In 1912, Achile Chatouilleu, also known as “The French Tickler,” passed away with a unique request—to be forever displayed in his beloved clown costume. Carl Crew, the owner of the California Institute of Abnormalarts (CIA) in North Hollywood, California, fulfilled this wish, ensuring that Chatouilleu’s presence would endure.

Today, Achile Chatouilleu’s glass coffin remains a sight to behold at the CIA. However, he cannot make a live appearance on the other side due to the toxic embalming process using mercury and arsenic.

So, how did this peculiar clown corpse find its way to the CIA? According to Crew, a family who owned a circus ranch shared their collection of eccentric artifacts, including a relative preserved for display. Since their relative never truly received the chance to be showcased, Crew extended an invitation: “Bring him down!” And so, 21 years ago, Achile Chatouilleu’s body arrived. Every year, his family returns to commemorate him with a memorial service at the CIA.

Achile Chatouilleu’s family had him carefully embalmed with clown makeup and dressed in his Shriners parade outfit from the inaugural Shriners parade in 1906, held in Detroit. His body was among the last to be gravity embalmed, a technique involving strapping the body to a table and turning it upside down, allowing gravity to distribute the embalming chemicals while the body bled out.

Unfortunately, on June 19, 2022, the California Institute of Abnormal Arts quietly and prematurely came to an end. Over the course of 30 years, the CIA remained a unique venue where the stage performance often took a backseat to the extraordinary surroundings. The 5,000-square-foot space resembled a vibrant carnival, doubling as a museum of macabre curiosities. Outside, a courtyard hosted a full-size theater screen, showcasing a never-ending selection of vintage B-horror movie clips.

The gallery of oddities alone made visiting on a Friday or Saturday night worthwhile. Visitors encountered human fetuses preserved in jars, a preserved severed arm, and Fiji mermaids (a combination of the upper half of a deceased infant monkey sewn to the lower half of a large fish). However, the highlight of the tour was undoubtedly the dead clown, Achile Chatouilleu, peacefully resting in a transparent coffin—a real deceased clown.

With hands folded and encased in a hermetically sealed glass display, Achile Chatouilleu’s final wish to be immortalized in his favorite clown makeup and Shriner attire remains fulfilled, capturing the attention of all who pass through the entrance of the venue.