Inside America's spookiest homes: Haunting images show properties packed with baby skeletons, 'pickled' brains and electric chairs

'This house has good bones.'

Never has this been more true than in the homes of the families featured in Paul Gambino's astonishing new book, The Art of Gothic Living.

His sumptuous photographs reveal some spooky decor choices that would be more at home in a horror film, from vintage Ouija boards to cabinets full of skulls, Victorian taxidermy, and even an antique electric chair.

These houses belong to a growing community of people he terms 'Modern Gothics,' whose fashion - and decoration - choices push the limits of style and redefine what is considered beautiful.

Not everyone will agree. 

A very rare Victorian fetus skeleton in the Connecticut home of Regina and Ryan Cohn

Paul Gambino's new book, titled The Art of Gothic Living, features sumptuous photographs that reveal some spooky decor choices that would be more at home in a horror film

'So, who and what is Modern Gothic?' he writes.

'The mindset of a "Goth" has existed for generations. Images of the original Bauhaus art students in Germany circa 1927 could be easily mistaken for a photo taken on London's King's Road in 1981.

'For the next two decades, the music produced from this scene echoed the sobering thought that life is fragile, that sadness always wins over happiness, and that being in physical and mental anguish is an inescapable factor of life - and yet despite this grim outlook, life is worth living because your favorite band is playing this weekend.'

Modern Gothic decor, then, is the physical manifestation of this mindset, he explains. And it can include anything from dark velvet drapes to vintage religious iconography as well as human or animal bones and taxidermy to antique medical devices.

James Freeman and Kate Fugate in Southern Georgia

'We wanted to focus on one-of-a-kind pieces with historical relevance,' says James Freeman, of he and his partner, Kate Fugate's, slightly unconventional decor choices.

Their most recent acquisition, for instance, is a massive, 12-feet-tall sideshow banner that covers their entire living-room ceiling. Originally from the World of Wonders 'freak show' tour, whose roots date back to the 1940s, the centerpiece pictures a two-headed baby.

The living room of James Freeman and Kate Fugate's Georgia home is dominated by a banner from an old sideshow, featuring a two-headed baby

'The banner was used for a conjoined twin wet specimen exhibit,' explains James. 'Unfortunately someone took offense at the display of the babies, and the exhibitors were arrested and forced to give the specimen a "Christian" burial.'

Another highlight is their 'Seance Room,' complete with stuffed animal heads, an original 'spirit trumpet' to amplify the voices of the dead, and a very rare 'automatic writing planchette' from the 1890s, used to communicate with spirits.

However, James insists that, while he collects anything and everything to do with contacting the undead, as an atheist, he doesn't believe in ghosts.

Kate, on the other hand, is less sure. 'I would love to have a cozy little ghost to share our home with,' she says.

Richard Marini in Rockland County, New York

A vast collection of human skulls and pristine skeletons dominate the tiny apartment that was once a garage and woodworking space for a local artist and is now the rental home of Richard Marini.

One of Richard's favorite pieces is the skull of a five-year-old child 'with exposed dentition revealing the adult teeth that have yet to erupt,' he says enthusiastically.

A barrister bookcase contains 25 skulls, plus wet specimens in jars - including a brain with full spinal cord, an eyeball, and a dissected brain

Other particularly grim items include vintage photographs of medical students admiring their dissected cadavers, and multiple 'wet' specimens, including his all-time favorite: a full head that came from a retired doctor's collection.

'The fetus cat that is dissected to show organs and the cat head that is also dissected rank up there as well.'

Richard's day job is miles away from his macabre collection - he works as a purchasing manager for a local heating and AC company. But his colleagues are amused than creeped out.

'Whenever there is a box on my desk, it's not uncommon for one of my fellow employees to comment, "Hey, is there a skull in there?"' 

Regina and Ryan Cohn in Connecticut

A one-time power couple in New York's 'oddities community,' Regina and Ryan Cohn have curated their vast collection over the course of decades, and it features some extremely rare, highly sought after pieces.

That includes a life-size 18th-century Santos Crucifix from Spain, which comes complete with glass eyes and an exposed ribcage created from human ribs, and hangs in their stairway.

They also have a rare Victorian fetus skeleton that was once on display in a medical college.

Friends who have stayed in the guest room are convinced they've heard bumps in the night and believe the house is haunted, but Ryan is unperturbed.

'We don't know,' he says. 'Regina and I feel very comfortable in this home. We feel safe here.

'I've heard some weird s**t, but it's an old house, and old houses make weird sounds. But, hell, if it were haunted, I wouldn't move. I would charge admission to visit us.'

A life-size 18th-century crucifix from Spain includes glass eyes and an exposed ribcage created from human ribs

'Rosie' lies peacefully in a coffin by one of the church's stained-glass windows. Bridgett believes she materialized soon after her arrival

Bridgett Johnson and Dave Moscato in Western Ohio

Appropriately, for a couple devoted to Gothic decor, Bridgett Johnson and Dave Moscato live in a converted 1880s church, complete with its own cemetery across the street.

Bridgett loves to chat with the residents buried there: 'If they are restless and feel like talking, they'll answer back,' she says.

And her aesthetic choices reflect that same fascination with the dead - in the shape of a vast collection of other people's dearly departed relatives.

'They say, "I don't have a place for Great Uncle John or my spinster Aunt Grace, but I know you'll hang them on your wall." And I do,' she says.

But the centerpiece of the couple's home is the ancient skeleton of a woman they call 'Rosie,' who lies peacefully in a coffin by one of the church's stained-glass windows and who, Bridgett believes, materialized soon after her arrival at the church.

The couple had been gone for two weeks, and on their return, she walked in 'only to find the piano playing by itself.

'I bolted from the home, and it took me hours to muster up the courage to walk back into the house,' she says.

Andrew Delaney in Victoria, Australia

An antique electric chair stands proudly in the hallway of Andrew Delaney's home. A onetime storehouse/tattoo parlor/gamers' space, very little has been changed - from the original 1960s vinyl flooring to the exposed ceiling infrastructure.

'The exposed brick really adds to the warmth and character,' says Andrew. 'I painted the two end walls, the windowsills, and some of the ceiling pipes black. That's pretty much it.'

However, what sets his home apart is the collection of gruesome finds that appeal to his fondness for 'societal pieces devoted to mourning and death,' picked up in thrift stores, furniture outlets, and oddities shops.

An antique electric chair is part of Andrew's collection of 'brutal-looking medical items'

'I am… fascinated with human anatomy-related items. However, I like brutal-looking vintage medical items more than genuine human body parts… If the piece has an interesting history or can unnerve someone, it may find its way into my home.

'Although, he adds, "if I were to live in a place that was haunted, it would depend on what kind of stuff was happening. I would be OK if the milk was going bad before its expiration date or things were moving around the home. But if it were being groped while sleeping or watching my face peel off in the bathroom mirror, that would be a different story."'

Images reprinted with permission from Art of Gothic Living: Dark Decor for the Modern Macabre © 2024 Paul Gambino, published by Union Square & Co