SAD, SICK, AND SENSATIONAL STORIES: A REFLECTION ON THE ROLE OF HORROR MUSEUMS

Museum Mysteries | Jefimija Vujcic

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What do haunted places, clowns, microbes, breakups, cursed objects, and supernatural creatures all have in common? Besides the obvious creepy factor, they have also all had exhibits or entire museums dedicated to them at one time or another. Horror museums are a phenomenon widely discussed in movies, television, YouTube videos, news articles, and tourist websites. While they are perhaps little understood, beyond the sensational aspect, they do help us grasp the reflective role of museums in our societies.

A model of the bloodsucking creature Yara-ma-yha-who (originating among indigenous Australians). / Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches (ROM feature exhibit, November 2019–March 2020). / Photo courtesy of the editor.  

The idea for this blog post actually came about a few months ago, when I was watching an episode of The Good Place. In order to stay spoiler free, let’s just say some characters end up on the run in hell (yes, literally!). In disguise, they find themselves stuck in a hall of the “Museum of Human Misery” where animated human dioramas depicting low-level torture form the vast majority of exhibits. Their charade is up when one brand new diorama is unveiled — featuring our heroes torturing one another. Although certainly strange without context, this scene highlights a trait of many museums — the ability to confront the best and worst of ourselves (usually referring to the loftily imagined ‘humankind,’ rather than the very literal direction the show takes!). 

The museum in “Black Museum” (the finale of the fourth season of Black Mirror) similarly serves as a mirror for the worst parts of a society set in the horrifyingly not-so-far-off future. Without giving too much away, many objects in this museum don’t just represent human stories — but actual elements of human consciousness. As the enthusiastic curator/docent says, there is a “sad, sick story behind almost everything” in the museum. A show like this, much like horror museums or other controversial sites of dark tourism, can “tell us a lot about what it is to be human.” Further, also according to a professor researching the phenomenon, tourists of these places have the opportunity to “reflect on and try to better understand the evil that we’re capable of.”

A framed explanation of the linguistic origin of the word "vampire." / Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches (ROM feature exhibit, November 2019–March 2020). / Photo courtesy of the editor.  

If you search for horror museums, you’d find tourist-oriented top-10 or top-20 lists with museums right around the world. One in particular, the Warren Occult Museum formerly located in Monroe, Connecticut (but recently closed due to zoning violations) is closely linked to well-known horror films. Reportedly filled with cursed objects that formed the basis of movies such as Annabelle (a doll that is perhaps the most famous of the collection) or the Conjuring series, it was a popular destination for various YouTubers as well (with about 3 million views on a segment of Buzzfeed Unsolved).

Further, according to such lists, museums focusing on one particular scary or gross object are quite popular. Themes include ventriloquism (Fort Mitchell, Kentucky), disgusting food (Malmo, Sweden) and clowns (Leipzig, Germany). One noteworthy variant of these object-themed horror museums focuses on the medical sciences. These gore-filled exhibits include those located on the sites of hospitals (a former operating theatre, in London, England) and those dedicated to dentists (also located in London, England), pharmacies (New Orleans, Louisiana), microbes (Amsterdam, Netherlands), locks of hair (Cappadocia, Turkey), parasites (Tokyo, Japan), brains (Bengaluru, India), devastating breakups (Zagreb, Croatia and LA, California), and death (as one medical museum is known colloquially, located in Bangkok, Thailand). This idea of body-based horror also conjures images of wax museums, which reportedly “would not be complete” without a chamber of horrors. Perhaps the most horrific type of all are the ones linked to historically grim places or practices. These include museums dedicated to medieval crime (Rothenburg, Germany), magic and witchcraft (Cornwall, England), and torture (Amsterdam, Netherlands), among others. 

A movie poster of Dracula from the early 1930s. The ROM exhibit It's Alive! Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Art from the Kirk Hammett Collection (July 2019–January 2020) did a good job discussing the xenophobia and racism inherent in many classic early horror films. / Photo courtesy of the editor. 

Finally, museums or exhibits dedicated to the dead can also be quite commonly found – from Sicilian catacombs to shrunken heads in Oxford, England. Notably, the Pitt Rivers Museum actually very recently (in September 2020) permanently closed their gallery of shrunken heads, as part of their efforts to decolonize their institution. Due to this connection to colonization and to othering, this deserves an entirely separate conversation – one which I will explore in an upcoming blog. What is worth noting at the present is how, by looking at the sordid histories of some of these earliest collecting practices, it is clear that horror has always had a place in the museum. 

FANG-TASTIC BLOODSUCKERS: INSIDE THE MEDIA PREVIEW

Muse News | Michelle Wright

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On Wednesday, November 13th Musings was invited to the Royal Ontario Museum's (ROM) media preview of the blockbuster exhibition Bloodsucker: Legends to Leeches and it did not disappoint!

Dr. Sebastian Kvist. Photo courtesy of Alexandra Forand.

The morning started with perfectly themed refreshments, such as blood-orange cake, deviled-eggs, and little peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut into bat shapes! We took our seats as CEO Josh Basseches gave his introduction speech and handed it off to curator Dr. Sebastian Kvist, who, with his fellow curator Dr. Doug Currie and their team, have worked on the exhibition for the past 11 months. He showed pictures of their field research where they often used themselves as live bait to collect samples of leeches and mosquitos and other fun bloodsuckers. Talk about dedication! Kvist also spoke about what he thinks this exhibition truly is; “Natural history has inspired culture, story telling, and artistic inspiration, that in turn has affected how we think of the natural kingdom. What this show would like to do, is to be able to empower you with the knowledge to be able to live side by side with bloodsuckers. Empowered by the knowledge that we can hopefully provide at this show.” We were then taken to the exhibition (located in Garfield Weston Exhibition Hall, Level B2) and given a tour by Kvist himself.

Introduction section on blood. Photo Courtesy of Alexandra Forand.

The bright red colour running through the exhibition works perfectly to remind the visitor of blood that is the source of sustenance for these creatures. The exhibition is broken up into nine sections and utilizes a variety of sounds, interactives, and visuals to immerse the visitor in the experience.  The introduction section set the stage for feeling like the visitor was inside a vein itself. The round shape of the room, the heart-beat sound, and the display gave the impression of a vein and allows the visitor to learn about the thing that is so important to these animals: blood. We toured through other sections on evolution, how animals suck blood, the diversity wall, folk lore on vampiric creatures, pop culture’s expression of vampires, the history of bloodletting, and the how to live with these creatures today. The exhibition was also filled with live specimen, such as leeches, mosquitoes, sea lamprey, and more.

Sea Lamprey. Photo Courtesy of Alexandra Forand.

Two things that Kvist highlighted about the exhibition was that it is trans-disciplinary, as well as a unique story to the ROM. Let’s sink our teeth into these for a moment. Including the sections on folk lore and pop culture makes this exhibition trans-disciplinary, meaning that there is both natural history and cultural history. But was adding these elements actually necessary for the exhibition? In many ways they feel like a way to draw people into the exhibition in the first place.

How do you get people to come into an exhibition about mosquitoes and leeches when most people actively avoid such creatures? 

By connecting them with things people do want to see; vampires. But if I’m honest you can just skip this part of the exhibition. It was well done, but the exhibition is so rich with other information to explore. We have seen vampires so often that it doesn’t feel like anything new. I will admit that I did like the first edition books Dracula that are on display.

Three books of original vampire tales; Vikram and The Vampire, first addition Dracula, and Carmella. Photo Courtesy of Alexandra Forand. 

Lastly the uniquely ROM story. One of my favourite sections was the barber shop from the 1700’s that spoke about the history of bloodletting. Bloodletting was originally performed by monks, but in the 12-14 century the church told them to focus on theology. Barbers had been coming to the monasteries for a long time to shave the monks’ heads. They had a presence and they had sharp objects to use in bloodletting. To this day, barber polls are indications of bloodletting, the red strip shows this barber let blood, and the white strips indicated the bandages they would use to patch up the wound, while the top ball indicates that leaches were used. Kvist explained that almost all of the objects here come from the European department of the ROM. He says that this is the reason why they are so proud that this is a ROM original show, because the ROM is filled with experts in so many fields.

Using an interactive element on mosquitoes. Photo Courtesy of Alexandra Forand.

There were a few missed opportunities, for example I would have loved to see something on blood donations, or even a partnership with blood drives. But of course you can’t hit everything.

Overall, the exhibition was a success and worth checking out, you could even say it is fang-tastic!