Museum of Death

True Crime has become more mainstream lately with podcasts, tv shows, books, documentaries all at our fingertips. There are conventions solely for true crime fanatics and Paul Holes has become a sexy icon in true crime world. For those of you interested in true crime, or just weirdly interested in death in general, I highly suggest visiting the Museum of Death.

Museum of Death in NOLA

There are 2 locations: One is in Hollywood and the other is in New Orleans. It costs $17 to visit the Hollywood location and $15 for the New Orleans location. Both buildings are pretty vibrant, so it is hard to miss. I personally enjoyed the Hollywood Museum of Death more, but the New Orleans one is still very interesting. There are no age restrictions, because as the website says “WE ALL DIe,” though I would probably suggest no one under the age of 15 visit. If you pass out, you get a t-shirt lol. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to walk through and see the majority of the items. There is also no photography allowed of any kind.

The Museum of Death in Hollywood is broken up into rooms. You have Serial Killers (with John Wayne Gacy’s clown shoes), executions (with an electric chair), death rituals across cultures, Hollywood murders (crime scene photos of the Black Dahlia), deadly creatures (dead spiders and scorpions), cults (cups from Jonestown), cannibals (photos of Ed Gein’s “nipple belt”), death masks, and taxidermy. The final room, which is completely optional, has videos of car wrecks and other tragic accidents. I avoided this room. They play soft music to try to keep you calm because your heart rate will naturally elevate while looking at these horrific photos and items.

The Museum of Death in New Orleans is a bit more tame. They have handwritten letters from Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber), shrunken heads, Dr. Kevorkian’s suicide device, and a few other items. It’s not as comprehensive as the Hollywood location, but also less intense.

Scott Healy, the brother of the founder and the curator of the New Orleans collection says, “The reason the museum kind of started was the lack of education of death in our society, the taboo nature, and the inquisitiveness of it. We wanted to educate people.”

Have you been to either of these museums? If so, tell me your thoughts below in the comments :)