St. Patrick chased the snakes out of Ireland, ever wonder where they went?
On my St. Paddy’s Day excursion, I was on the hunt for the sign on river street hanging from one of the balconies. I promised myself that I would go to the “occult museum” the next time I was in Savannah, Georgia. Upon reaching the sign I was faced with a brick wall and two souvenir shoppes. Now staring up at the sign I searched for, I was confused. Was this occult museum closed? Was there a mysterious path to find it?
No, it was just on the opposite side of the building. It added to the adventure.
Upon entering Graveface Museum one is greeted with friendly staff and a multitude of tchotchkes, including a wall-wide display of the Devil with his mouth agape. The walls were peppered with deer heads, stuffed foxes, and one giraffe. I ogled at the taxidermy decorating the lobby. At first, I did not think any of them were real until I took a closer look.
The giraffe looked too solid and lifelike the closer I got. There was no tag or barcode in sight and a chill ran down my spine when our tour guide confirmed that the giraffe was real. In fact, all of these preserved animals were real. It reminded me of the mystery shack from Gravity Falls.
At first, I thought to myself no way. I took another scan of the room and meandered towards some dusty books, “Dark Arts”, “Astronomy for the Age of Aquarius,” and “Ti and Do the Father and Jesus, Heaven’s Gate”
Heaven’s Gate?
How many other things in this place were the real deal?
The devil’s oblong mouth was the entry to the first exhibit. After a small gaggle of people passed through, that’s when the guided tour began.
Roadside America Exhibit
An in-depth exhibit that gave the background on roadside tourist attractions.
· Clementine the Five-Legged Cow: A taxidermized cow possessing five legs
· Eddie the Cirus Bear: Taxidermized circus bear
· Spider Fawn: Conjoined deer twins possessing two heads and six legs
· Fiji Mermaid (Gaffe): Torso and head of a monkey sewn to the back half of a fish
· Fish Girl (Gaffe): Made from Homer Tate’s Wife’s fair and cat’s teeth
· Through These Eyes by Homer Tate: Book of poems by “Gaffe King” Homer Tate. Only two were printed with the second copy left for Tate’s next of kin.
· Wolf Boy: Amalgamation of animal bones, hides, and mud.
· Crocodile Boy: Amalgamation of animal bones, hides, and mud.
· “Satanic Panic” by Chloe Manon: Taxidermized white mice posed in a faux satanic ritual.
What is a Gaffe? An amalgamation of two or more animals whose features are sewn together after death creating a new mythical creature. The most famous creator of these pieces was a Poetry, Texas native named Homer Tate. Tate was the sheriff of a small town, farmer, and small business owner with a special talent for taxidermy. Tate is responsible for the famous El Paso roadside attraction “The Thing,” which was a mummified mother and child of unknown origin.
Homer Tate served brief prison time for his craft.
Before he was caught, he was responsible for the mummification of multiple human bodies. From that point onward he simply stuck to the more “tame” curios such as “Fish Girl” which is derived from contributions of his wife’s hair and his deceased cat’s teeth. This exhibit was fascinating as I had no idea such a hobby existed. Let alone that people had pulled over on highways and paid money to see it.
Taxidermy for animal preservation sure, we live in the south and people hunt. We’ve all seen deer heads used as decor. However, the fact that one could combine multiple animals as an art form was so fascinating.
Since each piece was utilized in a “side show” fashion, most of them are accompanied by a printed “lecture”. Each lecture was presumably delivered to past tours by Homer Tate himself. Each lecture revealed a story or “lore” of his sideshow gaffes that would sway audiences to believe that these creatures were real.
In addition to Tate’s works, there were also pieces by Graveface museum's co-founder Chloe Manon. Chloe Manon created “Satanic Panic”, depicted in the slideshow below, where she positioned mice in a faux satanic ritual! Manon was also responsible for the gaping devil’s mouth entryway.
The Hoodoo Wall
One side of the room is made from older panels of wood. While gawking at the sideshow pieces the tour guide gestured to the “cladding” on the wall that looked older than the rest of the room. The Hoodoo section of the room was salvaged from the house of Ophelia Baker, better known as “Madam Truth” a notable Savannah fortune teller! Among Madame Truth’s relics is a previously (they got hoodoo practitioners to do their thing) cursed baby doll.
On the same wall, there was a cubby-like opening that the guide popped open. Inside of this was a Voodoo altar that remained untouched for years and was only found due to the owner’s curiosity of why the wood became so dark around that particular section. People have left money and other offerings there over the years.
The UFO Room
The UFO room is reflective, with mirrors coating the walls and a chrome floor. A sudden and bright change juxtaposes the darkness of the Homer Tate collection in the room behind me. However, this room was not hurting for spooky material. The UFO room is filled with Savannah resident’s retellings of unidentified aircraft they spotted over the city. Displays range from juvenile drawings, photographs from more historically covered UFO sightings, to a peculiar hand drawn photograph that had a lot of lore behind it thanks to a mysterious man named Nambia.
John Wayne Gacey Exhibit
John Wayne Gacey paintings everywhere. I’m sure this is the largest collection availible for public viewing in the United States. John Wayne Gacey’s “death row paintings” were a result of his notoriety as a serial killer. Often, he would earn commission on his works to utilize for additional artistic materials and items from the commissary. Walls filled with clowns (including his alter ego “Pogo”), the seven dwarves from snow white in various locations, and Pamela Anderson? One that stuck out to me was a bowl of fruit that was incredibly well crafted and extremely thematically different than the rest of the gallery.
Graveface Museum offers a free certificate of authenticity to collectors attempting to buy John Wayne Gacey paintings. Each painting comes with a serial number that is an automatic give away if it is an original or a remake. Graveface Museum began offering this service due to a recent influx of people wanting to buy John Wayne Gacey pieces, but being scammed thousands of dollars only to be left with a fake. We love a museum that advocates for collectors!
Utilizing their wealth of knowledge, artifacts, and media for good Graveface Museum has not stopped their outreach with Certificates of Authenticity. They are further investigating the John Wayne Gacey cases and are currently filming a documentary of their findings! Graveface Museum possesses over 60+ hours of unpublished audio recordings, travel records, documents, etc., but it doesn't stop there. What they did here is a full-on field research project that will reveal new details about Gacey’s reign of terror.
Why did I tell you about all this? You might be creeped out or perhaps you feel a little icky after viewing the photos at the end of the article. I get it, there are people that have walked out of their exhibits due to the contents being “too much” to handle psychologically, religiously, or emotionally. What Graveface Muesum has done is educate and de-sensationalize heavily covered events in a grassroots manner. By having these oddities and artifacts on display. Graveface Museum makes themselves a direct source for uncensored, unpublished, and unadulterated information!
Not only does Graveface Museum ethically source their artifacts, but all staff are extremely respectful of all parties involved (victims of crimes, perpetrators of crimes) and knowledgeable of each item’s story and how it came into the museum’s possession.
With the internet being so saturated in conspiracy, censorship, and general unfiltered junk it’s nice to have first and secondhand accounts i.e. different perspectives of these events from real people. Parts of their displays were given to the owners by customers way back when Graveface
was not yet a museum, but a record store. It’s very much an establishment that is touched by the community (cough, cough, Nambia) and holds the essence of the city.
Graveface reignited my curiosity in the macabre and helped me realize that all the world’s information is not on the internet. There are still things out there to discover, so if you ever find yourself in Savannah, Georgia take the time to see Graveface Museum for yourself!
Oh, and if the unpublished tapes of John Wayne Gacey, previously cursed dolls, UFO sightings, and sideshow gaffes were not enough to tickle your fancy. They also have pinball!
