Favorite Things: Matt Gregory and his mannequin Becky

Matt Gregory works in the Lansing service industry and is a bit of a prankster. He collects toys and dolls, but the crown jewel of his collection of oddities is a Kid’s Gap mannequin dubbed Becky. 

I was working at a bar and one of my regulars, who was moving out of his house, just gave it to me. They said it showed up at their front door in a package that somebody sent to them anonymously. He was kind of a weird dude. He said, “I need to get rid of this thing, and you’re the first person I thought of.” It was in the middle of my shift; we voted on what to call it and it got the name Becky. That was about five years ago. 

It’s a Kid’s Gap mannequin, so I guess it’s a 15 or 16-year-old girl. I don’t know how else to describe it. It has fake hair on its head and eyes — all of that stuff. I painted the eyes with glow-in-the-dark nail polish, so it would creep people out even more. I think she would be just an annoying white girl. She was a Gap mannequin, so she’s that kind of girl. 

It moves around, I use it to screw with people. I’ll put it in my roommates’ bedrooms when they’re not home. Right now, it sits just past the top of the stairs. When you turn the corner, it’s right there looking at you. It psyches people out all the time. 

My ex-girlfriend hated Becky. She threatened several times that if it wound up in our bedroom again she would leave me. She hated dolls. When she came home and Becky was in a different spot and nobody else was home, she got really scared. She hated that thing so much. 

I’ve always liked possessed dolls and stuff like that. So I used to always play with a ouija board to try and get Becky possessed. It didn’t work, but I tried really hard. For Christmas some years, I’ll put lights on her and use her as a Christmas tree. I used to ride a tandem bike around by myself, and I couldn’t ever figure out how to do it, but I tried really hard to attach her to the back. I couldn’t get her to stay on. It’s just fun to scare people with it.

Right now, she’s dressed like a shark. I need to get new clothes for her, so I can drive around with her in my car. I used to bring her to my old job’s Take Your Daughter to Work Day. I haven’t taken it to my current’s job event, I still have to get my boss to be OK with it. 

Interview edited and condensed by Skyler Ashley. If you have a suggestion for Favorite Things, please email Skyler@Lansingcitypulse.com