By Cindy Brzostowski, to Museum Spotlight Europe (September 2022)
If you are planning a trip to Europe around Halloween, then there’s no better way to embrace the spooky season than to visit the spookiest museums across the continent. Put on a brave face and see the creepy, mysterious, and sinister exhibits in the following museums: Torture Museum, Museum of Torture, The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, Jack the Ripper Museum, Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft, Medieval Crime Museum, Clown-Museum Leipzig, Funeral Museum Vienna, and more. From England to Italy, museums on torture, witchcraft, and more offer thrills and chills that you’re just not going to get from your average contemporary art or natural history museum.
Torture Museum — Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Europe’s medieval history is chock-full of torture stories and techniques. If that painful past fascinates you, then it’s off to the Torture Museum in Amsterdam you go. At this small museum, you can view over 40 instruments of torture, including a rack device and a frightening spiked chair. The museum is open every day of the week, and it certainly provides a contrast to the work of the Dutch masters.
Museo della Tortura di Siena/Museum of Torture Siena — Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra, Lucca, and Montepulciano, Italy
Visit one of the five Museum of Torture locations in Italy for more torture exhibits. These permanent exhibitions display the scope of the disturbingly cruel creativity of torture devices, including well-known instruments such as the Iron Maiden (an iron cabinet with a spiked interior) alongside less familiar ones like the Spanish Spiders (an iron instrument designed to pull off flesh).
The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic — Boscastle, England
Has the history of witchcraft and magic put a spell on you? The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle should be on your travel itinerary. This museum houses the largest collection of witchcraft-related and occult objects in the world, from amulets and crystals to divination boards and figurines. Keep an eye on the calendar for special temporary exhibitions.
Jack the Ripper Museum — London, England
While you’re still in England, you may want to plan a trip to the Jack the Ripper Museum in London. For centuries, the infamous serial killer has been the subject of legend, mystery, and debate. The museum is located in Whitechapel, the very district where the unsolved murders occurred. In addition to the museum, which is open seven days a week, you can also book a guided walking tour, starting at 3 pm daily.
Photo by Jack the Ripper Museum
Galdrasýning á Ströndum/Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft — Hólmavík, Iceland
Over in the small Icelandic town of Hólmavík, the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft delves into the history of the country’s sorcery, witchcraft, and 17th-century witch hunts across two floors of exhibits. If all the strange enchantment of the exhibits has left you with an appetite, you can grab a simple, local meal at the museum’s Galdur restaurant (“galdur” means sorcery). You may also feel inspired to pick up a book about magic at the shop on your way out.
Mittelalterliches Kriminalmuseum/Medieval Crime Museum — Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany
We haven’t said goodbye to the Middle Ages just yet. The Medieval Crime Museum in the Bavarian town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber looks at over a millennia of German and European legal history. You may be wondering, “What’s so spooky about that?” Well, the exhibits, which span multiple floors, cover dark topics like corporal and death punishments, persecution, and witch hunts. If you’d like, you can also book a 60-minute guided tour in advance.
Clown-Museum — Leipzig, Germany
For many, clowns are commonly associated with nightmares rather than a source of entertainment. Anyone who gets the creeps from these painted, costumed performers will surely be at unease at the Clown-Museum Leipzig, an hour and a half away from Berlin by train. There are photos, posters, puppets, and plenty of figures (more than 3,000) to peruse at this quirky museum, and it’s the only one of its kind in the country.
Bestattungsmuseum Wien/ Funeral Museum Vienna — Vienna, Austria
How you feel about death will determine how spooky or not you find Vienna’s Funeral Museum. But regardless of your views on what comes next, this exhibit offers an interesting look at Viennese funeral customs and burial rites through over 250 objects and images. Fittingly, the museum is located at the Vienna Central Cemetery in the basement of the former infectious disease mortuary. Guided tours are offered on the first Saturday of every month, unless it’s a public holiday.
Special Mentions
Catacombes de Paris/Catacombs of Paris — Paris, France
While not a museum per say, the Catacombs of Paris is ironically one of the most popular tourist attractions in the City of Light. Book a tour to explore twisting underground tunnels filled with the remains of over six million people. They make up the largest ossuary in the world, and the sight of seemingly endless stacked skulls and bones is not one you’ll soon forget.
Catacombe dei Cappuccini/Capuchin Catacombs — Palermo, Sicily
A catacomb of another sort, the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo present thousands of mummified corpses for an extraordinary, macabre exhibit. It all began in the 16th century when Capuchin friars exhumed corpses of their brothers to move them to a new resting place. Upon removing the bodies, they discovered that 45 of the bodies were naturally mummified, leading them to display the bodies as relics. Afterwards, the friars extended burials and mummification to the public; the carefully arranged bodies line the corridors.
Photo by Dario Ferrara
Museo e Cripta dei Frati Cappuccini/Capuchin Crypt — Rome, Italy
Thousands more Capuchin friars’ bodies can be seen in Rome at the Capuchin Crypt. With ornate arrangements of skulls and bones, this small crypt is located at the Church of Saint Mary of the Conception of the Friars Minor Capuchin. All together, it makes for quite a moving, artistic reminder of our mortality. There are audio guides available as well as guided tours, and it’s best to book the latter at least two weeks in advance.
Image by Capuchin Crypt
Cover image by Torture Museum
