SF Bookstores

These are (or were at one time) many physical Science Fiction walk-in specialty stores with regular open hours. They are not general bookstores which carry SF nor sf specialty operations by mail or on the internet. They may also carry allied genres such as mysteries, comics, or games.

This list covers stores which describe themselves as specializing in SF (though they may include other genres as well) and which have a physical store. It deliberately excludes mailorder services.

When a date is listed as floreat (fl.) this indicates dates for which we have evidence of the store being open, but not necessarily its actual starting or ending date. Stores currently in operation are boldfaced.

Store	City	Dates
20th Century Books	Madison, WI	1979–current
Adventures in Crime and Space	Austin, TX	fl. mid-90s–2002
The Alchemist's Head	Dublin, Ireland	fl. 1977–81
Aleph Bookstore	Evanston, IL	??–??
Alternate Worlds	Melbourne, Vic., Australia	1988–
Amber Unicorn Bookshop	Las Vegas	1981–1997, 2008–2020
Andromeda Bookshop	Cradley Heath	1971–?? (moved to Birmingham, UK)
Andromeda Bookshop	Birmingham, UK	??–late Jan. 2002 and Apr. 19, 2002–Aug 26, 2005
The Asimov Bookshop	Sydney, NSWAustralia	March 9, 1985–??
Astral Castle	Midland, Texas	1995–current
b. brown & Associates	Seattle	??–2021
Bakka Books	Toronto	1972–current (as Bakka Phoenix Books)
Barry R. Levin Science Fiction & Fantasy Literature	Santa Monica, CA	Jan. 1, 1973–September 2016
Big Cat Books	El Cerrito, CA	1977–??
The Black Hole	Adelaide, South Australia	1978–1986
Bookends	Cheapstow, London	fl. 1974
Books and Music	London	1970s
Books of Wonder	New York City	fl. 1981
Borderlands Books	San Francisco	Nov. 3, 1997–current
A Change of Hobbit	Los Angeles	1972–Feb 1991
Cloak and Rocket	Ann Arbor, MI	defunct by late 1973
Cold Drake Books	Winnipeg
Compleat Enchanter	Minneapolis	1979
Dangerous Visions	LA	fl. 1981-206
Dark Carnival	Berkeley, CA	1978–2017
Dark They Were and Golden Eyed	London	<1974–1981
Dragon's Lair	Adelaide, South Australia
DreamHaven	Minneapolis	Apr. 1, 1977–2011 (predominantly mail order) / 2013 (store closed), and April 2015–current
Dymocks SF Store	Sydney	June 6, 1995–2000 (at least)
Electric Adventures	Hobart, Tas., Australia	??–1995
Ellison Hawker Bookshop	Hobart, Tas., Australia	??–current
F. and S. F. Book Co.	Staten Island, NY	1950s–90s
Fantastic Planet	Perth, Western Australia	Aug 21, 2005–2012 (renamed Stefen's Books)
Fantasy Archives	Manhattan
Fantasy Book Centre	London	1960s
Fantasy Centre	London	??–2009
Fantasy, Etc.	San Francisco, CA	Fl. 1987
Farenheit SF & Fantasy Bookshop	Melbourne, Vic., Australia	??–2004
Fat Cat Books	Johnson City, NY	1976–July 31, 2010
Fat Cat Comics	Johnson City, NY	Aug 1, 2010–current
Ferret Fantasy, Ltd	Upper Tooring, London	fl 1974
Flights of Fantasy	Albany, NY	??–current
Flights of Fantasy	Seattle
Forbidden Planet	Manhattan	??–current
Forbidden Planet	UK	??–current
Future Dreams	Portland, OR	Fl. 1986
Future Fantasy	Palo Alto, CA	Fl. 1987
Galactic Enterprises	Near Baltimore, MD	1981
Galactic Trading Post	Adelaide, South Australia
Galaxy Bookshop	Sydney, NSWAustralia	1975–current
Gaslight Books	Canberra, ACT, Australia	1989–2014
The Great Escape	Louisville, KY	fl. 1983
Hobbit House	Kansas City, MO	fl. 1974
Hole in the Wall Books	Falls Church, VA	Fl. 1983
Horizon Books	Seattle
Hourglass	Philadelphia	founded 1975
House of Speculative Fiction Ottawa, ON	Fl. 1984
Hydra Bookshop	??, New Zealand
The Illustrated Store	Portland, OR	1976–??
Infinitas Bookshop	Sydney, NSWAustralia	1991–2012
Interstellar Master Traders	Lancaster, UK	1990s?
Known Space Books	Adelaide, South Australia	1987–??
Legends Sci-Fi & Fantasy Shop	Launceston, Tas., Australia	1994–??
Lois Newman Books	Boulder, CO	fl. 1974
Looking Glass Bookstore	Portland, OR	Fl. 1986
Medway Science & Fantasy Centre Bookshop	Gillingham, UK	Fl. 1952
Minotaur	Melbourne, Vic., Australia	(previously a comics shop) 1984–current
Merlin's Closet	Providence, RI	1979–??
Mindbridge	Baltimore, MD	fl. 1977
Moonstone Bookcellars	Washington, DC	Fl. 1979-87
Mysterious Galaxy	Redondo Beach, CA	2011–current
Mysterious Galaxy	San Diego, CA	1993–current
The Nostalgia Shop	Memphis, TN	late ’70s
Notions Unlimited Bookshop	Melbourne, Vic., Australia	March 6, 2012–August 20, 2014
Odyssey Bookshop	Louisville, KY	fl. 1983
Of Science & Swords	Melbourne, Vic., Australia	??–2013
Other Change of Hobbit	Berkeley, CA	1997–??; 2012–??
Other Worlds	West Warwick, RI
Otherland	Berlin, Germany	??–current
Pandemonium Books and Games	Cambridge, MA	1989–current
Phantasia Science Fiction & Mystery Bookshop	Sydney, NSWAustralia	Oct 9, 1996–2000 (at least); switched to mailorder by Feb 2001
Phantasmagoria Books	Dulwich, London	fl. 1974
Poor Richard's Store	El Cerrito, CA	fl. 1974
Pulp Fiction	Brisbane, Qld, Australia	1995–current
Purple Unicorn Books	Duluth, MN	fl. 1976
Robert A. Hittel Bookseller	Ft. Laudale, FL	Fl. 1985-86
Saratoga SF and Mystery	Saratoga, NY
Sargasso Book Shop	Lakewood, CO	fl. late ’60s
Science Fantasy Bookstore	Harvard Sq, Cambridge, MA	1977–89
Science Fiction Bookshop	Edinburgh
Science Fiction, Mysteries and More	Manhattan, NY	fl. 1992
Science Fiction Plus	Rochester, NY
The Science Fiction Shop	Manhattan, NY	fl. 1974-1977
Science Fiction Syndicate	Austin, TX	Fl. early 30s
Sentry Box	Calgary, AL
SF&F Book Service	Staten Island, NY	1950s-90s
SF-Bokhandeln	Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmo	1978–present
Science Fiction Unlimited	Los Angeles, CA	mid-1950s
Slow Glass Books	Melbourne, Vic	1993–2002; has switched back to mail order
Space Age Books	Melbourne, Vic	opened before Apr 1971, closed Dec 1985
The Space-Crime Continuum	Northhampton, MA
Space, Time and Crime
The Space Merchants	Perth, W.A.	1984–??
Starlite Books	St. Paul, MN	early 1977–??
The Stars Our Destination	Chicago, IL	1988–2003
Stefen's Books	Perth, W.A.	2012–current
Stellar Bookseller	Boca Raton, FL	Fl. 1989–91
Stephen's Book Service	New York, NY	1950s and ’60s
Supernova Books	Perth, W.A.	1985–2005 (became Fantastic Planet)
Tales from the White Hart	Baltimore	1975–97
Tales of Space and Crime	Saratoga, NY
The Time Machine	Des Moines, IA	mid-70s?
Tim's White Dwarf	Perth, Western Australia	??–current
A Time When...	Carmichael, CA	fl. 1981
A Touch of Strange	Perth, Western Australia	1988–2000
Transreal Fiction	Edinburgh	1997–current
Uncle Hugo's	Minneapolis	March 2, 1974–current
White Dwarf Books	Vancouver, BC	1978–current
Wonder World	Seattle, WA	fl. 1987
Wonderworld	Long Beach, CA	fl. 1974
Zap!	Brisbane, Qld, Australia

See also Category:Store.

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Store

1950s—

This is an SF bookstore page. When a floreat "fl." is listed it records the dates for which we have evidence and may not be the store's entire span.

If applicable, please include category Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Ireland, NZ, UK, US, ROW or World.