The Museum Of Curiosities — Attraction in Nottingham

Had a fantastic time here on 22/01/22! Myself, my partner and a friend visited the museum after finding it online. We are all paranormal enthusiasts and love this type of stuff so we thought we'd give it a try! After joining the Facebook group and reading reviews prior, we were very excited and lets just say, it did not disappoint.

The staff are all friendly and absolutely lovely and willing to have a chat with you about the oddities it houses and any experiences. We spent well over an hour in the museum looking at the different displays and taking it all in, all of us having our own experiences.

We thought we'd share our experience! What follows happened in the doll room. Upon our first walk through, we were in the doll room reading the exhibits and taking pictures when another visitor came into the room and locked the door behind her. We continued doing our own thing when the door flew open by itself... strange but no cause for questioning anything. A little while later whilst talking with a member of staff, he mentioned it is an occurrence that happens often and they have tried to debunk it but to no avail, we thought we'd try our own investigation.

We went back into the doll room and closed both doors. I went over to the door that opens by itself and attempted to jump around on the floor around it, bang near the door to see if it would jump the lock and open, but nothing. It stayed where it was. I then attempted to balance the door on the lock to see if this was the case but the door has to either be closed with the lock in or open, there is no in between... so, do debunking there. Finally, we attempted to interact with the spirits in the room that may lurk within the dolls, inviting them to move the dolls and spin them which they did on various commands and finally, we asked them to open the door. Repeatedly we asked but nothing, the door stay closed. Finally, we friend says "if you do not open the door, I'll touch your doll"... nothing. He says it again... nothing. Then he says "if you open the door you can attach yourself to me" (silly!) and as soon as he finished that sentence, the door flew open with force! No one in the adjoining room, no breezes opening the door, no one moved... nothing. It flew open with force. One of us ran from the room whilst myself and my friend maintained our ground. We closed the door and attempted again but to no avail as people we viewing in the other room.

An interesting experience to say the least! Will definitely be back in the future to experience this room again.

But overall, amazing experience, amazing value for money and having your hand stamped so you can go back in at any point of the day is really nice. All the staff are amazing and cannot wait to visit again! Also, holding the human skull has an interesting experience... if you get the chance, go spend some time here! You...

I visited on Sunday and I have to say that this honestly one of the best museums I have ever visited. The ladies who were on that day were very friendly and answered any questions that I or my cousin had. It was my first time visiting Nottingham and it was the highlight of my trip! On arrival you have to sign a consent form and under 18s are only allowed with an adult. Due to the nature of some of the objects, I wouldn’t recommend it for very young children but more older children in the 14+ range if more mature but preferably 16+ years old.

The museum is extremely well laid out and has a variety of things from weird taxidermy animals, to ouija boards, and other haunted items such as the dolls from the infamous Island Of The Dolls, and photos from the Enfield poltergeist case. There are well written up descriptions about the important objects which give an insight into where the objects came from. Also worth noting is the hospital morgue which has objects from a psychiatric hospital. At the end of your trip you can also hold a real human skull if you wish! You can’t take photographs in the main museum bit past the auditorium unfortunately but I respected that rule, and you do end up focusing on the task at hand more when you aren’t being distracted by a screen.

I was extremely fascinated being able to see these objects in person, some of which I had heard about already. In many ways I am a skeptic but I do believe there’s lots that we cannot explain. I felt dizzy and nauseous at certain points. Many attractions claim to be “haunted” but this is the only one I can say has had this weird impact on me due to some of the unsettling items.

I also purchased 3 unique made soaps which I am sure I would not get anywhere else. They were made with some unique moulds and smell amazing- 2 were in the sweet orange and English rose scent. Even better is that they are homemade by the owner.

A lot of hard work and creativity has gone into this museum and I would love to revisit when I am next in Nottingham by which point their new crypt/chamber should be open, or take part in one of their ghost...

Some really cool artefacts and an interesting museum, unfortunately I think from an ethical standpoint there needs to be some big improvements. There were a few things my partner and I found quite disrespectful. I think allowing people to hold a real human skull, no matter how old, is disrespectful to the person who has deceased. Another thing we noticed is that the taxidermy for animals such as dogs and cats was done beautifully and respectfully, but not for the rats? The rats were mutilated into what I assume was supposed to be ‘comical’. I found this quite offensive to be completely honest. Taxidermy can be a lovely and respectful art and this was definitely displayed for most animals, but when it involves the commodification and mutilation of an animal I find it hard to look at. A third and final thing was that upstairs, there was a portrait of a man and a portrait of the woman, who had passed away and were married. It stated that the portraits were meant to face each-other as the spirits get upset if they are not, and they had been purposely placed so that they were not facing each other. I asked a staff member why this was and they explained that it’s because they are paranormal investigators and by doing so will get a reaction. As someone who has investigated the paranormal, it’s unfair and rude to aggravate the spirits like this, it almost feels like taunting them? I think there are many other ways you can communicate with them without going against...