Today my daughter and I got to visit VAMPA, a paranormal museum in Doylestown PA! The very recently constructed museum was a sensory adventure. Starting with the garage-sale garden exterior, which sprawled with iron gazebos, plastic near-life sized dinosaurs (only some of which were broken), and lots of pseudo-Greek statuary, visitors wind their way to the front entrance of VAMPA.
Once inside, guests must pay in cash, but the gentleman at the front (the owner? Curator? LEGALLY ALLOWED TO ATTEND EXORCISM CLASSES AT THE LOCAL EPISCOPAL CHURCH(?) also takes Venmo.
From there, walk through “9 Amazing rooms Housing the largest collection of original Antique paranormal items in the world” (grammar and capitalization taken directly from pamphlet).
The interpretive signage was largely . . . Absent. One of the rooms was festooned with Africana-statues in the same space as demons and very creepy toys: was there supposed to be a common theme? Why was Anansi-spider with the clowns? Where did the statues come from, and when? WHO KNOWS.
There was an original exorcist chair from 19th-century Germany, and the signage warned that viewers needed to be cautious when viewing because it “is very powerful in Demonic energy”. NO INSTRUCTIONS on how such caution should be exercised! Same with the creepy toy room.
There was also a whole area dedicated to ouija boards with busts of Arthur Conan Doyle (who believed in everything Spiritualist), and Houdini (who was a skeptic), each with fake altar-candles in front of their heads, like little shrines.
The entire place needed bleaching and if you are allergic to mold, watch out. Also, amazing garage-sale demon paintings hung everywhere, with no labels whatsoever. I liked that one of the hallways was somehow covered in dried herbs.
4.8 stars. Do not miss.
