Entry No. 3 — the Austin file — filed under: oddities
Museum of the Weird
Housed inside Lucky Lizard Curios and Gifts, three floors hold shrunken heads, a Fiji mermaid, a taxidermied two-headed calf, wax monster figures, and human remains alongside movie-prop oddities — an old-school American sideshow archive with a live performance stage built into the collection.
The story
Steve and Veronica Busti didn't originally set out to run a three-story temple to the bizarre. They opened Lucky Lizard Curios and Gifts on Sixth Street to sell oddities, but visitors kept filing in to gawk at feejee mermaids, shrunken heads, and terrarium lizards without buying a single thing. Busti realized people would pay just for the privilege of looking, resurrecting P.T. Barnum’s 19th-century dime museum model right on Austin’s main nightlife strip.
Behind the shop counter and past a turnstile, the collection spirals across three floors connected by narrow hallways and a cobblestone-lined stairwell. Room after room houses pickled two-headed calves, Sasquatch footprint casts, movie props like Gremlins puppets, human remains, and an upstairs wax monster gallery featuring early film icons like Frankenstein and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Deep inside lies an exhibit dedicated to the Minnesota Iceman—a famous frozen hominid display popularized in mid-century monster lore.
The tour winds through an upstairs apartment space once rented by Johnny Depp during film shoots and opens into a live performance stage built right into the collection. Here, rotating sideshow performers keep classic carny acts alive, swallowing swords, handling live wires, and eating fire a few feet from the audience. You didn't hear it from us, but the line between genuine historical artifact and classic sideshow gaff is intentionally blurred—just as Barnum intended.
What it's like
You'll enter through the Lucky Lizard gift shop on Sixth Street, buy your ticket at the counter, and pass through a turnstile into a dim, labyrinthine interior. It is campy, intentionally eerie, and slightly claustrophobic, with tight corridors that get warm on humid Austin afternoons. Don't come expecting a sterile academic institution; embrace the dime-museum theatricality and take time to read the hand-written display tags. Go on a weekday or early afternoon to avoid crowds, take in the wax figures at your own pace, and guarantee a good spot near the live sideshow stage when performances are running.
The move: Book timed tickets, work through all three floors of curiosities together comparing notes on the strangest specimen, then catch the live sideshow act (sword swallowing, fire, escape stunts) if one's running that day, and finish in the attached curio shop.
- 📍 Downtown / 6th Street
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 412 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701
Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Firehouse Lounge — Just two blocks west on Sixth Street, slip behind the hostel bookshelf bar for a drink after navigating the sideshow stage.
- City Alchemist — Head east past I-35 on East 6th to transition from sideshow gaffs to an active occult shop stocked for genuine folk magic.
- La Botanica Green & White — Trade Sixth Street's carny theatricality for East Austin's oldest operating botanica and traditional spiritual supplies.
- Martinez Brothers Taxidermists — If the museum's two-headed calf sparks your interest in preservation, visit this family-run taxidermy shop operating on South Lamar since 1962.
Good to know
Where is the Museum of the Weird located?
It is located at 412 East 6th Street in downtown Austin, housed inside the back of the Lucky Lizard Curios and Gifts shop.
What kinds of exhibits are on display?
Across three floors you'll find shrunken heads, a Fiji mermaid, taxidermied two-headed animals, human remains, movie props, wax monster figures, and a Minnesota Iceman display.
Is there a live show included with admission?
Yes, the museum features an upstairs live performance stage built into the tour route, hosting sideshow acts like sword swallowing, fire eating, and escape stunts when running.
How should I plan my visit?
Book timed tickets ahead or buy them at the gift shop counter, set aside 45 to 60 minutes to walk through all three floors, catch a live performance if available, and finish in the curio shop.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · austincityguide.com · Atlas Obscura · Reddit
last checked: 2026-07-20