Haunted Jaunts--"Bodies: The Exhibition"

Today's post delivers the first installment of Haunted Jaunts, my personal reports on Things to Do and Places to See in Gothic America.  The inaugural jaunt: a trip to South Street Seaport in New York City to see Bodies: The Exhibition.

Bodies, basically,  is a museum of human beings--a cross between Madam Tussaud's and the gross anatomy lab.  The collection of plastinated corpses and extracted organs is presented as an educational experience (the exhibition is extremely informative), but let's be honest here: the reason the attraction has proven so successful is that it appeals to people's morbid curiosity.  The opportunity to stare death in the face--but from a safe distance--is what draws us to gawk at these flayed figures that look like refugees from a Hellraiser movie.  Many of the glass-cased specimens--the gigantically-swollen thumb, the unfurled intestines, the smoker's lungs and the cirrhotic liver--give the exhibition a sideshow vibe, and the bottled fetuses prove eerily reminiscent of that carnival mainstay, the pickled punk.  And even I have to admit, there's something  ghoulish about having the opportunity to pose for a gift-shop photo with one of the preserved cadavers (incidentally, it's hard not to suspect a mordant sense of humor behind the above advertisement for the exhibition--where the proclamation "Now Open" is placed right alongside a dissected figure whose viscera are conspicuously visible).

This exhibition will not be to everyone's tastes (some might protest that such naked display strips the deceased of not just their skin but also their dignity).  Still, for those of the right age (I wouldn't bring young children) and temperament, Bodies will be an unforgettable experience: you'll realize what an incredibly intricate machine the human body is, and marvel that it does not break down more often.  I recommend checking out the exhibition at one of its nearly dozen locations nationwide if you ever have the chance.  A few words of advice, though: when purchasing your ticket, you'll be given the chance to pay extra for the audio-guided tour, but the exhibition is well mapped out and can be navigated just fine without the listening device.  I'd also suggest attending at an off-peak time (not on a holiday weekend, like I did), so you won't be elbowing other patrons to view the exhibits and read the placards.  Lastly, be forewarned that you are NOT allowed to photograph, let alone touch, the Bodies.  There are lab-coated guards standing by, and these grim Igors look like they'd have no qualms about incorporating you into the next exhibit if you violated the rules.  So be sure to resist your impish impulses, lest no one be able to find hide or hair of you.