10 of California's Most Unique, Weird, and Creepy Museums
Laughing Sal at Musee Macanique
The Erica Chang at Wikimedia through Creative Commons licensing
Unusual Museums in California
California is known for its diversity. From the beaches to the mountains, from the forests in the north to the deserts in the south, and cuisine influenced by its blend of cultures, there are multiple very diverse aspects to the state. But were you aware that there is quite a diverse selection of museums in California as well?
From Bigfoot to shrunken heads and from the Peanuts gang to eerie arcade games, there's something unusual to fit everyone's taste. Here's a look at ten of California's most unique, weird, and sometimes creepy museums. These are presented in no particular order.
Male mummy on display
Oleg Alexandrov at Wikimedia through Creative Commons licensing
1. Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum
Take a trip back in time to ancient Egypt at the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose, the largest Egyptian museum in the Western United States. With over four thousand artifacts, you can explore four galleries, which include the afterlife, daily life, religion, and rulers. There are real coffins on display, as well as four human mummies and some animal mummies.
The real highlight of a visit there is when you descend into a recreation of an Egyptian tomb complete with hieroglyphics, wall paintings, and a burial chamber complete with a sarcophagus. What I really like about this museum is that it doesn't just show artifacts; it includes information to read about them, so you actually learn a lot about this ancient culture.
Antique Thimble Theater
2. Musée Mécanique
Musée Mécanique is an antique coin-operated arcade located at Pier 45 in San Francisco. It has over 300 items, including classic video games such as Pac-Man, peep shows, orchestrations, and dioramas.
One of the coolest is the Carnival display, which has moving rides and a band playing music. However, the museum also contains some really eerie games, like executioner games and an opium den complete with dragons and skeletons.
For me, the freakiest is that of Laughing Sal, who is pictured at the top of the page. For just fifty cents, you can hear her spine-chilling laugh that resided over the now-defunct Playland at the Beach amusement park from 1940–1972.
All games are part of a private collection by owner Dan Zelinsky. Admission is free, but if you want to play some games, bring your quarters. When visiting this museum, you also get to see many iconic spots around San Francisco!
Bigfoot memorabilia
3. Bigfoot Discovery Museum
Housing quite a collection of memorabilia, the Bigfoot Museum in Felton offers fun displays like games, dolls, action figures, and a Harry and the Hendersons display that kids will love, along with magazines and news articles focusing on the big guy.
There are various foot and hand casts exhibited, some coming from the nearby Santa Cruz mountains, as well as hair and tooth samples. Maps of sightings are available, as well as the Patterson–Gimlin film, which is the first known video footage of Bigfoot.
The owner, Mike Rugg, has spent his life researching this cryptid as he had his first sighting as a child and has had subsequent sightings since. The museum is free, but donations are always appreciated.
Severed head of a French serial killer
4. Museum of Death
The Museum of Death in Hollywood is not for the faint of heart. There are all sorts of exhibits pertaining to death, including autopsy videos, a skull collection, tools used in funeral homes, and coffins.
Artwork by various serial killers are on display, including paintings by John Wayne Clancy, the serial clown killer. There's also quite an extensive display on Charles Manson, including graphic crime scene photos and a recreation of Heaven's Gate featuring a pair of the original bunk beds.
The museum is actually quite informative and educational, but it is definitely not a place to bring children.
Sign for Antique Vibrator Museum
5. Antique Vibrator Museum
The Antique Vibrator Museum in San Francisco takes a historical look at vibrators from their origination in the 1880s up through the 1970s. Originally invented for medical purposes, only doctors were allowed to initially use them. Some of the earliest ones on display are hand crank mechanical devices that are quite loud when in use.
The museum shows the evolution of vibrators through the decades as they went from medical devices to beauty aids and, finally, sex aids. You'll actually be surprised at how artistic some of these devices are.
6. Western Science Center
If you're a fan of archeology and paleontology, then the Ice Age exhibit at the Western Science Museum in Hemet is a must. The museum was built to house over a million artifacts and fossils that were found locally, and since its opening, it has gone on to become home to artifacts from all over Riverside County.
Its pride and joy "Max," is the largest mastodon ever found in California. What's super cool about this place is a display within the museum where guests can watch the cleaning and restoration of artifacts the museum has acquired. Altogether, the museum is home to more than 90 species of Ice Age animals.
Check out the video above to learn more.
Tattoo display
7. Triangle Tattoo & Museum
There aren't too many tattoo museums around, but fortunately, Fort Bragg is home to the Triangle Tattoo & Museum. Opened in 1986 by tattoo artists Mr. G. and Madame Chinchilla, the museum displays a great deal of photographs, tattoo designs, and artifacts, as well as instruments and machines from different cultures all over the world.
This place is family-friendly and has free admission. Before you ask, no, you don't have to get a tattoo to tour this establishment.
Snoopy labyrinth
8. Charles M. Schulz Museum
A one-of-a-kind museum, the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa celebrates the life and works of the creator of the comic strip Peanuts. There are lots of pictures and comic strips, a ceramic tile mural made of Peanuts comic strips, a wall painted by Schultz for his daughter, and a wonderful recreation of Schulz's studio with original furniture and artifacts, just to name some of what is available to see.
On the outside, you can check out Snoopy's topiary as well as statues, Snoopy's dog house, and labyrinth (the last which is shown in the picture above).
Ripley's in Hollywood
Chris Yarzab at Wikimedia through creative Commons licensing
9. Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Unique, weird, and creepy are three adjectives that accurately describe the exhibits at Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum in Hollywood. While there are many displays dedicated to entertainment—like a collection of matchbooks signed by celebrities, tributes to movies including Superman and Star Wars, along with human oddities like Tom Thumb, a midget who toured with P.T. Barnum and Eric Sprog who physically altered himself to become Lizardman—there are some exhibits that totally embrace the creep factor.
There's a New Guinea shrunken head, a mummified rat, animal oddities like a cyclops goat, a two-faced cow, and Siamese calves, along with Liu Ch'ung, a Chinese emperor with two pupils in each eye.
Besides its Hollywood location in California, there is another location in San Francisco at Fisherman's Wharf.
Bigfoot collection
10. Willow Creek-China Flat Museum Bigfoot Collection
Located in Willow Creek, the "Bigfoot capital of the world" up in northern California, the Bigfoot Collection is part of the China Flat Museum, which houses local logging and agricultural artifacts.
The museum features casts, newspaper clippings, maps of sightings, photos, and personal accounts of people who have had Bigfoot experiences. The staff is very informative, and some fun items are sold in the gift shop. Before visiting, check their website to be sure they're open, as they close down for the winter months. When you do visit, don't forget to get a picture with the Bigfoot statue outside.
Interesting California Museums
As you can see, there are many unique museums to visit in California. While some are fun and weird, others are just downright creepy. Before visiting, always check the days and times they are open and have fun discovering the many interesting museums in the Golden State.
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