The Wyrd Museum

I went to visit Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford-Upon-Avon, and when I got there I noticed the Wyrd Museum which is almost next door. This is a 600-year old house - genuinely haunted, apparently - which has been turned into a strange museum with a Harry Potter theme (The Creaky Cauldron) but also contains much folklore and history pertaining to witchcraft. It starts with a lot of billowing mist, and curtains eerily moving on their own...I was quite scared as I was on my own too..then I began to tread the stairs upwards, and in some of the upper rooms I reached the Victorian Spirit Room, which challenges the visitor to sit in the dark with the curtains drawn. I sat there in the dark, waiting for the spirit to appear, but nothing happened. In front of me was a sort of crystal ball with what looked like a face in it, but as it was dark I could not tell. After about ten minutes or so I gave up waiting and explored a bit more. I found other rooms, an apothecary's shop selling all sorts of odd subtances. Then a bordello with a spooky mannequin that looked like a vampire from a Hammer film. The mannequins are very creepy. There were also pictures on the wall with eyes that follow you. I read some of the information about the Stratford Ripper, and some of the local witches and the foul deeds which are supposed to have gone on. After a while I decided to leave before I was turned into a newt.

No flash photography was allowed but I did manage to get some incriminating shots of the "Stratford Ripper" I took these without a flash. Overall I was very impressed with the Wyrd museum and the work which has gone into it.

1. seekthemagic.org