It's the year of Dracula at Philadelphia's Mütter Museum

ByWendy Daughenbaugh WPVI logo

Thursday, October 27, 2022

It's the year of Dracula at Philadelphia's Mütter MuseumMore than 100 years after Dracula's creator was laid to rest, the Mütter Museum has a coffin-shaped case dedicated to vampirism.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- More than 100 years after Dracula's creator was laid to rest, the Mütter Museum has a coffin-shaped case dedicated to vampirism, showcasing what Victorians would have been looking for when they exhumed a corpse to determine whether that person was a vampire or not.

It's called Dracula & The Incorruptible Body. It's just in time for Halloween but it's also celebrating the 125th anniversary of the publishing of Bram Stoker's novel.

Dracula, the novel, was inspired by the vampire panics that spread throughout England and the United States in the 19th century, usually preceded by an outbreak of tuberculosis that ravaged families and communities.

The exhibit includes an autopsy kit used to determine if a dug-up corpse was in fact an undead creature preying on the living.

Normal signs of decomposition--such as blood in the heart or long teeth caused by receding gums-might be seen as a sign that the person was rising from the grave and feeding on the living.

The exhibit includes a vampire killing kit, complete with a gun, crucifix, vials filled with unknown serums and a very old head of garlic.

The exhibit is in the museum's Hutchinson's Parlor, which will be dubbed Dracula's Parlor for this year's Mischief at the Mütter, October 28th.

The hugely popular event is already sold out but The Mütter Museum will be hosting other pop-up Dracula events all year long.