Nowadays, Madame Tussaud is synonymous with a whimsical tourist attraction — but the real woman’s backstory is quite macabre.
After the French Revolution, Madame Tussaud was forced to create death masks for King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and other members of the overthrown monarchy. She later took her collection of decapitated wax heads and limbs on tour to London. The press dubbed her controversial art show the “Chamber of Horrors”.
One of the spooky sculptures on display was the one you see above. Peer for as long as you can stand into the waxy eyes of killer Kate Webster. This photo, taken in 1925, perfectly captures the eerie aura of this wax figure, crafted in 1879 shortly after Webster’s arrest.