Driving down Cass Avenue in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, you might notice a hearse parked in a side lot. It’s a faded gray, well-loved vehicle that any Addams Family fan can appreciate. But the hearse you actually notice is the one it behind it— the one jacked up on monster truck wheels. These two death mobiles are parked at the Anatomy of Death Museum and they’re the most normal thing about it.
Mount Clemens has been homebase for the death museum since 2019. Owner and operator Todd LaRosa uses the front entrance as an oddities shop, offering peculiar trinkets and jewelry to branded t-shirts sporting the museum’s logo. Visitors may spot a taxidermy bat or two before they approach the counter to learn the method to the museum’s madness. Each visitor is given a laminated guidebook to help them learn more about the collection that lurks in the back. Once admission is paid and the rules have been stated, you make your way through a curtain comprised of two authentic body bags into an ambush of glowing red light and oppressive choral chanting. The size of the room overwhelms, but not nearly as much as the abundance of objects crammed within it.
Skeletons are within arm’s reach pretty much every step you take. Nearly all the wall space is occupied by shelves, glass cases, and frames containing skulls, posters, medical equipment, signs, masks, and more from LaRosa’s decades-old collecting journey.
“This is only 20% of my collection,” LaRosa tells. “I go all over looking for this stuff. Funeral homes, medical schools, everywhere.”
Whatever flavor of creep you are, there’s something here to fascinate you. Funerary professionals are treated to antique embalming equipment and fluids, which are beautifully displayed behind lit glass cases. The empty space beneath tables are littered with infant caskets and display models. Victorian Era more your speed? You’ll be gob smacked by the largest item in the museum, a wood horse-drawn hearse embellished with ornate floral carvings. Its lusty-red interior is topped off with a polished coffin that Dracula could rise from at any moment. Look closely at the walls for framed hair art. Look down to inspect woven child coffins from the 18th century.
Did I mention that there are bones everywhere? Rib bones, leg bones, finger bones, you name it. Decorated tribal skulls, medical mystery skulls, exploded skulls…it’s a regular bone yard in here. The guidebook will come in handy as you learn the origins of these human remains.
Movie props are sprinkled in for good measure, including a sarcophagus from The Mummy (1999) and a mask from Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. Horror icon Vincent Price also haunts this space thanks to past branding deals for his Shrunken Apple Head Kit and Hangman board game.
Bones aside, the collection is a remarkable time capsule of morbid history. Special attention is made to the overall ambience. There’s a small mounted television in one corner that plays a live autopsy show with Dr. Gunther von Hagens on a loop. The music aims to unnerve you while you squint to read about dead people’s stuff under the bloody red lights. No matter where you turn, there’s something to stoke your curiosity. Whether it’s one of three carriage hearses, a skeleton laid to rest on eternal display, or a token from a music legend’s funeral, the Anatomy of Death caters to everyone looking to get a bit morbid.
The item that stuck with me were three nondescript picture frames on the far left wall. The frames contain the cut braids of three young sisters who perished in an auto accident. Their photographs sit affixed next to their identifying braids. These pieces of somber art were made in 1957, just 67 years ago. You’ll have to find them yourself when you make the trip to the weirdest attraction Michigan has to offer.
Before You Go:
Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for children
https://anatomyofdeathmuseum.com/
Parking available in the adjoining side lot or in the public parking lot at the intersection of Cass & Grand
Photos & videos are allowed but no touching (keyword: MUSEUM)
Haunted by Deadlines 