Filmmaker Eli Roth and paranormal investigator and “Ghost Adventures” host Zak Bagans have teamed up once more for a new season of “The Haunted Museum.” The series debuted during the 2021 Halloween season and brings to life the terrifying tales of the world’s most haunted artifacts, inspired by the eerie artifacts on display in Zak Bagans’ Haunted Museum in Las Vegas. Executive producers Eli Roth and Zak Bagans hand-selected writers and directors to create cinematic stories about the cursed pieces from Bagans’ creepy collection, with introductions from Bagans about each artifact and how it came to be in his possession.
Among the possessed pieces this season are: a cauldron found in serial killer Ed Gein’s home, evil puppets said to possess a person’s soul, and one of the most terrifying pieces, an ancient, mummified head. The premiere episode, airing on Thursday, October 26 at 10/9c on Travel Channel, is centered around the famed Bunny Ranch Brothel where Dennis Hof, the deceased owner of the well-known legal bordello, died on the bed that is said to have a sordid and evil history. In “The Cursed Brothel Bed,” in desperate need of money to pay for her son’s medical treatment, a single mother becomes a sex worker at a legal brothel out of state. When a malevolent force attached to her assigned room begins stalking her, she must unravel the mystery before she becomes the entity’s next victim.
Other supernatural stories in Season 2 of “The Haunted Museum” include:
“The Devil’s Cauldron”
Premieres Thursday, November 2 at 10/9c
In this surreal take on the Ed Gein story, a nurse named Jessie inadvertently comes into contact with a cauldron once used by the infamous grave robber and murderer to render the flesh of his victims. When she becomes infected by the evil attached to the cauldron, she begins having terrifying visions and supernatural encounters with a horrifying stranger. As her condition worsens, Jessie descends into a nightmare traversing time and space.
Inspired Object From Zak’s Museum: After purchasing Ed Gein’s cauldron at a Gein estate sale in 1958, Evelyn Mair’s family had many negative experiences with the cursed item, forcing them to get rid of it.
“Satanic Six String”
Premieres Thursday, November 9 at 10/9c
A troubled teenager stumbles across an old guitar while exploring an abandoned farmhouse. When he plays it, he begins having nightmarish visions of a serial killer who is dead set on continuing his murderous rampage from beyond the grave.
Inspired Object From Zak’s Museum: This guitar was said to be owned by a 13-year-old boy found lying dead on his bed with the guitar draped across him. The seller’s online listing mentions black magic, devil worship, and more.
“The Evil Puppet Twins”
Premieres Thursday, November 16 at 10/9c
After his ailing grandfather dies, teenager Arthur discovers two vintage puppets in his attic. Once released, the puppets begin to haunt the house with evil intent, looking for a new victim to control.
Inspired Object From Zak’s Museum: A pair of 1800s wooden marionettes with glass eyes that had to be removed from the Carmel Doll Shop in Pacific Grove, California, after a doll collector experienced a series of disturbing events.
“The Stone Face”
Premieres Thursday, November 30 at 10/9c
While working at a wealthy art collector’s mansion, a young man finds an ancient stone carving with supernatural powers that suck him into a hellish, hallucinatory nightmare.
Inspired Object From Zak’s Museum: A famous Iron Age carving haunted item Zak bought from the Metamora Museum with suspicions of having an ancient Celtic curse attached.
“Halloween Ritual Coffin”
Premieres Thursday, December 7 at 10/9c
A teenager steals a prop coffin on Halloween night, unaware that it’s cursed with an ancient evil that latches onto him each Halloween after that. Three decades later, Richard has grown into a tormented serial killer who realizes his last option to break the curse involves recruiting help from the coffin’s previous owner.
Inspired Object Fom Zak’s Museum: According to Zak, “This miniature coffin is filled with a human skull, human hair, rattlesnake rattles, etc. I found it in Virginia City, Nevada, at a woman’s old storage unit. She told me a family owned it and said it was cursed and to never open it.”
“The Witch’s Head”
Premieres Thursday, December 14 at 10/9c
William, a wealthy collector of antique oddities, acquires an ancient, mummified head for his personal collection. When he inexplicably slips into an unresponsive state, his family soon discovers that they are being haunted by a malicious entity and are left to fend for themselves against an unimaginable evil.
Inspired Object From Zak’s Museum: One of the most visually terrifying items in Zak’s collection, he alleges it belonged to a Swedish man who was killed for witchcraft in Scotland.
“The Secret Society Skeleton”
Premieres Thursday, December 21 at 10/9c
A journalist named Georgia discovers an old 16mm movie buried in the yard of the Gothic mansion she has just moved into. Intrigued, she screens the film, only to be shocked by disturbing images of a secret society’s blood rituals. She becomes obsessed with unraveling the mystery and the skeleton they use in their rituals, but when she discovers a secret too frightening to ignore, obsession turns to madness as she becomes possessed by the dark forces surrounding her.
Inspired Object From Zak’s Museum: Inspired by two skeletons that belonged to an Odd Fellows fraternal society, likely part of initiation rituals that brought recruits face-to-face with their own mortality.
An enthusiast for all things haunted, Zak Bagans has amassed a collection of thousands of curiosities from all over the world, exhibited across a sprawling 30-room, 14,000-square-foot mansion museum. These cursed objects take the spotlight in “The Haunted Museum,” as Zak Bagans and Eli Roth join forces to tell these scripted stories in a frightening format. Roth, the modern master of horror and creative force behind such films as “Cabin Fever” and “Hostel,” along with his accredited team of writers, present the frightful tales behind Bagans’ most feared items through innovative and evocative horror shorts.
