Crowdfunding fuels Twisted Spine, city’s first horror bookstore, for a brick

The astronomical fall began last week with the dawn of the autumnal equinox. But the cloud cover says otherwise, as the parching weather still continues to torment New Yorkers. While the leaves are procrastinating the senescence, fall flavors and genres have already started filling menus and "to be read" (TBR) lists with pumpkin spice and spooky reads.

New York City is home to 122 independent bookstores — the most in the country. In the age of doomscrolling and e-commerce, walking into a neighborhood shop for a new read is a rare but much-needed experience.

This autumn, a new arrival in Williamsburg is bringing chills with it. On Grand Street, Twisted Spine — a horror bookstore “straight from the grave” — opened Sept. 6. It’s billed as the city’s first horror-only bookstore, dreamed up b