Sick to Death

@sicktodeath.bsky.social

969 Followers 298 Following

Immerse yourself in the gruesome, gory, and horrible history of medicine through the ages, from Greek theories to alternative remedies! Located in a beautiful Grade II listed church on Chester's medieval rows. A Big Heritage attraction. sicktodeath.org

The scanned title page of a 16th century printed book. It has aged paper and black/brown ink, with a decorative border of columns. Two 'hot and sweating' emojis have been digitally added to the top left and bottom right corners. It reads: A boke or coun- seill against the disease commonly called the sweate or swea- tyng sicknesse made by Jhon Caius doctour in phisicke uery necessary for everye personne and much requi- site to be had in the handes of al sortes, for their better instruction, preparation and defence, against the soub- dein comyng, and fear- ful assaultyng of the same disease 1552
shaped cut outs are other photos with bold colour text: A (prop) sheep's head, Wow! Rotten street meat! A jar labelled botulism and a pie with birds in it, Neat! Bad food preservation! Increidble! No clean drinking water! Some toilet seats, Cool! No public sewers! Radical! Malaria-carrying-mosquito infested swamp water! Amazing! Infrequent bathings! And more!! A rat and a cockroach in some bread, Yippee! Rats and bugs! A miniature bin and a jar, Awesome! No waste management!
A help desk chat screen shot. Person 1: What is the name of the business? Person 2: Sick to Death Person 1: Thank you… just to be clear this is the name of the business and not your current mood? 😉
A cropped photo of a marble stone, carved with words. It seems to be the upper right corner of a large area. It in the top right it says ML Rysbrack. Fecit 1749. Below, the main bulk of the text is cropped away, but prominent is the phrase Daughter of [struck through with two bold lines] John, and above has been chiselled Peter, then continuing on the main line, Barwick. Below it says, February the first [with a long s) 174 and then it looks like 2/3, the symbol for two-thirds.
A stone plaque on a wall, carved with memorial symbols and text: In memory of Hannah. The beloved wife of Alderman Richard Buckley of this city. Who died April 12th 1827, aged 78. Also the above named Richard Buckley esq. who died during his mayoralty July 17th 1832, aged 73. Erected by their nephew's and niece's. Nephew's and niece's has been underlined in red digital ink and below in white text it says Should be nephews* and nieces*
A video slideshow of various horrible objects in a medical history museum setting and descriptions of why they don't make good Christmas gifts.
A prosthetic dummy dressed as Santa Claus with a white fake beard, red velvet trousers and jacket with white trim. His chest cavity is open and prop organs can be seen inside, along with a fake bladed knife. He is lying on an autopsy table.
8 Text: So, thank you to Dr Stretton and thank you to Chris for bringing this fascinating story of medical history to all of us here at Sick to Death. At the top is a slightly blurry photo of an older man, with a large white moustache, in a suit and tie*. It’s frame with brown scrapbook details. To the right is half of a green circle with a white cross inside.
5 Text: This specific formulation was strong enough to be antiseptic, but gentle enough to avoid skin irritation, it had a long shelf-life, and wouldn’t fumigate the wards (something nurses certainly seemed to appreciate). The majority of this image is a black and white photographs of nurses, all women, in uniform, as well as perhaps some clergy with a sister/nun and a vicar/priest. There is also a man in a dark suit with a moustache and a man in a white uniform also with a moustache. It’s from the early 20th century, taken outside. The photo is cut off at the right side. To the left is the rest of the screen shot that says (ournal.) and (1910.)
1 Text: Some of you may have experienced the sting of iodine yourself. Ouch - indeed! But did you know about its significant link to British medical history? Part of a collage image that joins together as you scroll left to right. A scrapbook effect with a green background under the text. A photo of a young white boy and his mother in a 1960s kitchen having a plaster applied to his knee, there are graphic red ‘zaps’ above his head. At the right is most of a glass bottle labelled Tincture of Iodine that crosses over into the next image.*
A meme of Marge Simpson holding a potato, below it says: I just think they're neat! Superimposed over the potato is a cut out digital sticker of a carved turnip jack o' lantern with a scary face on it.
A collage video of a traditional jack o' lantern, with narrow eyes with long thin pupils and a wide downturned mouth with lots of small teeth. It's lit with a flickering light. In the bottom right corner is a sticker of the same face on a turnip, but in the light, so you can see all the details, the eyes and mouth are slightly red, with the slits for the noise slightly green. In text it reads: nothing with every top terrifying turnips. that's why it's so cool to learn about history and traditions.
A large orange pumpkin on a shelf, with small black riding l writing on it. To the left is a small carved turnip with a creepy face, small narrow eyes with cat like pupils and a grimacing mouth with lots of small teeth. It's all lit with a slightly purple light.
A video of a face in the dark. It's carved into something, like a jack o' lantern, with sharp narrow eyes with tall thin pupils and a wide, slightly downturned mouth with lots of small teeth. The light inside is flickering and it's honestly quite creepy.
A 'trailer' type video with different scenes spliced together and cutesy 'Halloween' themed transitions between them. It starts with two girls walking in a dark area with dramatic lighting, then one little girl reaching into the chest of a dummy to pull out s heart. Next, one of the girl's is sawing at a man's arm as he sits in a chair fake yelling in pain. After a girl and an adult woman are surprised as they come around a corner by a person dressed as a witch with a rat puppet, who then gestures animatedly to the camera. Then there are various shots of sets and scenes with skeletons, UV blood on tables, and finally a plague doctor appears dramatically through opening two double doors. The end features an animated graphic with details about Horrible Halloween at Sick to Death, Oct 25 - Nov 2nd.
A group of ten adult students, all in different clothes, men and women, wearing lanyards. They're stood posing in an area with a stone arch. In the middle of the group is a person dressed as a plague doctor and one student in wooden stocks, with rotten fruit on it, and a sign that says Sick to Death Chester.
A screenshot of the section of an e-mail, white background with black text: Dear Sick, We are pleased to advise you that t...
An angled photograph looking up an old roof, with two main sections visible, above a sandstone wall arch, just seen on the right. The first section of the roof is dark panelled wood, with intricate carvings and gilded accents. At the base of some of the wooden arches are carvings, in both wood and stone. Beyond, is a 'newer' section of roof with large open wooden arched beams and a Tudor style timbered roof with white sections between each beam. In the far distance, just visible through the open arches, in an open arch of the bell tower is a skeletal figure in a robe.
A poster graphic with a black background and a plague doctor character appearing out of the darkness, with a lit lantern raised by their beaked mask. It reads in various black and red and beige fonts: Sick[crossed out] Scared to Death! Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, October 29th, 30th, & 31st. 6:30pm – 10pm (last admission 9pm).
A poster graphic with a beige background, gothic black border, and prominent orange, black, and red Halloween imagery. All the fonts are slightly 'spooky' or 'horrible' and it reads: Sick to Death presents: Horrible Halloween. Saturday October 25th - Sunday November 2nd: Open every day 10am - 6pm, last admission 5pm. Family-friendly fun!
A photograph of a person dressed in a Plague Doctor costume, outside pacing on a stone floor in front of a stone arch. In the arch, backwards because of light shining through it, a sign read Sick to Death. The Plague Doctor has been captured mid-pose, face to the side, right hand slightly raised and in a cupped position. The 'is it a pigeon' anime meme has been superimposed behind the Plague Doctor, with its body and hand alighted behind the Plague Doctor's and the yellow butterfly is up and to the left. In big black text on white at the bottom it says, is this history. Above the plague doctor smaller it says, us. Above the butterfly it says, even smaller, an anachronistic costume that has somehow become the core of our brand identity
A photo of a person dressed in a Plague Doctor costume. They are stood an area with a stone floor and stone pillars, outside, over the sky to their left there is a logo: in red bold text that says Sick to Death, with a small stylised skull logo in beige. Beneath is the tagline: The gory story of medicine through time, in black. To their right is a red circle that says School trips! They are leaning forward, looking at the camera, while they use a pointer to point at a blackboard being held by a young girl with blonde hair in a ponytail, pink glasses, a pink jumper, and blue trainers with white frilly socks. Most of her body is covered by the large blackboard with a wooden frame. On the black board in chalk it says: Plague was [in green] GOOD for business but also [inserted after the fact] ^ very [in red] BAD for people!
A black poster graphic with red and beige text that reads: Sick to Death (with a little stylised skull logo) will be closed on Friday Sept 5th for essential maintenance.
A slightly worn magnetic blackboard with a set of human skeleton magnets, made up of different sections of bones. Someone has made a skeleton standing on its hands, upside down, legs bent at the knees like a squat, and the hands and feet have been swapped.
The 'you wouldn't steal a car meme' from DVDs, a mostly black background with scratchy cross-fade digital artifacts across the bottom left. In white 'janky' capital letters it reads: you wouldn't touch a real gangrenous foot
An open cupboard door that on the left has a photograph of an enlarged brown medicine bottle labelled Radithor. On the right is an information board about Radioactive Treatments, that describes the history of Radithor and its ill effects. Being held up in between the two panels is a can of monster energy, by someone with green nail varnish.
A meme template of Philomena Cunk and a lecturer, the conversation switching back and forth between them. Philomena is labelled 'museums visitor' and the lecturer 'us'. At the top it says 'when the meme format is actually just relevant facts'. The superimposed image behind the scene is of a dramatically lit plague cart and a skeleton in a monk's robes.
An outdoor festival event, the camera is pointing at the backs of two adults dressed up in costumes, one still in black and one as Roman soldier. There is a choir singing Bohemian Rhapsody. The camera moves around to film their fronts and the one all in black is revealed to be a plague doctor. They're both dancing and bopping to the music and as it reaches intensity the plague doctor starts conducting enthusiastically with their hands. There are also other festival performers in shot, a jester on a unicycle and a man wearing a giant devil puppet.
The front page of a scientific journal paper, with a large red RETRACTED text stamped across the front. The paper is tidied Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-surveys colitis and pervasive developmental disorder in children. The lead author is A J Wakefield.
Two men dressed in Roman garb one a soldier, one in a toga, performing a mock procedure on a skull, in front of a table with lots of ancient brass instruments.
A frame of honeycomb from a beehive, all of the little hexagons are filled with different colours of wax, pollen, and honey, and little larvae. There are honeybees on the frame too, with one right in the middle.
The camera pans up from a rough wooden desk, with an iPad and card reader on it. It goes past an open arched doorway, up an old stone wall with a modern Emergency exit sign, and some theatrical lights, to finally stop on an open balcony in a stone tower. In the arch of the balcony is a very large black robed skeleton puppet. The camera slowly zooms in on its face, which has kind of a dorky expression on it, if you really look closely for a while. The video is grainy at the end from being zoomed in so far.
A template meme video of a small round brown frog stood on its back legs, looking around quietly while photographs of a dramatic museum flip by behind it (a stone church outside, ominously lit double doors, an autopsy suit with a prop cadaver, etc). Below it says in white text: out awesome visitors being really respectful of all the hands-on activities while still having lots of fun
A green foam apple, like a Granny Smith, on a wooden countertop, with a bite completely taken out of it, the piece bitten out now sitting beside it.
An official blue plaque on a sandstone wall, outside, it reads: St Michael's Church. One of the nine medieval parish churches of Chester, it stands on the site of the southern gateway of the Roman fortress. In 1849-51 it was virtually rebuilt by the Chester architect James Harrison, although early features survive inside. St. Michael's opened as Britain's First Heritage Centre in 1975.
An old stone carving of an angel holding up a shield in front of them, looking a bit nervous but prepared to defend itself with the shield (or hide behind it). It's on the interior wall of a sandstone church, at the bottom of a black wooden roof pillar, but still up above head height. It has curly longish hair, wings behind its shoulders, and there's a cross on the front of the shield. There's are just visible the edges of some boards on the walls below with writing on them.
A glass bowl of apples on a lace covered table. A light skinned hand with dark nail varnish, reaches towards the bowl and picks up a green apple, turning it, where a large bite mark is visible in now what is clearly a foam apple. The hand then brings the apple with the bite mark much closer to the camera, it briefly going out of focus.
A screenshot of a Google review for Sick to Death, left by Paul, a local guide, with 46 reviews and 62 photos. He's given it 5 stars. But it says, "Chester Zoo is an absolute gem! We had an incredible day out, but there was so..." And there is a photo of a bear, a snake, a lizard, and a turtle with an indicator that there are 8 more photos. We can reply, like, or share.
A thumbnail image of old fashioned medical tools on an open leather case on a wooden table. Imposed over is a logo on a black background that says in red bold text: Sick to Death and under the 'to' is a stylised skull images. Underneath is a tan banner that reads A history of medicine in 10 objects.
A white tiled wall, looking a bit old fashioned, with nine wooden toilet seat lids hung up vertically, kind of at random. There are multiple pipes and ropes with handles and it all looks a bit chaotic. To the right is an enlarged old photograph of a man in black and white, large versions of newspaper advertisements, some interpretation boards.
A beautiful exterior sandstone church wall, with an ornate stone carved window featuring carved grotesque heads. There is a diamond leaded stained glass window and the bottom right hand corner has been smashed out and ripped open.