Museums across the U.S. are sharing photos of their #CreepiestObject and people are loving it

Here is a social media challenge we can get behind while laughing our tails off: #CreepiestObject asks all museum curators to share the, well, creepiest art they have on display across their various exhibits.

The Twitter hashtag was started by the Yorkshire Museum in England (to get the party started, the venue posted a photo of a 3rd or 4th century hair bun from the burial of a Roman lady) and immediately took off globally. Below, we round up some of the most hilarious challenge entries—including a bigfoot's butt print, a hair wreath and a very scary-looking doll—while we come to terms with the fact that art can, indeed, be downright weird sometimes. 

Don't look at me...I'm hideous! #CreepiestObject

This 'naked' giant spider conch (Lambis truncata) is really missing its shell. #CuratorBattle pic.twitter.com/7u8sfwtxbc

— Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History (@yalepeabody) April 21, 2020

Ralph the Mannequin was donated as part of a Train exhibit, but we only bring him out at Halloween because he even scares us! #CreepiestObject #CURATORBATTLE pic.twitter.com/Hr1ZId0G2N

— Dorchester Heritage Center (@dcahc_museum) April 22, 2020

This is our #CreepiestObject ! Victorian Hair Art was a way to memorialize a person. This is a baby’s REAL hair. Extra creepy is it was found behind the wall in a home during a renovation! 😱😱😱 pic.twitter.com/CsUbu0lPl4

— Lombard Historical Society (@LombardHistSoc) April 22, 2020

#CreepiestObject #CURATORBATTLE

The baby doll in the Post Office.
A few years ago, Claire found it on the floor beneath the scale although no one had been in that room to mess with the exhibit. 😳 pic.twitter.com/q8VB8NGEUm

— Dorchester Heritage Center (@dcahc_museum) April 22, 2020

Curators are sharing the #CreepiestObject from their museums' collections today. The John Wornall House has an authentic nineteenth century coffin in its collection - luckily, it was never used. (That we know of!) pic.twitter.com/1Ff3VVA7E7

— WornallMajorsMuseum (@historyaliveKC) April 22, 2020

Museums around the world are sharing their #CreepiestObject and we had to get in on the fun. We submit this photo from our archive of a 1920s “clown band”.

This picture was in the scrapbooks of Great Lakes captain Edward Carus. The scrapbooks were donated to the museum in 1981. pic.twitter.com/gRJVkBhoqT

— WI Maritime Museum (@WIMaritime) April 23, 2020

Ok, fellow museums! This is a first generation replica of a #sasquatch butt print from where a #bigfoot sat on a stream bank along Dry Creek in the Blue Mnts outside Walla Walla, WA! Collected by Paul Freeman in May, 1993. Note the hair striations! #creepiestobject pic.twitter.com/KZjN8wupkB

— North American Bigfoot Center (@NABigfootCenter) April 23, 2020

The @YorkshireMuseum challenged curators to choose the #CreepiestObject in their collection. Menil curator Michelle White selected this work by Robert Gober made up of beeswax and human hair in response. Thank you, @HoustonChron, for highlighting it: https://t.co/1HGUtjw0jq pic.twitter.com/pcDhd56dDT

— The Menil Collection (@MenilCollection) April 28, 2020

Entering the #CreepiestObject #CURATORBATTLE with our netsuke in the shape of a skull & two snakes! 🐍💀🐍 This tiny netsuke (just over 1 1/2 inches tall) was used in 19th-century Japan to secure a small box to the obi sash of a kimono. 👘 Perfect for that punk-rock vibe. 🤘😉 pic.twitter.com/ewhY8pzzqW

— Asian Art Museum (@asianartmuseum) April 25, 2020

Can we talk about the creepiness of this 1860’s hair wreath? Hair jewelry is always unsettling, but there’s something about using someone else’s hair to decorate your home that is just disturbing. You can still see the different hair colors!#curatorbattle #creepiestobject pic.twitter.com/Q6XZfDRyWC

— Minnesota Historical Society (@mnhs) April 28, 2020

#CreepiestObject No doubt this Humpty-Dumpty Circus clown put a smile on many a child's face in 1915. Today, perhaps not.#NewHavenMuseumAtHome pic.twitter.com/am5dB3JgYe

— New Haven Museum (@NewHavenMuseum) April 28, 2020

When we heard about the #CreepiestObject battle, we couldn't help but think of the #CreepiestBook in our collection. We give you: our oversize book, Dolls by Tom Kelley and Pamela Sherer. We challenge @BexleyLibrary & @DelawareLibrary to share your creepiest library finds! pic.twitter.com/huZXBKsAXY

— Plain City Public Library (@PlainCityLib) April 28, 2020

A Penicillium fungus cultured off a female cadaver in Italy, 1908 (in the herbarium at the New York Botanical Garden). #CURATORBATTLE #CreepiestObject
[more gross specimens featured in this story: https://t.co/a7M45i4esO] pic.twitter.com/5mW28eQADe

— amy w. (@slothandshrew) April 21, 2020

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