Museums Are Competing Over Who Has The Creepiest Exhibit, And Here Are 30 Of The Best Ones
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Since its closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Yorkshire Museum in England has launched a weekly #curatorbattle on social media to challenge others to showcase their objects related to a particular theme. A couple of days ago, the museum posted a picture of a hair bun from the burial of a Roman woman in the third or fourth century, kicking off a new competition. This time, curators from all over were asked to share their most sinister possessions. And they delivered.
From a chilling plague mask and haunting dolls to a painted whale eardrum and beyond, museums have been responding to the #CuratorBattle with their #CreepiestObject and it's what horror movies are made about. Continue scrolling and get your share of nightmare fuel!
Image credits: YorkshireMuseum
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"The curator battle has been gradually building as more and more museums and the general public look at our Twitter feed every Friday to see what theme we're going to pitch," Millicent Carroll, digital engagement officer for the York Museums Trust, told Bored Panda in a statement.
"Last week's 'Best Egg' had replies from the Hermitage in Russia and the American Museum of National History, but the creepiest object has taken it to another level!"
Replies have come from the German History Museum, Oshawa Museum in Ontario, Canada, the New York Historical Society, and America's first museum - the Charleston Museum. It has also been popular in the UK, with museums such as the Imperial War Museum, Bank of England Museum, curators from the National History Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, and many Yorkshire museums getting involved.
Carroll said it is great for museums to be able to still share their collections with the public when their doors are closed.
The pandemic hasn't been kind to these establishments. For example, the York Museum Trust, a charity which runs several of York's museums, including the Yorkshire Museum, was forced to close all of them due to the coronavirus. "We have lost 70% of our income, as most of it comes from visitor admissions," Lee Clark, communications manager for the trust, added.
His last words were "Tell me, after my head has been chopped off, will I still be able to hear, at least for a moment, the sound of my own blood gushing from the stump of my neck? That would be the pleasure to end all pleasures." Trust me, he was creepier when he was alive.
"Social media is one of the few ways we can still engage with audiences so we have been working really hard to come up with innovative and interesting ideas to get people talking and learning about objects in our care," Clark explained.
And it looks like the staff is doing one heck of a good job. Their creepy object tweet has had nearly 10K likes and 4K retweets, gaining the Yorkshire Museum 2.6K followers over the weekend alone.
York Museums Trust has also created Museums From Home, a page on their website dedicated to ways people can get involved with its collections, buildings and stories while they're closed.Also, if you want to support the organization and all the wonderful things they're doing, consider donating through their website.
Also, if you want to support the organization and all the wonderful things they're doing, consider donating through their website.
Someone had a whole lot of fun putting this one together. I wonder how old it is and why it was made. To prove the existence of mermaids or to frighten the wits out of the kids after dinner?
Can you imagine tripping over that thing on a dark and stormy night? I'd go 0 to 100 km/h faster than a Ferrari.
The "Real" Annabelle... I'd throw this thing deep in an abyss somewhere and never look back!
Scold's bridle... see this https://www.hevercastle.co.uk/news/castle-objects-month-february-scolds-bridles/
The original folklore for a hand of glory was for it to be cut off the body of a hanged man as he hung still from the gibbet. It was used by criminals to put a household to sleep so they could creep around and steal undisturbed. It's found still in modern stories including Harry Potter 😊 I've seen this one at the Whitby Museum, creepy but flipping awesome too 😊
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Yes, but the use in HP was slightly different. In the books the hand is used to light the way only to the owner and used after Draco's thrown Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder in the corridors of the school, so everyone's blind except himself and his accomplanying Death Eaters. Historically however, the hand of glory holds a candle made of the fat of the deceased person it came from, and will render everyone in a household immobile, allowing the thief to take whatever they want. Some also said it could unlock all locks. If you google it, I'm sure you can find even a recipe or something. In general, JK Rowling tweaked existing myths and legends for her stories, that's why it's so cool to explore her world.
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i remember studying about these things many years ago, even read stories written about them....they would put a candle on its palm and it was supposed to have mystical powers
It provides a light only to the one who holds it. Used by thieves and plunderers. Your son has excellent taste sir.
Here's what Google says about the hand of glory: Capture-5e...816764.png 
His sister was called Hope and her hand got the chop too. There was an exhibition called 'The hand of Hope & Glory'
Lol now I'm imagining you saying "so THAT'S where my glove went!" 🤣
Load More Replies... "Hand of Glory: The Macabre Magic of Severed Hands" https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/morbid-monday-severed-hands
Insert a candle, and it will provide light only to the holder. A best friend of thieves and plunderers.
Harry Potter stories contain a lot of tales from the past. Including spells that have base names in languages other than English and names in their course books that are of real people often studying something similar to the subject that's being studied. Nicholas Flamel is one of those real people ( he was actually thought to have discovered the philosophers stone in real life).
Some museums' collections are rather sparse, so anything will do--just give it a weird name.
I actually like this one, for bringing the completely unexpected to something as hopelessly mundane as a pincushion. Anyone up for a pincushion challenge?
"Oh, dum dee dum, what a great day of whale hunting! I wonder what I should do with this earlobe I cut off of it? Oh, I have an idea! Let's paint a super cool, not creepy, face on it!"
Ha! Another one! Was it all the rage to present proof that mermaids are real? A Victorian pastime?
Note: this post originally had 87 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I'm surprised there isn't anything from the Mutter museum here, just about EVERYTHING in it is creepy AF
My naturally mummified crow. (It's in a shadow box on my wall now.) IMG_0026sm...ab188c.jpg 
OK, got lead quite astray here. I was thinking two things at the same time. "How is that a mummified cow" and "A mummified cow in a shadow box on the wall???" and then it hit me. I skipped reading one little letter'r'. LOL
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I honestly didn't think the hair bun was all that creepy. People have been wearing extensions and the like for ages. A lady's got to look her best! Right?
I suspect that this wasn't a hair extension, but the lady's actual scalp and hair.
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Well, I saw it. I'm now more disturbed then I was before. Thank you.
Fantastic battle! I did have to take a break after about 30 pics, though. I do want to eat something today, at some point.
Yes, how about Madame Tussauds? There are so many creepy people in there. Look in their eyes!
Ask a Mortician fans reply in chorus: 'Bentham's Head!'
Load More Replies... I'm surprised there isn't anything from the Mutter museum here, just about EVERYTHING in it is creepy AF
My naturally mummified crow. (It's in a shadow box on my wall now.) IMG_0026sm...ab188c.jpg
OK, got lead quite astray here. I was thinking two things at the same time. "How is that a mummified cow" and "A mummified cow in a shadow box on the wall???" and then it hit me. I skipped reading one little letter'r'. LOL
Load More Replies... I honestly didn't think the hair bun was all that creepy. People have been wearing extensions and the like for ages. A lady's got to look her best! Right?
I suspect that this wasn't a hair extension, but the lady's actual scalp and hair.
Load More Replies... Well, I saw it. I'm now more disturbed then I was before. Thank you.
Fantastic battle! I did have to take a break after about 30 pics, though. I do want to eat something today, at some point.
Yes, how about Madame Tussauds? There are so many creepy people in there. Look in their eyes!
Ask a Mortician fans reply in chorus: 'Bentham's Head!'
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