Werewolf Bookshop
The Werewolf Bookshop was a mail-order SF bookstore that advertised in prozines from the late 1930s through the ’70s, originally located at 227 - E So. Atlantic Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, and later with an address in Verona, PA.
Early on, it also operated as the Werewolf Lending Library, a books-by-mail rental library. In 1939, at least, there were small fan gatherings at the library. It charged three cents a day plus postage to loan out books by writers such as H. P. Lovecraft, A. Merritt and Seabury Quinn.
Later, it touted quality books for sale at a good price, but reports said it delivered garbage, frequently not even the same titles.
The owner, Robert Hartley Michael (1912–1973), was federally indicted in March 1964 for 15 acts of mail fraud between September 1962 and January 1964, and convicted in June 1964. He was soon back in business, though, and Werewolf Bookshop ads appeared in the prozine classifieds into the 1970s.
- “Way Down in Verona” by Howard DeVore, Mimosa 21 (December 1997).
- “Some 1965 Amazing Stories ads were too amazing to be true” by Chris Otto, Papergreat, January 24, 2017 (archived).
| Store | 1939—1970s |
| 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. |
