Posts tagged ‘Baldwin’s Book Barn’
THE GHOST OF E. A. POE
THE GHOST OF E. A. POE
My latest published short story, The Price of Success, was published this month by Yellow Mama. Accompanying the story was a drawing by April Lafleur which capture the essence of the story.
The Price of Success reveals the unexpected results a writer of horror has when collaborating with the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe. Accepting help from the ghost the struggling writer realizes, only too late, the consequences of his decision.
The primary location of this story is Baldwin’s Book Barn one of my favorite bookstores located in West Chester, PA. Home of one of the finest used bookstores in the country.
BALDWIN’S BOOK BARN
On the outskirts of West Chester, PA is an unsurpassed emporium of used books, Baldwin’s Book Barn.
The store, located in an actual barn, is a rambling five-floor store of used books, almost exclusively hard cover editions. A booklover could easily get lost for hours of enjoyment. Name a subject and you will find shelves of books covering that topic.
The reason I mention this bookstore is that I have two short stories which take place in this store. One of which has been recently published for the second time.
Back to my love of this store.
I am intrigued by old books, and this is the place to find a trove of them. I own a few old volumes. My oldest is a book of English history published in 1794. I enjoy holding such a book, letting my mind drift to the era it represents. Considering what life was like and who was alive when that book was published.
On a recent visit I purchased a book entitled Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars, 1861-1865 published in 1890. I find value in owning a book published shortly after the event or era no matter what the subject.
An example of this interest is an eight-volume set, not purchased at Baldwin’s, titled The Story of the Great War. The first volume is copyrighted 1916. So, this set of books was not only written shortly after the event but during the event.
This is a true example of current events.
Here is a link to the store.
THE HORROR AT LAKE HARMONY: HORROR SHORT STORY, PART II
This story was published by Necrology Shorts in January 2010.
THE HORROR AT LAKE HARMONY
It began with an innocent trip to Baldwin’s Book Barn, a store which sold old and rare books. Baldwin’s was located in a rambling five-story barn. Set in the bucolic Pennsylvania countryside, it was my favorite haunt. I was in love with books, the older the better. I enjoyed breathing in the smell of old print and paper and wondered at the people who once owned these old tomes. My favorite time to visit was on a spring night when the customers were few. The store manager opened the barn doors to the surrounding fields, creating a natural setting for the store’s many books stacked in old orange crates. One pleasant spring night I parked in the gravel parking lot. I made my way up the rickety stairs, being sure to bend low so I wouldn’t tear my scalp on the low doorframes.
On the second floor, I walked past a door that was always locked, the door to the rare book room. A faint glow emanating from beneath the door had caught my attention, and then it was gone. My eyes traveled to the edge of the door. It was slightly ajar, a fact that had escaped my attention until that glow caught my eye. I entered and found beautiful leather bound volumes with gold leaf. I wandered among the shelves in the room filled with books I could never afford.
Off in a corner I noticed a slim volume on a table. The cover was leather with black letters; ‘Folklore of Pennsylvania and the Surrounding Area’. I knew some of the local myths, stories that made the tabloids or the local news when they had space to fill, such as the Jersey Devil rumored to inhabit the Pine Barrens of Southern New Jersey. But this book appeared to be a serious and ancient text. With mounting curiosity I confronted the volume. A ribbon, marking a site of interest, peeked from the bottom of the book and upon being opened, the book yielded naturally to theses pages. With a mixture of awe and curiosity, I inspected the story of the Legend of the Ancients. I sat in a round-backed chair, and with curiosity, soon became lost in the book.
Walttriznastories's Blog 