Serial Killer Museum in Florence, Italy

Mass murderers in Tuscany, Italy

Any place that gathers Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, Ed Gein and John Wayne Gacy in the same place has got to be pretty disturbing, and that’s a phrase that describes the Serial Killer Museum in Florence, Tuscany, Italy perfectly. In a superbly grizzly display, the curators have dug deep into the cases of the world’s worst mass murderers throughout the centuries and made displays about them.

Waxwork models of notorious serial killers

These displays include waxwork models of notorious serial killers, often in an environment associated with their case. Ted Bundy, for example, is found leaning against his car, looking rather dapper. Meanwhile John Wayne Gacy is dressed as a clown in a mock-up of his living room, with the bones of his victims buried beneath, and Ed Gein is in his shack, creating his perfect woman out of the skin of his victims. Gein was the inspiration for both Buffalo Bill in Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon and Norman Bates in Psycho, incidentally. Charles Manson just looks wild-haired, bulging-eyed and freaky.

Grisly stories and audioguides

It would be easy for the museum to just rely on grisly stories about the methods employed by the murderers – and to a certain extent it does. Panels next to the killers list the stats a bit like a set of Top Trumps cards – date of birth, number of claimed victims, modus operandi etc. The audioguides, meanwhile go on for seemingly hours, tackling the subject in depth but in a strangely robotic voice that seems to be playing for atmospherics. It’s undoubtedly fascinating though, and the temptation is to just sit there while Albert Fish, the Brooklyn Vampire, stares on.

History of serial killing – Gilles de Rais to Jack The Ripper

But The Serial Killer Museum does attempt to go deeper than that. It attempts to track serial killing through the ages, from Frenchman Gilles de Rais in the 15th century to Jack The Ripper in Victorian London. It also investigates the spread of serial killers across the world. Predictably those such as Andrei Chikatilo, the Butcher of Rostov, Russia, are far outnumbered by the hordes from the United States. Almost 60% of serial killers are from the US, believe it or not.

When execution becomes torture

The Serial Killer Museum also investigates methods used to track down the killers – from blood sample analysis to psychological profiling – and the ways of dispatching them. The When Execution Becomes Torture section explores the death penalty, and when executions go wrong. There are a gas chamber, electric chair and lethal injection table to look at…

Serial Killer Museum Address

The Serial Killer Museum is in the Museo Criminale on Via Cavour in Florence, near the Duomo. It makes an interesting diversion from the heavyweight sights such as the Uffizi Gallery, Ponte Vecchio and Michaelangelo’s David.