Strange and Creepy Museums

People go to museums for the culture. They like to look at lovely works of art, exquisite statues, and other objects to be admired. There are museums where you can look at historical objects and learn about different periods in life. Then the question is why anyone would want to go to a museum to see things that are frightening. These are things that nightmares are made of yet if people did not go to these museums they would not exist. There is some kind of fascination and it might come from scary tales and horror movies.

Europe

Cesare Lombroso’s Museum of Criminal Anthropology in Turin, Itlay displays over 400 human skulls. Criminal physiognomist Cesare Lombroso created this museum in 1898. He was obsessed with criminal tendencies and started collecting skulls of civilians, soldiers, criminals and madmen. You can see skeletons and the head of Lombroso on display well preserved in its own glass chamber. I think I’ll take Italian culture any day over spending even a moment here.

At the Medieval Torture Museum in San Gimignano, Italy you can find out why the Middle Ages were also referred to as the Dark Ages. You can see a collection of over 100 horrifying and pain-inflicting devices.

The 13th-century dungeon known as Devil's Tower is home to his museum. So take the scary journey into the darkness, the madness that winds through the narrow corridors.

The strangest, spookiest and even creepiest burial sites can be located in Palermo, Italy beneath a monastery’s original 16th-century cemetery. The Catacombs of the Capuchins has a collection of over 8,000 mummified bodies of people who died between the 17th and 19th centuries. All of these are dressed in the very best of clothing. There they all stand with wide-open mouths and empty eye sockets. Not for the faint-hearted and certainly not for me but for those interested in the macabre this is the place to visit.

Asia

The Parasitological Museum in Tokyo, Japan opened up in 1953 and has more than 45,000 items on display. Anything to do with bugs and parasites and things like tapeworms this is where you will find them. I’ll take the nightclub scene in Tokyo anytime but to each his or her own.

The US

Museum of Death in Los Angeles, California features the largest collection of artwork which was done by serial killers. These killers were scary enough during their lifetime why would anyone want to know what was in their minds? Here at this museum are crime scene photos and accounts of autopsies. Well if you’re a doctor it might be interesting. There are displays such as funeral paraphernalia and embalming instruments, execution photos, and other equally alarming items. The videos here are not for the faint-hearted. One could say that I am sure that I wouldn’t even want to get to know the people who actually come to visit this museum. I’m sure that Alfred Hitchcock would have been delighted by this museum. Truly inspirational for another one of his movies.

Glore Psychiatric Museum opened up in 1968 in St. Joseph, Missouri in a former mental hospital.

The hallways here are gloomy and the displays are all about the torture like devices used to treat mental patients in the 18th century. Things like a giant hamster wheel and the tranquillizer chair. Well, you can imagine that after a trip here you won’t want to see anything horrific for a very long time. Makes me wonder how many people go there and what they expect to get out of this experience.

The Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania offers a look at a collection of pathological specimens and medical anomalies. They even display the brains of murderers. There is a wall of skulls telling you how these people died. They do not explain why you would want to know. There are also jars of floating objects you are better off not viewing. As for me, I’ll go to Philadelphia for the history, not the gore but if you’re interested this is the place to be.

The Vent Haven Ventriloquist Museum in Vent Haven, Kentucky offers something that I have always found disturbing especially after seeing a few horror movies which featured ventriloquist dummies. The museum takes a person back into time to the days of vaudeville acts and carnivals. The ventriloquist dummies all appear as if they have a personality of their own and at just a touch they could become real. So imagine walking into this museum and feeling over 700 eyes all staring at you. This is the only museum that focuses on ventriloquism.

Mexico

The Museum of the Mummies in Guanajuato, Mexico features 111 bodies of mummified men, women, and children. All of these bodies have open gaping mouths in silent screams after being buried alive. These people were buried during the outbreak of cholera in 1833. The reason they were dug up was that their relatives couldn’t pay the taxes needed to keep them buried. The mummies are creepy in that they are still wearing the same clothes in which they were buried. It is made for your worst nightmares and I wonder who would want to visit this place.