06/09/2026
As the founder and curator of Spooky Hollow Haunted History Museum, I source artefacts and historically significant items through a number of established channels, including private collectors, specialist memorabilia dealers, estate collections, recognised auction houses, former institutional collections, and individuals who have held pieces in their families or private collections for many years. Some items come to me through long-standing contacts within the collecting community, while others are acquired through specialist auctions or dealers who focus specifically on historical, crime-related, institutional, medical, military, celebrity, or unusual memorabilia.
Wherever possible, I look for provenance, supporting documentation, photographs, evidence tags, auction records, letters of authenticity, ownership history, or other information that helps establish where an item has come from and how it entered the collectors' market. My purpose in acquiring these pieces is not to sensationalise the people or events connected with them, but to preserve the physical history attached to them and present that history within the museum in a respectful, informative and historically grounded way.
Take true crime for instance.
In the United States, police departments can sometimes sell property that was once held as evidence, but only after it has been formally released from its evidentiary status. Once a criminal case, appeal period, and any related legal proceedings are finished, the department may no longer have a legal reason to keep every physical item connected with the investigation. What happens next depends heavily on the state, county, police department, court orders, and the type of property involved.
Usually, evidence is dealt with in one of several ways. Property belonging to a victim or innocent owner is normally returned where possible. Illegal drugs, prohibited weapons, biological material, and certain sensitive items are usually destroyed. Some items may be retained permanently because of homicide appeals, DNA testing requirements, unresolved cases, or historical significance. Property that cannot be returned, has been abandoned, was seized under forfeiture laws, or has remained unclaimed for the required period can sometimes be transferred to another government agency, destroyed, donated, or sold at a public auction.
This is why objects occasionally appear on the American collectors' market with police evidence tags, property-room labels, case numbers, or auction paperwork still attached. Once the department has legally disposed of the item, it can enter private ownership just like other surplus or unclaimed government property. Sometimes the person buying it at auction later resells it to collectors, museums, true-crime dealers, or specialist memorabilia businesses.
One of the most important parts of building the collection at Spooky Hollow has been the relationships I have developed with collectors, dealers, historians and people within specialised memorabilia circles over many years. Trust is not something that happens overnight, and I have always believed in treating the people I deal with, and the history attached to the objects themselves, with respect.
Those relationships often mean I am offered pieces privately before they ever reach the open market, including artefacts that have remained in private collections for decades. It is through these connections, along with years of collecting, researching and building trust, that Spooky Hollow has been able to acquire some truly one-of-a-kind, unusual and incredibly special artefacts and memorabilia.
Many of these pieces simply cannot be found by walking into an antique shop or searching online. They have found their way to the museum because of the relationships I have built and the confidence people have in knowing that their history will be preserved, respected and shared with those who visit Spooky Hollow.
I hope this answers all the questions people have in regards to the Spooky Hollow Haunted History Museum.
