Igor, the founder of Hoxton Street Monster Supplies, arrived in London during the harsh winter of 1817, having fled his home village after a slight altercation with a Bavarian mob.
Arriving with little more than the hair on his back, Igor was welcomed with open arms, and tentacles by the thriving east end monster community. Igor opened Hoxton Street Monster Supplies in the spring of 1818 and the store soon became the purveyor of quality goods for monsters of every kind.
Or so the tale goes…
Our fantastical shop opened the same time as our writing centre back in 2010. The store offered both a way to raise funds to support our young writers and also as a special place, that embodied and celebrated imagination.
Our secret door at the back of the shop, acted as fantastical portal into our writing workshop, readying young minds for the adventure ahead .
Our bespoke products considered the wide and varied needs of our customers from Banshee Balls to Edible Void.
Our shopkeepers volunteered their time to help our customers, fearlessly avoiding being stomped by Giants and singed by Firebreathers.
Our website was easily translated for Mummies, Vampire Bats, Werewolves and more.
It didn’t take long for Hoxton Street Monster Supplies to take off. Our products appeared in stores such as Liberty London and Selfridges and we jumped into partnerships with the brilliant Halen Môn and Tatty Devine.
We were named one of the ‘Best 100 Shops in London’ by TimeOut and featured in a range of books, TV shows and viral videos.
Our packaging design was honoured in the D&D Design Awards and we published our very own Monster Supplies Cookbook with Octopus Books.
We also had two stints as a pop up store at the Leadenhall Market and launched our Monster Mail service that saw children write to members of our monster community – and get unique, personalised reply! – from far flung places such as Australia and Singapore.
In 2026, an exciting opportunity for Ministry of Stories to move to a much bigger home, meant sadly saying goodbye to our store. We are proud and grateful to have been able to bring mischief and joy to so many customers over 15 years
For now – Wells, our invisible shop cat – has decided to join us in the new home, so we’re sure the story isn’t over quite yet…
