Visiting the Morbid Anatomy Museum

Visiting the Morbid Anatomy Museum
Jessica Marie

After I ate at Balade, I made my way to go to Brooklyn. I knew I had to go back to 14th Street and Union Square Station, but when I was walking I saw a subway station that had subways going to Brooklyn. I thought I should take that. I'm glad I saw a young black gentleman walking by with a Brooklyn Nets hat and I said to him, "Excuse me, you're from here, right?" He said, "Of course."

"Do you take the subway?"

"Yes."

"I'm looking to go to the Morbid Anatomy Museum in Brooklyn. Could I take the L there?"

"Hmmm. The L does go to Brooklyn, but let me see your directions."

I handed him my directions and he looked them over. After studying the directions he finally spoke to give his decision: "Since this is your first time on the subway, I wouldn't suggest taking the L because the L doesn't go there. You could connect to something else by the L, but I don't want to confuse you. I would go back to 14th St. and Union Square, take the F, then R. Are you familiar with 14th St?"

I smiled and said, "Absolutely. That's how I arrived here and was actually heading there until I saw this station. Thank you for your help."

He smiled and said, "No problem. Have fun!" And gave me a high five.


When I arrived to the 14th Street and Union Square Station, I was digging through my purse to get my Metro card. A young white guy (I'd say early 20s, he was definitely a freshman or sophomore in college) saw me digging and came up to me. I was taking back at first, but then he said: "Don't worry, I got ya. I'll swipe my card for you and get you through." I did find my card, but I thanked him. He swiped me through. After I walked through the pay station, I stopped to thank him. He was going to swipe himself through after. However, it was crowded and I didn't see him again to thank him again. So, to the young gentleman who swiped me through at 14th Street, thank you again for your kind gesture. I appreciate it. :)

I then walked to the R pointing to downtown and Brooklyn. After I talked to a Metro employee and showed him the directions, he said I could simply just take the R instead of taking the Q (it was on a holiday schedule) and then R. I would just stay on the R longer. He wasn't kidding... it was about a 35 minute ride on the R to Brooklyn. I met a lot of nice people on the subway. A group traveling from California, then other New Yorkers.

When I finally arrived in Brooklyn, I had a six minute walk to the Morbid Anatomy Museum. I had to walk through a neighborhood, but the neighborhood was really nice. My great aunt used to live in Brooklyn (she sadly passed away in 2009) until 1993. Nan and dad said she used to grow grapes in her yard when she lived in Brooklyn. On my walk, I saw a beautiful brownstone that had a fence with grapes engraved in them and bushes in the yard. I almost whipped out my cell phone to take a picture to send to dad with the message: "Aunt Millie's old house?" but decided against it. I should have because the brownstone did look gorgeous. The neighborhood looked friendly and it probably wouldn't have been a big deal.

When I finally arrived at the Morbid Anatomy Museum, I was surprised to see a brand new building. It was $8 for admission and I couldn't take photos of the exhibit or in the library. The exhibit I saw was called Do Spirits Really Exist and Come Back? It was AMAZING! I would recommend going. They had old magicians and their ads, different contraptions magicians used to communicate with the dead, and old Arab/early Islamic sword contraptions. The sword contraption was neat. The artwork of the contraption was beautiful too. The whole exhibit was neat because I love old artwork and ads. It was also cool learning about how people in history thought about the dead, the spirits, etc.

I then went into the library and learned about Mexican Catholic rituals of death. Apparently there is a saint specifically for prisoners and murderers. She's called Santa Muerte, or Saint of Death. Reading the wiki article confirms what the librarian told me, it is a cult in Mexico and they're pretty deadly. They're people you don't want to cross. However, the skulls and candles almost reminded me of Dia de los Muertes, or Day of the Dead, things. One of my friend's mom used to collect that type of stuff and I liked the artwork. We spent 20 minutes talking about the artwork used. He said the museum goes to Mexico every year to study this and I should keep in touch for the trip because it's definitely an experience. Mayhaps.

I also looked around some more. I have never been to the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia and I told the librarian this. He exclaimed, "Really?! You need to go!" We're based a bit off of that museum and we just love it. We hope to expand!" I also had some other conversations with him. He was really nice and friendly. I also told him just everything about this museum from double headed animals, freaky looking animals, freaky looking artwork, I didn't want to leave. I love those oddities.

I went back downstairs and bought a chai tea. I could take pictures there, so I took pictures of some of the oddities they had in the lounge. It was a continuation of the library. It was just so neat being there and it wasn't badly priced. The staff is knowledgeable and you do learn a lot at the Morbid Anatomy Museum.