The third room downstairs contains genre fiction in three flavours:

Horror includes classics such as the ghost stories of M. R. James and the works of H. P. Lovecraft and some Poe, as well as contemporary works from Clive Barker to Dean Koontz to Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.

Mystery and Thriller has everything from classic crime fiction like the works of Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to classic noir and boiled like Chandler and Hammett, plus recent detective, historical, and medical thrillers.

Science Fiction and Fantasy. We carry a variety of recent and classic authors, but fans of any sub-genre will find something here, whether they be fans of the comic fantasy, the traditional fantasy epic, the sociological commentary, the cyperpunk, the idea story, the cyclical legend, the fantastical adventure story....

Why is it called Meara's Room?

Another of our favourite 'ghosts,' or people who haunt the shop on a regular basis, is Nialle's sister Meara, a local artist and art student with an old fondness for fantasy and science fiction. One might suspect that this stemmed from the coincidence of two of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films being released on Meara's birthday, but it dates from earliest childhood, when Meara first demonstrated her infant language-acquisition skills by asking to be lifted up in Klingon. (Her request actually translated to "beam me up," but the accompanying raised-arms gesture clarified her words.) She's an avid reader across genres, but this is her old favourite.

Moments later, someone bought that copy of Snow Crash, one of our all-time favourite books.