Artist creates zombie teddy bears

A British artist has created a range of zombie teddy bears - just in time for Valentine's Day.

Phillip Blackman describes his 'UndeadTeds' as "repurposed soft toys transformed into fluffy, bloody horrors to keep you awake at night".

The 45-year-old, who lives near Ipswich in Suffolk, makes them using old toys and movie-standard gory effects.

"The inspiration came from a rather obscure in-joke between my partner and I," he said. "She had a terrible cold at the time and we'd been talking about a gift for a friend's baby.

"With a very stuffy nose "teddy-bear" kept coming out as "deady-bear" and we joked about zombie teddies that creep from under your bed at night to feast on your brains while you sleep.

"I'd been a fan of the Romero-style Zombies since my teens and in my youth I had obtained some minor qualifications in theatrical and special effects make-up; specifically prosthetics and gore.

"I already knew how to make a person into a zombie, so why not use the same techniques and skills on the teddies!

"Each UndeadTed takes in excess of eight hours to make, not including the time it takes for glue, paint and varnish to dry.

"I price them individually depending on size, complexity, materials used and time taken. Most are listed at around the £40 to £60 mark.

"They've all been great fun to make but of all the ones I've made so far my favourites are the Valentine ones, holding their torn-out hearts aloft as a grisly gift to their lovers. Horrible."