Independent Bookstore Seeks New Home

My name is Ross E. Lockhart, and I’m a writer, editor, publisher, and bookseller living in Petaluma, California, a small city located about forty-five minutes north of San Francisco. My wife Jennifer and I moved to Petaluma in 2002, enjoying its small-town feel, historical buildings, and overall sense of community. In 2013, Jennifer and I founded Word Horde, a small press publishing company based out of our home, dedicated to discovering unique voices in horror and dark fantasy literature. Word Horde was founded on the idea that great stories should be given every opportunity to find the right audience, and the belief that literature is an ongoing conversation, where works interact with what came before, and influence what comes after. We have since published 33 titles, several of which have won or been nominated for some of the industry’s top awards, including the Bram Stoker Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the Lambda Award, and the This Is Horror Award.

In October of 2021, we decided to pursue a long-term dream and open our own brick-and-mortar store in Petaluma: The Word Horde Emporium of the Weird & Fantastic. Building on our reputation and experience as an award-winning small press publisher, our goal was to offer a truly independent book and game store with a focus on weird and fantastic fiction, carrying a well-curated selection of weird fiction, horror, science fiction, fantasy, and classics for all ages, as well as tarot cards, games and RPGs, tools for writers, and products from local artists and makers. We found a unique space for our store, as a friend who owns a pet boutique in Petaluma’s historic Warehouse District was looking to downsize and invited us to take over half of her space. The Emporium had its grand opening Halloween weekend, and since opening, the store has received press coverage in the Petaluma Argus Courier, North Bay Bohemian, Locus magazine, and the television program Creature Features.

We have built a community-focused neighborhood bookstore that showcases small press publishing and elevates marginalized voices, offering a fun, welcoming space for all. We planned to grow over the months and years into a hub that could host author events, writing workshops, gaming, and other activities.

In early March, we received some tough news. After twenty-four years in this location, Our Best Friends, the pet boutique that we sublease space from, has lost their lease, so we will need to be out of the building by May 31, 2022. We’re viewing this setback as an opportunity for growth, and we’re already looking at new spaces for the Emporium (and the pet boutique). We plan to stay in Petaluma and continue in our mission to share the weird with the town we love and live in.

We’ve put a lot of work into the current space, not just investing time and money into fixtures and improvements but also investing a lot of heart and soul. While we intended to be in this spot for the long haul, a bookstore is, at its heart, a moveable feast, and we are confident that the Emporium can continue to evolve and grow in a new location.

Relocation will require a significant increase in rent, as well as a deposit and substantial moving costs. We humbly request your assistance in raising these necessary funds, by contributing whatever you can (no donation is too small), or even just sharing a link to our GoFundMe campaign. Whether you are a member of our Petaluma community, the genre fiction community, the gaming community, or all three, we thank you and appreciate your willingness to help us spread the weird throughout Petaluma, Sonoma County, the Bay Area, and beyond!