Where medicine meets macabre: A tour of America’s most chilling medical exhibits

With Halloween right around the corner, now is the perfect time to learn about some of America’s most macabre medical exhibits, full of fascinating, unsettling and downright eerie artifacts and specimens.

Perhaps the most well-known museum housing these oddities is Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum, a museum of medical history. Visitors find themselves surrounded by skulls, preserved organs, historical medical instruments and more. Since first opening its doors in 1863, the Mütter has fascinated (and unsettled) generations of guests with its vast collection.

One such visitor is Gretta Gross, DO, MEd, executive vice president and chief assessment officer at the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME). Dr. Gross says her first visit to the museum was both fascinating and unforgettable.

“The first time I went to the Mütter, I was in my second or third year of school at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM), and I found the specimens to be well-preserved examples of things we had learned about during class,” Dr. Gross said.

Dr. Gross first visited the museum with a classmate simply out of curiosity.

“We had heard about the museum and just wanted to see it. The specimen I remember most is the toxic megacolon. I’m not sure why that one sticks out, but it was a very visual representation of that disease process,” Dr. Gross recalled.

While the Mütter’s collection is vast, it’s not the only place where morbid medicine takes center stage. This Halloween season, we’re highlighting some of America’s most notable medical exhibits, where science, history and the uncanny converge.

The Mütter Museum (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

For over 150 years, the Mütter Museum has remained one of the most renowned medical collections in the world. Slices of Albert Einstein’s brain and President Grover Cleveland’s preserved jaw tumor are just a few of the extraordinary specimens on display.

Another famous resident of the museum is the Soap Lady. Brought to the museum in 1874, she has been on display for nearly her entire time at the Mütter. Despite her nickname, the Soap Lady’s body is, of course, not actually made of soap. Rather, her body has been naturally preserved through the process of saponification. Unfortunately, the Soap Lady’s real name has been lost to history, but she remains one of the museum’s most captivating and studied specimens.

Also located at the Mütter is a plaster cast and the livers of Chang and Eng Bunker. The conjoined twins were born in Siam (present-day Thailand) in 1811. The twins were joined at the sternum and remained unseparated for life. Chang and Eng were “discovered” by a Scottish businessman who convinced the then-teenaged boys to come to the United States to perform for audiences.

The brothers died in 1874 (after both marrying and fathering 22 children between them). Fellows of the College of Physicians conducted autopsies and arranged for Chang and Eng’s remains to be brought to the Mütter, where their conjoined livers and a plaster death cast of their torsos are on display. There’s also an entire museum dedicated to the twins in Mount Airy, North Carolina.

Other must-sees at the Mütter are the fragment of John Wilkes Booth’s vertebra, the Hyrtl skull collection and, of course, the megacolon. “We are fortunate to have had significant advancement in the practice of osteopathic medicine, and some of the displays at the museum allow osteopathic physicians and students to see the impact of untreated illness that they will not see in practice today,” said Dr. Gross.

The Museum of Osteopathic Medicine at A.T. Still University Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (Kirksville, Missouri)

Within the walls of the country’s first college of osteopathic medicine, founded by A.T. Still, DO, himself, visitors can see one of just four fully preserved, dissected human nervous systems in the world.

Jason Haxton, director of the Museum of Osteopathic Medicine at the A.T. Still University Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (ATSU-KCOM), notes that students from the college were behind not just one, but two of the four fully dissected human nervous systems in existence. Together, they spent over 1,500 hours on the project.

“Our medical students and physician mentors tackled some of the most difficult biological tasks, such as dissecting out the nervous system from the body,” said Haxton. “This level of skill, combined with training in ultrasound and manual medicine, remains evident in today’s osteopathic physicians, who continue to apply these techniques to provide exceptional patient care.”

The specimen on display at the Museum of Osteopathic Medicine dates back to 1925 and is in the best condition, currently valued at $1 million. The second specimen was completed in 1935 and currently resides at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. According to Haxton, the Museum of Osteopathic Medicine also holds the only known dissected infant nervous system, created in 1915 by the California College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons. Donors Richard Koss, DO, and Monica Haines Koss, DO, made its restoration possible, preserving the specimen for future generations.

International Museum of Surgical Science (Chicago)

In the heart of downtown Chicago, among antique surgical tools and anatomical models, sits a plaster funeral mask of Napoleon Bonaparte at the International Museum of Surgical Science. The mask is one of several made just hours after the French leader’s death in 1821.

Although mask making is an ancient tradition found in many cultures, the “death mask” had a resurgence in popularity during the 19th century. The masks were often cast from the faces of prominent figures and served as a point of reference for later portraits or sculptures. The practice gradually declined with the rise of photography, which offered a faster means of preserving a likeness.

Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago)

Also found in Chicago is the Inside Ancient Egypt exhibit at the Field Museum of Natural History. The exhibit features a full-scale replica of a mastaba, an ancient Egyptian tomb, which holds the burial chambers of Egyptian Pharaoh Unis’s son Unis-Ankh (dating back to 2400 BCE). It also has one of the largest collections of mummies in the U.S., with 23 human and 30 animal specimens.

Museum of Death Hollywood (Los Angeles, California)

Unlike the more polished institutions on this list, the Museum of Death Hollywood fully embraces the bizarre. Its exhibits lean into the macabre, showcasing coffins, taxidermy, skulls and even artwork and letters from infamous serial killers.

As Dr. Gross said, “I think any exhibit using human subjects (real, virtual or otherwise) risks sensationalization. The Mütter Museum focuses on knowledge … [while other museums] seem to be marketed to appeal more to those interested in the weird or grotesque.”

The Museum of Death Hollywood certainly isn’t afraid to be weird or grotesque, and it’s definitely not a stop for the faint of heart.

More than curiosities

From Philly to LA, these museums are just a few locales across the country that offer fascinating glimpses into history, science and mortality. While these exhibits showcase remarkable specimens and artifacts, they also serve as a reminder of the importance of entering such spaces both ethically and respectfully. Dr. Gross emphasizes the value of thoughtful engagement with these collections.

“All osteopathic medical students and physicians are faced with the challenge of learning and understanding human suffering and how to respect the experience of each patient,” said Dr. Gross. “Having exposure to the specimens, such as those exhibited at the Mütter Museum, allows for an understanding of how medicine has evolved over time.”

By appreciating the human stories behind each exhibit, visitors can leave with a deeper connection to history, medicine and the people who have shaped both.

Related reading:

Halloween: Tricks and treats of the profession

The DO Book Club, Oct. 24: ‘The Autumn Ghost’