I’ve been to a lot of odd places in Pennsylvania, but few are as strange as the vampire museum in Doylestown.
Officially known as VAMPA Vampire and Paranormal Museum, this is said to be the world’s largest museum dedicated to vampire artifacts. It can be found next to Best of France Antiques, both of which are owned by Edmondo Crimi, a short distance east of downtown Doylestown in Bucks County, PA.
This museum opened to the public in October 2023 and occupies eight rooms within a the first floor of Crimi’s home. and is said to be the largest collection of such items in the world.
The home’s architecture really fits with the museum, and while it was a bit tight in places, this is definitely a great setting for this type of museum.
I always love checking out the weird and quirky spots in Pennsylvania, so I was excited to have a chance to check out this very unusual museum during its first year of operation.
The museum’s collection is quite incredible…incredible to the point that it’s hard to know what is real and what is fake. For example, the nearby Mercer Museum also has a “vampire killing kit” on display which is specifically noted as being fake.
However, even if the pieces on display weren’t built to, in theory, kill vampires, they are still quite beautiful and interesting to look at. Just make sure to take any of the historical information here with a grain of salt, especially around tools said to be built to kill vampires.
Nevertheless, the items on display here are truly fascinating and quite intricate and beautiful, so I really enjoyed looking at them during my visit.
Once you move past the first room, the museum moves a bit more into spiritualism including topics like exorcism, demonic art, and haunted dolls. If you love this sort of thing, you’ll be in heaven (or is it hell?).
There are even small rooms that house collections of items claimed to have negative energy and hauntings including dolls, a small wooden ship, and much more. There is even a warning sign to be careful around some of the items lest you take their negative spirits home with you.
For me, one interesting piece in the museum was the vampire hunting hearse.
This horse-drawn carriage comes from the island of Santorini the “most vampire infested place in the world”. It is said that a family of vampire hunters outfitted this 18th-century hearse to help them in their search, and that this is the only item of its kind in the world.
Whether any of this is true, I have no idea, but it is quite a beautiful carriage, and the story behind it is interesting.
There is also a skeleton chair on display in the museum that is said to have possibly been owned by actor Vincent Price at one point. This is certainly one of the most unusual pieces on display in the museum, and I enjoyed taking a few minutes to check it out.
Overall, the VAMPA Vampire Museum is quite an interesting place to visit. While I would have loved a little more clarity on the veracity of the claims made about the items (given that vampires aren’t real), I still found the pieces on display to be quite fascinating and beautiful pieces of art if nothing else.
One thing I was thinking about during my visit was my young kids, and if I would bring them to the museum. While there is nothing here that is specifically graphic or particularly violent, younger kids that can read might get freaked out by some of the claims made in the signs in regards to demonic spirits and vampires.
Just something that I thought was worth noting for any parents visiting.
As I mentioned above, VAMPA is located next to the Best of France Antiques, which is one of the coolest antique stores that I’ve come across in PA.
As you are walking from the parking area to the museum, you’ll no doubt pass the dozens of large concrete fountains that are for sale, as well as the collection of large fiberglass dinosaurs that you can also buy.
I had a nice time taking a few minutes to explore the grounds here and see these unique items on display.
The uniqueness continues into the large barn that serves as the antique store. The bottom floor features some interesting items, but it’s really the large upstairs space that’s most incredible.
This space has an incredible old-world feel to it with a huge selection of interesting antiques. I especially enjoyed looking at the suits of armor that were on display. I resisted the urge to take one home with me.
Honestly, in my opinion, the antique store is at least as much of a reason to visit this spot as the vampire museum is, so make sure to save some time to check it out when visiting this fun spot.
Looking for more place to visit nearby? Check out Fonthill, the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad, and the Stoogeum.
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