You've entered the front room of the Haunted Bookshop. Here you'll find the counter, where owner Nialle Sylvan is at work. Here are some comfortable chairs you're welcome to occupy. Here, too, is a piano (guests are invited to play - Nierme, one of our cats, is passionately fond of piano music, and we enjoy it too), and here are artworks and textiles by local artists we're proud to know. Here are toys, especially puppets, for the enjoyment of all our visitors, and here are some free, locally printed magazines and newspapers supplied by our friends.

And here are the bookshelves:

Young Adult Books include classic works by Milne and Lewis, old favourites like Dahl and Cleary, recent books by Philip Pullman and Brian Jacques, and Newbery winners. We also keep some Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and other collectible series, and some non-fiction in a variety of subject areas. We are also proud to carry a variety of frequently-banned books.

Young Readers are geared toward the 4 to 8 year old set. Here, too, are collectibles like the Little Golden Books.

Picture Books include Dr. Seuss and illustrated versions of fairy tales and other old favourites as well as Caldecott medal winners, books celebrating many cultures, retellings of folktales, beautifully illustrated works like the books of Graeme Base, and more. We also carry a selection of "board books," books in languages other than English, and a selection of non-fiction, like history and the sciences. NEW! A shelf just for bedtime story books - big picture and story books with selections just the right length for a night's reading!

Ghost Stories - mostly geared toward younger readers, but with some grown-ups' tales, too.

Gift Books and Miniature Books include some lovely gift possibilities like books about cats (of course), as well as some pocket editions from publishers like the Peter Pauper Press and Shambhala. If we have any decks of Tarot cards at present, they're here, too.

Audio Books in both cassette and CD format.

The "Cooking Wines" of Vintage Books. Some of these are 80-120 years old, including fiction, schoolbooks, picture books, and more. They're perfect for lovers of old illustrations, pretty bindings or just an entertaining glimpse at the past - and they are only $1 each.

Benefit Sale books are bargain priced at $1.00 for hardcovers and 50 cents for paperbacks, and all proceeds go to Local Foods Connection, an organization that helps families in need to obtain fresh, locally produced foods.

Books for Teachers and Home Educators face into the hallway. These titles are appropriate for teachers of preschool through high school students, including lesson plans, unit books, books on teaching techniques and classroom management, educational colouring books and craft activity books, and more.

Crafts, Blank Books and Journals, and Cookbooks also face into the hallway. We carry primarily books on sewing, quilting, knitting and crochet in our craft section; our cooking section includes a variety of regional, local, vegetarian and nutrition-oriented books. We also like to keep a shelf of essays by gourmands and chefs.

First, Signed or Rare Editions ranging from the antiquarian to the modern (additional antiquarian and scarce titles are in the glass case by the counter).

New Arrivals are in the hall between Stephen's and Claire's rooms.

Why is it called Leiden's Room?

One of our favourite 'ghosts,' or people who haunt the shop on a regular basis, is Leiden, who has been visiting the shop for many years and has celebrated her eleventh and twelfth birthdays here, as well as bearing the rings at the Sylvans' wedding, which took place in this room in December 2005. A voracious reader, Leiden has already tackled Melville and Dumas and can often be found in one of these chairs, ruminating over anything from Oliver Sacks to recent fiction or discussing her imaginary world (complete with case-based languages, evolutionary histories, mythologies, and socioeconomic structures).