Weird and wonderful
Welcome to the only place crazier than the world outside right now: Viktor Wynd’s Museum Of Curiosities. Located on an unlovely arterial road in east (natch) London, this dusty collection of freakshow oddities successfully sets out to present ‘an incoherent vision of the world displayed through wonder enclosed within a tiny space’.
Dare to tiptoe down the very precarious dark spiral staircase and you’ll discover a cellar of such dubious delights as a mummified mermaid, a stuffed kitten with wings, various two-headed creatures, a popcorn box full of tiny skulls, jars of celebrity poo (Kylie and Amy Winehouse – allegedly), dodo bones, a collection of McDonald’s Happy Meal toys and a giant crab with a miniature tea set on its back. Visitor numbers are currently capped at seven and time slots are 30 minutes.
‘While some guests come back to visit again and again others leave in disgust after five minutes,’ warns the website. ‘This is not a museum for everyone and those easily offended by death and decay are advised to stay away.’
We recommend a stiff drink at the Last Tuesday Society’s award-winning ‘pataphysical’ (nope, we have no idea, either) bar, housed inside the museum. Absinthe is the signature tipple (Green Fairy Happy Hour is 5pm to 6pm weekdays) and lucky drinkers get to share velveteen booth with Leonora, a fetching lioness in a red top hat, or gaze into the glass-topped Sarcophagus Table containing a visible human skeleton.
Due to Covid restrictions, the regular courses from the British Academy Of Taxidermy (‘Teaching the World To Get Stuffed Since 2009’) have largely been put on hold. But the Xmas Themed Mouse Taxidermy Class is still currently on target for December 13. Perfect for that hard-to-buy-for person in your life.