Fri 10/24 @ 12 – 8pm
Wanna see something really scary?
On the hunt for something horrific? Oddities and anomalies abound at the Dittrick Museum of Medical History scavenger hunt and Cleveland Bazaar’s Halloween Curiosity Shop. The Cleveland Bazaar (formerly Bazaar Bizarre) will feature approximately 40 vendors selling hair-raising handmade items while the Dittrick Museum provides truth-is-stranger-than-fiction thrills.
“This is the first Cleveland Bazaar event that is focusing solely on Halloween,” Brandi McElhatten, Cleveland Bazaar social media and marketing assistant, said. “We are really excited about the opportunity to have an event like this and partner with such awesome Cleveland landmarks. I think the Dittrick Museum of Medical History is a really intriguing place that more Clevelanders should know about; so I really hope people get excited and come out to spend some time in University Circle with us.”
Interested in activities that’ll make you want to wash yourself in a vat of bleach?
Pick up the scavenger hunt form at the Bazaar, solve five Halloween-themed riddles by scouring Dittrick Museum displays, and return your answers to the Bazaar where correctly completed forms will be entered into a drawing for Bazaar prizes.
“This is our first general scavenger hunt open to the public,” Dr. Brandy Schillace, managing editor of Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry and research associate/public engagement for the Dittrick Museum of Medical History explained. “We’ve been renovating the spaces to be more user-friendly and to include new and interesting exhibits; we hope to encourage people to return often. Our museum is not ‘creepy’ in any way, but diseases and disorders really are terrifying. Edgar Allen Poe writes the Mask of the Red Death based upon plague and pox, after all.”
Are you preparing for the long Cleveland winter, seeking to snuggle on a cold night?
Look no further! Erin and Josh Ryan will be on hand selling their “cuddle with a serial killer” pillowcases (featured in Regretsy: The World’s Oddest, Most Ridiculous, and Most Disturbing Crafts) as well as some spooky photography, hair grease, and vintage-style Halloween die cuts.
“Halloween seems to be the only time I can get away with my morbid hobbies without freaking everyone out too much,” Erin said.
In search of the perfect teapot from which to poison someone with both irony and whimsy?
Unraveled Crafter offers skull and crossbones-ladened pots. Imbibers be warned.
Want to mount an animal head to your wall without your vegan friends ostracizing you?
Give Crochet Til Death a shot. It’s all of the glory with none of the gore.
Need more characters in your zombie sock puppet theater?
Moonlighting and Friends can give you a hand with that.
Pursuing some last minute costume inspiration or steampunk accessories?
Clockwork Hearts (during evening hours) and Divine Iguana have you covered.
Want shine that’ll make even the deadest lips shimmer with life?
Best of Cleveland Winner Yates Apothecary will be selling custom Halloween lip balms.
“I think the combination of being able to walk around the museum and then walk to the Adelbert Gymnasium will add an element of adventure and discovery, which just adds to the seasonal charm of the event,” McElhatten said.
Artisans will be on-hand decorating pumpkins as a spooky soundtrack encourages people to lose all inhibitions. Shoppers are encouraged to disguise their true identities with costumes as their children trick-or-treat at the artists’ tables. There will also be local apple cider, popcorn and bakery available as well as door prizes.
Waterloo Alley Cat Project, a non-profit, grassroots volunteer project that protects stray cats in the Waterloo Road Business District, will also have a table at the event promoting their organization and warning people of the real life horrors black cats often face during the Halloween season.
The Bazaar will be held at CWRU’s Armory (Adelbert Gym), 2128 Adelbert Rd, from noon until 8 pm. The scavenger hunt will be at the Dittrick Museum of Medical History on 3rd floor of the Allen Memorial Medical Library at the corner of Adelbert and Euclid Ave. from noon until 5 pm. Both events (and the museum) are free.
Hollie Gibbs has a BS in journalism from Kent State University and studied photography at School of the Visual Arts in Manhattan. Her articles and photographs have appeared in numerous local and national publications. She can also be found playing guitar with various bands and building life-size monster props.
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106