About Witch’s Dungeon Classic Movie Museum
Inside a modest Plainville building, Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and other screen legends wait in carefully staged darkness. The Witch’s Dungeon Classic Movie Museum is a handmade tribute to the actors, makeup artists, and practical effects that defined classic horror cinema.
Founder Cortlandt Hull began the attraction in 1966 when he was still a teenager. With help from his family, he built figures from wax, wire mesh, papier-mache, and other materials. The early museum occupied a small Swiss chalet-style building in Bristol before the collection moved to a larger Plainville home.
The figures are not generic Halloween decorations. Many are based on life casts or detailed measurements of the performers, with costumes, props, lighting, and scenery designed to reproduce specific films. Hull’s family connections to actors Henry Hull and Josephine Hull helped deepen his fascination with old Hollywood.
Over the decades, performers and filmmakers contributed recordings, advice, artifacts, and support. The museum now combines life-size monster displays with vintage toys, movie memorabilia, and screenings, preserving a branch of film history that can otherwise disappear into private collections.
Visitor info: Opening dates and hours are limited and often seasonal or event-based. Buy or reserve tickets through the official site and confirm the schedule before traveling. The entrance is near East Main and Pine streets.