Maybe they make you think of that one ’80s movie (aptly titled “Mannequin”) with that actress who would end up being the super horny one on “Sex and the City” – and also a brat packer who was in “Weekend at Bernie’s,” among other films.

Or if you’re if you’re a horror or sci-fi fan, maybe mannequins make you think of “The After Hours,” a season 1 episode 34 of the groundbreaking Rod Serling anthology series “The Twilight Zone.”

In that episode, a disused upper floor of an old-timey department store becomes a late-night playground for…mannequins. For a limited time, some mannequins get to roam the earth as real humans and mingle with humans, but they have to return to mannequin state afterwards.

Did the movie “Mannequin” take inspiration from this episode? 🤔

If you’re a resident of Whoville, maybe you’re into “Doctor Who,” a British sci-fi series that has been airing episodes since go-go boots were first popular (they will probably come back, all fashions recycle themselves).

The 2005 Series One episode 1 “Rose” of “Doctor Who,” also features mannequins. These are murderous ones who try to kill Rose, who has to be rescued by the Doctor.

Maybe you just work in a department store and have other things that mannequins remind you of! Like that time that I accidentally knocked down an entire row of mannequins (thankfully no one was hurt)!

A dearly departed co-worker of mine let me in on one of his secret fears a few years ago when I spent an entire shift assembling mannequins. Assembling mannequins is harder than you think! They’re heavy, come packed in boxes that need detrashing and then there is the ordeal of moving them once you build them. Talk about dead weight!

He came into the stock room where I was working and he was very obviously creeped out by the small army of mannequins I’d assembled.

He told me about the Twilight Zone episode and said that mannequins always reminded him of that.

I made sure to pay attention to that episode when I watched old episodes of The Twilight Zone. If he watched that episode when it first aired he would have been in his 20s, which is still pretty impressionable as far as horror experiences go.

Yes, I could definitely see why he would have been creeped out by it! Isn’t everything creepier in black and white?

Sadly, this co-worker died early this year. 😢 But whenever I see – or build – a mannequin, I’ll always think of him!