London exhibition explores worldwide history of the supernatural

'Dark Secrets: The Esoteric Exhibition' features cursed dolls, vampire hunting kits, and occult relics

LONDON:

A new exhibition in London showcases the dark and ominous history of the occult and the supernatural from across the globe, just ahead of Halloween. 

Dark Secrets: The Esoteric Exhibition, opened to the public since Oct. 11, offered audiences antiquities as varied as Europe's largest collection of cursed dolls, a 19th century vampire hunting kit, and shrunken heads created by the Amazon's Shuar tribes as war trophies. 

The exhibition includes over 1,000 objects divided within 27 rooms. Relatively contemporary exhibits include a jacket worn by American guitarist Jimi Hendrix rumoured to be linked to his premature death at the age of 27, and a ceremonial staff attributed to British occultist Aleister Crowley. 

The exhibition also aims to debunk and expose fraudulent mediums and illusionary devices like Ouija boards and slates that supposedly captured messages from the dead.

Speaking to Reuters on Thursday (October 23), forensic anthropologist and magician Matteo Borrini said, "You see how mediums were using methods, if we won’t use the word tricks, to actually pretend that they were in contact with spirits. So, you’ll see here some slates, for example, that have been used to make apparitions and to make proper apport in the sense that a spirit message."

Other paranormal forgeries included a fake werewolf skull and fake skeletons of fairies. Also up on display was a two-headed fox (preserved with taxidermy) created by Soviet surgeon Vladimir Demikhov. The doctor claimed that his two-headed creation survived for a few days, but this claim remains contested.

With the presence of Druid artefacts like carved ritualistic monoliths, the exhibition also serves as a reminder to Halloween’s pagan and Druid origins.

Borrini explained that, "Halloween started as a pagan religious festival and moved across the years. It became in some way demonised by the Christian Catholic Church but at the same time, it has been embedded with the Day of the Dead. And nowadays, it is becoming more popular in a sort of more commercial way."

The exhibition runs until May 2026.