Museums are typically places to educate oneself on matters that one might not know about. Or, they could be places to witness history, art and inventions from different periods. From the Louvre to the Vatican Museums, museums offer a cultural experience that stays with you for a long time. However, some museums in the world stay with you not just for their value but because they can be terrifying to visit. This list of horrifying museums around the world may make you want to take a partner along, as they can be too scary to visit alone.
Vienna Crime Museum, Austria
Today, true-crime podcasts often trend at the top of the lists. This shows that even though crimes are inherently immoral, they can serve as a lesson and even spark curiosity about the psychology behind some of the most disturbing crimes. The Vienna Crime Museum is dedicated to depicting crimes from the Middle Ages to the present day, featuring the biographies of famous criminals and iconic newspaper reports. One of the themes in the museum is political crime, including assassinations of emperors, the murder of War Minister Latour and the OPEC siege in 1975.The museum is located in one of the oldest buildings in Leopoldstadt (Vienna’s second district), known as Seifensiederhaus (literally, “soap-boiler house”). Shortly after the Turkish siege, it was rebuilt in 1685. The museum can be so horrifying that a warning is also provided on the museum’s website, saying, “Visitors of the Crime Museum should have good nerves.”Where: Vienna, Austria
Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft , Hólmavík, Iceland
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While witchcraft is often seen in a negative light, in Iceland, there is a museum dedicated to it. The museum is dedicated to collecting information about the history of witchcraft in Iceland, specifically the witch trials and persecution that took place during the 17th century. The museum explores Iceland’s history of folk magic, including the beliefs and practices that once shaped everyday life. One particularly notorious subject is nábrók, often translated as “necropants”, a pair of trousers that folklore claimed could be made from a dead person’s skin and used in a magical ritual to acquire wealth.Where: Hólmavík, Westfjords, Iceland
Surgeons’ Hall Museums , Edinburgh, Scotland
Edinburgh is famous for its Gothic architecture and ghost stories, but the Surgeons’ Hall Museums offer a different kind of fright. Run by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the museums explore the history of surgery, anatomy and pathology. The rich collection includes a knuckle-duster owned by a dentist from Chesterfield; an obstetrics chair, with the earliest illustration of a chair being used during childbirth dating back to 1450 BC; and a brandy decanter used to store chloroform by James Young Simpson during his discovery of the anaesthetic properties of the chemical in 1847.For visitors fascinated by medicine, it is an extraordinary educational experience. For everyone else, it may be a reminder to appreciate the next routine doctor’s appointment.Where: Edinburgh, Scotland
Vent Haven Museum, Kentucky, USA
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Ventriloquism has been a cornerstone of entertainment history, and the Vent Haven Museum is the place dedicated to depicting its history and various traditions. The founder of the museum, W.S. Berger, spent more than 40 years collecting everything related to ventriloquism, from dummies and puppets to photos and scripts. The museum houses more than 1,400 dummies used by ventriloquists from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.The museum can make you uncomfortable simply because the figurines seem almost real. Having so many of them in one place only amplifies the effect.Where: Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, USA
Torture Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Amsterdam’s canals, cycling culture and lively cafés make it easy to forget that European history has a much darker side. The Torture Museum brings that side into focus with displays of historical punishment and interrogation devices. Housed in a dark, atmospheric setting, its collection features instruments and reproductions associated with interrogation, punishment and execution, including the infamous guillotine, Iron Maiden and stretching rack.
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The experience gets scary when you observe the pairing of each object with its historical context. This offers a glimpse into Europe’s past and the evolution of justice. From a nail-covered Spanish Inquisition chair to mysterious executioner’s masks, the museum turns some of history’s most disturbing practices into a strangely fascinating lesson in how societies once dealt with crime and punishment.Where: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Meguro Parasitological Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Not all terrifying things need to be large, hairy or equipped with sharp teeth. At the Meguro Parasitological Museum, some of the most unsettling creatures are small enough to escape the naked eye.This specialist museum is devoted to parasites and their relationships with humans and animals. Its displays include preserved specimens in glass containers, photographs, scientific illustrations and explanations of how these organisms live, reproduce and affect their hosts.One of its best-known exhibits features a remarkably long tapeworm, giving visitors a rather uncomfortable reason to think twice about what might be happening inside the human body. The museum’s scientific approach makes the experience educational, but looking at parasites up close can still inspire a few involuntary shudders.Where: Meguro, Tokyo, Japan
Museum of Death, USA
Death is not a typical subject around which to build a museum, yet the Museum of Death in the USA is dedicated to it. The museum explores mortality through true-crime material, crime-scene imagery, funeral objects, mortuary equipment and other disturbing historical displays.Its collections delve into the darker side of human behaviour, including notorious criminal cases and the ways societies have documented and dealt with death. Some exhibits can be graphic, making this a destination for visitors who are comfortable confronting difficult subjects.Where: Hollywood, California, and New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Mütter Museum, Philadelphia, USA
(Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
(Image Credit_ Wiki Commons)
The Mütter Museum at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia is an unusual site that explores the history of medicine through anatomical specimens, historical medical instruments, skeletal remains and preserved biological material.The collection includes objects that reveal the extraordinary variations of the human body and the challenges doctors faced before modern diagnostic tools became available. The exhibits are horrifying because they are not man-made models; they are real specimens preserved for medical and educational purposes.Where: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Catacombs of Paris , France
Paris is famous for romance, elegant cafés and the Eiffel Tower. But the ground beneath these beautiful streets holds a dark side of the city’s history. This is depicted in the Paris Catacombs, an underground ossuary that holds the remains of millions of people transferred from overcrowded cemeteries beginning in the late 18th century. The sight of skulls and bones arranged in huge piles can make some people feel nauseated.Where: Paris, France
