Is there a painting or object that makes your toes curl in an art gallery or a museum? Share it tomorrow for #museum101! pic.twitter.com/ltwbWz35zP
— Museum 101 (@museum101) February 14, 2017
If dolls, ghouls or stuffed animals scare you, now is the time to look away.
Museums around the world challenged one another on Wednesday to rustle up their creepiest and most unconventional items and share them on Twitter.
The challenge, dubbed βMuseum 101,β led to a chilling collection of scary oddities β including dolls, which proved to be especially popular:
This doll fits well into #Museum101 @museum101 , right @CultureThemes !? c. 1820 & her eyes fell out! @Ptbo_Canada pic.twitter.com/hG6rhdZ7Hf
— PTBOMuseum&Archives (@OntheHill3) February 15, 2017
This model of a priest is impressive - until you realise it's made out of chewed bread! π€’ For this reason, we say: "Get into #Museum101!" pic.twitter.com/DJLhhmySrN
— English Heritage (@EnglishHeritage) February 15, 2017
One of the scariest objects - POMSTA [revenge]: figurine of wax & stearin, animal hair formed the figure of a woman; pins. #museum101 pic.twitter.com/7Enzf4jedg
— Muzeum Etnograficzne (@ethnomuseumwars) February 15, 2017
(We usually keep them boxed up. You know...just in case...)#museum101 pic.twitter.com/7WMhNIHylJ
— MuseumEngRuralLife (@TheMERL) February 15, 2017
We'll see your Leo DiCaprio, @HarpersFerryNPS, and raise you this unsettling doll...Is he looking at me?? #museum101 pic.twitter.com/mj38bCnVTz
— Jefferson Co. Museum (@jeffcomuseumwv) February 15, 2017
Wax baby doll given by Thomas Westwood to Eliza Westwood in Jan 1884. Childless Eliza went on to have 17 children. #museum101 #fertilitydoll pic.twitter.com/1mY5oN74jU
— Worthing Museum (@WorthingMuseum) February 15, 2017
Which is creepier, the #Edison #Talkingdoll itself, or the recording meant to be her voice? #museum101 Listen Here: https://t.co/upAdY4EvR5 pic.twitter.com/YkCTUOrNKF
— Thomas Edison NHP (@ThomasEdisonNHP) February 15, 2017
βMuseum 101β was named after a place called βRoom 101β thatβs featured in George Orwellβs book 1984, according to website Culture Themes, which put on the event.
That space stores things that people fear or donβt like. The website notes that Room 101 is actually more about torture, but βMuseum 101β organizers are staying away from that angle.
This doesnβt mean, however, that the oddities steer clear of death or disembodied parts, as you can see below:
Is there anything creepier than opening a box and finding half a head staring back at you? A definite candidate for #museum101 pic.twitter.com/6lWxN1KB1r
— RCPSG Library (@RCPSGlibrary) February 15, 2017
We have so many freaky objects. This horse stomach infested with botfly larvae is pretty frightening #museum101 pic.twitter.com/21NIAUBFyg
— Cole Zoology Museum (@ColeZoology) February 15, 2017
For #museum101 we offer these lovely studies of exhumed corpses, possibly by Jacuqes-Hippolyte Van der Burch @AberUni @AberArtSchool colls pic.twitter.com/V2FuwH4AkR
— Aber School of Art (@AberArtSchool) February 15, 2017
Which objects in our Collection terrify you? Perhaps Marc Quinn's Self, a self-portrait made from 8 pints of the artist's blood? #Museum101 pic.twitter.com/TA9ImGZZyF
— Portrait Gallery (@NPGLondon) February 15, 2017
It's #museum101 day, to celebrate the creepy stuff in museums! Obvs we have to start with Fred, our shrunken head. pic.twitter.com/ATXCIYtTIt
— Wilbur D. May Center (@RenoMayCenter) February 15, 2017
Our #museum101 > Roald Dahl's hip bone and glass of spine shavings in his Writing Hut! pic.twitter.com/OuCVEiGQQR
— Roald Dahl Museum (@roalddahlmuseum) February 15, 2017
#museum101 @DorsetMuseum - Plaster cast heads of 19th Century convicted criminals that were hung at the County Goal #Dorchester #Dorset pic.twitter.com/zsIQWbHiIA
— Dorset County Museum (@DorsetMuseum) February 15, 2017
The art of taxidermy may be the thing that sends shivers down your spine. If thatβs the case, plenty of museums were eager to show off their collection of furry friends, some of which can be seen below:
We can only assume that this taxidermy of a five-legged deer at @EHOsborneHouse is the creepy spirit animal of #Museum101 pic.twitter.com/KnuN1bi72H
— English Heritage (@EnglishHeritage) February 15, 2017
What would you put in #museum101? We've seen some dodgy taxidermy in our time... pic.twitter.com/kkpxwsNYCw
— Scottish Museums Fed (@ScottishMuseums) February 15, 2017
@ScottishMuseums We'd love them to meet Oliver, though we fear he'd feel under-dressed with only a ribbon to wear. pic.twitter.com/jXAihAIld4
— Museum of London (@MuseumofLondon) February 15, 2017
Today @CultureThemes is #Museum101 artefacts that we find creepy - I give you Giant Fishing Spider https://t.co/AxVUydtOyOπ¬π·οΈ pic.twitter.com/juaIF6Tddr
— Nova Scotia Museum (@NS_Museum) February 15, 2017
@Museum101 How about this stuffed Puffer Fish? #Museum101 pic.twitter.com/RwM0ax2zGm
— Swansea Museum (@swanseamuseum) February 15, 2017
There are those miscellaneous finds, too.
From spooky pictures to masks, toys and even a ghost, museums appeared to cover all the bases. Some highlights included a painted whale eardrum (see directly below) and a velvet and silk mask once worn by gentlewomen as early as the 1500s.
This frightening painted whale's eardrum is surely worthy of a place in @museum101 #museum101 pic.twitter.com/QKoaAqTsct
— Discovery Point (@DiscoveryDundee) February 15, 2017
This is one of the creepier items on our database - found concealed inside a wall #museum101 https://t.co/vmulWVRsKE pic.twitter.com/J4sUwgo8Yu
— Portable Antiquities (@findsorguk) February 15, 2017
We keep these vegetable themed rag dolls locked away in our stores for everyoneβs sake! #Museum101 pic.twitter.com/fk5EVU2nBi
— Hull Museums (@Hull_Museums) February 15, 2017
Our #museum101 is a toy fit for the #AdamsFamily. Unless recreating funerals is your idea of family fun.. β° https://t.co/z4cUcvFXv8 pic.twitter.com/bj6tuf1d0H
— Nat. Maritime Museum (@NMMGreenwich) February 15, 2017
Doctor Gamla is one of the people we keep hidden away in the photo storage in the archives. @OtterTailMuseum #museum101 pic.twitter.com/FyQr4lHaOS
— OTC in WWI (@OTCinWWI) February 15, 2017
A few last #Museum101 contributions to make sure you don't get any sleep tonight... Tibetan mask, bat in a jar and wolf head. #sweetdreams pic.twitter.com/j4Af6zZ7TT
— Horniman Museum (@HornimanMuseum) February 15, 2017
Our resident ghost has scared numerous staff over the years. If only we could put it in #museum101! π» https://t.co/slkh3n7reU pic.twitter.com/Or1RNEue39
— The Queen's House (@TQHGreenwich) February 15, 2017
Anatomical Model? Mask? Whatever you call it, front and back are frightening. To the #Museum101 room with you. #thomasedisonnhp #Edison pic.twitter.com/R41qxiQnA6
— Thomas Edison NHP (@ThomasEdisonNHP) February 15, 2017
Have something to add? Join in on the fun by Tweeting out your museum oddity using the hashtag #Museum101.
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