Oddities & Curiosities Expo coming to Suburban Collection Showplace

NOVI — Strange things are on the horizon at the Suburban Collection Showplace, as it will host the 2022 Oddities & Curiosities Expo on Saturday.

“If you’re a lover of Halloween or the dark, strange and unusual, our show is definitely for you. If you aren’t, we recommend coming to see what you’ll find,” said Michelle Cozzaglio, co-founder and owner of the expo. “We try to have something for everyone at our shows and pride ourselves in providing a fun and safe place to come and be yourself.”

The expo will run 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 16 and feature oddities vendors and dark artists from all over the country “with all things weird.” The vendors will be selling things such as taxidermy, preserved specimens, dark art, Halloween items, unusual jewelry, odd antiques, clothing, curiosities and more. General admission to the Expo costs $10 and is free for kids ages 12 and younger. There is a $10 parking fee.

The expo also will feature sideshow entertainment throughout the day, such as sword swallowing, a bed of nails performance, a two-headed duckling taxidermy class, and the Museum of Marvelous Mutations. The museum features 1,600 square feet of preserved, rare, one-of-a-kind taxidermy and wet specimens. The taxidermy class and the museum have their own fees.

“We strive to have something weird for everyone,” said Cozzaglio. 

Heather Rhea-Wright, owner of Painted Lady Trashions in Ferndale, has been traveling with the expo for more than four years. She said she specializes in wet specimens, which are essentially deceased animals preserved in jars. She said the animals are embalmed with formaldehyde in the same way that a human body is preserved. Rhea-Wright also sells odd antiques. 

She said that her items are very popular and she sells at least 150 specimens per show. She said that people purchase them to have on display in their homes or offices as décor.

“I can’t explain it, but I’m going to keep doing it,” said Rhea-Wright. “Weird pays the bills, that’s what I always say. Who knew it would be a thing?”

According to Rhea-Wright, the expo provides a place for people to see something “crazy, different,” and something that you would not see anyplace else.

Cozzaglio and her husband, Tony, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, created the expo in 2017. She said there were originally only two shows, one in their hometown and the other in Denver. However, the demand for the shows grew quickly. They held eight shows in 2018, 16 shows in 2019 and had scheduled 26 in 2020, but the majority of those shows were canceled as a result of the pandemic.

In 2021, they held 20 of 25 scheduled shows, once again canceling some as a result of the pandemic. This year, they have 25 shows scheduled across the country. Cozzaglio said that not only has the number of shows held annually grown, but the size of each show has also grown dramatically. She said they are bigger than ever before.

“My husband, Tony, and I have been organizing offbeat events since 2014, and as collectors of strange and unusual items ourselves, we had the idea of the Oddities & Curiosities Expo,” said Cozzaglio. “We have always been a part of alternative communities and are determined to work within those and for ourselves doing what we love.”

She said the purpose of the show is to build the oddities and curiosities community, support small businesses and artists, and to provide a place for people to be who they are, “unapologetically.” The Oddities & Curiosities Expo provides a safe place for anyone to come and discover new artists, meet new friends and be surrounded by a community of like-minded people, said Cozzaglio.

“We find so much joy in being able to provide a place where you can feel at home surrounded by others that share the same interests,” she said. 

For more information, and to buy tickets, visit odditiesandcuriousitiesexpo.com.