embassy in Caracas. «It was my grandfather who started everything. He used to do art and inspired us. Now that we are all dedicated to this, we have decided to turn the house into an art museum».

Reactions to the dolls

The inhabitants and passers-by of the Santa Rosalía parish, a popular residential and commercial area in the center of Caracas, emphasize that «the doll’s house» has become a landmark that attracts onlookers and photographers. They also comment that, at one point, it was a source of conflict, when some residents tried to collect signatures to force the González family to withdraw the artwork.

Eliander Giménez, a resident of the area, points out that when he saw the balcony for the first time, he was shocked. «I thought they were babies that were mounted on the balcony. I was scared. I was afraid for them, until I realized that they were dolls. By that time, they were just filling the balcony and I found it quite eccentric».

Mrs. Carolina Martínez, who passes by the house every day to go to work, comments that although the artwork seems terrifying and even some people describe it as «satanic» or related to witchcraft, it is a reliable representation of the damage that the contamination makes to the city and has become part of the identity of Caracas.

“I love it, although it is a bit scary, it seems to me that it shows us how the city pollutes us. The dolls are full of soot from cars, dirt from the city and when it rains they shed black tears, as if they felt pain from so much pollution”, says Martínez.

Neighbors in the area comment that since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the González family has decided to keep access to their house-museum closed, and in the same way, they have limited themselves to giving interviews.

“With the pandemic, it is very risky for them to let any stranger go into the house-museum. I imagine that’s why they decided not to give any more interviews. There are also media outlets that do not tell the truth and only say that they terrorize people», says Mrs. Nelly Acosta.

She adds that the horror versions are spread especially by «annoying neighbors». «It seems that they have nothing to do and they go around saying that they have a center of black magic, of those strange things. The González family is an ordinary family, they are bohemians, very good people».

In the community there is also a myth about the balcony, adds Nelly. «People also make up horror stories and say that the house is inhabited by a deformed, fat and hunchbacked old man, who comes out at midnight to steal the girls’ dolls while they sleep». The mystery, for now, is only in the heads of the pedestrians.