Museum of the Weird: A Jaunt Inside Austin's Strangest Attraction

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I don’t know if the Museum of the Weird also serves double duty as headquarters for the Keep Austin Weird movement, but it totally could. (And, yes, there is such a thing. Just check out #keepaustinweird on Insta. It’s very popular.)

All I know is that when we jaunted to Austin at the beginning of this year, pre-pandemic, we stayed at the Driskill Hotel, a short two-block walk from the museum. Which turned out to be super convenient because the Museum of the Weird was someplace I wanted to go after doing my Atlas Obscura research on weird and unusual places to see in Austin.

It’s part oddities and movie memorabilia collection mixed with wax museum and freak show. It’s all strange, weird, and unusual, so no false advertising there. It’s also quite fabulous and fun.

Museum of the Weird Entrance

Museum of the Weird front outside sign — One of the signs out front.

“Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! Through these doors await mysteries and oddities from all around the world for you to feast your eyes on. If you dare…”

Okay, there were no barkers making such announcements, but it totally felt like there could be.

Museum of the Weird inside entrance — Posters advertising some of the exhibits to marvel at once you pass through the turnstile.

First Exhibits: Classics

Museum of the Weird sideshow circus with wolf boy — A Wolf Boy figure in a case of sideshow circus memorabilia.

The museum is packed with exhibits and artifacts but is extremely well laid out. It starts out with classic circus sideshow displays, such as the Wolf Boy, the Siamese Twins, and the Fiji Mermaid.

Museum of the Weird Siamese Twins — Conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker were born in 1811 and made the term “Siamese twin” famous. They passed in 1874.

Museum of the Weird Fiji Mermaid — What is a Fiji Mermaid? A real mermaid? A species of fish? A hoax? This specimen at the Museum of the Weird came from Moses McGuire, a former showman and sideshow performer.

Museum of the Weird elephant man replica — The Elephant Man figurine…or was it a wax figure?

Museum of the Weird wolf boy — Another angle of the Wolf Boy figurine, which I found very photographable.

The Paranormal Section

I was delighted to find the Museum of the Weird had a ghost history section. It wasn’t very big and pretty much was just one wall detailing Austin’s haunted history and haunted places, but that was okay, because a little info is better than none.

Museum of the Weird Haunted Driskill Hotel — Great information about the paranormal activity and ghost stories at the Driskill.

Museum of the Weird haunted paramount theatre — The show must go on apparently even in the afterlife at Austin’s Paramount Theatre.

Museum of the Weird Austin ghost story section — A collection of other ghost stories from purportedly haunted places in Austin.

Shrunken Heads, Mummies and More

Museum of the Weird respect for the dead sign — Continue to gawk, but do so respectfully.

This section contained everything from mummies and shrunken heads to pickled parts.

Museum of the Weird shrunken heads — Not sure if any were real, but they certainly had quite the assortment of shrunken heads.

Museum of the Weird Mummy — What’s the Mummy of Guanajuato’s story? It was posted right there in his case. Apparently, he’s one of a lot of bodies that were mummified during a cholera outbreak around Guanajuato, Mexico in 1833.

Museum of the Weird skeleton in coffin — Are dem bones real? And is the coffin?

Creature in Ice

You’re not allowed to take pictures of the Creature in Ice, which is just as well because it would be a hard photo to get. The glass the “creature” is under is cloudy and the lighting wouldn’t be conducive to a good shot.

But what is the creature on ice? Is it a frozen Bigfoot or a caveman? Is it even really frozen at all? Or is it all an elaborate hoax? Not sure, but it’s kooky and kitschy and it was fun to see.

Museum of the Weird Iceman movie inspiration — The Creature on Ice and Timothy Hutton connection.

Like a lot of things in the museum, the Creature in Ice has a movie connection too. Have you ever seen Iceman?

Bigfoot

Live Freak Show

Museum of the Weird hooks in eyes — He said he was going to put hooks in his eyes. I was relieved when it turned out to be his eyelids.

Museum of the Weird nail in nose — Yep. He did use a hammer to tap a nail up his nose…then he asked a member of the audience to help him pull it out. I was the first to yell, “Not it!”

Other Oddities

Museum of the Weird exorcism mask — This mask got its “exorcise.”

Museum of the Weird witch doctor — I’m sure this sculpture served its purpose quite effectively.

Museum of the Weird Betz Mystery Sphere — The Betz family discovered this ball in 1974 when they were investigating a small brush fire near their Florida home. They claimed it made strange noises and moved on its own and thought it was otherworldly…or wanted it to be from outer space at any rate. Maybe they were the ones who were spacy?

Museum of the Weird Gremlin animatronic — This animatronic Gremlin was part of their more modern movie collection.

Museum of the Weird two headed cow — Doesn’t seem it lived very long but at least it was born alive.

Museum of the Weird cyclops pig — This pig has seen better days. Pun totally intended.

Museum of the Weird two headed chicken — This chicken could’ve lent Mike the Headless chicken one of its heads.

headless girl poster — How did this work?

Replica Circus Freak Show Posters

Museum of the Weird all real freakshow people — Banners like this lined an upstairs room where Johnny Depp once stayed.

The Classic Horror Movies Wax Figures

This part thrilled me because they had all the scary oldies but goodies in one place in really great likenesses. Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi…those were the greats. I think the only one missing was Vincent Price.

EXPLORE MORE: Play as Slasher or Survivor in 1978: The Night They Came Home

Museum of the Weird Nosferatu replica — Nosferatu

Museum of the Weird creature from the black lagoon — Creature from the Black Lagoon

Museum of the Weird the mummy — The Mummy

Museum of the Weird dr jekyll and mr hyde — Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Museum of the Weird Dracula bela lugosi — Dracula

Museum of the Weird London After Midnight — London After Midnight

Museum of the Weird Phantom of the Opera — Phantom of the Opera

Even better, you could pose with any of the figures you wanted. Here’s how I asked my husband to pose with King Kong:

However, the staff member who was up there to keep an eye on things was super cool and offered to take photos for people. My husband and I took him up on it when he asked us.

We call it: King Kong Calamity (Or I do because what is Wayne doing back there?)

The Most Mysterious

There were two things I found most mysterious of all in the museum: a box and a trap door.

Do Not Open This Box Ever — Okay, what’s in the box and why is there a warning to employees not to open it? Enquiring minds want to know!

Museum of the Weird trap door — Apparently, this trap door, which is part of the building the museum is in, has a history of its own and was used in some shady dealings, according to the guy who did the freak show. But that’s a post for another day…

As you can see, I had a blast here. So many interesting things to take photos of, and I loved that they let you take pictures. It was a really cool place and if I ever find myself back in Austin, I’ll stop by again!

For More Info

Visit: https://www.museumoftheweird.com/

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Do you like odd museums like this?

Courtney Mroch

Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.

Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.

2 Comments

Oh, I could spend all day in this museum! So many interesting things to look at and learn about. I hadn’t heard of the Betz sphere. That’s kind of freaky if it’s real! Good post!

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Priscilla Bettis

November 17, 2020

Author

Thank you so much, Priscilla! I’d never heard of that Betz sphere either. Really crazy. So many neat things in there. Totally a place that’s hard to rush through! lol

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Courtney Mroch

November 18, 2020