Never in my life did I ever think that I would come across a real life vampire killing kit. It just so happened that today was the day that I could cross viewing such an obscure item off of my bucket list. Actually, I was not even aware that a relic of this nature even existed (other than in movies), but if I had it certainly would have been on my bucket list.
Where in Buffalo did I come across an actual vampire killing kit? At the Museum of Mystery of course! While the museum does not have a permanent home in Buffalo. director and curator D. Raphael Failla has been busy acquiring some pretty fabulous items for his collection, which were all on display this weekend at the Karpeles Manuscript Museum at the corner of Elmwood and North. Here’s the trailer that sucked me in to take a gander.
Besides the vampire killing kit, the museum also featured ancient wands and staffs, including a Vodun Spirit Staff (voodoo in nature), a Druid magic wand (late 18th Century Ireland), and an antique scrying mirror that allows people to see into the spirit world. A couple of visitors to the museum actually claimed to have seen spirits while visiting the exhibit.
Next, Failla plans on opening a full scale museum, though he has not pinpointed an exact location. Wherever it may be, we can count on the fact that it will be a bit macabre, filled with a number of odd curiosities, and driven by the passion of a guy whose wild imagination is the stuff that dreams are made of.
In the case of Museum of Mystery, this may be a dream for some, and a nightmare for others. The exhibits are not a bunch of hocus-pocus, rather they are comprised of certified unearthly objects from archaic times, when magic filled the air, ungodly creatures walked the planet, and mystical spirits could be found by simply believing in their existence.