What?: Purveyor of quality goods for the living, dead and undead. Voted ‘No. 1 Kids’ Shop in London’ by Time Out, this ghoulish little store offers a monstrous selection of edibles, from a range of salts harvested from human tears to petrified mice and a variety of conserves made from bodily fluids. There is a small but suitably ghastly selection of stationery and terrifying T-shirts for monsters big and small.
Where?: Hoxton Street, of Bittersweet Symphony fame. The nearest stations are Hoxton (Ginger), which is a five-minute walk away, and Old Street (Northern), which is around 10-15.
Price Range: From a quid for a bar of impacted earwax up to £35 for the full range of tinned fear.
Best Bits: All profits go straight to the Ministry of Stories, a local mentoring centre tucked behind the shop. Established with the help of Nick Hornby, this brilliant resource was set up to help kids aged eight to 18 foster a lifelong love of writing though a series of inspiring workshops. There is also an invisible shop cat who we heard, but obviously didn’t see.
Worst Bits: The shop only accepts cash, but there’s a free ATM three doors down so it’s not a complete catastrophe.
Did We Buy?: We bought a jar of Olde Fashioned Brain Jam and a Dead Good tote bag.
Would We Come Back?: Yes, the next time we run out of fang floss.
Bab has a right old lol at Hoxton Street Monster Supplies, Hoxton
bablands.com 