Victorian Death Experiences Begins Another Spooky Season

History Colorado and Center for Colorado Women’s History present “Victorian Death Experiences” just in time for a second Halloween season.

The exhibit seeks to highlight the vital roles that women played in death rituals of the Victorian Era. The show is aimed at adults and promises “grisly artifacts, hair-raising rooms, and stories’ of death’s presence in Denver,” according to a press release.

“Victorian Death Experiences” sold out in 2023 and set itself apart through an immersive depiction of the real death practices of the past. This year will feature notebooks detailing seances, traditional all-black Victorian mourning attire, and jewelry and wreaths made from human hair. The exhibit seeks a larger goal of making the taboo around death “something that can be discussed and leave tour goers feeling curious about death and our relationship to it,” according to the Center for Colorado Women’s History Cat Jensen.

Queen Victoria is known for publicly mourning the death of her husband, Prince Albert, for the entirety of her life. Victoria’s mourning set the tone for a time period when a class of home-bound women were considered closer to divinity than men and thus more able to steward the deceased into the afterlife. This makes an exploration of the Victorian Era, with women at its center, a fascinating place to think about the meaning of death.

The museum exhibition is geared towards adults, with events from 6:00 –  7:15 p.m. every week in October. The museum will also offer more tame daytime events on October 19 and 26 from 1 to 3 p.m. Last year, the event sold out by October 14, and the Center for Colorado Women’s history encourages interested guests to pre-purchase their tickets before they are gone.

This year’s “Victorian Death Experiences” promises a dark and educational dive into the macabre past of Denver.

Graphic courtesy of Victorian Death Experiences