sudden shutters
San Antonio horror bookstore reads last rites after a year downtown

Ghoulish Books was a haven for the weird and macabre.
Even horror bookstores can't survive every plot twist. Ghoulish Books, at 628 S St. Mary's St near downtown, will close at the end of June.
According to a candid Patreon post and newsletter, owners Max Booth and their wife, Lori Michelle Booth, are splitting their personal and professional lives. Max will be moving to Minneapolis, where they will revive the publishing arm of their business, keeping the Ghoulish name.
Lori, meanwhile, plans to keep the physical space. The indie bookseller will rebrand this summer under a different name, but it’s unclear if it will still focus on dark fiction. Max promised they would update newsletter subscribers as soon as Lori launches new social accounts.
Max and Lori founded the boutique publishing company in 2012, shortly after Max moved to Cibolo. Originally, the pair dubbed the project Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing, but they later rebranded to Ghoulish, both because the long original brand name became annoying to type and to reflect the duo’s “true passion in life: spooky stuff for creeps and weirdos.”
The bookstore followed in 2023, first selling in Selma. The then-couple relocated to its current spot in 2025, where it became a safe space for authors and genre fans rarely reflected in the broader pop culture.
To help speed up their move to Minneapolis and get Ghoulish publishing back on the ground, Max has launched a Ko-Fi crowdfunding campaign. Fans interested in hearing about Lori’s new shop can sign up for Ghoulish’s newsletter online.
