bookstores

Seattle Genre Bookstores Pop Up

Seattle’s list of independent bookstores grew in 2025, with the addition of two “pop-ups” devoted to genre fiction. Both Haunted Burrow Books on Capitol Hill and Lovestruck in Lake City opened this summer in temporary locations.

Haunted Burrow Books, 430 15th Ave E., specializes in  horror, dark fantasy, sci-fi, and occult books. The temporary store is located near the Punk Rock Flea Market’s ongoing Quality Flea Center (aka the QFC slated for demolition) and should be there through the end of the year. Owner Roxanne Guiney is a member of the Northwest Editor’s Guild and Horror Writers of America. Along with selling new books, the shop offers “Blind Dates” with books wrapped up and sold with a bag of tea. The outer wrapping gives some clues as to the “tropes” of the story, such as “dark academia” or “vampires.” These surprise packages are also available online at https://hauntedburrowbooks.com/.

Lovestruck in Seattle at 12315 Lake City Way NE is a romance book store, open through October with the support of Seattle Restored. The Seattle Restored program works to place local entrepreneurs, pop-ups, and art installations in empty storefronts. McKenna Rain, the artist behind Palm Creative, has mixed her love of romance with her own products to stock Lovestruck. Her retail efforts can be seen at https://palmcreativeshop.com/. Fans of the pink store can also follow it on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lovestruckinseattle/ to find out about special events and drawings.

Bookstores On The Move in 2024

Where would indie writers and publishers be without indie bookstores? Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association recently announced the following moves and, sadly, one closure.

Tacoma will have a new bookstore in 2024: Grit City Books. Established online in 2023, the owners plan to open at 3116 Sixth Ave in the spring. Find out more about the owners and their plans in Shelf Awareness. PNBA also reported another new Tacoma member, the pop-up bookstore Lucky Duck Book Shop.

In Corvallis, Oregon, Grass Roots Books & Music will be moving to a new location in 2024. Established in 1971, the store offers a wide range of books and free shipping for online orders. Keep an eye on their website for updates at grassrootsbookstore.com.

Longtime Seattle bookstore East West Books & Gifts relocated to Edmonds at the end of 2023. Located at 110 Third Ave. N, East West continues to offer a full array of metaphysical books and related items. Once again, they are hosting a packed events calendar too. According to their website: “Edmonds is such a beautiful town with its welcoming people, making it a fantastic destination to visit. We are beyond grateful to be able to reopen East West in this amazing community!” Find out more at the website, still called eastwestseattle.org.

Also in Edmonds, the Neverending Bookshop closed with a party on December 17. Owner Annie Carl recently edited the anthology Soul Jar featuring 31 disabled authors exploring disability representation through horror, science fiction, and fantasy stories. Carl plans to focus on her writing career in 2024.