The Haunted Bookshop of Iowa City, Iowa, was established in 1978 and, following a peculiar string of coincidences beginning with a bag of tenpenny nails moving at high speeds,* purchased by Nialle Sylvan in 2004. Nialle owns and operates the store while husband Kurt maintains the growing philosophy collection and pursues his dream to become a philosophy professor. (Nialle and Kurt met in the store, a worthwhile tale featuring several Modern Library editions, some shark-shaped candy and a fateful armload of library books.*) In eight rooms of a quaint turn-of-the-last-century home, the bookshop features 25,000 used, out of print, and antiquarian volumes in 50 sections ranging from children's to philosophy, gedichte to fantasy, and Iowa history to 'biologues' (narratives about living with the land), as well as art and textiles by local artists, a piano (not for sale, but you're welcome to come and play), space for study and book club meetings, a weekly Game Night (Tuesdays, 6-10pm), and our pride and joy (not necessarily respectively), Nierme and Elijah:

Is the shop really haunted? Originally, the name came from Christopher Morley's 1919 novel, but as with human personalities and human faces, the relationship of a bookstore with its name can be complicated. We're not saying that gatherings of white mist, flickering lights or cold spots occur in the shop, but we could tell you three tales that would make you wonder - one starting with a Harry Potter novel and a second-generation Hungarian-American teenager,* one concerning the day Kurt and Nialle married (in the store, in front of the fireplace in the living room),* and one out of the hundreds of stories told to us by people who have experienced the peculiar... luck? coincidence? or benevolence?... to be found here* - and we'd throw in the story about the time a medium visited our shop and described the presence she felt here,* which just might convince even the most hardened skeptic that there's more to our name than three words from the cover of a book.

*The complete versions of these stories are available on request, and are best enjoyed in the comfort of the store's living room, especially during the late afternoon.*

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