The Chamber of Horrors was an original exhibition at

Madame Tussauds Madame Tussauds (, ) is a wax museum founded in 1835 by French wax sculptor Marie Tussaud in London, spawning similar museums in major cities around the world. While it used to be spelled as "Madame Tussaud's"; the apostrophe is no longer us ...

in London, being an exhibition of waxworks of notorious murderers and other infamous historical figures. The gallery first opened as a 'Separate Room' in Marie Tussaud's 1802 exhibition in London and quickly became a success as it showed historical personalities and artefacts rather than the freaks of nature popular in other waxworks of the day. It closed permanently in April 2016.

Early days

The forerunner of Tussaud's ''Chamber of Horrors'' was the ''Caverne des Grands Voleurs'' (the Cavern of the Great Thieves) which had been founded by Dr Philippe Curtius as an adjunct to his main exhibition of waxworks in Paris in 1782. Here Curtius displayed wax figures of notorious French criminals who had been executed, as well as members of the French royal family and aristocracy who had been

guillotined A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at t ...

during the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

. When Marie Tussaud moved to London in 1802 to set up her own exhibition at the Lyceum Theatre she brought some of these figures with her and set them up in a separate gallery; and when later she toured her exhibits around the country she maintained this division in her exhibition using a 'Separate Room' to display them in. The exhibits at this time included the heads of

King Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was e ...

and

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

, as well as Madame du Barry,

Marat Marat may refer to: People *Marat (given name) *Marat (surname) **Jean-Paul Marat (1743-1793), French political theorist, physician and scientist Arts, entertainment, and media *''Marat/Sade'', a 1963 play by Peter Weiss * ''Marat/Sade'' (fil ...

, Robespierre,

Hébert Hébert or Hebert may refer to: People Surname * Anne Hébert, Canadian author and poet * Ashley Hebert, subject of The Bachelorette (season 7), ''The Bachelorette'' (season 7) * Bobby Hebert, National Football League player * Chantal Hébert, C ...

, Carrier and

Fouquier-Tinville Antoine Quentin Fouquier de Tinville (, 10 June 17467 May 1795) was a French lawyer and public prosecutor during the French Revolution and Reign of Terror. Biography Early career Born in Herouël, a village in the ''département'' of the Aisne, ...

in addition to models of a

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...

and the

Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stor ...

and the Egyptian

mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay fu ...

from Curtius' collection. Street Advertising (5795814747)

In 1835, Madame Tussaud set up a permanent exhibition in London, and here the 'Separate Room' became the 'Chamber of Horrors'. At this time, her exhibits included Colonel Despard,

Arthur Thistlewood Arthur Thistlewood (1774–1 May 1820) was an English radical activist and conspirator in the Cato Street Conspiracy. He planned to murder the cabinet, but there was a spy and he was apprehended with 12 other conspirators. He killed a policem ...

, William Corder and

Burke and Hare The Burke and Hare murders were a series of sixteen killings committed over a period of about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland. They were undertaken by William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses to Robert Knox for dissection ...

, in addition to those listed above. The name 'Chamber of Horrors' is often credited to a contributor to ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'' in 1845, but Marie Tussaud appears to have originated it herself, using it in advertising as early as 1843. Visitors were charged an extra sixpence to enter the 'Separate Room'. In 1886, the exhibits included

, James Bloomfield Rush,

Charles Peace Charles Peace (14 May 1832 – 25 February 1879) was an English burglar and murderer, who embarked on a life of crime after being maimed in an industrial accident as a boy. After killing a policeman in Manchester, he fled to his native Shef ...

William Marwood William Marwood (1818 – 4 September 1883) was a hangman for the British government. He developed the technique of hanging known as the " long drop". Early life Marwood was born in 1818 in the village of Goulceby, the fifth of ten childre ...

Percy Lefroy Mapleton Percy Lefroy Mapleton (also known as Percy Mapleton Lefroy; 23 February 1860 – 29 November 1881) was a British journalist and murderer. He was the British "railway murderer" of 1881. He is important in the history of forensics and policing a ...

Mary Ann Cotton Mary Ann Cotton (' Robson; 31 October 1832 – 24 March 1873) was an English convicted murderer who was executed for poisoning her stepson. Despite her sole conviction for murder, she is believed to have been a serial killer who killed many ...

Israel Lipski Israel Lipski (born Israel Lobulsk; 1865 – 22 August 1887) was a convicted murderer of Polish-Jewish descent living in the East End of London. Lipski worked as an umbrella stick salesman, employing Harry Schmuss and Henry Rosenbloom. The serie ...

Franz Muller Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see ...

, William Palmer and Marie Manning. Other exhibits have included

George Chapman George Chapman (Hitchin, Hertfordshire, – London, 12 May 1634) was an English dramatist, translator and poet. He was a classical scholar whose work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman has been speculated to be the Rival Poet of Shak ...

, John Reginald Halliday Christie, William Corder, Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen, Colonel Despard,

John Haigh John George Haigh (; 24 July 1909 – 10 August 1949), commonly known as the Acid Bath Murderer, was an English serial killer convicted for the murder of six people, although he claimed to have killed nine. Haigh battered to death or shot his ...

Neville Heath Neville George Clevely Heath (6 June 1917 – 16 October 1946) was an English murderer who killed two young women in the summer of 1946. He was executed in Pentonville Prison, London, in October 1946. Early life and career Neville Heath was bor ...

, Bruno Hauptmann, Henri Landru,

Charles Manson Charles Milles Manson (; November 12, 1934November 19, 2017) was an American criminal and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California, in the late 1960s. Some of the members committed a series of nine murders at four loca ...

Florence Maybrick Florence Elizabeth Chandler Maybrick (3 September 1862 – 23 October 1941) was an American woman convicted in the United Kingdom of murdering her husband, cotton merchant James Maybrick. Early life Florence Maybrick was born Florence Elizabet ...

Donald Neilson Donald Neilson (born Donald Nappey; 1 August 1936 – 18 December 2011), alias the “Black Panther,” was a British armed robber, kidnapper, and multiple murderer. From 1971, he committed a series of robberies of sub-post offices; in 197 ...

Dennis Nilsen Dennis Andrew Nilsen (23 November 1945 – 12 May 2018) was a Scottish serial killer and necrophile who murdered at least twelve young men and boys between 1978 and 1983 in London. Convicted at the Old Bailey of six counts of murder and two o ...

Mary Pearcey Mary Pearcey (1866 – 23 December 1890) was an English woman who was convicted of murdering her lover's wife, Mrs. Phoebe Hogg, and child, Tiggy, on 24 October 1890 and hanged for the crime on 23 December of the same year. The crime is sometim ...

Herbert Rowse Armstrong Herbert Rowse Armstrong TD MA (13 May 1869 – 31 May 1922) was an English solicitor and convicted murderer, the only solicitor in the history of the United Kingdom to have been hanged for murder. He was living in Cusop Dingle, Herefordshi ...

Buck Ruxton Buck Ruxton (born Bukhtyar Chompa Rustomji Ratanji Hakim; 21 March 1899 – 12 May 1936) was an Indian-born physician convicted and subsequently hanged for the September 1935 murders of his common-law wife, Isabella Ruxton ( née Kerr), and the ...

George Joseph Smith George Joseph Smith (11 January 1872 – 13 August 1915) was an English serial killer and bigamist who was convicted and subsequently hanged for the murders of three women in 1915, the case becoming known as the Brides in the Bath Murders. As w ...

and

The Chamber

This part of the exhibition was in the basement of the building and included wax heads made from the

death mask A death mask is a likeness (typically in wax or plaster cast) of a person's face after their death, usually made by taking a cast or impression from the corpse. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, or be used for creation of portraits. It ...

s of victims of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

including

, Robespierre,

and

, who were modelled by Marie Tussaud herself at the time of their deaths or execution, and more recent figures of murderers and other notorious criminals. The Chamber of Horrors was renovated in 1996 at a cost of $1.5 million, bringing to life the history of crime and punishment over the last 500 years and including items from

Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, t ...

and featuring replicas of instruments of torture displayed amid a recording of actors' groans and screams. An innovation in recent years was to have actors in macabre make-up and costumes lurch at customers from the dark shadows and recesses of prison cells, where some cells were occupied with waxwork figures and others had the doors ajar, giving the impression that a dangerous maniac was on the loose. Historical characters displayed included

Vlad the Impaler Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler ( ro, Vlad Țepeș ) or Vlad Dracula (; ro, Vlad Drăculea ; 1428/311476/77), was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death in 1476/77. He is often considered one of the most im ...

Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...

Guy Fawkes Guy Fawkes (; 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educated ...

and

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. There was no waxwork figure of

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer wa ...

in the Chamber of Horrors, in accordance with Madame Tussaud's policy of not modelling persons whose likeness is unknown. Instead, he was portrayed as a shadow. Figures of disgraced entertainers

Jimmy Savile Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English DJ, television and radio personality who hosted BBC shows including ''Top of the Pops'' and ''Jim'll Fix It''. During his lifetime, he was well known ...

and Gary Glitter were destroyed rather than being relocated to the Chamber of Horrors.'Savile's waxwork 'too evil' for Tussauds' Chamber of Horrors that includes Hitler'
-

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

9 April 2015 Visiting the exhibit was optional and not recommended for young children or pregnant women. The chamber closed on 11 April 2016 and has since been replaced by a new attraction named the Sherlock Holmes Experience. File:Charlie Peace execution.jpg, Execution of

- 1879 waxwork in the Chamber of Horrors at

File:Tussauds Chamber 1910.jpg, Murderers Diereneuk and Barmouth with

Dr Crippen Hawley Harvey Crippen (September 11, 1862 – November 23, 1910), usually known as Dr. Crippen, was an American homeopath, ear and eye specialist and medicine dispenser. He was hanged in Pentonville Prison in London for the murder of his wife C ...

in the dock (c1910) File:Hhcrippen.jpg, Waxwork of

Hawley Harvey Crippen Hawley Harvey Crippen (September 11, 1862 – November 23, 1910), usually known as Dr. Crippen, was an American homeopath, ear and eye specialist and medicine dispenser. He was hanged in Pentonville Prison in London for the murder of his wife Co ...

in the Chamber of Horrors File:Adolf Hitler Wax Statue in Madame Tussauds London.jpg,

in the Chamber of Horrors File:Guillotine85.jpg, Guillotine late 1970s File:Elec chair tussuads.jpg,

Electric Chair An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...

and Bruno Hauptmann File:Garotte.jpg,

Garotte A garrote or garrote vil (a Spanish word; alternative spellings include garotte and similar variants''Oxford English Dictionary'', 11th Ed: garrotte is normal British English spelling, with single r alternate. Article title is US English spellin ...

File:Crippen execution.jpg, Gallows execution of Dr Crippen File:R Christie.jpg, Depiction of serial killer

John Reginald Christie John Reginald Halliday Christie (8 April 1899 – 15 July 1953), known to his family and friends as Reg Christie, was an English serial killer and alleged necrophile active during the 1940s and early 1950s. Christie murdered at least eight peo ...

File:Marat tussauds.jpg, Depiction of the death of Jean Paul Marat

References

External links

Madame Tussaud's 'Chamber of Horrors'
on

Pathé News Pathé News was a producer of newsreels and documentaries from 1910 to 1970 in the United Kingdom. Its founder, Charles Pathé, was a pioneer of moving pictures in the silent era. The Pathé News archive is known today as British Pathé. Its coll ...