Horror author couple Brian Keene and Mary SanGiovanni announced the planned opening of an independent bookstore in the historic district of Columbia, Pennsylvania, hoping to create a destination spot for book lovers.
According to briankeene.com, the new business called Vortex Books & Comics will open in Spring 2024. The venture is “inspired by Dark Delicacies, Butcher Cabin Books, The Poisoned Pen, Bucket O’ Blood, Mysterious Galaxy, and other indie bookshops,” the married couple shared in the announcement on November 11.
The store will specialize in speculative fiction genres like horror, science fiction, and fantasy.
“We’ll carry a full complement of books from the Big Five, as well as hundreds of books from many cool indie publishers and small presses, and titles in Espanol and other languages,” the announcement stated. “We’ll host weekly signings, readings, workshops, and other events. We know this business and are intimately familiar with its ups and downs, ebbs and flows. Our goal is to make the store a destination.”
Keene is a two-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author, a 2014 World Horror Grand Master recipient, and a cofounder of the Splatterpunk Awards. SanGiovanni is author of Alien: Enemy of My Enemy: An Original Novel Based on the Films from 20th Century Studios and the Bram Stoker Award-nominated novel The Hollower.
“We have seen too many of our peers struggling to write in their later years and dependent upon those advances and royalties from book sales,” the announcement stated. “It’s a sobering and frightening prospect, and we’d like a different future with a second revenue stream so that we can continue to write in our old age. We also want to do something to give back to our peers and our community, both on a national and local level.”
If you want to support Vortex Books & Comics, you can contribute to the GoFundme fundraiser. Proceeds will assist with setup costs for the business.
Visit briankeene.com for the complete announcement.
LIONEL RAY GREEN 
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