By Hannah Shiblaq | hshiblaq@alextimes.com
Despite the fact that many Alexandria residents may think the skeletons and gravestones in the window of 1510 King St. are seasonal, the bookstore’s owner and founder, Chanthal Harris, told the Times Halloween is “year-round” at Long Dark House.
Beyond specializing in horror, sci-fi and “strange stories,” as its website states, it’s obvious that Long Dark House is a sanctuary for the strange. Crossing the store’s threshold, curious customers are also greeted by cutesy plague doctor stuffed animals, sardonic birthday cards and a human-sized, creepy bunny figure that stalks near the register.
The store has caused quite a stir in Old Town since its opening on Sept. 1, to an extent that Harris admits “exceeded all expectations [she] had.”
She said it wasn’t until the first week of October that she “finally felt OK” – specifically with regard to Long Dark House’s stock of books, which was nearly gone following the store’s grand opening on Sept. 5, the Saturday after their first day open on Sept. 1.
“It was so embarrassing,” she recalled. “I was out of books. I had five books spread out on one shelf.”
Employee Amen Nagash came in on Sept. 5 to spectate the chaos – complete with a line stretching halfway down the King Street block. She remembers her fellow employees putting signs up around the store to apologize for the fact that they sold out of their books so quickly.
“That was definitely way more than Chanthal ever expected,” Lee Dobarco-Ramos, who was working that day, said.
Nagash and Dobarco-Ramos agreed weekends at Long Dark House are “nonstop busy” with a consistent rush of customers during the weekdays during lunch breaks and after 5 p.m.
Both Nagash and Dobarco-Ramos have been working at Long Dark House since it opened. They said their interest in the store came long before, though, when Harris first teased its opening on social media.
Dobarco-Ramos said she serendipitously stumbled upon the shop after having visited several other specialty horror bookstores on the East Coast.
“In June I was just thinking to myself, ‘I wonder if anyone’s opening something like that around in the DMV,’” she recalled. “So I Googled, ‘Horror bookstore DMV’ and then I saw that Instagram [post]. … It truly was like the planets were aligning.”
Most of the appeal of working at Long Dark House came from the employees’ shared longtime love for horror and sci-fi, they said.
“It’s goth-y, it’s freaky,” Nagash said. “… My thing is vampires, and I was like, ‘Well, this is vampire adjacent, and I can totally push the vampire agenda here.’”
Harris described Alexandria as the “perfect spot” to actualize her lifelong dream of opening a bookstore.
“I think books for me [were] my first real gateway into developing this sense of adventure, having all these thoughts about what the world could be,” she said. “… I think it was just very formative for me and it helped shape me into who I was.”
Growing up, Harris said she spent a lot of time both telling scary stories and “talking about being scared.” When her brothers began playing video games, she recalls being the only one who wasn’t “too scared” to play the scarier ones, like Silent Hill.
Harris described her childhood home as one “full of books” – mostly science fiction and horror. Harris said her parents are avid readers, especially her dad, who she said is currently on a “cryptid kick” – cryptids being mythical animals like werewolves or dragons.
“I already know he’s going to have some kind of strange program on that has to do with science fiction,” she laughed.
She described horror and sci-fi as her “comfort” genres – something which made focusing on the two for Long Dark House a no-brainer.
“There’s probably some wisdom in trying to have something for everyone or being more general, but I just am super passionate about [horror and sci-fi] and I just felt like it would be more authentic to me to … build around that vision,” Harris said. “… I was going to take a chance like this anyway. … I might as well go all in with what I really, really wanted to do, and so that’s what I did.”
She said that since Long Dark House has opened, she’s “reading so much more now”; she has had to limit herself to reading two to four books at the same time.
As far as the store’s selection, Harris said she pulls from books that she sees listed on Publisher’s Weekly, recommendations from groups on Threads, those she has read herself and those on her “TBR,” or “to be read” list.
“I really just curate off of things that I’m passionate about [or works from the] types of authors I hope to spotlight,” she said, noting that she makes a “conscious effort” to highlight local authors.
Since opening, Long Dark House has welcomed a series of authors for talks and book signings, such as horror writers E.J. Wenstrom, Lauren T. Davila and J.K. Divia.
Harris said she has developed personal relationships with many of the authors that come to the bookstore, forged by way of her “being a nerd” – either by meeting them at conventions, connecting with them online or even by them reaching out to her directly due to their interest in the bookstore.
Harris noted that she loves events “more than anything” – something the bookstore will be doing plenty of as Halloween approaches.
Every Sunday at 9 a.m., Long Dark House hosts a story time for “little readers,” featuring kid-friendly horror and sci-fi – “nothing too scary,” their website states. On Halloween, the bookstore will host another, made festive with accompanying costumes and activities, Harris said.
“I really knew, no matter what, that it was going to be more than a bookstore,” she said.
Throughout October, Long Dark House has also hosted “Socially Haunted,” described as “a mixer for strange people looking for their people,” during which attendees can make friends with fellow horror and sci-fi aficionados by way of conversation prompts, games and simply perusing the bookshelves.
“I know that was really important to Chanthal,” said Dobarco-Ramos, “that it would be accessible for everyone.”
Harris has observed that the customer demographic is vast, from experienced horror readers – some even wearing full regalia from their favorite franchises – to those just looking to satisfy their sweet tooths.
Long Dark House also shares its space with Madame Coco Emporium – a curated chocolate shop which is technically its own separate storefront, despite sharing an address with the bookstore.
“There’s people who come in exclusively for the chocolates but then stay for the books,” Nagash said.
Other passers-by stumble in out of sheer curiosity, several expressing their inexperience with Long Dark House’s highlighted genres.
“[They’ll] just say straight out, ‘I’ve never been interested in these genres, however, could you suggest something?’ That is so fun for us and exciting because we’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, we’re trying to get you over to our side,’” Harris laughed.
Whether they are horror fans, sci-fi fans or neither, she said she is just happy to have an excuse to talk about her favorite genres with anyone who is willing to listen – something she has found is easily achieved in Alexandria and is her “favorite part of the store.”
“I’ve been so happy that the community loves the genre,” she said. “… People have been so open-minded about picking up any authors, or wanting to come listen to these authors, or talk about different picks and [going] outside their comfort zone[s]. … [These are] all the reasons why I fell in love with [Alexandria] to begin with.”
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