New Orleans Macabre

Museum of Death: Confronting Mortality in the French Quarter

New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

By the Wicked Cool Places editors · Published Wed, Mar 18, 2026 · Updated Sat, Jul 25, 2026

Why it’s cool

This provocative collection challenges visitors to confront mortality through serial killer artifacts and graphic medical displays, rewarding those who faint with a commemorative t-shirt.

Southeast Hidden Gem

In the heart of the French Quarter, a specific kind of "falling down ovation" occurs when a visitor’s knees buckle in front of a graphic exhibit. Those who lose consciousness during their tour are awarded a commemorative t-shirt celebrating their survival of the experience.

This is the Museum of Death, a space dedicated to stripping away the taboos surrounding the end of life by confronting the physical reality of our exit from the world.

Why It Stands Out

Founders J. D.

Healy and Catherine Shultz established this collection to spark dialogue about mortality long before the final hour arrives. The exhibits are notoriously unfiltered, featuring actual autopsy footage and videos of non-reenacted deaths that test the limits of even the most stoic guests.

A similarly somber atmosphere can be found at the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site. Among the most significant artifacts is the "Thanatron," a device used by Dr.

Jack Kevorkian, displayed alongside a business card belonging to Jack Ruby. The walls are lined with the creative outputs of infamous figures, including artwork created by John Wayne Gacy and correspondence from Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Kaczynski.

From shrunken heads and taxidermy to O.J. Simpson trial evidence, including hair recovered from the scene, the museum covers the spectrum of the macabre.

Other collections that explore the intersection of mortality and oddities include Woolly Mammoth Antiques and Oddities. While there is no formal age restriction, the graphic nature of the cannibalism and embalming displays requires a strong stomach and significant personal discretion.

Before You Go

Plan for about minutes to navigate the galleries, though you are welcome to linger. Photography is strictly prohibited, and cameras are not permitted inside the building.

The museum is located in New Orleans and operates seven days a week, providing a blunt education on the one thing all humans share.

Questions worth answering

What happens if I pass out during the tour?

We call that a falling down ovation. If your knees buckle, you'll walk away with a specific shirt to commemorate the event.

Are there any items from well-known figures in the collection?

The walls hold letters from Jeffrey Dahmer and art by John Wayne Gacy. You'll also find a business card from Jack Ruby and the Thanatron device once used by Jack Kevorkian.

Can I take photos of the medical displays or artifacts?

Cameras aren't allowed inside the building at all. Photography is strictly forbidden while you're looking through the galleries.

How did this project get started?

The original concept came from J. D. Healy and Catherine Shultz, and we took our own editorial from there. They wanted to use unfiltered footage and physical artifacts to force a conversation about our final hours.

Visit Snapshot

The museum is open daily from a.m. until p.m. General admission costs $ plus tax.

Please note that all forms of photography and cameras are strictly forbidden inside the facility. Most visitors spend approximately minutes viewing the collection.

Location

New Orleans, Louisiana

Know before you go

It's open seven days a week from a.m. to p.m. $ (+ tax) admission. No photography of any kind allowed and cameras not allowed inside.

Editorial source

Museum of Death

From paintings by serial killers to shrunken heads, New Orleans's Museum of Death displays as many approaches to death as it can fit within its four walls. Twenty years after opening the original museum in California, in , founders J.

D. Healy and Catherine Shultz brought their collection of body bags, autopsy videos, skeletons, pieces of taxidermy, letters and pictures sent to them by serial killers, and various other death-themed oddities to the French Quarter.

The exhibits, which can be very graphic, are not for those with faint hearts or weak stomachs. There is no age restriction because, as the website says, “WE ALL DIE,” but caution and consideration are urged.

Those who do visit the Museum of Death who perhaps should not have and wind up fainting get free t-shirts that read “I passed out at the Museum of Death...and lived to talk about it." They call them “falling down ovations” at the museum. One of Dr.

Kevorkian’s suicide machines is on display, as well as a business card from Jack Ruby, who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, who killed President John F. Kennedy.

There are letters from serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski, several paintings by serial killer John Wayne Gacy, memorabilia (including hair recovered from the crime scene) from the O. J.

Simpson trial, and Manson family photographs. And that’s just the beginning.

There are videos in which the death is not reenacted, it’s actually happening on the screen, which is a big part of the reason for Healy’s warning about who should visit. Exhibits on terrorism, cannibalism, and embalming are included, as well as a collection of shrunken heads.

Perusing all of this takes, on average, about minutes, but visitors may stay longer if they like. Photographs are not allowed.

The stated goal of the museum is to educate people about death and in so doing take away their fear of dying and make them happy to be alive. The founders want to spur the conversation around death, because too often it doesn’t come up until it is too late.

Museum of Death: Confronting Mortality in the French Quarter

Why it’s cool

Why It Stands Out

Before You Go

Questions worth answering

What happens if I pass out during the tour?

Are there any items from well-known figures in the collection?

Can I take photos of the medical displays or artifacts?

How did this project get started?

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