by Gori Roriksen Varangian

Into the Unknown!

Hi! Gori here again. Today I went deeper into the Hoxton Street Monster Supply basement, aided by a jar of Daylight (see blog post #3.)

Now that I can see further, it's obvious the basement is bigger than I'd thought. It’s hard to see the walls and there appears at least one other set of steps going down. It's difficult to tell as there's still a lot of clutter down here.

So much junk, I'm a little fearful of getting lost.

Thankfully, I found an old reel of Fang Floss - perfect for the toothiest of monsters - so I tied one end round my waist and off I went, headed left, undoubtedly the more sinister direction. I was frightened, but I’ve looked after a poorly dragon with hayfever so I knew about finding my courage, as well as the nearest fire extinguisher.

At one point I stumbled, looked up and realised I'd found the legendary Hoxton Fear Fountain, no wonder I'd had the Collywobbles. The dark, bubbling waters from the natural underground spring are carefully measured, then concentrated in differing strengths to make pleasantly suckable pastilles, available in Hoxton Street Monster Supplies.

You’ll likely be aware of the shop’s range of Tinned Fear, which helped make Monster Supplies famous from its inception in 1818. Popularity of different types of fear wax and wane with the times, but some have been a mainstay in the shop for all of its 200+ years, including the famed (and almost full-strength) Mortal Terror and the milder Alarm and A Vague Sense of Unease. As most readers will know, all are useful on occasion when one’s scaring powers, for whatever reason, are not up to speed. Or when dinner guests refuse to leave!

I guess the shop must be well stocked for its three times award winning (Best Monster Medicinals, 1819, 1872, and 1968) pure British fear at the moment, because the spring is running free, gurgling into a stone channel that goes who knows where... It never stops, of course; fear springs eternal. I do wonder what petrified the person from whose mouth the fountain flows. And I wonder what THEY were doing down here?

Well, I didn't get far today but it was good to see the fountain. Sometimes even an intern needs a cup of strong tea and a Dragon Treat before tackling the whole of a dark basement. Now, how many tins of Creeping Dread will I have to distil before Igor is willing to put the kettle on?!

Be sure to tune in to my next “Intern(ed) in the Basement” blog!