Looking for a spooky spot for a Halloween wander? Or somewhere to take that cute taphophile out? Well, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (yup, the V&A) isn’t the most obvious choice – but trust me, there’s plenty of gorgeously morbid things inside! So, put on your fancy Halloween costume and let me walk you through the museum’s creepiest galleries and most disturbing artefacts…

Pro tip: save yourself a headache and use the main entrance. Once you’re in, grab a map (or click here for the digital version) and simply follow it. If you get lost, don’t be shy – just ask someone wearing a crazy bright orange uniform. They know everything! Well… unless they’re newbies – then good luck with your map and signage reading skills.

Enjoy!

MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE (LEVEL 0), ROOM 50A

This amazing gallery is packed with funerary and commemorative monuments originally set in various churches – and those two BLACK ARCHED DOORWAYS once marked entrances to private burial chapels.

Now, see that impressive WALL MONUMENT with a man on a horse? That sarcophagus (stone coffin) is a pure decoration – never had a body inside… Unlike the one from the WALL TOMB on its left, with a guy chilling with his sword. That’s Cristoforo Moro, who died in 1518 and got the honour of decomposing behind those fancy marble swirls. Venice, built on water, lacked spaces for crypts, so wall sarcophagi like this were common in its churches.

MEDIEVAL & RENAISSANCE (LEVEL 1), ROOM 62

Back in the day, when death rates were high as the sky, everyone was totally obsessed with the idea of getting judged straight after getting on the other side. To keep the anxiety going, people loved surrounding themselves with macabre MEMENTO MORI (‘remember that you will die’) imagery, reminding them to be very careful if they wanted to avoid eternity in hell. Basically, skulls and hourglasses were everywhere – from jewellery and accessories to home decor.

That rosary (set of beads strung together to help you keep count of repetitive prayers) with a skull is interesting, no doubt about it, but the single BEAD (27) on its right is a super rare gem! See, such beads are usually double-sided, with a skull on one side and a fresh-faced youth on the other – but this one has four figures back-to-back! First up, there’s a fit young man, and on his back – the same guy dying; then you’ve got a Devil with second head on his stomach, and finally – Death. So tiny, beautifully detailed and perfectly creepy!

MEDIEVAL & RENAISSANCE (LEVEL 1), ROOM 64B

This impressive DARK WOODEN FACADE used to be a timber-framed house in a proper old-school London style, built way back in 1600 for Sir Paul Pindar. What you see here are just the top two levels, but originally, it was a three-and-a-half-storey mansion, much wider and deeper, with stables and a huge back garden! Don’t miss the framed picture on the wall showing what the house looked like back in 1869 – and click here to see more images from the V&A’s archive, including the interiors! Ohhh, these rounded windows with gloriously intricate details…

Anyway, this absolute stunner of a building had survived the Great Fire of London in 1666, only to be demolished in 1890 to make way for Liverpool Street Station’s expansion – precisely for its Bishopsgate entrance…

JEWELLERY GALLERY (LEVEL 2), ROOM 91-93

There’s just sooo many amazing, death-related goodies here! But we don’t have a whole day, so let’s just focus on my top five:

It may look basic, but this ring was literally buried with someone over 2,400 years ago, clinging to their rotting finger… Could it be any creepier?

In the 18^th century morbid memento mori jewellery went totally out of fashion, and everyone became obsessed with sentimentality instead. People were leaving money in their wills for memorial rings to be made and handed to their family and friends, so they’d be remembered forever… Now, this unusually colourful piece commemorates little Butterfield Harrison, who sadly passed in 1792 at just 2 years, 9 months, and 14 days old (yes, they got that specific with the inscription inside). The snapped rosebud symbolises boy’s tragically short life. And if that wasn’t heartbreaking enough, both parents followed him within five years…

The chain’s made of teeny-tiny crossbones, and that adorable mini coffin actually opens up! Inside, there’s a wee skelly with inscription ‘Here I lie and wait for you.’ Aww, such a lovely way to remind yourself that the clock’s ticking…

It looks rather plain, but… it’s electric! When connected to a battery hidden in the wearer’s pocket, the skull’s eyes roll and its jaws snap! Can you believe it?! A high-tech Halloween gadget from 1867!

Princess Charlotte, the only daughter of King George IV, passed away tragically during childbirth at just 21 – only 18 months after getting married. That set of jewellery with peridots (1) was a gift from her father to a friend, to be worn on Charlotte’s wedding day. And right next to it, there’s her MEMORIAL PENDANT (2), with a portrait and a tiny urn holding lock of her hair. Yup, since it doesn’t decay, hair was believed to contain the essence of individual, making it perfect for sentimental jewellery. Creepy or cute? You decide!

JEWELLERY GALLERY (LEVEL 2+), mezzanine (upstairs)

Brace yourself, as the drawers you’re about to open, are stashed with the most amazing pieces of jewellery honouring the dead, but also… well, literally made of them.

I absolutely love everything in here, but this tiny locket is definitely the star of a show! A symbolic watercolour miniature with a woman in grief, standing next to a tomb, under a weeping willow tree – it’s basically a quintessential mourning medallion!

And now – the most interesting one! A young woman, with Cupid hiding behind her, is holding a heart pierced by an arrow. Death is taking that heart, saying ‘I ALONE CAN HEAL’ – suggesting that there’s only one cure for a hopeless love… And on the back, there’s braided hair behind glass with a tiny note that says ‘Ferguson’. Oh, what have you done, Ferguson???

Aren’t these colourful earrings just adorable? So exquisitely detailed, aren’t they? Well, that’s because they’re made of actual bird heads, with real feathers and glass eyes tucked right under their eyelids! Created in 1865 by Harry Emanuel, who patented the technique of gluing feathers with shellac, were super trendy in the 1860s and 1870s. Oh, they’d perfectly pair with a hat decorated with an entire bird’s corpse, sadly kept in the museum’s storage!

Another sentimental jewellery classic! These miniatures, meant to capture ‘window of the soul’, were all the rage in the late 18th century – because nothing says love like a close-up of someone’s eyeball… Usually, they were exchanged between sweethearts, but this one’s a memorial piece – there’s a hair compartment at the back, adorned with 3 tiny pearls symbolising tears.

CERAMICS (LEVEL 4), ROOM 141

Well, would you look at that – contemporary art can be creepy too! Meet the WOUNDED HARE (6) with a peeled back fur, ribs on display, and entrails spilling out… Such a gruesome reminder of human duality in love of animals! There’s a cauliflower and golden fork, see? This super detailed sculpture was crafted by Carolein Smit, whose Myth and Mortality exhibition back in 2018 is still one of my all-time V&A favourites.

CERAMICS (LEVEL 4), ROOM 145

Asian ceramics have been the subject of international trade for over a thousand years. Whole bulks were transported by ‘junks’ through dangerous waters, all snuggled up in crates packed with straw and rice husks. Sadly, many of these ships ended up at the bottom of the sea – and all these tea bowls and saucers here were salvaged from such doomed vessels, that went down centuries ago… Spooky!

Now, these quirky beauties are ‘SEA SCULPTURES’ – a brilliant accidents, made of porcelain bits fused together in a blaze aboard, grown with corals after the ship sank, and then unexpectedly pulled up by some random fishermen almost 300 years later. How epic is that?

EUROPE 1600 – 1815 (LEVEL -1), ROOM 7

So, in this room, you’ll stumble upon the creepiest and most disturbing artwork in the whole museum – TIME AND DEATH, a wax relief showing rotting corpses with their guts hanging out, skulls scattered about, and rats having a nibble… This gorgeously gruesome symbolic piece was crafted in the early 18th century by a Neapolitan nun, Catherina de Julianis. I like to imagine her as a sweet old lady sitting in a candlelit room and sculpting every gory detail with a weird little grin on her face… What do you think – did she have actual corpses there as models, or were sketches enough???

Nearby this gorgeously morbid scene, you’ll find five more super-realistic wax miniatures, each showing a different eternal fate. My personal favourite? The DAMNED SOUL (3), with absolute terror in this poor guy’s eyes as he’s tortured by two demons! It’s a true masterpiece of intricate workmanship – and a pretty intense way to remind yourself not to end up on the wrong side of the afterlife…

BRITAIN 1500 – 1760 (LEVEL 1), ROOM 58

This stunning embroidered velvet cloth right in the middle of the room is a FUNERAL PALL, used to drape over coffins of the deceased members of the Fayrey family during services. Right next to it, you have a glass cabinet full of memento mori wonders – like a HANDBELL from 1638, used for thousands of funeral processions. How spooky is that? I can almost hear it ringing… Ring-a-ding-ding…! Chills, anyone?

Now, just look at this gorgeous golden COFFIN-SHAPED PENDANT (33) with a lid you can pop open to find a skeleton inside! Oh, and don’t miss the SICKLE-SHAPED TOOTHPICK (35) – because, honestly, why not give yourself a little reminder of eternal judgement while cleaning your teeth after dinner?

A compelling set of two beautiful ceramic sculptures depicts the same little girl, LYDIA DWIGHT, who was only six years old when she passed in 1674. The first one shows her dead and all dressed up in her burial clothes, clutching a posy of flowers – definitely morbid, but also kind of sweet… But on the second one she’s standing up, brought back to eternal life. This heartfelt double artwork was created to bring a bit of comfort to Lydia’s family.

BRITAIN 1760-1900 (LEVEL 3), ROOM 125B

Here’s a little display on how people used to mark death with special outfits and keepsakes. The star of the show? An embroidered MOURNING HANDKERCHIEF (12) once owned by Queen Victoria herself! She made it a must-have accessory for widows.

BRITAIN 1760-1900 (LEVEL 3), ROOM 120

This VEILED STATUE always gives me spooky vibes – like some spirit in a funeral shroud floating off into the light… At her feet, there’s another woman – dead, with an empty cup tossed on the ground next to her… I like to imagine that this young lady had been poisoned with a tea at a garden party and is now lying lifeless among the flowers while her ghost leaves the body… So hauntingly beautiful, right?

Well… not exactly. Turns out, it’s actually called The Sleep of Sorrow and the Dream of Joy, and it’s a deep political allegory on the resurgence of Italy as a nation. Quite disappointing, to be honest… But come on, you see it too, don’t you???

BRITAIN 1760-1900 (LEVEL 3), ROOM 119

That stylish, round medallion is NIGHT WITH HER DAUGHTERS – SLEEP AND DEATH by Bertel Thorvaldsen. I love the details, like their closed eyes, the sleep-inducing poppies in Night’s hair and the little owl keeping her company… As one of Thorvaldsen’s greatest hits, this beautiful image was often copied and used for everything – from fancy home décor to gravestones, funeral cards, and even jewellery.

THE JOHN MADEJSKI GARDEN (LEVEL 0)

Meet Jim, a Victorian celebrity doggo! This little legend in a form of a Yorkshire terrier, was a furry shadow of the museum’s first director, Sir Henry Cole – always at his master’s side, even during business meetings. Jim was so adored around the V&A that when he died, they buried him right here in the garden, and the staff honoured him with a plaque.

SCULPTURE GALLERY (LEVEL 0), ROOM 24

Here’s a cheeky little secret: you don’t need to go all the way to Highgate Cemetery for amazing memorial monuments! You’ve got over ten of them right here, originally located in various churches demolished over the last century. How handy is that!

This stunning WALL MONUMENT WITH AN ORNAMENTAL ROUNDEL featuring a kneeling lady is one of my favourite objects in the whole museum! It was originally mounted in a chapel on Tottenham Court Road until it met its end with a bomb explosion. The engraving tells a heart-wrenching story of Anna Cecilia Rhodes, who died in 1796 at just 32. When 17, she contracted smallpox – but even though she survived fever, intense pains, swellings and open sores, I’m not sure if we can call her lucky…

The disease left Anna Cecilia with all sorts of nasty complications, making a terribly scarred face the least of her problems. We’re talking migraines, brain fog, burning eyes and respiratory issues, but also a deformed, crooked body. Yup, smallpox could reach even bones and joints! This poor girl endured 15 long years of suffering – almost half of her life! – before finally finding peace in death. Honestly, it’s one of the most tragic stories ever captured in a piece of marble!

Now, look up at THE WALL PLAQUE FOR JOHN NICOLLS RAYNSFORD who died in 1746 at the age of 24 – ‘greatly lamented by his most Affectionate Wife’, who adorned the marble with a lovely red heart. But here’s the best bit: it was originally mounted in a church of St Denis in Faxton, Northamptonshire, which is now a ghostly village that went off the map in the 1940s… Spooky!

PRINTS AND DRAWINGS STUDY ROOM (LEVEL 4)

You may have to book an appointment a few days ahead, but it’s totally worth it. Ask for Victorian post-mortem photos… Yep, we’re talking about actual pictures of, well, not-so-alive people. Creepy? Maybe, but back then not everyone had a chance to be portrayed during their lifetime, and very often it was the last opportunity to capture a person’s face before they headed to grave.

The most unique one here? A double portrait of the same woman – alive and dead, both in the exact same pose, set in one frame, like a morbid before-and-after with a final breath in between! Her family had it done as a final keepsake, which is sweet… in a very Victorian way!

Well, I hope you enjoyed wandering through the darkest corners of the V&A! Oh, you wouldn’t believe how many more delightfully unsettling artefacts are in the museum’s collection, just tucked away in storage! I’m talking about deadly wallpapers and an actual human skull that Sarah Bernhardt used on stage – seriously, why isn’t this stuff on display every Halloween?!

Anyway, what do you think about the ghoulish and uncanny side of the Victoria and Albert Museum? Any favourite pieces? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

PS. By the way, some objects and rooms in the museum are haunted – but that’s a story for another time…