Entry No. 10 — the Santa Barbara file — filed under: oddities
Bizarre Antiques & Oddities
Owner Erin Binger — who taught herself taxidermy by preserving her kid's dead guinea pig in a jar — fills the shop with an 80-year-old, 150-pound moose head named Bruce (for sale), dolls salvaged from a burned building and labeled "possibly haunted," Victorian mourning jewelry woven from human hair, and an original John Wayne Gacy prison painting of Charles Manson. A clown figure greets you at the door.
The story
You don't usually start a taxidermy career with a household pet's funeral, but Erin Binger did. When her child's pet guinea pig died, she skipped the backyard burial, taught herself fluid preservation, and put the rodent in a jar. That initial experiment eventually overflowed her home and landed at 1255 Monterey Street, morphing into a storefront for everything preserved, salvaged, and deeply unsettling.
Step past the clown figure waiting at the front doorway and you're surrounded by the relics of dead eras and darker instincts. Dominating the wall space is Bruce, an 80-year-old, 150-pound taxidermied moose head that is fully priced out for purchase—assuming you have the vehicle capacity and wall anchors to handle him. Nearby sits an original prison painting of Charles Manson executed by John Wayne Gacy, alongside intricate Victorian mourning jewelry painstakingly hand-woven from human hair.
If serial killer artifacts and hairwork don't rattle you, check the doll shelf. Binger stocks antique dolls pulled directly from the debris of a burned-down building, each tagged with a deadpan warning: "possibly haunted." You didn't hear it from us, but standing in a room balancing Gacy's brushwork against char-singed antique dolls makes the rest of downtown San Luis Obispo feel suspiciously normal.
What it's like
Look for Suite A on Monterey Street, marked by a life-sized clown stationed right at the entrance. Inside, the shop is narrow and dense, so move deliberately around the glass cases and mounted specimens. You'll spend most of your time reading handwritten tag descriptions on haunted dolls or squinting at preserved specimens, so don't rush through. Independent oddities storefronts run on their own clock—confirm their hours before heading over, then plan to grab a coffee down the block after you finish looking over the hair jewelry.
The move: Spend an afternoon daring each other to touch the haunted-doll shelf, pricing out Bruce the Moose, and comparing notes on the Gacy painting — then grab a coffee on Monterey Street after.
- 📍 Downtown San Luis Obispo
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 1255 Monterey St, Ste A, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille — Dunes Center — Drive 22 miles south to Guadalupe to swap Binger's storefront curiosities for giant Egyptian movie props buried in the coastal sand dunes.
- La Purisima Mission — Continue south to Lompoc to trade Victorian hair jewelry for a walk through an unroped, fully reconstructed 19th-century mission complex.
- OstrichLand USA — If Bruce the taxidermied moose leaves you wanting live animal encounters, head south to hand-feed a flock of 80 ostriches at arm's length.
Good to know
How did the owner get started in taxidermy?
Owner Erin Binger taught herself preservation techniques by fluid-preserving her child's deceased guinea pig in a jar before opening the store.
Is Bruce the moose head actually for sale?
Yes. Bruce is an 80-year-old, 150-pound taxidermied moose head mounted on the wall, and he carries a price tag if you're prepared to haul him away.
What kind of oddities are in the collection?
Inventory ranges from Victorian human hair mourning jewelry and burned-building salvage dolls labeled "possibly haunted" to an original John Wayne Gacy prison painting of Charles Manson.
Where is the shop located?
It is located at 1255 Monterey Street, Suite A, in downtown San Luis Obispo, California.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: newtimesslo.com · sanluisobispo.com · Facebook · Yelp
last checked: 2026-07-20