Few people today would associate the famous wax museums of Madame Tussauds with horror especially with how many likenesses of celebrities have been made into wax in recent years. However, the origins of the haunted house began when her wax figures were introduced to 19th Century London.
In 1802, Tussaud displayed an exhibition of decapitated French figures including Kind Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette much to the horror of her audience. She had an excellent ability to make these deceased figures appear lifelike given her experience in creating death masks from the heads of guillotine victims. Her exhibition was soon labelled the ‘Chamber of Horrors’. It was the use of such wax figures which would then be used to litter ‘haunted houses’ full of creaking sounds and screams and other hair raising effects.
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Click to view Creepy Historic Photos From Madame Tussauds ‘Chamber of Horrors’