Museum curators around the world reveal their ‘creepiest objects’
A while back, somebody asked museum curators to share photos of their most unsettling objects – and the results are quite simply the stuff of nightmares.
A while back, somebody asked museum curators to share photos of their most unsettling objects. It was the stuff nightmares are made of.
And just when you thought you’d seen the worst of it, a few new additions leave the others for dead.
A burial ‘hair bun’
This is a 3rd/4th century hair bun from the burial of a Roman woman, still with the jet pins in place. It’s from the Yorkshire Museum in York, UK.
A ‘cursed’ children’s toy
This is from the PEI Museum on Prince Edward Island, Canada. This ‘cursed’ children’s toy was found inside the walls of a 155-year-old mansion. Staff at the museum called it “wheelie” and here’s the kicker: it moves on its own. Apparently staff put it in one place, and find it in another spot later on.
Image of a clown band from the 1920s
Honestly, this is the stuff nightmares are made of. Every member of that band is more creepy than the last. It’s from the Wi Maritime Museum in Wisconsin, US.
A pubic hair snuff box
This snuff box is said to contain the pubic hair of one of George IV’s mistresses. Nothing creepy about that. Nothing creepy at all. This is kept by Museums of the University of St Andrews, Scotland.
An 18th century diving suit
Imagine being underwater and seeing this monstrosity coming towards you. Frankly, we’d prefer a shark. It’s from the Raahe museum in Finland.
A human hand
The Library Company received this mummy’s hand in 1767 as a gift from the famed American painter, Benjamin West. What a gift. Super thoughtful.
Art, using real hair from a baby
Victorian hair art was a way to memorialise a person. This is made using a baby’s real hair. Making it just that little bit more creepy, it was found behind the wall in a home during a renovation. You can view this beauty in person at the Lombard Historical Society, Chicago, US.
A plague mask
Next time you are whingeing about wearing a mask to the shops in lockdown, consider what plague masks looked like around 1650-1750. This is from the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin, Germany.
A sheep’s heart, stuck with pins and nails and strung on a loop of cord
Cripes. That’s quite a fistful of horror right there. This was made in South Devon, circa 1911, “for breaking evil spells”. It’s from the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, UK.
A human finger bone
According to the curator at the Clarke Charms Collection in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK, this bone was carried around by a gambler as a good-luck charm. To each their own.
A model of figures playing cards … made from crab claws
The Victorians really knew how to bring the weird. There’s no denying it. This is from the York Castle Museum, UK.
A painted whale’s eardrum
Why though? This beauty was submitted by Historic Environment Scotland.
A pincushion with tiny children’s heads
Another great reason to give up sewing. This atrocity was provided by Norwich Castle, UK.
A taxidermy ‘mermaid’
Turns out this used to be quite the art form back in the day. The posterior part of this one was created with the dead body of a fish, and the head and torso was sculpted, but they added the cheeky touch of using a fish jaw for its mouth. Thank you so much Natural Sciences National Museums Scotland for bringing this into our life.
Tip of a human tongue
Honestly, everyone needs to rethink what they are using as good luck charms. A lucky coin might suffice, you know? This one also came from the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. (Fun fact, they have an entire room dedicated to shrunken heads.)
A 19th century wax mannequin from Germany
The waxen child was stored facedown in a heated attic for years, flattening its nose into an unsettling snout. This one comes from the aptly named Museum of Fear and Wonder in Alberta, Canada.
Wax heads made with real human hair and teeth
Really doesn’t require much more explanation. Good on Platt Hall, Manchester, UK for being brave enough to house these no doubt haunted items in their collection.
Half of a pregnant cat
This is suspended in fluid at the Grant Museum of Zoology, London. According to the museum, this is the item that disturbs visitors the most. Can see why.
A necklace made from genital warts
It’s this season’s must-have fashion item. Straight from the Parisian runway to you. According to the Mutter Museum of Philadelphia, US, these 19th-century genital warts were strung like a necklace to make studying them easier.
The severed head of a serial killer
This is the severed head of Peter Kürten, a 1930s German serial killer called the “Vampire of Dusseldorf”. His head now hangs in Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum in Wisconsin, US.
This doll
This is included because it is DANGEROUSLY close to home (you’ll find it at Museums Victoria). Apparently the doll was so creepy museum staff covered its head and put it in storage, but a peep hole mysteriously appeared in the cover, giving the doll a way to look out. Only solution as far as we are concerned is to call a priest.
Jarred human hands that show the effects of gout in the 19th century
Absolutely thrilled not to be diagnosed with gout in the 19th century. This one is from the Mütter Museum of Philadelphia, US.
A ‘hair bouquet’
A son gifted this to his father in the 19th century. It is crafted from the hair of several deceased relatives. What an epic, epic present. It’s at the Museum of Tot Zover in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Michelle, the surgical doll
This cloth doll named Michelle was used by laryngologist Chevalier Jackson to demonstrate his non-surgical techniques for removing foreign objects from the throats of children. God, Michelle has seen a lot. This one is at the Mütter Museum of Philadelphia, US.
A pair of ‘necropants’
This is almost too gruesome. This is a pair of “necropants” made out of real human skin. To access the pants’ powers, the wearer had to put a stolen coin from a widow and a magical inscription in the scrotum where more coins would then magically appear. It’s at the fabulously quirky Icelandic Sorcery Museum.
Hands down the most terrifying mummy we have seen
Whoever did the styling for this deserves an award. That is some serious Tim Burton business going on right there. This is at the Museo de las Momias in Mexico – this is where you’ll find a number of naturally mummified bodies that were interred during a cholera outbreak in the town of Guanajuato.
Video of what happens to suitcase in space
A piece of luggage has been shot 40km in to the air and into space, with the whole stunt — including a crash landing — caught on camera.
Reason woman always wears hoodie on flight
A woman has revealed the clothing item she will never fly without, with her clip garnering more than 1.4 million views.
800-year mystery solved at bottom of well
It’s the mystery that’s baffled scientists for centuries, but now — a DNA test may have solved a saga at the bottom of a castle’s well.