After months of uncertainty and fears it may not welcome back visitors until sometime next year, Nottingham's Haunted Museum has announced a reopening date.
The popular Mapperley attraction will be back in business from Thursday, July 30 and has three new exhibitions to mark the occasion.
These include a £3,000 vampire slaying kit which museum owner Steve Wesson battled to win at auction recently.
The curiosity was found at an antiques fair in Newark and includes several crucifixes, rosary beads, an oval picture of Jesus, a copy of the New Testament, glass bottles containing holy water and garlic paste, pliers and a pistol. One larger bottle contains what appears to be shark’s teeth.
Each is refuted to kill - or least keep at bay - the blood-thirsty monsters who have been entertaining and/or terrifying horror fans for hundreds of years.
When Steve heard it was up for grabs he set himself a mission to make it his own and was willing to spend up to £7,000 in a bidding battle against an anonymous American.
He told Nottinghamshire Live: "Well, it was a challenge but Nottingham's Haunted Museum has won [the vampire slaying kit] from the Americans and the world. With the charges it was just under £3,000 but I would of gone up to £7,000 so that’s a huge bonus.
"Where else in the world could you actually purchase a real vampire kit? It’s amazing and we look forward to showing it to our guests when we reopen."
As well as the kit Steve has also bought a genuine Saw film puppet and created a life-size Exorcist diorama for the museum's reopening.
Having a reopening date has come as a relief to Steve who feared the museum on Woodborough Road would not be able to open until sometime next year.
The former cinema shut its doors at the end of March as lockdown closed much of the country but it was unable to open at the same time as other museums due to social distancing concerns.
However the team have worked to overcome the issue and will soon be reopening the doors to the UK's 27th most haunted location.
In keeping with Government guidelines the museum's cafe will remain closed but tea, coffee, soft drinks and hot jacket potatoes will still be available in takeaway cups and boxes.
The museum's live stream (available at TheHauntedMuseum.co.uk) will continue until further notice.
