Zak Bagans. Love him or hate him, the Ghost Adventures front man has become the expert of all things paranormal. In 2018, he opened Zak Bagans’ The Haunted Museum: an 11,000 square foot mansion featuring haunted, possessed, and downright strange objects that he has collected during his career as a paranormal investigator. The museum is open daily for tours, but before entering you’ll have to sign a waiver stating that Zak and his employees are not responsible for anything that may happen to you during or after your visit. This may sound silly, but considering visitors faint, fall over, get scratched, and become ill on a pretty frequent basis, the museum can’t be too cautious.
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These are the 6 scariest items that are on display at Zak Bagan’s The Haunted Museum: Ed Gein’s Cauldron, The Demon House Staircase, The Dybbuk Box, Peggy The Doll, Bela Lugosi’s Mirror, and The Devils Rocking Chair.
: These are the 6 SCARIEST Haunted Exhibits in Zak Bagan’s Haunted Museum (Ranked)#6 Ed Gein’s Cauldron
If you haven’t heard of him, Ed Gein was a serial killer/grave-robber who collected human remains as personal artifacts. Disturbing, right? It gives me the creeps just writing about it. The story of Ed Gein would later go on to inspire many movies including Alfred Hithcock’s Psycho and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Well, this cauldron apparently was recovered from Ed Gein’s house after he was convicted of his crimes. It is said that Ed used the cauldron to boil down human remains and even remove skin from human bones. Disturbing, yes. Creepy, yes. Intriguing? Most certainly.
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This item is most likely cursed rather than haunted. When something is used for an act so macabre and morbid, it has to harness some of that energy. Before Zak acquired the cauldron, the previous owner complained that he kept the cauldron in his garage and it often made him feel mysteriously ill and would affect nearby electronics. Could this be paranormal, or could this just be the body’s natural response to seeing something so horrid? Either way this has got to be one of the creepiest things in The Haunted Museum.
#5 Demon House Staircase
This staircase which is now featured in the museum came out of an Indiana residence that was said to be home to hundreds of demonic entities. Zak Bagans purchased the home sight unseen to shoot his documentary Demon House. For two and a half years, Zak Bagans investigated the house with security cameras running 24/7. While Zak states he never captured anything moving by itself, he said the home deeply affected those who entered it. During the investigation of the home, Zak began to develop double vision which is why he now wears very thick prism glasses.
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The Indiana home was torn down in 2016 after finishing the documentary, but the staircase and a few other items were removed and put into the museum. The staircase now has a set built around it to look like the basement of Demon House. The staircase was chosen as a museum exhibit as many of the strange occurrences in Demon House were observed both in the basement and under this staircase. Could it be possible that negative energy or even demons attached themselves to the remaining items of the Demon House before being bulldozed? I personally think it is very likely, considering many of the other haunted objects within the museum have similar histories.
# 4 Bela Lugosi’s Mirror
So, I debated putting this one on the list because I recently read an article stating that this mirror may not have actually belonged to Bela Lugosi. This however, is still not proven, so I am choosing to believe The Haunted Musuem’s claims that this mirror belonged to the famous Dracula actor Bela Lugosi. The story that is told in The Haunted Museum is that Bela Lugosi used the mirror for scrying in order to contact his deceased wife. Apparently, after Lugosi died, a Los Angeles lawyer and filmmaker by the name of Frank Saletri rented Lugosi’s home. Frank Saletri was the victim of a violent murder that was most likely a mob hit. The mirror is said to have witnessed the horrid murder and captured the negative energy from this tragic event.
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Even if it turns out the mirror did not belong to Lugosi, it is clearly still haunted. The museum keeps the mirror covered with a drape, only allowing those who fully consent to look into it. Staff of the museum reports seeing shadow figures walking around the room in which the mirror is kept. Those who look into the mirror have also reported seeing shadow figures appearing in the room with them. Could this be their eyes playing tricks on them, or are these the manifestations of dark entities? The mirror has been featured on Ghost Adventures season 19 episode 7, Museum of Madness and Deadly Possessions season 1 episode 4. During Museum of Madness, Zak asks one of the psychic hosts to look into the mirror. While staring into the mirror he seizes up, falls over, and hits his head, having little recollection of what just happened. What would you do if you had the choice to look into Peggy the Doll’s eyes or Bela Lugosi’s haunted mirror? (should I make a survey on this)???
#3 Peggy The Doll
It is said that images and video alone are enough to cause viewers intense stomach pain and migraines, as well as elevated heart rate and anxiety. For the less faint of heart, a quick Google search will yield you with images and video of this extremely haunted doll. The story begins with Jane Harris, a paranormal blogger who posted pictures of Peggy online. Her readers began to report having a multitude of health issues and mental intrusions after viewing the doll’s pictures. One lady who Zak Bagans has apparently met, reported having a heart attack after viewing footage of Peggy.
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It was first believed that Peggy was possessed by a non-human entity like a demon. Psychic researchers however, have stated that they believe Peggy is possessed by a young girl who was brutally murdered. Whatever haunts Peggy is not something that wants to be taunted. Patrons of The Haunted Museum report feeling extremely sick when entering the Peggy exhibit. Footage from the security cameras has seen people collapse upon entering Peggy’s room and in one instance, a lady was pushed back by an unseen force out of the room. A spirit box is placed in the room with Peggy for those who would like to communicate with her. It is strongly advised that you properly greet and say goodbye to Peggy if you decide to see her during your visit to the museum. I personally think this is an exhibit I might skip out on….
#2 The Dybbuk Box
If you’re a Post Malone fan you’ve likely heard of the Dybbuk Box, which now has its own exhibit with The Haunted Museum. What appears to be just a really old wine cabinet, is actually the home of a Dybbuk. The term Dybbuk comes from Jewish mythology and refers to malicious spirits whose souls are trapped in objects to keep them from roaming free. This particular Dybbuk box was owned by a holocaust survivor by the name of Havela who brought the box with her to the United States after fleeing Nazi occupied Poland. The box was then purchased by Kevin Mannis at a yard sale. After purchasing the wine cabinet, he found strange objects such as wheat pennies, a golden wine chalice, a piece of stone with the Hebrew word Shalom, and locks of hair. Shortly after finding these items, he noticed awful things happening all around him. His mother had a stroke, one of his employees committed suicide, and he had awful nightmares of a lady with sunken in eyes. He tried to sell the box on Ebay, but had no luck. Zak Bagans would go on to purchase the box in 2016.
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The box has an entire room dedicated to it within the Haunted Museum. It is protected within a glass case surrounded by a salt circle (said to keep the evil within the circle). Employees of the haunted museum say this is one of the darkest feeling exhibits. They report elevated heart rate, nose bleeds, anxiety, and even dark shadows coming from within the room. People have even been captured fainting in this room on security cameras. In a Ghost Adventures special episode, Zak Bagans and Post Malone decide to open the Dybbuk box. What happened after is rather shocking. Post Malone was plagued by a series of mysterious events following his partaking in opening The Dybbuk Box. He told the media that after opening the box he got into a car accident, had to emergency land his private jet due to mechanical issues, and had his home in California broken into.
#1 The Devil’s Rocking Chair
The Devil’s rocking chair is yet another seemingly ordinary object that has a very sinister history. The chair itself was present during the exorcism of the young boy David Glatzel. The renowned paranormal investigators Ed and Lorainne Warren were called on by the Glatzel family to assist in the exorcism of their son. During the exorcism, it is said that the Devil’s Rocking Chair would move violently on its own, levitate, and even disappear entirely and reappear in different rooms of the home. Ed and Lorainne even recount seeing the face of “The Beast” sitting in the chair during the exorcism.
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Zak Bagans acquired the chair from David’s brother Carl, who told Zak that the chair was in his family for many years before the exorcism. In a TMZ interview, Zak states that the day he purchased the chair, Lorainne Warren passed away. Weird coincidence, right?! Zak also has stated that the handler he hired to pick up the chair from Carl Glatzel and deliver it to the museum has had recurring nightmares ever since. The employees of the haunted museum have reported people fainting and becoming short of breath around the exhibit. It is even said that people who mock the chair end up with chronic back pain. I think it’s safe to say, this is not a chair you wouldn’t want to touch, much less SIT in.
