While many indie bookstores are bulking up on horror, several entrepreneurs are taking it a step further by opening stores exclusively dedicated to scary reads. These new booksellers are looking to take advantage of a 7% uptick in sales in the genre through the first nine months of 2025, compared to the same period last year, according to Circana BookScan.
“Horror,” says Michaela Granger, who opened Midslumber Media in Portland, Ore. in March, “has always been popular in books and movies across the board.” But she thinks the genre is surging now because of “the state the world”: “Horror has always been deeply political; it’s the place where heavy conversations can be had. Horror is intense.”
Granger became a bookseller because none of Portland’s indies are dedicated to horror. After she came upon a 700-square-foot space that was “too perfect to pass up,” she started selling new and used books, including classic and gothic horror, as well as movies.
According to Granger, customers want books written by women and books with LGBTQ+ content. Her top seller is Tender Is the Flesh by Argentine author Agustina Bazterrica, translated from the Spanish by Sarah Moses. “People feel safe here, coming in and looking for those kinds of titles,” Granger adds.
Dreadful Bookshop in Casper, Wyo., opened its doors, appropriately enough, on Friday, June 13, this year. Owner Trinity Beck says she was “sold out of everything” by Saturday evening. The store currently sells only used books, but Beck intends to eventually sell new books too.
“Horror is my favorite genre—I love everything about it,” says Beck, who worked at Bookin’ It, another used bookstore, before opening her own shop in an approximately 600-square-foot space on the third floor of the same building. “I wanted to create a space where people could come and not feel judged for liking what they like,” Beck explains.
Roxane Guiney of Seattle’s Haunted Burrow Books says she began selling books at swap meets, flea markets, and book fairs. Once she had the idea to open a bookstore, she recalls, “it seemed a natural fit. I really enjoy trying to find a book that’s going to fit somebody’s interest.” Favorite handsells include Come Closer by Sara Gran and Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward.
The appeal of horror books, according to Guiney, lies in psychological suspense. “It’s not so much the blood and guts and jump scares that you’ll find in a horror movie,” she says. “It’s the creeping dread—getting sucked into an atmosphere. You’re in the mindset of somebody who is psychologically breaking down. That, I think, is what a horror book can do really well.”
Haunted Burrow opened in late June and sells primarily new books in a 1,600-square-foot space. It also stocks puzzles and spooky sidelines created by local artists.
Brooklyn’s Twisted Spine Bookstore opened its doors in September. Co-owner Jason Mellow explains that he and his partner, Lauren Komer, decided to open the store to fill a niche. “We assumed that there would be a bookstore in New York City that would have a large section of horror books, and we were surprised there wasn’t one,” Mellow says. “Horror, specifically dark literature, is not really
getting a chance to shine at your average bookstore, and we thought there’s a market for it.”
He and Komer might be right about that: at one point there was a two-hour wait to enter the 1,250-square-foot premises on opening day, and the store regularly places large orders to keep its inventory replenished. “We put something out, and it gets snapped up immediately,” Mellow notes.
Twisted Spine already has a vibrant schedule of author events, such as an October 21 reading to mark the paperback release of American Rapture by CJ Leede, followed by a screening of Zombieland. “We’re trying to appeal in our programming to anyone who likes horror, whether it’s books or movies or music,” Mellow says. “Twisted Spine is the kind of place where anyone can come in and feel welcome—even though it’s a little dark.”
