Hello folks, happy #MummyMonday! Today I bring you a book review for something macabre and fascinating. It’s also a memoir of the husband-and-wife team that share their passion for collecting unusual items, the story of how they met and married, and the people that helped them along the way in their respective careers.

Let us delve into a book review for “The Witch’s Door: Oddities & Tales from the Esoteric to the Extreme” by Ryan Matthew Cohn & Regina Rossi. Read my review to see if I recommend the book and where you can buy it.

My Review of “The Witch’s Door: Oddities & Tales from the Esoteric to the Extreme” by Ryan Matthew Cohn & Regina Rossi

I was a little disappointed to receive a PDF for this book to review rather than a physical copy, and because of that I have not viewed the photos in the book very well because they are black and white on my device, they are small, and I cannot see the detail clearly due to my vision challenges. Putting this aside, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the book! Being in the UK and having grown up in a sheltered environment, I hadn’t heard of the TV show that made Ryan Matthew Cohn famous in his circles, nor did I know about the TV show that he and Regina Rossi subsequently filmed their wedding with. It was interesting to read about that side of life, something I have never been exposed to.

I like to learn how people find their careers, and the collecting business is something I have only ever dreamed about doing. I grew up watching Antiques Roadshow on the BBC and wishing I could be a rich, posh person, with a big house full of treasures. But I’m not (yet!). It was nice to see how Ryan and Regina forged their careers independently, with a few chance meetings leading them to people that could help them grown and learn. They have clearly both worked hard to get where they are, and while it’s easy to feel jealous about their glamorous lifestyle, they laid bare in the book some harsh truths about how it negatively affects their personal life.

All things Anatomical, Macabre, Spooky and Weird

And then we come to the subject of the book, all things anatomical, macabre, spooky and weird. I would absolutely love to view everything that is described in the book, and those wax figures from Munich really captured my imagination! I am also fascinated with the exploded skulls and why they were made for purposes of medical research. It’s hard to think back to a time before computers when people had to physically explore the world in order to learn about it. Back then they made figures and models to replicate what they had studied and invited other medical students and academics to do the same using these models. Now they are being brought out of storage and put on display for us to marvel at.

This book is worth reading, not only for fans of the macabre, fans of weird subculture, and anyone who just doesn’t fit mainstream society, but those who are interested in antiques and collecting. Reading the book felt like I was visiting all the places that Ryan and Regina visited when they collected their artifacts and artwork. It was descriptive, immersive, and just a delight to read. Now I need to save money for a visit to the House of Wax museum in New York!

About the Book

For Ryan Matthew Cohn, artist, collector, and star of the Discovery Channel’s Oddities, it all started with a boyhood fascination with the skeletal system. For his wife and collaborator Regina Rossi, who had built her career in the fashion industry, it began with a Christmas wish for a blinged-out skull. Soon after meeting, Ryan and Regina discovered their shared appreciation for the incredible beauty in our bodies’ journey long after life deserts us and their passion for the world of strange and sometimes creepy objects.

In “The Witch’s Door: Oddities & Tales from the Esoteric to the Extreme,” Ryan Matthew Cohn and Regina Rossi, trendsetting tastemakers in artifact collecting and founders of the Oddities Flea Market, welcome fans of curiosities (and anyone simply curious) inside the bizarre business that brought them together and introduce some of the unusual stuff and eccentric people they’ve encountered while doing what they love. The result is an engaging mix of memoir, exposé, how-to guide, and curated tour, filled with jaw-dropping photographs and unbelievable-but-true stories of exploded skulls, wax penises, and lots more.

Enter at a high risk of spellbinding entertainment and come along on Ryan Matthew and Regina’s adventures in artifact hunting, gathering, assessing, haggling, collecting, and curating. You’ll discover:

• How Ryan uncovered a treasure trove of Kapala skulls wrapped in a dead missionary’s underwear—and how Regina strolled through airport security, rocking a monkey skull necklace.

• The ancient history, meticulous craft, and the key to telling a genuine shrunken head from a knock-off: pay close attention to the detail in the ear.  

• How a vast collection of anatomical wax antiques stashed in a basement in Munich made its way to Brooklyn’s celebrated House of Wax—after considerable care and shipping costs.     

• Why determining the provenance of any artifact or artwork is so important, if challenging, to avoid being scammed into investing in something stolen, illegally exported, or fake.

• The work of established antiquarians, like Billy Leroy of Billy’s Antiques, and quirks of serious collectors, like Nick Parmesan, retired NYPD sergeant turned hoarder, who had valuable pieces—including an antique electric chair—buried under mounds of junk.

• The incredible memento mori collection of art dealer Richard Harris—and how, rather than being morbid, collections of death masks and skulls can help us come to terms with our mortality.

• Why collecting dolls can be rewarding and chilling—and evidence to support that two vintage Charlie McCarthy ventriloquist dummies in Ryan and Regina’s collection might be haunted. 

The Witch’s Door also recounts Ryan and Regina’s engagement in the Catacombs of Paris, sealed with a ring tucked inside a skull, and a creepy yet sophisticated televised wedding (Mikie Save the Date on the FYI Channel). It celebrates the birth of their “baby,” the Oddities Flea Market, where glam meets Goth, and the selection of the best artists and collectors gather at events across the US. Oh, and Ryan and Regina delve into the mystery of the artifact that inspired their book’s title: an actual witch’s door, likely created in Salem and marked with a carving to keep evil spirits out.

Ryan and Regina offer the perfect collectible book for fans of Oddities and Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities.

Buy the book: Amazon; Waterstones.

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Note: I received a copy of the book in return for an honest review. This article contains affiliate links, meaning that if you shop using the links I share, I receive a small income at no extra cost to yourself. Thank you for supporting SpookyMrsGreen!