It’s Horror Galore Inside the Halloween: Dungeon of Doom at The Hollywood Museum

The Hollywood Museum in Los Angeles is a great place to explore if you want to immerse yourself in the city’s cinematic history. It’s located inside the iconic Max Factor Building. Max Factor was a renowned makeup artist to the stars during Hollywood’s Golden Era. His clientele included silver screen goddesses such as Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe, Jean Harlow and many others.

My first time here was around 2012 when I checked out the Marilyn Monroe exhibit. The structure has multiple stories, each featuring a different exhibition. It has been years since my last visit, and this time I descended to its lowest depths into Halloween: Dungeon of Doom.

The exhibit was originally titled Monsters, Mummies and Mayhem: Your Worst Nightmares Come to Life, and you can expect to encounter all of these things as soon as you step inside the bowels of the museum. A set of stairs leads down to the bottom floor and there’s a door that contains a sign with some important horror movie rules.

As soon as I entered, Jason Voorhees greeted me with a knife in hand. The next section paid homage to Frankenstein and his bride with the film playing on a small screen. There is so much horror film memorabilia packed throughout the lower level that I was overwhelmed with where and how to start. The layout is somewhat circular and separated into sections. While guests can walk in either direction, left or right, I began to the right and made my way around.

Since there was a ton of things to see, I’ll focus on what were the major highlights for me. I didn’t have to go very far before finding vampires. There were displays dedicated to Van Helsing, Underworld, and the TV series True Blood. I have to admit, I have not seen True Blood, but I was quite taken by a huge casket that was in this area. It was Pam’s pink Chanel coffin. There was also a lovely shrine devoted to the original glamour ghoul, Vampira, as well as poster boards showcasing the many reincarnations of Dracula and famous female vamps in film.

As I proceeded down this long hall, there were all sorts of artifacts and treasures from Halloween, Friday the 13th, The Exorcist, Bride of Chucky, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Walking Dead and Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. There was also a disturbing human-sized mannequin seated at a huge organ. Another morbid display had a female mannequin with her back to me, peering into her vanity. When I looked into the mirror, her reflection was grotesque.

The biggest and most impressive setup was the one dedicated to The Silence of the Lambs, which took up half of the downstairs space. There were two sizable brick chambers that resembled the prison that caged the cannibalistic serial killer, Hannibal Lecter. Down the hall were a few different cells and a soiled padded room. The cell at the very end was occupied by the notorious Dr. Lecter. It was interesting and creepy to feel as if I had stepped into the movie.

Welcomed by Voorhees and bid farewell to by Lecter—this is the only place where that can happen. Halloween: Dungeon of Doom is a fun attraction that horror enthusiasts should definitely experience. While the other exhibits at the museum aren’t spooky, there was a Catwoman display that I really liked on one of the upper levels. It showed Selina Kyle’s many iterations on screen, from Eartha Kitt to Michelle Pfeiffer.

The Hollywood Museum is an entertaining spot for locals and tourists alike. Tickets are budget-friendly too, ranging from $5 to $15. Plus, it’s surrounded by many other iconic sites, so you can park and spend the whole day in this area if you wanted. Like most places in Los Angeles, there are various parking structures if you’re driving. There’s a convenient and secure lot at Mel’s Hollywood diner, which is right next to the museum. I believe it was around $20 to park there, so if you want to make your dollar stretch, stay a while and plan a few things to do.

Where to Stalk

The Hollywood Museum official website