Dead Pals of Sam Sanfillippo

So glad I made it down to the museum each time I returned to Madison.
Super bummed to see it closed and all of the taxidermy spread across the country.

Morbid curiosity at its finest!
In the basement of this unsuspecting funeral home lies one of America’s greatest treasures: an extensive taxidermy exhibit curated by funeral director Sam Sanfillippo.
There must be hundreds of dead, stuffed critters here, ranging from chipmunks, squirrels, fish, moose, deer, birds, badgers. If it can be hunted, it’s here, and it’s stuffed!
Now, Sam Sanfillippo isn’t your creepy Grandpa proudly displaying his kills. Dead Pals is a tribute to American amusement: drinking, theme parks, cars, and the Old West.
The dead critters are uniquely positioned in a themed environment, usually with a prop. My favorite, for example, is a miniature bar scene with squirrels drinking at the counter, bartending, and dancing in the aisle. Some of them have cigarettes. Some of them are wearing clothes. All of them are absolutely fantastic!
Other scenes include: rodents driving cars, a carnival, The Old West, critters wearing sports uniforms. If you can dream it, you can see it here.
Did I mention most of these exhibits are animated? Yes, there are moving parts in the taxidermy displays! Honestly, I would drive nine hours straight just to see this again. It is that cool! The best thing is, this entire «museum» is free, and will take about two hours to look through. Bring your camera!
(P.S. Not recommended for little kids who like to touch things… for obvious reasons.)

I love this place so much! I need to get back there to take pics with my new camera– old one just didn’t do it justice. :D
Make certain to call ahead– you really don’t want to have to walk through a funeral grinning.

I am in town for a couple of days and was so excited to check this place out. Unfortunately, when I called today to set up an appointment, I was informed that it was no longer available. Super disappointed!

This is a weird, but awesome, collection of taxidermy in the basement of the Cress Funeral Home on University. You have to call the funeral home ahead of time and ask to set up a showing. Be flexible with your visit, as they only let you in on weekdays.
That being said, this is definitely worth your visit. We took my friend who is obsessed with taxidermy here for her birthday. There are ALBINO SQUIRRELS riding HOT PINK BARBIE JEEPS and intricate dioramas with moving Ferris Wheels and rodents sitting at a bar, drinking and smoking.
There was another couple there, also checking out the squirrels, who said that they own a funeral home in Illinois that has a full MINIATURE GOLF COURSE in the basement. This made it even more strange.
So gather your courage, your animal-​loving friends and a camera and get to it. No one will believe you without the photographic evidence.

One of the most intriguing and hidden gems of Madison. Where else can you find a family of squirrels enjoying a carnival? If there is ever an Odd Wisconsin tour this place should definitely be one of the stops. Just make sure you call first to set up a visit, you don’t want to drop in unannounced during someone’s funeral.

The greatest place in America? Probably. I mean, where else can you find dead squirrel strippers, dead chipmunk cowboys, dead squirrels riding a mini ferris wheel and dead squirrels drinking booze?
My computer recently crashed and I lost all of my pictures of the Dead Pals. Because of this, I have now entered a dark period in my life.

Dead squirrel museum. Yeah, it needs another five star review.
Part of the charm of our experience was having only the address to guide us and seeing rooms and rooms full of absurdity light up before us. Reading the other two reviews is a bit of a spoiler, like Brad Pitt and Edward Norton being the same person.
But, I mean, even if you know that going in, it’s still five stars, right?

Imagine you are 16 years old and you are at your great-​grandmothers funeral.
Imagine then walking down some stairs at the funeral parlor and stumbling upon tons of taxidermied animals posed as little football players and riding horses and whatever else.
It was scary and weird, and kind of cool.