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We often try to avoid death. Sweep it under the rug, pretend it doesn’t exist and live in comfortable denial. But we weren’t always this way. In fact, many past societies have been completely obsessed with death, as seen in their art, literature, and philosophy. It can all be examined through a study of one phrase: memento mori. Latin for “remember that you die”, the expression has its roots in various philosophical and political movements dating back to antiquity.

Mythical Magnet Taxidermy Boxes by Maïssa Toulet (b. 1974), a Parisian artist who has been building her own surreal scenes since the age of 12, using the objects, toys and ephemera she had around her. Nessy likes to call her a "Dr. Frankenstein of forgotten objects". Today, her assemblage art comes in all shapes and sizes as she's continued to experiment with different mediums over the years. From miniature curiosity cabinets to antique glass containers or even vintage eyewear, Maïssa's unique work comes in all shapes and sizes, but every last piece has a story. She makes moulds of everything she collects and then reinvents them entirely from her atelier in the 11th arrondissement.

We’ve been patiently waiting for Halloween to give us an excuse to take you on a tenebrous trip back in time inside the first horror magazine. With only 51 issues in existence, Der Orchideengarten, was an Austrian magazine printed between the years of 1919 and 1921, predating the American fantasy-horror magazine Weird Tales, which is still in circulation after nearly a century. Despite being so short-lived, the German-language magazine was prolific for many reasons. Featuring authors that defined the early 20th century, such as Edgar Allen Poe, H.G. Wells, Voltaire and Dickens, being one of them. The publication was also a blend of fantasy and flair, early science-fiction and otherworldly imagination; full of ghoulish yet ground-breaking graphics that cemented Der Orchideengarten (“The Garden of Orchids”) in the zeitgeist of obscure taste.

Paris may be the City of Light, but it is filled with dark corners. Some of the best-known ghost stories were inspired by the very real, gory history of this otherwise romantic setting. Behind – and, indeed, beneath – the picturesque Haussmanian facades lurk countless tragic tales, the protagonists of which are still said to stalk the streets… after all, a city filled with history is a city filled with ghosts.

Inspired by antique poison rings, these engraved gold-plated brass rings with black lacquer motifs from the Messy Nessy's Cabinet emblem, including a pigeon, a croissant man, and mermaids.

There is a law still in effect in the Haitian criminal code that dates back to 1883, making it illegal to try to turn someone into a zombie. The word “zombie” in fact, comes from “nzambi,” a word that means “spirit” in the voodou religions of Haiti and the African diaspora, but the Haitian zombie has travelled a long and troubled road to become everyone’s favourite Halloween ghoul.

As the 19th century came to a close and the 20th century picked up speed, people were absolutely held in thrall by the paranormal. Psychics and mediums sprang up everywhere as part of a movement called Spiritualism, and they promised to put people in touch with their departed loved ones. Mostly, they charged a fee, and customers came away believing they had paid for a magical experience. There were others however, who saw these mediums as con artists and frauds, preying on the grief-stricken in order to make a buck. With none other than Harry Houdini himself leading our real-life ghostbusters, these determined sceptics embarked on a very unusual and public campaign to prove to the world that they were being fooled.

rive around enough of Vermont’s picturesque streets, and you’ll become puzzled over an architectural anomaly that even the locals can’t explain. Or, maybe it’s just that the explanation is a little too eerie for comfort. You see, the anomaly in question is called a “witch window…”

This is a different kind of story about Versailles; one that they only dared whisper about in the palace’s gilded halls. It’s the little-known story of a witch hunt that unfolded in secrecy within the French royal court, eclipsed in history by a more famous witch hunt that took place a decade later, thousands of miles away in Salem, Massachusetts. Pulling back the curtain on Versailles’ lavish pomp and ceremony, one might not only find the salacious details of a hedonist world within the Ancien Régime, but an occult one too. For lurking among the aristocracy, a shadowy network of black magic practitioners were purported to have sold poison to thousands of citizens, most notably to multiple courtiers and mistresses within the court of King Louis XIV. Murder, panic and scandal ensued during the Sun King’s reign, and a vast conspiracy unravelled which led to the arrest of 194 people and the execution of 36, including scores of prominent aristocrats, on charges of poisoning and witchcraft. This is the story of the Affair of the Poisons.

Maïssa Toulet will be taking over the shop’s atelier this Friday October 30th. With her wonderfully strange collection of sculpted heads, miniature figures, butterfly wings, seeds, tiny eggs and other curious bits and bobs, she'll be inviting you to play Dr. Frankenstein for the day, helping you compose your very own magnetic shadow box. A little artistic alchemy, a little monster-making, and a perfectly good excuse to let your imagination run wild.

Surreal Shell People by Maïssa Toulet (b. 1974), a Parisian artist who has been building her own surreal scenes since the age of 12, using the objects, toys and ephemera she had around her. Nessy likes to call her a "Dr. Frankenstein of forgotten objects". Today, her assemblage art comes in all shapes and sizes as she's continued to experiment with different mediums over the years. From miniature curiosity cabinets to antique glass containers or even vintage eyewear, Maïssa's unique work comes in all shapes and sizes, but every last piece has a story. She makes moulds of everything she collects and then reinvents them entirely from her atelier in the 11th arrondissement.