For any true crime fans, those fascinated by the macabre and for the more curious travellers amongst you, a visit to the world-famous Museum of Death must be included on your New Orleans itinerary.

Interestingly the museum was born out of a hobby, in which the founders J.D Healy and Catherine Shultz would write to serial killers in prison and exhibit the artwork and letters they received back in the post. The first museum opened in San Diego in 1995 and was made famous when the owners attempted to recreate the Heaven’s Gate Cult suicides scene by purchasing as many items as possible from the investigation. This received a huge amount of interest from the press but also unfortunately resulted in their eviction from the property and a decision was made to the move the museum to Hollywood Boulevard in LA.

In 2014 Healy and Shultz launched the New Orleans branch called Musée de Mort Orleans with their goal being “to make people happy to be alive”. Unfortunately, no photographs or video are allowed inside the museum so I can’t give you a sneak peek, but be prepared for extensive exhibits including shrunken heads, paintings by serial killers, skeletons, crime scene photos, body bags, embalming instruments, autopsy videos, taxidermy and much more!

The amount of items within the collection is extremely impressive and you could easily spend around an hour here perusing the wide variety of artifacts in detail. Please note, there are no age restrictions to enter, but consideration and caution when visiting with children is urged.

Within this wall-to-wall death-filled curiosity cabinet, some of the more well know oddities to look out for include one of Dr. Kevorkian’s suicide devices - “The Thanatron”, paintings by John Wayne Gacy plus a selection of Charles Manson’s family photographs and tucked away at the back the ‘Theatre of Death’.

Admission to the museum cost around $17 when I visited and it has a terrific gift shop to check out filled with dark souvenirs, t-shirts and pieces of art!