Chills tickled my spine, and butterflies backflipped in my stomach as my dad and I inched closer to the Houston Museum of Natural Science’s entrance. A part of me felt unsettled as I handed over my ticket. I had no idea what was waiting for me past the Death By Natural Causes exhibit, but I still chose to put my life in the hands of the museum. Fingers crossed, I prayed that my father and I wouldn’t become the new additions to the deathly display.
Even though the exhibit opened on June 28, 2024, HMNS did an incredible job making the exhibit’s entrance appear straight out of the Victorian era. Black and white portraits of the deceased describing their unlikely deaths waited to greet me. Bandō Mitsugorō VIII’s eyes pierced into my soul as I read how he was poisoned by eating a puffer fish’s toxic liver.
Despite focusing on the dead, the exhibit brought my curiosity to life with all its interactive displays, my favorite being “The Art of Death.” This section explained how artists from the past, such as Vincent Van Gogh, would unknowingly grind and inhale toxic substances to create their paint pigments. Exposure to the dangerous materials led to “painter’s colic,” a disease resulting in nerve damage, depression, and hallucinations. Without reading the context of the display beforehand, my dad and I were delighted to see an iPad that let us color in Van Goh’s iconic flower painting. To our surprise, after we completed the picture, the iPad listed the toxins in each color we chose. Exposure to the beautiful cerulean blue we picked for the background would lead to heart damage and cancer, while the cadmium yellow that filled the flowers resulted in diarrhea and nausea. The red in my cheeks vanished after learning about this awful way to die completely disguised by beauty.
Another highlight of the museum was the section dedicated to animals. A piece of my heart broke after learning that 17,400 deaths are caused by dogs every year, as they are responsible for 99 percent of rabies infections. Snakes cause 60,000 deaths per year, and if this statistic wasn’t enough to make my skin crawl, two rattlesnakes waited in the next room, slithering around their enclosures. Live frogs, spiders, and even the venomous and rare Gila Monster, one of the two only venomous lizards in North America, were showcased in the exhibit and attracted the eyes of the brave. Thanks to all of the fascinating visuals, my excitement for the animal section was almost powerful enough to bring the dead back to life.
To anyone who isn’t against gory sights and statistics, the Death by Natural Causes exhibit calls your name. The display brought me the thrills and chills I craved, making me even more excited for this spooky October season. I was reminded that life is short and sacred. You should appreciate the days you have left to live because you never know when the Grim Reaper will knock on your door.
