Oddities & curiosities in Chicago
Looking for oddity shops & curiosities in Chicago? These 7 are the genuinely strange ones — Alchemy Arts, Sideshow Gallery, Augustine's Spiritual Goods and more — each hand-vetted and sourced, not pulled from a top-ten list. Great for an unusual date, a weird afternoon, or showing a visitor the side of Chicago they'd never find on their own.
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Alchemy Arts
Open since 1989, Alchemy Arts bills itself as Chicago's most complete occult and metaphysical supply store, a…
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Sideshow Gallery
Opened in 2013 by artist Anne Elliott and tattoo-shop co-owner Cheri Basak, this Western Avenue storefront is…
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Augustine's Spiritual Goods
A South Side spiritual boutique that calls itself 'an apothecary for the soul,' specializing in hand-made hoo…
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Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr founded this settlement house in 1889, and beyond its serious social-reform…
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International Museum of Surgical Science
North America's only museum devoted to the history of surgery occupies a stately 1917 lakefront mansion model…
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Covet Oddities & Macabre Gallery
Run by Ben and Erica Santine, who moved their collection from Austin to Logan Square, Covet is part oddities…
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Andy's Art, Antiques & Oddities
This LGBTQ+-owned shop mixes the beautiful, the bizarre, and the just plain cool, blending antique furniture…