TOP TEN Monster Museums
Museums come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Some of them house the world's most prized possessions, from classical paintings to scientific artifacts. Some preserve local and national history. And others, well, they offer a more unique experience to their patrons. These museums are filled with the wonderfully wacky, weird, and unexplained. Paranormal, cryptozoological, and ufology museums exist around the country and cater to those fascinated with the bizarre. These modern mystery museums offer possible answers for things that go bump in the night.
These aren't your average monster museums. These hubs of paranormal and supernatural activity offer up a different sort of perspective on the world—one where anything is possible if you look hard enough. Museums are spaces where people gather to learn and be entertained. Monster folklore and history have been fascinating people since the ancient Greeks found giant bones from the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras. We're all curious about what could still be lurking in the shadows. These museums prove that those monsters might be closer than we think. Here is a top ten list of monster museums across America.
Flatwoods Monster Museum (Sutton, West Virginia)
Something flew across the sky on a dark night in West Virginia. The year was 1952 when a group of young boys spotted a red streak make its way to Earth. The group had a horrifying encounter with a massive monster, now known as The Flatwoods Monster. It was about ten feet tall with a red and green body and a glowing face.
The sighting caused an uproar and made national news. The witnesses claimed that a monster from outer space had landed in Flatwoods, West Virginia. This even prompted the Air Force to launch an official investigation, as part of Project Blue Book.
The museum acts as a Flatwoods Monster mecca. It's a safe place for people who believe in the monster and those still on the fence about what people saw nearly six decades ago. Miniature models of the famous creature are displayed in cases alongside newspaper articles surrounding the events and other historical documents and artifacts that involve the monster. It's a small museum with a modest gift shop where you can buy t-shirts, mugs, stickers, and lanterns, all showcasing the famous monster figure.
"Visit the Flatwoods Monster Museum and discover the legend of our famous monster that helped usher in the age of UFO sightings all over the world!"
Price of Entry: $8
North American Bigfoot Center (Boring, Oregon)
Who doesn't love Bigfoot? If you've ever seen an episode of Finding Bigfoot, this museum is for you! Located in Boring, Oregon, this museum contains some of the best Bigfoot evidence ever. The museum was opened by Cliff Barakman in 2019. If his name sounds familiar, it's because you really have seen an episode of Finding Bigfoot. Cliff appeared in every single episode of the hit Animal Planet show about a group of Bigfoot hunters who searched the world looking for the creature. Cliff opened the museum with his wife, Melissa, and it contains his personal collection of casts (one of the largest personal collections in the world) as well as props from the show.
From video evidence to blurry pictures, to a cast of Bigfoot fingers taken from a Nutella jar, this Bigfoot center has everything you need to believe in the wild man of the woods. The small building provides displays of footprints, handprints, and even... a bum print of these alleged and elusive creatures. It offers scientific and historical evidence supporting the existence of the Sasquatch.
The museum is also a research and information center. With Cliff working most days, you can have a conversation and share your experiences with one of the leading Bigfoot experts in the world. Cliff has made a reputation for himself in the Bigfoot community because he has a massive knowledge base on the creature's behavior patterns, physical features, and geographical locations. He's an expert. And his collection of Bigfoot artifacts is as legit as it gets in the cryptozoology field. (LINK 3)
Price of Entry: $8
Kecksburg Volunteer Fire Department’s UFO Museum and Store (Kecksburg, Pennsylvania)
Kecksburg, Pennsylvania cemented itself in UFO history on December 9, 1965 when witnesses saw a fire ball crash in the woods near the small town. The Army initiated an official investigation after numerous reports of a fire ball in the sky. They roped off the area and combed the woods, but found nothing. However, witnesses still insist that something landed in those woods. And the case is still changing as new information is uncovered over the years.
Keckburg celebrates the incident with a UFO festival every year put on by the volunteer fire department. The store/museum features merchandise that celebrates the UFO crash and the proceeds from the store and festival go directly to the fire department. Ron Strubel, Chairman, and President of the UFO Festival Committee of Kecksburg VFD, designs shirts every year for the festival and volunteers his time running the store and planning the festival.
Price of Entry: Free
Willow Creek-China Flat Museum (Willow Creek, California)
In 1967 the world was introduced to Patty, an alleged Bigfoot caught on camera by Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin. That film skyrocketed interest in the elusive creatures of the woods and brought hordes of Bigfoot hunters to Northern California. The town of Willow Creek is located near the Six Rivers National Forest. It’s lush with trees, water sources, and animal life making it the perfect habitat for a Sasquatch according to Bigfoot experts.
If you drive up Trinity Highway, you’ll pass a Bigfoot burger place, a large mural featuring Bigfoots working side by side with natives, a Bigfoot statue, and a Bigfoot museum. The museum preserves the history of the region, but the biggest draw is their Bigfoot exhibit where local evidence is displayed. Alongside artifacts from the local Indigenous tribes (the Hupa, Yurok, Karok, Chimariko, and Wintu) are Bigfoot footprint casts and pictures. You can look at maps of the surrounding forest where Bigfoot sightings have been reported and you can learn about generations of Sasquatch legends from locals. The museum endorses outdoor education, historical reverence, and family-friendly Bigfoot hunts.
Price of Entry: Free
Tom Devlin's Monster Museum (Boulder City, Nevada)
Located out in the Nevada desert between Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam, the museum isn't like anything else on this list. It's more of a playground for classic horror movie fans. Tom Devlin's Monster Museum holds a collection of some of the coolest special effects ever seen on camera. Devlin, special effects makeup artist and contestant on Syfy's Face Off, wanted to share his massive and impressive collection of movie memorabilia and horror history.
The exhibit has an extensive gift shop where you can buy masks, t-shirts, mugs, and even your Halloween costume. The collection entails full-size creature costumes, props from the movies, posters, and toys. If you want to come face to face with The Creature (From the Black Lagoon), Chucky, Freddy, Jason, and Michael, then look no further! Visit this strange and wonderful horror collection outside of Vegas. It may not be like the others on this list because it isn't trying to suggest any monster exists, but rather it's proof that monsters are already alive and well in pop culture.
"Our mission is to preserve the art and history of special makeup effects."
Price of Entry: $15
Expedition Bigfoot: The Sasquatch Museum (Blue Ridge, Georgia)
Expedition Bigfoot: The Sasquatch Museum in Cherry Log, Georgia, is "North Georgia's Biggest Family Attraction" according to their website. This three-room exhibit with a gift shop and small movie theatre is home to some of the most valuable Bigfoot evidence in history, including legendary casts and artifacts from some of the most famous stories in Sasquatch studies.
The outside of the museum looks like a hotel or hostel from the Himalayas. It sits on the side of a small Georgia highway as if it's a safe haven after a long and arduous hike in the mountains. Adventure theme music blasts from the building as you open your car door. Featuring music from Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones, it prepares you for an adventure. As the museum's name suggests, when you enter the museum, you are going on your own expedition.
This is not just a museum for tourists but is an active place of research and data collection. They are a research and reporting center housing current investigators' data and secured evidence from the field. Bigfoot researchers from all around Globe report their sightings and findings at this post, making it a certified monster hub.
"Our museum provides a lot of that evidence and leaves the question of Bigfoot's existence up to you. So, whether you're a skeptic, believer, or "knower," all are welcome.
Price of Entry: $8
Cryptozoology and Paranormal Museum (Littleton, North Carolina)
The town of Littleton may not have much, but it does have this awesome three-room little paranormal and cryptozoology museum. Run by Stephen Barcello, this museum is free to the public and contains Bigfoot tracks, haunted dolls, and ghost hunting equipment. What more could you want in one weird place!
The museum itself is inside a haunted house, which adds to the exhibit's aesthetic and allure. It may be a small museum where people can be in and out in around ten minutes. Still, suppose you let yourself linger in the experience of the weirdness surrounding you, or you find yourself deep in conversation with Steve. In that case, it's worth the effort to get there, no matter how far. This museum covers all the monster bases.
"Dedicated to the study and display of creatures and phenomena not recognized by traditional science."
Price of Entry: FREE
The Traveling Museum of the Paranormal and the Occult
This museum isn't a typical museum for the main reason that it TRAVELS. This mobile museum features hundreds of haunted artifacts and pops up at conventions and private events all over the country. The museum is curated by Greg and Dana Newkirk, paranormal investigators, and full-time researchers of all things unexplained. The duo has been featured on several paranormal shows such as Kindred Spirits and is involved in their own "Planet Weird" documentary series called Hellier.
Some artifacts in their museum include The Dark Mirror, The Corrupted Testament, The Conjuring Crystal, and The Catskill Crone. All of these items have been donated to have been acquired by Greg and Dana. The life-long ghost hunters strive to treat all artifacts in their museum with respect and in an ethical manner. This includes how they treat the items themselves and how their patrons interact with the objects when they are displayed. If these objects contain spirits of some sort, they should be treated as living beings, after all.
"Real progress in the paranormal comes from curiosity and understanding, not through fearing what we can't explain."
Price of Entry: Free with purchase of respected event ticket
Mothman Museum (Point Pleasant, West Virginia)
Oh, Mothman. King of the cryptids (Don't tell Bigfoot). Mothman is one of the most well-known cryptids of all time. People who have never even stepped foot in West Virginia know about the winged creature that haunts the small town of Point Pleasant. Like any small town with a monster sighting, a museum commemorates and celebrates the terror this monster once inflicted on the town.
With sightings still happening regularly, it is no surprise that the town has embraced the monster and formed its identity around the creature. And it's working for them. The museum is located on Main Street right next to the statute of the Mothman. One of the more exciting aspects of The Mothman case is the connection with UFO sightings and Men In Black coming to town. The museum goes through the history of the initial sightings with newspaper articles and written testimonials. It displays movie props from the 2002 movie The Mothman Prophecies, loosely based on the John Keel book of the same name, right next to real-life witness testimonials and government investigations.
"In November 1966, eerie things began to occur in the small town of Point Pleasant. Strange lights in the sky… mysterious "Men in Black"... and a flying red-eyed creature called Mothman changed this small West Virginia town… forever."
Price of Entry: $4:50
International Cryptozoology Museum (Portland, Oregon)
The International Cryptozoology Museum was opened by world-famous cryptozoologist Loren Coleman in 2003. The museum holds thousands of artifacts running from Bigfoot footprint casts to P.T. Barnum's FeeJee Mermaid. It's an assortment of cryptid artifacts and replicas. According to the museum website, their primary mission is to "educate, inform, and share cryptozoological evidence, artifacts, replicas, and popular cultural items with the general public, media, students, scholars, and cryptozoologists from around the world." Most people don't take the field of cryptozoology seriously; this museum hopes to change that.
Cryptozoology straddles science and folklore. It lies in this liminal space between the real and unreal. This museum tests people's faith in the unexplained and questions their ability to believe the evidence presented to them. Coleman has written some of the most notable cryptozoological books such as Mysterious America, Cryptozoology: A to Z, Mothman, and Other Curious Encounters and Bigfoot! The True Story of Apes in America. He continues to be an active member of the cryptozoology community and still appears in documentaries and television programs about cryptid creatures and the mysteries surrounding them. His museum is a must-visit for anyone interested in cryptozoology.
"We have a wide range of exhibitions from rare, one-of-a-kind scientific, zoological specimens to popular cultural homages to the relevant anthropological and psychological acknowledgments of the sightings and folk traditions to be found within hominology and cryptozoology."
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