An unprepossessing name for a prepossessing bookstore:
B. Brown & Associates
3534 Stone Way N.
Seattle, WA 98103
Inventory: Fine used and rare books, science fiction, horror, mystery
B. Brown and Associates sits in the middle of a shady row of three great bookstores on the south end of Stone Way, between SeaOcean Book Berth and The Seattle Book Center.
A blue tile oval door handle gives entrance to a tidy little shop which specializes in hardcover first - or limited - edition science fiction, horror and mysteries. This is all top quality stuff, and quite pricey, but a glory adventure for the collector or even us wannabes. There is a terrific collection of boy’s books from early in this century: Tom Swift, Boy Rancher, Boy Scouts, Young Engineers. There is a small paperback shelf with editions of Anais Nin, Bram Stoker, and William Golding, among others, for $4-5.* The hardcovers go anywhere from $25 to $100 – and possibly upwards from there. There is some general literature, books on mountaineering and Native American books to round out the selection. A young man stopped in the shop to ask about books on sports, and was told there were none.
The year I stopped in there was a first edition of Salem’s Lot, by Stephen King, under glass, which went for $700, along with a first edition of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man for $1500. These gems were all well guarded by tiny gargoyles peering from the tops of the bookshelves.
I take it that B. Brown is actually a pseudonym for Little House of Horrors. But you should check it out for yourself.
*Prices are from over ten years ago.