If you ever got the chance, would you spend a night at the Natural History Museum?
Well, I wouldn’t. And trust me… it’s not because of the dinosaurs.
Now, most of London’s museums close their grand doors by early evening. But, I think the Natural History Museum does it out of necessity. To keep the whispers from turning into headlines.
You might ask…what whispers?
Oh, just the usual… security guards refusing to walk certain corridors alone, mannequins that allegedly blink back, taxidermy models that move on their own …and the lingering scent of pipe smoke when there’s not a soul around. You know. Tuesday stuff.
By day, it’s a family-friendly haven of science and wonder. But, after the sun goes down…the specimens claim this museum as their own. And there are 80 million such specimens. You can understand where I am going right?
Well… let’s just say that taxidermy isn’t the only thing that stares back.
Behind the elegant Romanesque arches and fossil-lined halls lie stories that never made it to the museum guidebooks. Neither they tell you about it on the museum map.
Now, don’t think of this blog as a ghost tour…rather, consider it as a part II of “Natural History Museum London- Where World Hides Its Oldest Secrets”
Let me tell you in this blog… there are no demons. No Victorian banshees. No “possessed porcelain dolls.” I believe, what lingers in this museum is subtler. Stranger. More curious.
And after this blog, no traveler can skip the Natural History Museum. Yes, it’s that interesting.
So, come on.
Haunting in the Museum
Let’s start with the million dollar question…”Is it haunted?” Well, officially it isn’t. But it depends on what you call “haunted” after you’ve heard the stories from those who swear it is.
- Sir Owen’s Rounds
Once one-night guard joked with a nervous laugh…“If the temperature drops suddenly, it’s Sir Owen doing his rounds”.
He meant Sir Richard Owen, the Victorian-era founder of the museum. Brilliant, yes. But also highly protective of his collections. His office once stood where the modern museum administration block now sits.
And, sometimes, in the grand hall some unusual things people report to experience. Such as footsteps hurriedly pacing in empty corridors, a sudden smell of old pipe tobacco and some even claim to see a shadowy man in a frock coat walking near locked exhibit rooms.
Seems like Sir Owen never quite handed over the keys.
So, next time you enter, be at your best behavior around the specimens. Because that’s all he cares.
- The Weeping Baby
Now, let me share with you an incident…
One night, a worker of NHM once found one of the baby chimpanzee models on the floor… several meters from its original case. No alarms. No broken glass…there was absolutely no explanation.
It happened in the Mammals Gallery.
Over the years, several museum security guards have reported hearing faint crying from this room and when they’ve gone to investigate, they found nothing at all…except the air was suddenly freezing cold.
This crying generally happens near the display of mother animals with their young, especially in the taxidermy mammal rooms.
Are you afraid? I bet not.
4. The Crocodile Whispers
This time, it was a paleobotanist. He quit mid-research, saying- “Something in that hallway spoke to me and it wasn’t living.”
Now, where was he? He was in the Paleontology department, near the fossilized skulls, particularly near the crocodilian skulls and prehistoric predator fossils.
And, later…some workers even reported hearing those whispers too when walking alone. But only if they stop.
5. Jars That Shift
Yes, in that infamous Spirit collection, there are the Victorian Jars that “Move”.
Well, some of the oldest specimens, especially the ones from the 1800s…are said to shift positions slightly overnight, despite being sealed in fluid for over a century.
Many a time, museum staff have returned to jars to find Labels mysteriously turned around, sometimes tiny creatures facing the opposite direction on their own.
Once, one particular jar containing a fetal primate “swam” very slowly to the edge of the jar over the course of weeks…as if trying to get closer to the glass.
What do you have to say here?
It’s like the specimens are trying to scare someone or simply trying to get themselves out of there.
Weirdest natural mutations in the Museum
Let’s detour for a moment into science’s stranger side…The museum has a stunning collection of bizarre, mind-bending natural mutations that will make you question the limits of biology.
No, these aren’t mythical creatures at all. All of them are real animals and specimens affected by rare mutations, evolutionary anomalies, deformities, or bizarre adaptations that push the definition of “normal” in the natural world.
- You know, behind the scenes in Spirit collection, there’s a chick embryo preserved in ethanol with two fully-formed heads sprouting from a single neck? Though the chick never hatched, but the preservation is immaculate… both heads have beaks, eyes, and brains.
- Next, there’s a Cyclops Shark Embryo. It’s not on public display ever… just studied privately. Such a Shark Fetus was found inside the womb of a pregnant dusky shark caught by fishermen. Let me tell you, Cyclopia is a lethal mutation… and it’s a one-in-a-million mutation.
- And then, in the Spirit Collection Vaults, there’s a Transparent Frog revealing every organ and bone inside its body. The fun part is that… you can literally watch its heart and see its circulatory system like nature’s x-ray. But, it’s no mutation. Isn’t it fascinating?
Still, there’s more… The Six-Legged Piglet, Two-Headed Snake, Albino Hedgehog, The Goat with Human-Like Face, The Mutant Flower That Grew Teeth, Chick with Three Legs and One Eye…, and so many more.
These mutations aren’t just oddities — they offer vital insight into genetics, developmental biology, and evolutionary extremes. But let’s be real …some of them are fascinatingly grotesque.
While many of them are tucked away in research vaults, some are even on public display.
So, you never know, when you will get a glimpse of them.
Let me ask you a question now…based on all these events would you say the NHM is haunted? I don’t think so…It’s more like the museum is living in the past, and all these rumors and stories make one wonder about those forgotten past.
What do the staff say?
Like every other ghost story in the world, there’s nothing here you can pin down or prove with cold, hard evidence. It’s all in the similar stories shared by the staff…with similar sort of feelings and experience.
But yes, across decades many spooky happenings do take place.
Sometimes, at night there are footsteps behind people when they’re working late…as if something is keeping an eye on them. Then there are Exhibits that move slightly, even under climate lock and Jar lids start “sweating” as if something alive were inside.
Isn’t it creepy? Definitely.
Can they be some coincidence? Perhaps.
But there are some museum folklore…which the staff take surprisingly seriously.
No one knows exactly why, but…
- Never whistle in the Spirit Vault.
- It’s considered very bad luck. Enough said.
- Always greet the Komodo Dragon in the jar.
- Apparently, “he gets grumpy” if you don’t.
Now, I know, you will ask me….” why all this?”
Well, I believe the people who came up with these peculiar codes have seen things most of us couldn’t handle. Those who work in the archives speak in quiet tones about odd happenings… and follow an unofficial code with absolute conviction…
- Never mock the dead.
- Never take selfies with the Spirit Collection jars.
- Always nod respectfully at the mummified animals.
Why, there are such strange rules? Certainly. But they weren’t written on a whim. These superstitions likely stem from years of trial, error… and a few accidents best left off the record.
Many a time, staff were seen fainted on the museum floors, they talked about strange dreams after touching some particular items, some scientists even reported hearing some auditory illusion with whispering, breathing, and all. Some incidents were dismissed. Others quietly documented. But the stories persist.
It is believed that this museum has some allegedly cursed items, which come with their own eerie legends. And I’ll be honest…I won’t be listing those allegedly cursed artifacts here. Not because I’m scared (okay, maybe a little), but because each comes with a trail of bad luck — and frankly, I’d rather not tempt fate.
I believe the Natural History Museum isn’t just built from Victorian stone and scientific wonder. It’s built on centuries of death, discovery, and unspoken memory. Science hasn’t quite caught up with the strange happenings in this place. Maybe one day, it will. Till then, you’ll just have to wait.
On that note, I’ll pause this story for now. But do plan a visit to this museum. Who knows, maybe some of you can uncover the reasons behind these unexplained occurrences.
In my next London blog, I’ll take you somewhere equally fascinating.
Until then, stay curious, stay brave… and if possible don’t whistle in dark hallways while in NHM.
This is Rita, signing off.
