Journey into the Odd: Archive of the Afterlife

 

 Archive of the Afterlife

 

I don’t believe in ghosts or curses, but I do love a good ghost story.  I’ve always been interested in the concept of storytelling whether it is urban legends, mythology or simply a spooky tale told around a campfire.  Any place that is steeped in that kind of lore is naturally a siren call for story seekers, such as myself, which makes Archive of the Afterlife a noted spot to visit. Located in the town of Moundsville West Virginia The Archive of the Afterlife is a two-room collection of various acclaimed haunted objects and funeral memorabilia.  The 

Archive itself is located in a rather derelict and slightly spooky school house that has now been converted into a rather derelict and slightly spooky municipal building, as most of this retired schoolhouse looks as if it’s falling down around the business that are kept in it. Even with all the signs reassuring you that you are in the right place the abandon feel of the building makes you constantly question whether or not any of these businesses are actually still operating out of here, in fact despite sharing the building with at least four other businesses the Archive of the Afterlife was the only one that was actually open.  

After some searching The Archive of the Afterlife was found up a flight of stairs to the right of the main entrance, so once you climb the stairs you are greeted by a large sign with the archives logo making it hard to miss the exhibit.  

Once Inside a fairly large collection of assorted artifacts are displayed not limited to strange masks, prison items and creepy dolls with each, for most part, having some kind of story behind them

I will admit that upon entering I was a little taken aback by the rather cluttered feel of the Archive.  I don’t usually expect much when going to these kinds of places but I was expecting something a little more… organized. Much of the archives first room feels like your grandmother’s attic with various Knick knacks and antiques just strewn all over the place.  To the archives credit however, they are working out of a very small storage space and they are continuously obtaining new artifacts so it is hard to try and find a place for everything but it still feels very cluttered.  

 The cluttered nature of the archive doesn’t really change the experience much and the second room has more space to show off its collection however the one thing that I did find to be an issue was that many of the exhibits don’t even have information cards or the cards are on the floor and one has to bend down, almost to the ground, to read them.  This can lead to a frustratingly confusing experience when you see a giant stuffed tiger just awkwardly sitting in the middle of the room with no information to help you understand why it’s there.

Fortunately, the staff are incredibly helpful more than willing to answer any questions you may have about the exhibits or their organization. After a short chat it was learned that roughly 90% of the objects in the exhibit were, as far as the owners could tell, legitimate items with a haunted background or were pulled from haunted locations.  There were a few objects I was told that were in the museum solely to add atmosphere and help increase the creep factor but they were very few and far between.  The museum curator also admitted that many of the items and the stories behind them had to be taken on good faith as some of the cases had no way for proving the claims that were made, for instance there is a wall which contains an assortment of jars that hold dirt and soil from various famous haunted

cemetery’s and houses but without witnessing the individual scoop up the sample there is no real way to prove that every jar came from the location that was claimed. To try and cut down on fakes and hoax’s the curator said that they do tend to stick with people they have worked with before and have proven trustworthy, but when they have to deal outside of their usual circle of contacts the curator claims that both she and the owner are slightly empathic and can usually tell If someone is being dishonest or not, so that is up to each individual to decide if that claim is enough to trust the authenticity of the items they take in. 

For me however, I simply enjoyed the stories.  Whether they be true or not the items that did contain actual stories and not just “felt powerful vibes” were rather interesting and fun to read about.  But as fun as creepy dolls and masks are the museum’s real showstoppers were in its second room where they had a full embalming table, several caskets and even and old bedframe from a now defunct asylum.  These morbid tools of death are small gems of history and fascinating to be able to see on display.

 

The Archive of the Afterlife is not for everyone and it certainly isn’t something you want to plan a whole vacation around but if you happen to be near the area and enjoy tales of ghosts or just have a passing fancy of the macabre then it’s not  a bad way to spend and afternoon.

 

A Heads Up Before You Head Out!

. there is a parking spot behind the school. It says parking for school attendants only and is gated but since the building is no longer an actual school, I assume its safe to park there and I didn’t have any troubles when I did.

. the archive is very difficult to locate in the building if you’re not sure where to go. When entering go to the right and there should be a set of doors leading to a flight of stairs, go up the stairs to the second floor and straight down the hall it’s not hard to miss after that.

. once again, I emphasize this is more archive than traditional museum and a relatively small one at that so plan accordingly.

. there are other business in the building but none of them were open when I went so its hard to say how often they are in operation, if ever.

. find our more information on the Archive's Official Website  and their Facebook.