Museums and Collections

"The Bug Pit" at Zindon Prison

Where Stoddart and Connolly suffered in the infamous Bug Pit

In 1842, the British soldiers Stoddart and Connolly were executed in front of the Ark Fortress of Bukhara. It was the finale in a year-long torture (in the case of Stoddart it actually lasted four... »

Museums and Collections, Crime and Punishment, Memento Mori, Dead Explorers | Edited by Tawsam, Mark_Casey and others

Town of Grafton, Vermont, US

The Nature Museum Feejee Mermaid

Antique gaffe kept in the basement of a small Vermont natural history museum

The Nature Museum in Grafton, VT, is a small natural history museum in a converted house that is dedicated to Vermont flora, fauna, and geology. It houses quite a few treasures in its handful of... »

Museums and Collections, Natural History, Hunting and Taxidermy | Edited by JWOcker and Rachel

East India Mall Shopping Center, Massachusetts, US

Count Orlok’s Nightmare Gallery

A collection of full-size movie monsters opened to the public

Count Orlok’s Nightmare Gallery is a movie monster museum located in Salem, MA. This private collection of James Lurgio features full-size creature creations that are made of resin, latex, and... »

Museums and Collections, Unique Collections | Edited by JWOcker, Rachel and others

British National Railway Museum

The National Railway Museum in York is the largest railway museum in the world, attracting almost 1 million visitors per year

Collecting trains is a quaint, imaginative hobby. Collectors learn about and understand history as they study and obtain various models that illustrate different points in history, exhibit... »

Museums and Collections, Unique Collections, Purveyors of Curiosities | Edited by Tyke, Mark_Casey and others

City of Watertown, Massachusetts, US

Art of Jack Kevorkian

The macabre paintings created by famous suicide proponent Jack Kevorkian, or "Dr. Death"

Jack Kevorkian, also known as “Dr. Death,” was born in 1928 in Pontiac, MI, and received a medical degree with a specialty in pathology from the University of Michigan in 1952. Starting in 1990,... »

Museums and Collections, Unique Collections, Memento Mori | Edited by JWOcker and Rachel

Witch’s Dungeon

A seasonal movie monster museum featuring wax creations by a relative of one of the original Universal Studios monsters

Cortlandt Hull is the great-nephew of Henry Hull, the actor who portrayed the titular creature in the 1935 film Werewolf of London. Perhaps because of that, Cortlandt has dedicated his efforts to... »

Museums and Collections, Unique Collections | Edited by JWOcker

Schmetterlinghaus: The Imperial Butterfly Park

A tropical paradise just a short trip from the opera house, filled with beautiful winged creatures for your enjoyment

Built around the turn of the last century and part of the Hofburg palace, this "Jugendstil" greenhouse is filled with a lush, tropical landscape, trickling waterfalls, and within its humid walls... »

Fascinating Fauna, Museums and Collections, Horticultural Marvels | Edited by vienna and Rachel

Town of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, US

Libby Museum

The 100-year-old public collection of a New Hampshire dentist that contains taxidermy, Native American artifacts, and a pair of mummy hands

By profession, Henry Libby was a dentist, however his passion was being a collector…of pretty much everything, including natural, anthropological, and historical wonders worth studying for... »

Museums and Collections, Natural History, Unique Collections, Hunting and Taxidermy | Edited by JWOcker and Rachel

Zaffis Museum of the Paranormal

The personal collection of a professional demon-chaser

John Zaffis is the nephew of controversial paranormal investigators Ed and Lorrain Warren. He followed in their footsteps, and has become famous for his Museum of the Paranormal, which is located... »

Museums and Collections, Unique Collections | Edited by JWOcker

Baltit Fort

Tibetan-influenced mountain fortress in Northern Pakistan

In more simple times, an awesome house was really the only thing needed for both the defense and definition of one's empire. That may seem like a quaint notion today, but the grand and enduring... »

Museums and Collections, Architectural Oddities, Incredible Ruins | Edited by Tawsam, Mark_Casey and others

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