40 Of The Creepiest Things Ever Kept In Museums – And They’re Not For The Faint-Hearted

Picture the scene: you walk into a museum, and the first thing you see is a frighteningly realistic head figurine made out of human blood. Or maybe you’ve heard of the horrifying red-eyed demonic bear? How about a mannequin that seemingly breathes of its own accord? These are, in fact, just three examples of frankly baffling items that you’ll come across in some of the world’s most fascinating museums. Join us as we explore 40 of the creepiest items to have found their way into displays. But be warned: we’d recommend taking a deep breath before scrolling down!

40. Cheeky monkey

This sinister little monkey can be found inside a museum in the Slovenian city of Maribor, which is the country’s second-biggest urban center. The animal is actually a puppet – crafted with the intention of entertaining kids. But we’d wager that the nightmarish toy actually has quite a dark effect on their imaginations!

39. The doll house

This crowd is the stuff of nightmares. Welcome to Kentucky’s Vent Haven Museum – reportedly the world’s one and only institution committed solely to displays related to ventriloquism. This artform sees performers holding a doll and making it seem like it’s chatting of its own accord. This can be unsettling anyway, but a museum full of almost 1,000 ventriloquist dummies may be just too much to bear!

38. Roald Dahl’s hip

Legendary children’s author Roald Dahl used to work inside his so-called Writing Hut – a room that he filled with a bizarre array of items over the years. According to his official website, they included a toy plane, a ball made of candy wrappers and a stone from ancient times bearing cuneiform markings. But the most disturbing item was undoubtedly the writer’s very own hipbone, which had been surgically extracted from his body. For some reason, he thought it was a good idea to keep this. Nowadays, these items can all be found inside a reconstruction of his Writing Hut in the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Buckinghamshire, England.

37. The pigeon mummy

This creepy bird is found inside Bell Museum, which is a Minnesota-based institution concerned with natural history. The creature was once a pigeon that died after becoming trapped in a wall. There, the bird underwent a naturally occurring mummification process – meaning its remains were preserved in this remarkable and sinister way.