A zombie blowfish, a hideous mermaid and a lucky charm made out of a dead man’s finger are all competing to be crowned the creepiest exhibits in the world after an archaeological museum in the north of England challenged curators during the lockdown to showcase their most sinister objects.

Since its closure due to Covid-19 restrictions, the Yorkshire Museum in York has launched a weekly #curatorbattle on social media to challenge museums and visitors to put forward objects related to a particular theme.

On Friday, the museum kicked off last week’s informal competition with a picture of a hair bun from the burial of a Roman woman in the third or fourth century, with the hair clips still in place. It has been engaged with online more than 220,000 times, with museums from Germany, France, Canada and the USA responding.

MUSEUMS ASSEMBLE! It's time for #CURATORBATTLE! 💥



Today's theme, chosen by you, is #CreepiestObject!



We're kicking things off with this 3rd/4th century hair bun from the burial of a #Roman lady, still with the jet pins in place...



CAN YOU BEAT IT? 💥 pic.twitter.com/ntPiXDuM6v — Yorkshire Museum (@YorkshireMuseum) April 17, 2020

The National Museums of Scotland responded with a Germolene-pink “mermaid” with oogly eyes and rotting teeth.

News of the battle soon crossed the Atlantic, with the museums on Prince Edward Island, Canada, submitting their entry: a cursed children’s toy they claimed to have found hidden inside the walls of a 155-year-old mansion: “We call it ‘Wheelie’ - and it MOVES ON ITS OWN: Staff put it in one place and find it in another spot later on …”

Bringin’ our A-game for this #CURATORBATTLE! What is it? Just a CURSED CHILDREN’S TOY that we found inside the walls of a 155-year-old mansion. We call it “Wheelie” - and it MOVES ON ITS OWN: Staff put it in one place and find it in another spot later on…. #Creepiestobject pic.twitter.com/FQzMzacr8a — PEI Museum (@PEIMuseum) April 17, 2020

In Germany, the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German History Museum) played a strong card with a terrifying beaked plague mask from between 1650 and 1750.

Thanks for thinking of us @HottyCouture and wow, will we be having nightmares tonight with all these #CreepiestObject|s ! Here is the one we just can't hide from you, one of our many creepy gems – our Plague Mask (1650/1750)! #curatorbattle pic.twitter.com/JrMjqAJSIM — Deutsches Historisches Museum (@DHMBerlin) April 17, 2020

Oxford’s Ashmolean thought it could do better, submitting a carved pendant with a dead man’s face on one side and a decaying skull with worms and other creatures on the reverse from southern Germany.

In a lot of ways, we wish we could un-see this entire thread. And we most definitely cannot beat the hair bun. But we'll just leave this here... pic.twitter.com/rVSPVETSSP — Ashmolean Museum (@AshmoleanMuseum) April 17, 2020

Also in Oxford, the Pitt Rivers museum offered a “sheep’s heart stuck with pins and nails, to be worn like a necklace for breaking evil spells”.

Sheep's heart stuck with pins and nails and strung on a loop of cord. Made in South Devon, circa 1911, "for breaking evil spells", @Pitt_Rivers collections #CreepiestObject #CuratorBattle pic.twitter.com/z5vdCFCU4S — Dan Hicks (@profdanhicks) April 17, 2020

Back in York, the city’s Castle Museum was feeling confident: “STEP ASIDE ALL. These are hand-made models of figures playing cards and of gold miners hauling gold nuggets to the surface. BUT the figures are made from crab’s legs and claws … Typical Victorians – they loved weird/creepy stuff. #CreepiestObject”

STEP ASIDE ALL.



These are hand-made models of figures playing cards and of gold miners hauling gold nuggets to the surface. BUT the figures are made from crab’s legs and claws… Typical Victorians, they loved weird/creepy stuff. #CreepiestObject pic.twitter.com/A5NHiPGnVh — York Castle Museum (@YorkCastle) April 17, 2020

The Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds felt it could outdo its Yorkshire cousin, entering a gruesome iron mask it believes is part of a “scold’s bridle” – an iron muzzle designed for public humiliation.

Turn the creep up to 💯 and check out this iron mask that was exhibited in the @TowerOfLondon as an Executioner's Mask. However, due to its grotesque appearance, we think it's more likely part of an elaborate scold’s bridle - an iron muzzle designed for public humiliation 😱 pic.twitter.com/1nG4mMZRex — Royal Armouries (@Royal_Armouries) April 17, 2020

On the Yorkshire coast, the team looking after the Clarke charm collection in Scarborough offered a human finger bone used by a gambler to bring good luck and a dead man’s tooth used to hang around a baby’s neck “to prevent convulsions brought on by teething”.

There's some freaky stuff in the Clarke Charms Collection. Here's a human finger bone used by a gambler to bring good luck... #CURATORBATTLE#CreepiestObject pic.twitter.com/jQvHwZCTh8 — SMT Collections Team (@SMT_Collections) April 17, 2020

Then the Bexhill Museum in East Sussex got in on the act with this bloated “zombie blowfish”:

I give you the Zombie Blowfish, scourge of the High Seas & Terror of Bexhill Museum's stores. If it doesn't get you the army of zombies I am creating with its tetrodotoxin will. #CURATORBATTLE #TroublingTaxidermy pic.twitter.com/Z1A5PEX7A8 — Annie Brassey (@AnnieBrassey) April 17, 2020

In Scotland, the head of applied conservation at Historic Environment Scotland proffered this grotesque piece of whimsy: a man’s distorted face painted on a whale’s eardrum.

This is one of my favourite objects from @HistEnvScot Collections - a painted whale eardrum. Fascinating and highly disturbing! #CreepiestObject #Curatorbattle



More info 👇https://t.co/SIyqgmP2IG pic.twitter.com/HWCkyP3Qex — Clara Molina Sanchez (@CMolinaSanchez) April 17, 2020

Millicent Carroll at York Museums Trust said: “The curator battle has been gradually building as more and more museums and the general public look at our Twitter feed every Friday to see what theme we’re going to pitch. Last week’s best egg contest had replies from the Hermitage in Russia and the American Museum of National History, but the creepiest object has taken it to another level.

“It is great for us and other museums to be able to still share our collections with the public when our doors are closed. We just hope we haven’t given anyone any nightmares!”