Horror Aficionados discussion

For years now, I haven't been able to find any good horror books because it is just too difficult and time consuming to go through rows and rows of "Fiction/literature" books at B & N and other stores. It was so much nicer when horror actually had it's own section and everything was together and easy to find. Whoever determined that horror was an emotion and not deserving of a genre is deluded.
To find a good scary book now, I do check out the few and limited shelves of my local used book stores (they still have horror as its own section- but tiny. I also browse Amazon to see what others have read that liked a certain book I just read, also checking any listmanias and such. It's such a process when it could be so easy (and way more fun) just to go to the store and walk to the horror section and browse.

LOL. Yes, many before you here at HA have moaned and pissed about this very thing. You're in the right place, Tracy.

Borders has a section just for horror books. Alas, B&N does not. If I am looking specifically for horror, I go to Borders.

Yes, this is why I prefer Borders to B&N.

I'm lucky. My bookstore has a horror section. It wasn't always that way, though. I hope it stays.

My used bookstore has a horror section, but no else does. I try to know what I am looking for....plus I have noticed BN does put some of the horror into the mystery or thriller section.

It's freaking annoying. B&N lumps them in with fiction/mystery/scifi and I'm way too lazy to scour all the racks. My local UBS has a small horror section but the titles rarely change.

Ive been using the new genre feature here which is pretty good but still in its infancy. The quick link is HERE . I also rely on searches here and my friends bookshelves and updates.

The failure to acknowledge horror as an independent genre is definitely annoying. There are times when it works out, though. Like when I found this one the other day; The Grass Crown because it was also lumped into general fiction.

Thanks
I didn't know there was a horror subsection.

My B&N still has a horror section, a pretty big one too. Their problem is that they move it between each visit. O_o

Me: Marco?
Horror section: ....
Me: Marco??
Horror section: ....
Me: Marco?! Dammit I know you're here somewhere!
Horror section: .... *sinister giggle*
Me: Marco!! I HEARD YOU GIGGLE!
Horror section: ..Polo.. *runs ice cold finger down my neck*
Me: *turns around real fast* You sunnova... You've just been right behind me the whole time! >_>

You guys should complain to B&N management! And do it every time you go in. Maybe even start a petition.

I think that is a good idea. I know our BN is pretty big and they would have room for it too.

I'm serious! Make a stand for horror. :)

I think there are only two used bookstores in Philly with a horror section and one bookstore on campus, but that section is just so sad and tiny, it's barely worth mentioning...

Bandit wrote: "I think there are only two used bookstores in Philly with a horror section and one bookstore on campus, but that section is just so sad and tiny, it's barely worth mentioning..."

Bandit that is hard to believe! One thing about my hometown(Cincinnati) is that just about every used bookstore has a Horror section. I guess I always took that for granted.

The two used book stores near me have horror sections, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of turnover. After a while it's always the same stuff.

I know, Tim, it's very disappointing, but most of the stores here seem to put horror in with either thrillers of sci-fi/fantasy...drive down and let's start a protest ;)
actually, every small town used bookstore I've ever been too has had a comprehensive separate horror section...Philly must not be horror minded

Bandit wrote: "I know, Tim, it's very disappointing, but most of the stores here seem to put horror in with either thrillers of sci-fi/fantasy...drive down and let's start a protest ;)
actually, every small town ..."

Actually I'm going to be in Philly in a couple of weeks. Every year I pick a city and spend a week there. Could you tell me what are some of your favorite bookstores there?

that sounds really neat, I like you vacation plan, Tim

here's my recommendations for Philly

Booktraders (2nd &Market) best one by far
Mostly Books (5th and Bainbridge & 10th near spruce) first location is larger and has a better horror selection
Thrift for Aids (near 5th and Bainbridge) huge selection of cheap used books, no sections, all proceeds go to charity
Friends of Free Library (20th and callowhill) no horror section, but tons of books all $3 or less

let me know if you want any other recommendations for places for your Philly trip, I'd be happy to help

I used to spend hours in The Book Trader.

remember the old location, Scott? the horror section was SO cramped in there, now one can at least browse in comfort

I haven't been to the new location. You are talking about the one that used to be on South Street, right?

In Cincinnati there is a bookstore(The Ohio Bookstore)that has 5 floors of books! I remember a sign up on the upper floors that said to "Turn Light On and Turn Light Off When Your Done Browsing". Someone could kill you up there and you might not be found for days!

Scott wrote: "I haven't been to the new location. You are talking about the one that used to be on South Street, right?"

yes, Scott, they moved some years ago, the new location is larger/somewhat more organized

Tim wrote: "In Cincinnati there is a bookstore(The Ohio Bookstore)that has 5 floors of books! I remember a sign up on the upper floors that said to "Turn Light On and Turn Light Off When Your Done Browsing". S..."

that's AWESOME, but if you wanna go in and not be found for days, there is always that basement, Tim lol

The old location was pretty large! I guess that shows you how often I go into the city these days...

I like Booktraders, but while their horror section is the best in town, it's far from amazing, so I don't go as often as I used to

It seems like I have knack for finding creepy bookstores. Theres one up here close to where I live thats in an old barn and the sign says "Hours- Whenever I'm Here".

haha...any horror in there?

Tim wrote: "It seems like I have knack for finding creepy bookstores. Theres one up here close to where I live thats in an old barn and the sign says "Hours- Whenever I'm Here"."

LOL. "Be back in 10...gotta body to bury."

Not much horror but there is a lot of sharp farm implements hanging from the overhead beams and the owner has only one arm. So I put 2 and 2 together! Pennsylvania Dutch Country can be very scary sometimes.

Tim wrote: "It seems like I have knack for finding creepy bookstores. Theres one up here close to where I live thats in an old barn and the sign says "Hours- Whenever I'm Here"."

If I ever decide to run a bookstore, I will follow the same business model.

Rusty wrote: "Tim wrote: "It seems like I have knack for finding creepy bookstores. Theres one up here close to where I live thats in an old barn and the sign says "Hours- Whenever I'm Here"."

If I ever decide ..."

Ha, I would also have those hours!

There's a tiny little bookstore in town called Bookworms Cafe and the next nearest are about half an hour from here. I've never been to the Wooster Book Store but I love the used bookstore up there( name changes all the time) . Largely because while the one in town has a tiny horror section (but insanely large romance, inspirational and sci-fi/fantasy sections go fig) they actually have at least a full 3-4 bookshelves of the stuff! Hehe I've found some great stuff there too largely because the big horror fans trade in what they're done with to get books they haven't read yet. That's where i got my Michael McDowell books :)and older Clegg and John Shirley.

Now the nearest chain bookstore IS B and N but that's a full hour and 15 from me and its a much better source for manga and kids books than it is for horror. They have no horror section and cram them arbitrarily in either by alphabetical placement among the general fiction or among other genre books. For example they put the Lovecraft in with the sci-fi fantasy.

until a customer gets mad, picks up a sharp farm implement and there goes a limb

I was sorry to see Borders go bankrupt and lose many of its stores not only because it had a specialized horror section (which demonstrated much more care in placing books than B+N) but because its selection in general was far superior to B+N. I am always astounded at how bad the music, film and art sections are in a typical B+N (in contrast, say, to the massively bloated diet/cookbook section or the "religious fiction" section) Unfortunately I guess Borders lost the e-book battle to the Nook and that contributed greatly to its failure.

I think that would be a great gimmick for a used book store. If it were me, I'd make horror the main theme and stick large knives on the walls, maybe have fake body parts in jars of what looks like formaldehyde.

And of course, the creepy basement, where you keep all the bargain bins. LOL

somebody give Jason a used book store now, please

I'd spend all my dough and time in Jason's bookstore.

It's a good thing I don't own a store like that, because I'd spend all my money and time there too.

Jason wrote: "It's a good thing I don't own a store like that, because I'd spend all my money and time there too."

yeah, but we'd all come over and hang out with you :)

I wonder if this phenomenon of disappearing Horror sections is because of the tween fic and romance overlap with supernatural themes?

You certainly can't classify them as horror, so maybe they just started sticking everything in fiction and the rest in sci-fi.

Anyway, I hate it too. I also hate when horror is lumped with sci-fi/fantasy. Occasionally, these overlap, but when not, there's a distinct difference.

Amanda wrote: "Anyway, I hate it too. I also hate when horror is lumped with sci-fi/fantasy. Occasionally, these overlap, but when not, there's a distinct difference.
..."

This is how it is at two of the thrift stores I shop at. Guess it's two genres that don't take up much shelf space so they're lumped together. At least they do have their own shelf, though.

none of the thrift shops around here have categories at all beyond fiction and non-fiction

I hit a lot of thrift stores, and some of them also have a fiction/nonfiction division. But most at least do take the time to divide the fiction and nonfiction, and then divide those into genres. I think they know they'll sell more books if people don't have to bother sorting through books that are in no order at all. I usually just give these a cursory glance and move on because I don't have the time or energy to look through them.

It's not just Barnes & Noble.

A used book store nearby just moved locations. I checked out the new store and every section was setup except horror.

"I left that for last," the proprietor said.

So there was the horror section, several empty sections except for a few scattered books by King and Koontz and boxes and boxes of horror books.

I volunteered to set up a horror section in one of the local used shops, it's small and sorta hidden, but it's the neatest most accurately alphabetized one in the city :)

Bandit wrote: "I volunteered to set up a horror section in one of the local used shops, it's small and sorta hidden, but it's the neatest most accurately alphabetized one in the city :)"

Thumbs up, Bandit!

Horror...we don't get no respect.

Have to admit, Waterstones is very good for horror. The section is usually immense and quite varied. They must be as enthusiastic as we are!

Craig, maybe we have planted some HA members in those stores. I think we need to do that across the nation. I've done what I could to beef up horror here at the library.