The ‘treasure trove’ Nottingham shop with a real human skeleton and haunted cellar

It’s no secret that online shopping is favoured by many of us these days. 

Online marketplaces offer many of the same items that can be purchased in physical shops, so it’s understandable why so many of us choose to buy bits and pieces without leaving the comfort of the sofa. 

However, it’s safe to say that online shopping doesn’t offer the personable experience that comes with visiting a shop in-person.

That’s why it’s important to support independent businesses here in Nottingham, particularly at a time of rising bills and decreasing footfall. 

We’re lucky to have so many great small businesses across the city, but there aren’t many where you can buy a sheep’s head in a jar or machine gun electric guitar. 

The appropriately-named That Weird Shop, in Southwell Road, prides itself on stocking items that you probably won’t find on Amazon. 

Owner Zee Rowe, originally from Plymouth, launched the shop in 2020, just before the first lockdown.

Over the past four years That Weird Shop has bought and sold all manner of weird and wonderful items, including a full human skeleton.

Zee explains how he goes about sourcing such intriguing items, telling Nottingham World: “I spend a lot of time researching things and looking for odd items and that’s part of the fun.

“With regards to the full skeleton, I met a lady when I was doing an outside stall who said to me ‘you wouldn’t be interested in a human skeleton would you?’

“I said ‘yes I would, where has it come from?’. She told me that it has been in her loft for 20 years and I wondered whether it was her ex-husband or something like that!

“Thankfully she explained that it came from her son who was training to be a doctor and he acquired it from an antique shop somewhere after someone had donated their body to medical science. 

“So you’ll notice a lot of pen and pencil marks on the skeleton from when it was used to teach people about the body.”

While Zee insists the skeleton isn’t for sale, visitors could well experience a different type of attention from beyond the grave during their visit to That Weird Shop. 

“The whole building is haunted. With the paranormal teams we get in we’ve come across 16 different ghosts. 

“Some of them are nice and some of them are really not!

“I only found out it was haunted after I opened when customers were saying ‘who’s that bloke walking up the stairs in a top hat?’

“Sometimes customers have come running out of the basement because something’s touched them. You don’t get that [by shopping] on the internet!”

You can find out more about the shop by pressing here.