Manchester United have agreed to sell Harry Maguire to West Ham United for a £30m fee after the Hammers agreed to up their contract offer for the defender.

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A Gothic artist has dedicated an entire room in her house into a "shrine" for her "creepy doll" collection, as she believes it “makes life so much more interesting and fun”. Victoria Grossman, 53, began collecting Barbie dolls in her 20s, and since watching the horror film Annabelle she “became fascinated with creepy dolls,” so began collecting and creating them – she has sold more than 400 of her handmade dolls. Victoria has spent a staggering £19,000 on her collection, which includes over 300 dolls made from “porcelain with Gothic painted features”, which she hopes people think are “haunted” – her favourite frightening figurine is a hand-painted Wednesday Addams. Victoria’s dolls typically have “mysterious eyes”, Victorian style clothes and “menacing expressions”, and despite their scary appearance her loved ones are “big fans” of her collection. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Victoria’s creations have been featured in a movie, Dementia 13, after a producer approached her at a doll convention and bought three dolls. Victoria said it was “amazing to see them on screen”. “Collecting just makes life so much more interesting and fun – I could not see a life without collecting,” Victoria told PA Real Life. “I love the hunt and love displaying them – I want to see my stuff, I want people to see them and get inspired, and maybe start a collection of whatever turns them on.” Victoria began collecting Barbie dolls in her 20s, building a collection of more than 200 figurines, but this eventually turned into a fascination with creepy dolls. She said: “One day, I saw this Gothic doll on the television, and I thought it was so different and, being an artist, I wanted to recreate the doll – so, I did, and it was great, but I didn’t think much of it. “It wasn’t until I saw Annabelle, the horror movie, in 2014, that I became fascinated with creepy dolls. “I decided to recreate her, and I put her up on eBay, and it sold for like 120 dollars to someone in Las Vegas, and then I started to collect creepy dolls.” Over time, Victoria has accumulated over 300 horrifying dolls worth approximately £19,000 ($25,000) and keeps the majority of them on display in her studio. She said: “I’m not into anything gory – I like them to look artistically creepy as if you have found them in an attic, and I want people to think they’re haunted dolls. “Most of them are porcelain with Gothic painted features like mysterious eyes, Victorian style clothes, menacing expressions.” Victoria’s loved ones are very supportive of her unusual collection, she said: “My son has grown up with it, so he doesn’t think much of it, but he loves them; he thinks they are really cool. “When people come to the house, they instantly want to see the doll room or doll shrine, and my family always want to bring their friends over to show them off. “They all love to take pictures of them, they’re big fans – it’s the same at conventions. As well as frightening dolls, Victoria also has a collection of celebrity memorabilia worth more than £78,000 ($100,000). She said: “I have Barbra Streisand’s vanity, which is gigantic and beautiful. “One of my prized possessions is Madonna’s jewellery which she wore on the Like A Virgin album cover – I have the pin that’s on her bustier and the bracelet from the inside cover. “I used to go to Sotheby’s and Christie’s auction houses in New York for celebrity items in my twenties and thirties.” Alongside collecting, Victoria continued making dolls, which she sells for £118 ($150) apiece online and at conventions. She explained the process: “So the base is a regular porcelain doll, and you put a base paint on them, maybe some crackling on their face to make it look old and weathered. “I often paint on top of their eyes, especially when I’m making it into a character, like Pennywise from the movie It. “I make the clothes by hand – for example, when I made Wednesday Addams, which is my favourite doll that I own, I handmade all of her clothes and stockings, braided her hair, and painted on make-up.” Victoria has sold more than 400 dolls to date and has customers all over the world. She said: “I had no idea it was such a popular thing – I started taking them to conventions, and they did really well, I made the equivalent of £500. “One of my clients has around 40 of my dolls – it’s addictive, you can’t just have one. “Most of my customers buy the dolls for their Halloween display and end up adding to their collection and become full-on collectors.” Victoria’s dolls have even been featured in a movie – she explained: “When I was at a convention, a producer came up to me and said, ‘I love your dolls, I would love to put them in a movie’, and I just thought he was kidding. “But, they later came to the house, and they bought three dolls – they starred in a movie called Dementia 13 in 2017, it was amazing to see them on screen.” Looking to the future, Victoria is hoping to extend her collection to reborn dolls – dolls which are hyperrealistic portrayals of babies. She said: “To buy reborn realistic dolls is usually over $1,000, but I’d love to sculpt one and make an entire doll out of clay – I wouldn’t treat it like a baby like some people do, though.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson admits his side are in the thick of a “serious injury crisis” with midfielder Eberechi Eze becoming the latest player set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines. Eze’s hamstring issue ruled him out of selection for Gareth Southgate’s latest England squad after he featured last month, with the 25-year-old joining an ever-growing list of Palace players unavailable for Saturday’s home encounter with Nottingham Forest. Despite the latest blow, Hodgson made clear he had no intention of courting pity, pointing to the bigger picture as he sought to assure concerned supporters. Hodgson said: “There is no sympathy in the world of football for injuries and there is no point seeking sympathy. It happens to all teams. “We happen to be in the middle of quite a serious injury crisis at the moment, but we have to learn to deal with it and accept the situation and look forward to the time when our squad is bigger again when these players return. “OK, it’s not going to be in the next week or two, but the season doesn’t end until May so we have to keep that in mind as well.” Palace sit ninth in the Premier League table after seven matches and enter Saturday’s contest bolstered by their 1-0 victory over Manchester United last time out, with defender Joachim Andersen providing the decisive strike. Hodgson, aware of his dwindling resources, said: “We are going to be dependent now, really, on the players who have come in to take their places in doing a good job, which to be fair they have been doing. “I’m very satisfied with the way the team has been playing, and we’re a squad, so there is no point complaining about injuries. They do happen and you must never feel sorry for yourself. “One or two of the players who have come in, in the last two or three weeks, who have not necessarily played from the start, have come in and done exceptionally well. That is the way we have got to look at it.” While Hodgson refused to set a timeframe for Eze’s return, he did concede that the injury was “serious” and “the severity of the injury might suggest it’s as long as that.” Michael Olise, among Hodgson’s other key attackers, has not played this season as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury of his own, while summer signing Jefferson Lerma – also out with same problem – remains ruled out. Odsonne Edouard, yet another member of Palace’s hamstring woe-club, has progressed and could start against Forest at Selhurst Park, while Brazilian Matheus Franca is still working his way back to match fitness, but is “no longer injured”. Dean Henderson, James Tomkins and Naouirou Ahamada all remain unavailable. Read More Ollie Watkins extends stay at Aston Villa with new long-term contract Mikel Arteta: Arsenal must be at best in every department to beat Man City We’re not top-four contenders: Unai Emery plays down Aston Villa’s strong start Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino knows importance of Burnley game after two wins Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola ponders how to replace Rodri against Arsenal Ange Postecoglou accepts Liverpool denied ‘legitimate goal’ by VAR error

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