If you happened to be cruising through Victorville, California, this past Sunday, you may have noticed a whole lot of cops gathered around a teddy bear that looked like it crawled out of a horror movie.
Don’t worry, it wasn’t actually as horrifying a find as it first seemed. It was just some oddly placed – and admittedly gruesome – art.
Authorities responded to a call about a teddy bear that appeared to be made of human skin. It was found near a gas station on, appropriately, Bear Valley Road.
A deputy coroner was brought in, presumably with the same level of urgency one might bring an archaeologist to a newly discovered cursed sarcophagus, and confirmed that the object’s skin was, thankfully, not of human origin at all. A forensic pathologist double-checked, and yep — it still was not a teddy bear made of human skin.
So, if it wasn’t a teddy bear made of human skin, what was it?
It was the work of a South Carolina-based artist named Robert Kelly, who owns a company called Dark Seed Creations, an Etsy shop wherein Kelly designs and manufactures realistic-looking horror-themed props. Looking for a fetal skeleton in a Baroque picture frame? They’ve got you covered. Need a candle that looks like it’s made of skinned human faces? They’ve got it, just as long as you’ve got $150 plus shipping.
The bear made of human skin is another one of Kelly’s creations, and it is pretty convincing as far as teddy bears made of human skin are concerned. It is just as disgusting as you’d imagine, and clearly disgusting enough to make passersby wonder if they just stumbled into the opening minutes of a Hannibal episode.
As I type this, the $165 “human skin teddy bear” has the words “In demand. 5 people bought this in the last 24 hours” just above the price, in bold red letters, and below its entry on the store page, it says that over 20 people have the item in their carts.
This story is going to make Kelly some good, well-deserved money. A human flesh teddy bear so convincing that it got the cops called in.
Kelly’s been crafting these gory teddy bears for two decades, using latex and dyes to make them look convincingly formerly alive. He’s sold dozens, many to haunted attractions, novelty shops, and everyday folks who enjoy napping while snuggling with a thing that looks like it might whisper curses in backwards Latin.
Kelly confirmed the bear was his after a storm of messages hit his inbox when photos of the bear began circulating. According to him, it had been shipped and delivered right on time, then presumably discarded or dropped, prompting a call to the cops.
While San Bernardino County officials say the investigation is ongoing, no crime has been committed, other than the crime of leaving such an expensive, well-designed, disgusting thing out in public.
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