A new haunted museum featuring a coffin and a Victorian children's room filled with dolls has opened in Northumberland. Michele Liddle began welcoming visitors to the Northumberland Haunted Museum in Amble on Monday, June 15.
Unique Attractions at the Museum
The free museum, located on Queen Street, includes a haunted library and a Victorian children's room filled with dolls. It also features a scrying room where visitors can stare into a mirror and a séance room. Michele offers workshops, paranormal investigations, and ghost walks.
Two-Year Project
The 41-year-old, who lives in Amble, said: "I think it's what is needed. It's something a little bit different. It's been a project which has been two years in the making. We've been working on the building for about seven weeks. It needed a lot of work, it hadn't been touched since 1998."
She added: "We have had a lot of interest. Lots of people have been watching us do all the work and have been popping their heads through the door. They're really curious. Someone said they would be driving up from Manchester to come and see us. A couple of people, who live in Canada, are coming to see it when they are on holiday here."
Background and Inspiration
Michele previously lived in Norfolk and moved to Amble in 2021. She has always had an interest in paranormal activity and does tarot card, tea leaves, and pendulum readings. She said: "I have always been drawn to it. My family have always been quite open spiritually so we have always discussed it in my family."
Michele travels as part of a paranormal investigators group and noticed locations were mainly down south. Realizing there were no museums in the North East for spooky artifacts, she decided to open one. She said: "I realized how important it was to preserve other people's stories and keep them alive. I wanted to combine it all and I thought why don't I open a museum."
Community Focus and Future Plans
The museum operates as a community interest company. Michele said: "I have created it as a community interest company as I want people to enjoy it. I want people to be able to come in, sit, chat, read a book, have a look at everything and not feel rushed."
Entry is free, with revenue generated through the museum shop, events, ghost walks, paranormal investigations, and donations. The museum will run its own paranormal investigations, workshops, and host authors and mediums. Michele added: "We have a board with a pendulum and we will do a workshop on pendulums to teach people how to work it. We also have Ouija boards and will teach people how to use them sensibly because if they don't it goes a little bit wrong. It's a bit like making a phone call and not knowing who's at the other end of the phone!"
She concluded: "I just hope that everyone enjoys it and gets to learn something new!"
