How goes it, you digital degenerates? It feels like it's been way, way too long since I actually bothered to write out some content instead of just doing guitar covers or showcasing my addiction to shiny cardboard made for children. So, don't mind me if it seems like I'm just wiping the dust off the skeletal remains of my writing bones. I definitely have an odd piece of content to share with you guys today, as I imagine a place like this isn't entirely common all around the world. If you've been following me for a long time, you may have noticed I have an affinity with things that are dark/morbid, as well as just anything horror related in general. And, this museum in particular is a mix between real world horrors/curiosities and horror media. So, obviously a place like this is right up my alley. This museum has been around for a little over a year now, but I just have had a hard time finding a good time to make the trip over since it's a fair drive from where I live.
I recently had a birthday however, and figured fuck it. Lets finally go check this place out and stop being such a sloth. Before I start dropping some pictures of some of the fun stuff I got to see, I just want to give you guys a heads up. Some of these pictures may be a bit much for you, especially if you don't do well with dark topics. There's specifically a private room in this place that in real life can induce anxiety and be a lot to take in, which I did grab a few pictures of while I was there. I don't personally think it will bother too many people, as the internet has made most of us desensitized as fuck about death. But, figured I'd give a fair warning. But, lets get into the museum, fucko.
So, I'll start this off without getting too crazy, while still showing something unique you don't see everyday. This area was off the to the side of the entrance, and showcased many forms of stillborn animals including a puppy, along with this shark being the big focus. I can't say I've ever seen still born animals before, and the shark definitely looked pretty goofy like someone gave him googly eyes that were also painted to look like he had cataracts. It was definitely not the first thing I expected to see after entering, but it was certainly interesting.
The next thing I'll show you was probably the thing I least expected to see in a horror museum. Peanut butter. You know, the bogeyman of the kitchen pantry. I was certainly confused for a second why the fuck a peanut butter jar was sitting in the middle of this horror museum, but if you stop being an ape and look at the card underneath, it'll give you an idea why. You see, this tasty little treat is actually filled to the brim with salmonella bacteria and was part of a batch that was sent out a year ago that made over 20 people very ill, with 4 of them being hospitalized and one of them dying. I think this card exaggerates the idea of how many people died, as it was actually just one old guy in Florida, meaning he probably was already half baked to death from the sun. But, I get the showmanship angle so I won't harp too hard.
Our next little stop is probably the most typecasted "horror" or "spooky" thing that you would most certainly expect to see at a place like this. So, you can just consider this a free space on your bingo card I guess, grandpa. I will say, this made me laugh more than the peanut butter did after I read the little story card. For those of you too lazy to zoom in, which is probably most of you, the TLDR is basically in the late 90s, a witch in detroit with a ridiculous cartoon name was called in like a fucking ghostbuster to remove this board from a tavern because it contained "negative energy". I mean, I would consider Detroit in general to be a ecosystem of nothing but negative energy, especially when it's a hole in the wall bar within a hole in the wall city. But, that's just me. Anywho, the tavern apparently didn't have any ghost traps on hand so they tossed this bitch into the dumpster. But, the dark forces kept bringing it back inside. You know, it definitely wasn't a bitter cook who felt underpaid getting back at their coworkers or something and wanted to fuck with them. Nah. And, apparently the witch only knew one way to deal with this evil force...By tying some string around it and putting a harry potter style wax stamp on it. Get fucked, evil ghosts.
After the goofy board, I found this little nook that was a mix of Charles Manson lore that I can't really say I gave a shit about, as Charles Manson was fucking lame. But, I did vibe with these cast faces of some OG horror stars that almost none of you are familiar with probably. Which is fair, as I wasn't even really familiar with 2 of the 3 of these chaps until my later teen years. Bela Lugosi was most well known for being the OG Dracula from the 30's and 40's, though I knew him best from the greatest film of his career Plan 9 from Outer Space, where he died halfway through making it and was replaced with his dentist. (Would highly recommend reading the story about the shit show that was that movie.) Boris Karloff was the OG Frankenstein, and I never really got down with those movies or saw him in much else. Vincent Price, however, was someone that I fucked with as I was a crusty teenager. I would say the first thing I saw him in was probably Edward Scissorhands, and at that point I didn't realize who he was from his small part. I got really into the novel I Am Legend however just a few years after that, and found out after watching the Will Smith film based on the book, that there was another adaptation decades prior called Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price, which is a much more faithful adaptation and a fun little flick to watch for the time it was made. Vincent Price has been in heaps of stuff, some of which you've more than likely seen. So, yeah. Cool little spot.
Now, after you turn around from that little corner you'll stumble into this table which is another morbid curiosity style area. The top shelf are two of three human skulls that this place has on display, which is somewhat neat if you've never seen a skull on display before. I used to think these must be very rare and hard to get, but I have seen several skulls at antique malls/shops over the years somehow, so apparently I guess you can just go dig up grandma's skull and sell it for $200 no problem or something. And, the bottom shelf is some weird doll related shit along with a supposedly giant ass human hand. I'm not sure if this is actually a real human hand, because if it is it must have been a god damn former NBA players hand or something. I dunno how well the photo really shows it, but this hand was like 2-2.5 times the size of my own god damn hand. I honestly question if the reason no more big foot pictures or video has come out over the past few decades, is because he was shot and killed and brought to this place. (Also, hot take, Bigfoot isn't fucking real, neither is Moth Man or any of the other goofy cryptids.)
Continuing on with the weird/creepy dolls, there was this shelf to the left of the table that displayed some random dolls that didn't have any actual significance from what I can tell. There was also this bitchin' cymbal monkey at the top which I think was a prop used for the poster of the horror movie Monkey Shines, made by the late and great George Romero. There was also some plastered teeth molds here along with some very old licenses for doctors to disperse out opium to people for medical treatment, which was pretty interesting to see. Definitely one of the more chill little sections within the museum.
Speaking of chill, lets get into the opposite of that and I'll show you the most controversial area within the horror museum. Fair warning, just skip over the next 3 photos if you can't handle dark things. AGAIN, FAIR WARNING, SKIP THE FOLLOWING 3 PHOTOS IF YOU'RE SQUIMISH OR JUST DON'T WANNA SEE SOME MORBID SHIT, BRUV. This area showcases autopsy photos, crime scene photos along with photos showcasing deaths and the aftermath of accidents. It's definitely the most "edgy" area in the place, and while some of the stuff written on the walls is really fucking corny/goofy, the room can be a bit of sensory overload, especially if death or seeing pictures of dead people bothers you. I know a friend of mine said they couldn't stand in this room for more than a minute or so without having to leave due to feeling uncomfortable. While I never really felt like that, I did feel slightly uncomfortable after sitting inside for a few minutes staring at all the pictures. I also skipped photographing every wall and set of pictures because I didn't want to come across as a total weirdo.
This wall showcases jack the rippers victims I suppose along with locations of where they were murdered.
This wall appears to showcase crime scene photos of victims or possibly suspects in a few of the photos considering the police are in a photo.
I believe this wall continues the same theme but also incorporates photos of accident related injuries or deaths. Either way, pretty morbid stuff.
Alright, moving on from the "dark" room, I can start showing you stuff from upstairs which is where we headed next. I guess to hit you with one last jump scare of super morbid shit, they decided to have this placed directly at the top of the stairs before you're on the second floor. This was marked as being a child's coffin, though I imagine it was specifically made for infants considering the size. I didn't take a photo of it, but I believe there was a statistical graph or blurb that mentioned during the 1800's roughly 40 percent of children would die under the age of 5. I think we all take for granted how nice it is to live in the modern era sometimes as we don't really think about how harsh living was just a hundred or so years ago.
Directly after getting up the stairs and walking forward you'll find this little shrine looking building on the ledge. It looks really neat, but I was confused on why it was in this building until I read the note on the side. Which basically just read it was an object you can use for offerings to appease guardian spirits and make sure no sneaky little fucking ghosts try to step on their turf and start a ghost gang war. Pretty cool little thing, and one of the least morbid things here besides the dumpster juice soaked Ouija board from the first floor.
One of my partners favorite spots in this museum was this little display for the vampire horror movie The Lost Boys. It happens to be one of her favorite flicks of all time, and it's also one that I moderately enjoy. Besides having a poster displayed on the wall (In kind of a weird way, I'm not sure why they didn't just frame and then hang it up. Da fuck are you doing museum owners?), they also have a cool prop from the movie along what I believe is a recreation of a different prop from the movie. The thing I'm not sure of is the box of take out noodles on the right, as it contains a wax figure of maggots with a fork stuck in imitating the scene from the movie. I remember the movie the actual prop was full of maggots or worms, but maybe those were fake and I just have dementia brain.
Close up shot of the milk carton which was shown in the film. No idea if this is just also a recreation, but I imagine there's a fair amount of these that were made as a prop for the movie and could easily be floating around/sold around. Either way, it's pretty neat.
This was the final little area I photographed on the second floor of the building. It is a showcase of vintage chemical solutions along with some tools that look like they were used in the embalming process back in the day. I've seen stuff like this in random antique shops around my home area, so there's definitely some kind of niche market for this stuff. Maybe someday if I become a Jeff Bezos from Hive, I can drop some money to have my own psuedo mortuary in a display cabinet. Who knows, don't forget to dream big, kids.
Our final shot of the museum is their little souvenir area which is quite different than your normal gift or souvenir shop. You may notice they're selling real pieces of human bones, as well as pens that contain a small piece of a human brain which is metal as fuck. Though, I cannot imagine being someone who agreed to donate their body for science thinking they'd help out the world in some way, only to have their brain shredded over a cheese grater and then put into some pens for horror obsessed goobers to spend $50 on. I was tempted to get one just for the weirdness/absurdness of it, but if ghosts somehow do exist, this shit is mad haunted so fuck that.
Instead, I decided to be cheap and get something less costly, but also still a fun morbid curiosity. A little to go bottle of vintage coffin nails made from iron. I'm not sure if these were previously used and pried out of a coffin that was already in use or if they're unused taken from storage. And, I don't want to know since maybe they'll curse me with a dumpster Ouija that calls me a bitch all day or something. Who knows what will happen.
I hope you enjoyed this little peak/mini tour of a horror museum. If you're even in Michigan and can make a stop here, I would highly recommend it for a fun little pit stop or just an interesting way to kill 30-40 minutes of your time. But, yeah. Until next time, my doods!
Later!