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No, this isn't an "Addams Family" yard sale. These are but a few of the artifacts on display at Los Angeles' new Museum of Death, located on Hollywood Boulevard, within walking distance of such Tinseltown landmarks as the Capitol Records Tower and Musso & Frank Grill.

Formerly ensconced in an old mortuary in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter, the museum lost its lease in October and was forced to relocate. As proprietors Cathee Shultz and J.D. Healy were already planning to open a Los Angeles branch of their popular San Diego attraction, they decided to move their entire collection of death-related memorabilia to L.A. The museum opened to the public on Jan. 1, and a grand opening celebration is planned for Feb. 14 in honor of Chicago's St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

"L.A. is the No. 1 place to be in the entertainment world," explained Healy, 38, a thin, affable fellow in a blue Dodgers cap. "For us, it's great. If we did well in a conservative city like San Diego, imagine what we can do in a city that'll embrace us."

"People in L.A. are much more cultured than in San Diego," continued Healy, while hurriedly putting the finishing touches on various macabre exhibits. "San Diego's a military town, and this is Hollywood. People in L.A. are open-minded. That's why we're here."

The museum's holdings are immense and eclectic, including such impressive items as a scarlet and red Laotian bier, a working guillotine and a bloodstained T-shirt worn by a murderer while being executed in the electric chair. The collection grew out of an annual art gallery show, consisting of serial-killer art and letters, organized by Healy and wife Shultz.

"One of our hobbies was to write to serial murderers and collect their art works," said Shultz, 37, an ebullient redhead who looks like she could be pitching laundry detergent on daytime TV. "When we put it up in our gallery, it was a huge success. Since our space was the site of an old mortuary, we decided to go ahead and open a museum of death."

In four years of operation, Healy and Shultz turned their museum into one of the most popular tourist attractions in San Diego. On a good day, as many as 200 visitors passed through its doors. But when the owner of their building decided to sell, he gave Healy and Shultz notice -- the museum wasn't seen as an attractive tenant to prospective buyers. So the pair loaded up their truck and headed north to L.A., where just about anything freaky looks right at home.

With 16 rooms in an area twice the size of the original, the museum has plenty of space for large installations. One room is dedicated to the Jonestown massacre, complete with an inspirational -- and rat-chewed -- card that once belonged to the Rev. Jim Jones. To the left of this stands an eerie Heaven's Gate diorama, showing two dummies dressed in the requisite black Nikes with purple shrouds, lying on an authentic, white bunk bed purchased at an auction of Heaven's Gate members' effects.

Across from Heaven's Gate is perhaps the most chilling display: Serial-killer art from the likes of Richard Ramirez and John Wayne Gacy, as well as from lesser-known mass murderers such as Lawrence Bittaker and Doug Gretzler.

From Ramirez, there's a black-and-white drawing of a refrigerator with dismembered limbs and a fattened, smiling rat, as well as one of a horned beast with a mouth full of sharklike teeth. He signs both, "Richard Ramirez, The Night Stalker." From Gacy, there's the ghoulish red-and-white painting of Pogo, in addition to a painting of a gray skull with a red clown's hat and a blue, ruffled neckpiece.

Next page | "Becoming a successful mass murderer"