Sweet Screams Draculaura

After Scarily Ever After, Powerghouls and now Sweet Screams, the Monster High Target Exclusives have become some of the most well-designed and exciting Monster Dolls on the market! Sweet Screams has just started hitting the shelves in Canadian Target's (and for some reason is labelled 'Killer Kandy' on those shelves, though the boxes do say Sweet Screams) and I resisted for awhile...but I couldn't do it for long. I grabbed Draculaura first, partly because she's the one my mom picked when I was out with her, and partly because of her shoes!

I'm not exaggerating when I say I took over 150 pictures of this doll though...between her pale skin and her highly contrasting outfit, she gave me some trouble. I switched backgrounds and lighting a few times and ended up doing alright, but it was tricky. She's more than worth the effort though!

You want some candy?

The box art is incredible! I love the dripping candy ropes framing the window, and the spooky candy bats. This is one of those times though where the international packaging really hurts the look of the box. Because I don't keep things in the box, it doesn't bug me that much, but the American boxes are just so much cooler, with the font on the front and text from the story on the back. Oh well!

I LOVE this image of Draculaura! She's just so cute.

And here she is out of her box! I couldn't resist using the background of the box in some of the pictures, it's just so striking. She comes with a stand and a brush as usual, and a booklet that tells the story of how the ghouls ended up in this candy nightmare! She also comes with an adorable candy version of her pet, Count Fabulous.

The art in the booklet was actually drawn by a fan artist that Mattel contacted. How cool is that? I took pictures of what's included in my booklet, but remember that the American version actually has a more complete story, as opposed to the chopped up version we get with our international  booklets.

That last page really excites me! If that's a clue, it looks like we might be getting Abbey and Ghoulia in wave two of Sweet Screams, and I think we all know that Ghoulia is my favourite. It would be so amazing to get a Ghoulia doll in this gorgeously designed line, I'm really hoping this is a clue!

And just a quick shot of the backdrop. I love the melting lockers, and the stripey ropes unfurling from the walls. Makes me think of the sandworms in Beetlejuice!

I think she does a great job of embodying the artwork. Her eyes are really, really huge, especially compared to the smaller eyes we've been seeing on Draculaura lately.

There is a LOT to talk about with this outfit, so I'm just going to go in stage and try really hard not to gloss over any of the details! Everything is a mix of pink and black from top to bottom, and I know I just complained about this colour combo in my Briar review, but here, it makes a bit of sense. I still wouldn't complain about another colour thrown in for relief, but this is a nightmare or a fantasy based on candy, and the combination is striking here.

Let's start with her face, because what a lovely face it is! Draculaura always have a very pretty face, and even with all the crazy elements going on with this doll, her face still stands out for me. Her eyes are huge, and obviously the focus of her face. The irises are pink, with huge heart-shaped pupils. Her eyes are surrounded with tons of long lashes that end with little dots, mimicking some of the design elements throughout her outfit. Right above her lashes is a line of soft but still bright aqua-green shadow, and then the whole thing is surrounded again in a bright pink shadow that matches the pink of her eyebrows. It's a lot of look, but that pop of green is really refreshing, and makes everything else stand out even more. Her lops and the heart on her cheek are both candy-apple red, which strikes me as a bit of an odd choice, but it does look good.

Her hair is basically 50/50 black and hot pink, with the hot pink rooted all down the middle. It's very long, and pulled into two high pigtails with side-swept bangs in the front.

Both of the pigtails are wrapped in black rubber accessories textured to look like licorice. They're attached at the top of the pigtails with black rubber bands which hold them very securely. I think they'd stay just fine without those bands, but it looks like the same bands are holding the pigtails up, so I don't want to mess with them.

She also has a big licorice bow in the front of one pigtail, which has an open circle on the back that slips around the base of the pigtail. Currently it's attached with rubber bands as well, and I think this would not stay on so well without that help. It's not a big deal for me since I don't intend to remove the bands and I don't play with my dolls the way a child might, but it's worth mentioning.

Her earrings are dangling dripping hearts, one in black and one in pink.

Now we get into the outfit! Here's a general overview, and then we'll have a closer look at all the pieces individually. The main part of her outfit is the dress, which is topped with a shrug with a huge collar. On each arm she has a cuff just above the elbow, and her lower arms are molded and painted to look like gloves. Around her waist, she wears a black belt made of coiled licorice.

And then down below that, we've got those SHOES, the shoes that made me choose her over Frankie for now. The main part of the shoe is black, with a quilted pattern on the toe and heel, connected with bubbles over the arch and on the ankle strap. There's a bow on the back of the heel, and a heart on the front of the ankle strap. But the soles, the soles are the thing. They're hot pink and look as if she's stepped in gum which is streeeeeeetching up. I can't even describe how much I love these shoes. They are amaaaaaaazing! Oh, and she's also wearing hot pink fishnet socks which I nearly forgot to mention!

Close-up on the gloves! They have molded hearts at the elbow, and gooey drips all down the outside. My Draculaura has a loose left elbow joint, on the black glove, and he arms falls out a bit easier than usual. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the different arm mold or not, but regardless, it's not a huge problem.

Just a few shots of her belt and her arm cuffs. The belt is black licorice curled into a spiral in front of her wait. The black cuff is also like a rope of licorice, though there is a little candy cane on it as well, which was kind of odd when I noticed it. The pink cuff is just the same rope pattern, complete with drippiness.

Her last accessory is her purse, which is - SURPRISE! - black licorice! It has a cute smiling face with pink dripping from it's mouth, and a pink handle.

And I had to take a picture of Count Fabulous, because he looks so darn cute as a candy bat!

Now we'll take a closer look at the pieces of her outfit. This is the little shrug jacket she wear, which is made of a very small fishnet or mesh. It closes in the back with velcro, and at the front, there's a small pink bow. The collar is made of two layers of pleather, one hot pink and one black, both shaped like something sticky dripping down over her shoulders. It's hard to get this fabric to lay flat, but it looks pretty cool no matter what shape it takes!

The dress is made up basically of four different parts. The top is a bodice with a sweetheart neckline, made of a black satin-y material and trimmed in a pink lace. Below that is a section patterned with a pink licorice print. Further down around her hips, we have wide pink and black stripes, and then finally, the actual skirt! It's made of three layers of the same material as the collar on the shrug. It has some of the same issues with laying flat or smooth, and sometimes the pleats where it attaches to the section above it make it stick out oddly, but it gives the skirt movement, and definitely goes with the theme, so I'm good with it.

Back in the dress without the jacket. It looks cute like this too!

And fully redressed! She is just so, so cool.

And obviously, I had to make use of that awesome backdrop and take some pictures in front of it. Draculaura does maybe get a bit lost in front of the busy-ness, but it's definitely a candy nightmare!

Too much candy? I thought there was no such thing!

She dropped him immediately after I clicked the camera button, thanks to her wobbly elbow.

And because I DID take 150 photos, here are some more, just for fun :)

Candy?

All in all, I am really impressed with the designs of these Sweet Screams dolls, and I can't wait for Frankie to join my collection too! From the licorice bow on the top of her head to the sticky gum on the bottoms of her shoes, Draculaura is well-thought out and really just gorgeous. It's dolls like this that bring adult collectors to Monster High and keep them there, and if they keep releasing stuff like this...I'll be around for a good long while!

What do you think of these new Sweet Screams dolls?