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

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

“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.

First Exhibits: Classics

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.

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.

Shrunken Heads, Mummies and More

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

 

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.

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

Other Oddities

Replica Circus Freak Show Posters

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.

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.

The Most Mysterious

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

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/

Check-In

Do you like odd museums like this?