Before giving in to Halloween horror this month, explore the deeply dark and wonderful oddities at Cleveland Curiosities. Opened in early August, the Lakewood storefront hosts a number of strange, rare and macabre objects, including a pair of decorated human Asmat skulls ($1,950 each). Originating from the cannibalistic Asmat tribe in Papua New Guinea, the ceremonial skulls have been filled with beeswax, adorned with seashells and dried Job’s tears seeds, and dressed with cassowary feathers, straw and boar tusks in reverence of the person who died. “Around here, a lot of people are born and raised to be afraid of death, but in other places they look at death as a second life,” says co-owner Clement Kunkle. “Fear is what draws them to learn more about it.” The near-Gothic boutique is full of oddities ranging from entomology specimens such as death’s-head hawkmoths to dried fruit bats, taxidermic South-African animals and ethically-sourced piglets Kunkle mummifies with his wife Hallie Wallace. “The new trend is to be into weird stuff,” says Kunkle. “This is stuff you won’t really see anywhere else.” 13375 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 440-334-0455, clevelandcuriosities.com
We Explore Oddity Store Cleveland Curiosities
Full of strange and rare objects such as human Asmat skulls, the Lakewood shop is unlike any place we've seen.
