Expo brings together and celebrates all things strange

NOVI — Things that might typically be dubbed strange, weird and just plain odd were highlighted at the annual Oddities & Curiosities Expo July 15 at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi.

The expo featured vendors and performers from around the country showing off everything from taxidermy to hearse collections to creepy dolls. The show offered people in traditional professions the chance to take a break from their everyday traditional jobs and embrace their unusual curiosities.

At least 50 people took advantage of a six-hour taxidermy class that was offered by Heather Clark, of Sleeping Sirens Art & Oddities. Clark took people through the entire process of cleaning and mounting a rabbit.

“You know when you were a kid and there was the creepy uncle or relative that had the stuffed things? I had relatives that had it but never thought of doing it myself,” said Pati McCalla, of Clawson. “Taxidermy class, I just thought it sounded interesting and wanted to try it out. … I would totally do this again. It’s crafty, but you got to use your brain to judge how the rabbit is going to turn out.”

New to the show this year was Dead Sled Brand merchandise and the Just Hearse’n Around car club. Nix Nixon, the owner of Dead Sled Brand and a member of Just Hearse’n Around, said he attended the show last year and liked “the vibe.” So this year, when a friend put him in touch with the owners of the expo and they expressed interest in bringing hearses to the show, Nixon was excited to help orchestrate it with his club.

Nixon said he has liked hearses since 1984, when he saw “Ghostbusters” for the first time. He said that although the car featured in the movie is not considered a hearse, it is a combo, which is an ambulance and a hearse, and he thought it was cool. He said a friend of his dad’s turned a combo vehicle into a family station wagon and took him to Cedar Point as a kid. Nixon also said he has been in love with Elvira since he was 10 years old. He said those three things caused him to have a passion for hearses.

“It’s like a station wagon, but more fun,” Nixon said. “I love cars and I love being spooky. So, spooky car it is.”

Nixon, a graphic design artist by trade, said he came up with the idea for Dead Sled Brand when he realized that funerary-type merchandise was an “untapped” market.

This year also marked the return of human suspension demonstrations, which had not been done at the show since 2019 because of the pandemic. Human suspension involves piercing the skin in various places and then hanging from the skin.  Amanda Rexx said that people suspend for a variety of reasons. Some, such as herself, suspend for sport; others suspend for ritualistic and spiritual reasons. According to Rexx, it has been going on for hundreds of years in different cultures.

“I really enjoy pushing my body to the limits that most people can’t,” said Rexx. “It is mind over matter.”

Rexx admitted that she has a higher tolerance for pain than many people, as she suffers from Lupus and is in pain all the time. She said suspension helps her to not focus on pain from her body all the time, as it is something that she has control over.

“It is really freeing,” she said.

The CreepyNCute Shop, an Oakland County-based vendor selling one-eyed, CreepyNCute dolls, returned to the expo this year. Owners Doreen Defauw and Piper Shano, who are paralegals, said they sell their dolls as a labor of love and make just enough money from the sales to make it to the next Oddities & Curiosities Expo. They said they love the expo, as its owners are very professional and supportive of the vendors and artists.

The  two  best friends of nearly 40 years decided to start a company 10 years ago, after Defauw made a zombie-esque doll for Shano that everyone seemed to love. The two frequently sell dolls as fundraisers for a variety of charities and have attracted business from many celebrities, as well.

“We’re all about sharing the love,” said Defauw.