The York Ghost Merchants

The York Ghost Merchants is a specialist gift shop at 6 Shambles in central York. It was founded by Angus McArthur and David Bloodworth and opened on 16 August 2019. The shop occupies a Grade II-listed late-18th-century building, generally dated to around 1780, on one of York’s best-known historic streets.

The shop produces and sells small sculptural figures known as York Ghosts. Each figure is made by hand in workshops above the Shambles shop or at the company’s premises on St Saviourgate. They are produced in small batches rather than by mass-production methods, resulting in variations in shape, surface, colour and finish. Each figure carries an embossed maker’s mark and is sold in a specially designed travelling box. The larger Original York Ghost is also wrapped in a reproduction of an 1852 map of York.

The principal products include Original York Ghosts, smaller Little York Ghosts and figures known as Phantoms, which are distinguished by coloured eyes. The company also releases limited Black Box Editions, often produced in collaboration with other craftspeople and using materials or techniques not employed for the standard range. These editions are numbered and packaged with information identifying the batch, date and merchant responsible for approving the figure.

The interior of the Shambles shop was designed in the style of a Georgian merchant’s premises, with dark wooden panelling, display cabinets and shelves holding hundreds of figures. Customers select individual ghosts from the displays rather than choosing a standard model, and the variations between the handmade figures have contributed to their development as collectable objects. The shop became widely known through social media and regularly attracts queues, particularly during October and around Halloween.

The business presents its products through an invented mythology involving the Sorrowful Guild of Master Ghost Makers and a supposedly ancient tradition of ghost making. This material forms part of the shop’s fictional branding and storytelling rather than the documented history of the building or an actual medieval guild. The genuine historical context is York’s extensive tradition of ghost stories, haunted-location folklore and organised ghost walks, which provided the basis for creating a distinctive supernatural-themed souvenir connected with the city.

The York Ghost Merchants has expanded beyond the original shop. A second retail location called The Dispensary opened in St Anthony’s Garden in 2023. Its St Saviourgate premises contain the main workshop and the appointment-based Guild Room, where selected rare and unusual figures are offered. Small batches are also released online, although demand frequently exceeds the number available.

The company organises Ghost Week, an annual programme held around Halloween at several locations in York. Activities have included the Little York Ghost Hunt, temporary installations, short-film screenings, games, limited-edition releases and collaborations with local organisations and independent businesses. The event has helped establish a wider community of collectors while linking the shop with York’s existing ghost-tour and folklore traditions.