History Main / MenacingMuseum

* ''VideoGame/ScoobyDooClassicCreepCapers'': The first level, based on "What a Night For a Knight!", is set in a museum during its after hours, and it's full of dangers to scare Shaggy and Scooby silly. The Prehistoric Wing in particular has dinosaur animatronics and even ''skeletons'' that move around and can hit the duo, with a pair of ''T. rex'' snapping at the path. Oh, and there's also the Black Knight that's lurking around in a couple of the rooms, namely the Egyptian Wing and Hall of Presidents.

* The game ''VideoGame/{{Waxworks}}'' takes place inside a waxworks museum bequeathed to you by your late uncle. By itself, it's not actually dangerous, though it's undeniably disturbing thanks to the morbid historical displays and the creepy butler patrolling the building. But because of your uncle's mission to stop the {{Evil Twin}}s of the family, the museum's exhibits become portals through time, leading you to mediaeval graveyards infested by the undead, booby-trapped Egyptian pyramids, Whitechapel at the height of Jack the Ripper's reign of terror, and a mine plagued by mutant BodyHorror.

* ''{{VideoGame/Shivers}}:'' On top of being a MuseumOfTheStrangeAndUnusual (and indeed it is the TropeNamer for it), Professor Windlenot's Museum of the Strange and Unusual is also a dark, eerie, and dangerous place for the game's protagonist. To start with, it's night, and said protagonist is alone--already a slightly eerie situation. Some of the exhibits feature fearsome beings of myth and legend, and a few even touch on truly horrific matters, such as in the area entitled "Man's Inhumanity To Man". But on top of all that, on this particular night the museum is infested with escaped spirits, each of which could jump out of a myriad otherwise-innocuous locations to rend away a portion of the protagonist's life-force.

[[caption-width-right:400: Hmm for a place of learning, could look less, y'know, ''sinister''.]]

->''"In the early 1900s, the museum was run by a board of trustees. Powerful guys, tycoons, captains of industry. The charman of the board Cornelius Wellsley of International Steel. The board used the museum as a respectable front for all kinds of dubious activities. Mainly though, they were part of a club run by our favorite evil architect."''

* ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionSeries'':

** ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon'': The final level, the Treacherous Mansion, is a museum precariously perched in the middle of a steep ravine. It contains artifacts from across Evershade Valley ([[AllTheWorldsAreAStage which makes the four corners of the building resemble the four previous mansions]]), and it's full of dangers stemming from the mazelike layout, the lethal exhibits, and the hostile ghosts.

* ''Literature/TwentiethCenturyGhosts'': in "Last Breath," a family of three explores a "museum of silence" run by the strange Dr. Alinger, consisting of a series of apparently empty sealed jars with headphones attached. Alinger explains that each jar contains someone's dying breath, from the famous (Edgar Allan Poe, Roald Dahl), to the everyday (Alinger says the most exquisite breath in his collection came from a janitor), although he mentions he has no housewives' breath. While the father and son are impressed, the mother is unnerved by a breath from a woman who died in a plane crash; [[spoiler:after she wanders in front of a moving car while leaving the museum, she ends up being added to Alinger's collection.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Bioshock}}:''
** In ''VideoGame/Bioshock1,'' the Proving Grounds of Point Prometheus used to be a museum showcasing various natural wonders; after the [[GiantMook Big Daddies]] became a necessity for protecting [[CreepyChild Little Sisters]] around Rapture, the museum was closed and converted into a training ground for Big Daddies. In the finale, you have to escort a Little Sister through the area while being continuously assaulted by Splicers, all just so you can reach the BigBad.
** The third locale visited in ''VideoGame/Bioshock2'' is Ryan Amusements, a cross between a museum and an AmusementParkOfDoom: the museum aspect appears in the entrance hall's monuments to Rapture's creation, painting the city's construction in near-mythical terms; beyond, the "Journey To The Surface" ride serves as a ghost train through anti-Surface propaganda, brainwashing younger audiences into accepting the increasingly terrible conditions in Rapture through fear of the horrors that would befall them on the dreaded Surface ([[{{Hypocrite}} most of which existed in Rapture sooner or later]]). For good measure, the place is infested with Splicers by the time you show up.
** The Hall of Heroes in ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'' is essentially the national museum of Columbia, centred primarily around a propaganda-heavy celebration of [[BigBad Father Comstock]]'s personal history. Quite apart from being practically ''soggy'' with racism, it's also been taken over by [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized Colonel Slate's men]] in their last stand against Comstock's troops, leaving Booker and Elizabeth caught in the middle. Worse still, Booker also ends up pitted against the [[AmericanRobot Motorized Patriots]] on display here.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone'', The New Exhibits''- A tour guide brings home his museum's the wax figures of ''serial killers''.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone'', The New Exhibits''- A tour guide brings home his museum's the wax figures of ''serial killers''.

* ''Series/TwilightZone'' - The New Exhibits''. A tour guide brings home his museum's the wax figures of ''serial killers''.

** "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho021DustBreeding Dust Breeding]]" sees the Doctor and Ace pay a visit to Duchamp 331 in the hopes of "acquiring" a painting historically known to have vanished - in this case, Creator/EdvardMunch's ''The Scream'' -- and end up exploring an isolated art gallery known as the Outhouse. Creepily enough, it's noted to be almost deserted despite supposedly supporting a population of about fifty artists, and being run by the dangerously obsessive [[MadArtist Damien Pearson]]. And when Ace finally tracks down ''The Scream'' in the gallery's historical section, the painting turns out to be alive and extremely hostile. [[spoiler: Turns out that it's actually a prison for an EldritchAbomination, and Damien is hoping to merge with it as part of the ultimate artistic project -- having been experimenting on his fellow artists to that end.]]

* ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'':

* ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3'' has the Unnatural History Museum on the 9th floor, where Luigi has to fight a giant TyrannosaurusRex skeleton[[spoiler:, and Ug the cave ghost]].
* The final level of ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon'', the Treacherous Mansion, is a museum precariously perched in the middle of a steep ravine. It contains artifacts from across Evershade Valley ([[AllTheWorldsAreAStage which makes the four corners of the building resemble the four previous mansions]]), and it's full of dangers stemming from the mazelike layout, the lethal exhibits, and the hostile ghosts.
* The first two levels of ''VideoGame/MediEvil2'' are set at the British Museum, now empty of visitors and hit hard by the wave of necromancy that [[BigBad Lord Palethorne]] unleashed on London. On top of being invaded by zombie patrons, it's also infested by reanimated exhibits like animated suits of armour, monstrously-reconstructed dinosaur skeletons, and even aliens (part of the moon landing exhibit). On the upside, it's also where Sir Daniel Fortescue returns from the dead. Sir Dan returns here twice, first to unearth Kiya from the transplanted Egyptian tomb, then later [[spoiler: to find Professor Kift's time machine in order to save Kiya from being murdered by the Ripper.]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' DarkFic, ''Fanfic/AllTheWorldsAToybox,'' Bill Cipher takes over the world and condemns the Zodiac to eternal punishment. In Grunkle Stan's [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12301914/11/All-The-World-s-A-Toybox chapter]], he ends up being imprisoned in a museum dedicated to his past mistakes and failures, every exhibit designed to emotionally torture him. Worse still, the museum is haunted by the physical manifestation of Stan's self-loathing, and he won't stop until Stan commits suicide.

[[quoteright:400:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/haunted_museum_arcade_2_player_60fpsmp4_20210617_180022781.jpg]]

* The climax of ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'' takes place in the Natural History Museum, with exhibits showing the animals' savage past when predators and prey species were at war with one another. [[spoiler:Nick and Judy, chased by the BigBad's goons, fall into one such exhibit, where the BigBad shoots Nick with a pellet that apparently turns him savage and makes him attack Judy. Luckily it's just a ruse to goad the BigBad into an EngineeredPublicConfession.]]

!!Examples

[[folder: Audio Plays]]

** In "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho003WhispersOfTerror Whispers Of Terror]]," the Doctor and Peri find themselves in the Museum of Aural Antiquities, a public archive of audio recordings. Most of their time there is spent trying to solve a murder, deal with a group of criminals that have broken in, and withstand the real MonsterOfTheWeek - a living soundwave. [[spoiler: It's actually the audio-based VirtualGhost of Visteen Krane, out for revenge against his killers.]]
** "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho021DustBreeding Dust Breeding]]" sees the Doctor and Ace pay a visit to Duchamp 331 in the hopes of "acquiring" a painting historically known to have vanished - in this case, Creator/EdvardMunch's ''The Scream'' - and end up exploring an isolated art gallery known as the Outhouse. Creepily enough, it's noted to be almost deserted despite supposedly supporting a population of about fifty artists, and being run by the dangerously obsessive [[MadArtist Damien Pearson]]. And when Ace finally tracks down ''The Scream'' in the gallery's historical section, the painting turns out to be alive and extremely hostile. [[spoiler: Turns out that it's actually a prison for an EldritchAbomination, and Damien is hoping to merge with it as part of the ultimate artistic project - having been experimenting on his fellow artists to that end.]]

[[folder: Fan Works]]

[[folder: Film - Animated]]

[[folder: Film - Live Action]]

[[folder: Literature]]
* The Literature/{{Discworld}} has many examples in the city of Ankh-Morpork. The Black Museum of the Guild of Assassins is given over to the contemplative study of inhumation, for instance, and celebrates the many and stylish ways in which clients have been eliminated. The museum of the Guild of Fools is built around the Hall of Faces. Every clown who ever was, and who currently is, has their unique face paint reproduced here on the surface of an egg - thousands upon thousands of them.
* ''{{Literature/Nevermoor}}'': The Museum of Stolen Moments is filled with snow globes, each containing a sculpture of a simple scene. Except these aren't sculptures; they're ''people'', and the creator of the museum froze them in time, specifically in the moment before their death, and capture the moment in art forever. Morrigan finds the Museum both beautiful and utterly disturbing. [[TheSociopath Squall]] loves it, of course.

[[folder: Live Action TV]]

** The lion's share of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E13TheBigBang The Big Bang]]" takes place in the National Museum, where [[TailorMadePrison the Pandorica]] and numerous other relics from the events of the previous episode have been put on display - most prominently the petrified remains of a Dalek. On the upside, the prisoner of the Pandorica is rescued well after closing time... but on the downside, the Dalek turns out to be still alive and still capable of attacking.
** "[[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor The Day Of The Doctor]]" is partly set at the National Gallery; along with the anomalous painting and the time fissures that keep springing up around the building, there's also a number of extremely pissed-off Zygons roaming the premises.

* The Australian series ''Series/StreetSmarts'' had an episode with a fake haunting plot set in the maritime museum.

[[folder: Video Games]]

[[folder: Web Original]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

[[folder: Real Life]]

[[/folder]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou?'' series premiere revolves around Mystery Inc. investigating the Black Knight in an ominous museum. [[ScoobyDooHoax Said knight turns out to be an art thief, stealing paintings from the museum and replacing them with freshly made duplicates.]]