Voodoo Dolls are the type of black magic instruments utilized by those who believe in sympathetic magic, the general belief of such magic is that the use of a doll - normally in the shape of a victim - will have similiar effects to their victim.

Associated with the African-based religion of voodoo, the use of Voodoo Dolls is not as widespread as fiction would have us believe but much like shrunken heads, witch's cauldrons and broomsticks fiction has overwritten fact and the image of the Voodoo Doll remains entrenched in the imagination.

Normally one inflicts harm on a victim via stabbing the Voodoo Doll with pins, the general belief is the pins will inflict harm on the victim roughly in the area they stab the doll (for example to blind a victim an evil witch would stab the Voodoo Doll's eyes).

In the real world some witch-doctors have a more practical use for Voodoo Dolls, namely leaving them on the doorstep of a victim - the psychological trauma this causes can contribute to a victim's death and/or illness (it has been theorised the fear factor of a "curse" has a dramatic influence on it's effectiveness).