Columns > Published on September 11th, 2012

Indie Bookstore Spotlight: Dark Carnival, Berkeley, CA

ADDRESS: 3086 Claremont Ave. Berkeley, CA 94705

HOURS: Monday - Saturday: 10:30am - 7pm, Sunday: 12pm - 6pm

ON THE WEB: Site

HISTORY: Dark Carnival first opened its doors in 1976, when owner Jack Rems was just 21. Three locations and 37 years later, this self-described "bookstore of the imagination" offers an unmatched selection of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Mystery. Rems estimates that the store currently has around 60,000 books, "Unless I'm wrong, which is very possible." Over the years, Dark Carnival has held events with such esteemed authors as Ray Bradbury, Anne Rice, and Douglas Adams. "Philip K. Dick was supposed to come once," remembers Rems with a smile, "But we had to reschedule a couple times...It never worked out."

Dark Carnival also published The Barker, a quarterly magazine that featured fiction and journalism. While now sadly defunct, the archives are still available online.

NEIGHBORHOOD: Just a short walk from the Rockridge BART station, this seemingly sleepy stretch of Claremont Avenue boasts everything one needs for an intensive browsing session. Most important is Dark Carnival's sister store, Escapist Comics, which opened just 18 months ago. Coffee is available from the rightly beloved Semifreddi's Cafe, which also makes amazing baked goods. And if you get hungry after hours of geeking out, Star Grocery offers great sandwiches and as wide a selection of organic/local/handmade "specialty foods" as you could ever expect in the Bay Area.

WHY IT'S AWESOME: Not to repeat myself, but 60,000 books?!? And it's not just the quantity, but the quality of Dark Carnival's selection that is really impressive. Spend a few minutes perusing the packed shelves and you will be inundated with high classics, forgotten favorites, and intriguing new discoveries. If you're overwhelmed, Rems and his staff are always happy to share their wisdom on every sort of theme and sub-genre inside the store.

In fact, Dark Carnival feels like the book fort every nerd dreams about. The deceptively small storefront leads into a welcoming warren of rambling shelves stuffed with new and used books, as well as idiosyncratic memorabilia. This is a place built for comfort, where no one gives you a second look for lying down on the floor while browsing through a stack of prospective purchases. Rems observes that this casual atmosphere belies the store's admirable standards of organization, "I have people come in and say, 'Are these books in any kind of order?'" That being said, there are a few quirks, such as the fact that authors A-J are in one part of the space, with K-Z continuing across the room. "It's a singularity," admits Rems.

VERDICT: Not to repeat myself (again), but 60,000 books?!? A pilgrimage to Dark Carnival is a must for any serious sci-fi/fantasy fan and bookstore lover.


View Larger Map

Header photo by khaosworks

About the author

Originally from Concord, Massachusetts, Jon Korn spent a decade in Los Angeles trying to get warm. He now lives in Oakland, where he works as a writer and film festival programmer. Over the past 10 years, Jon has watched tens of thousands of movies for the Sundance Film Festival, AFI FEST, Outfest, and CineVegas, among others. Not all of them were good, but it is still a wonderful job. Jon is the co-creator of the Echo Park Time Travel Mart and a Jeopardy! champion. His hobbies include cooking, being sad about baseball, and not answering the phone.

Similar Columns

Explore other columns from across the blog.

Book Brawl: Geek Love vs. Water for Elephants

In Book Brawl, two books that are somehow related will get in the ring and fight it out for the coveted honor of being declared literary champion. Two books enter. One book leaves. This month,...

The 10 Best Sci-Fi Books That Should Be Box Office Blockbusters

It seems as if Hollywood is entirely bereft of fresh material. Next year, three different live-action Snow White films will be released in the States. Disney is still terrorizing audiences with t...

Books Without Borders: Life after Liquidation

Though many true book enthusiasts, particularly in the Northwest where locally owned retailers are more common than paperback novels with Fabio on the cover, would never have set foot in a mega-c...

From Silk Purses to Sows’ Ears

Photo via Freeimages.com Moviegoers whose taste in cinema consists entirely of keeping up with the Joneses, or if they’re confident in their ignorance, being the Joneses - the middlebrow, the ...

Cliche, the Literary Default

Original Photo by Gerhard Lipold As writers, we’re constantly told to avoid the cliché. MFA programs in particular indoctrinate an almost Pavlovian shock response against it; workshops in...

A Recap Of... The Wicked Universe

Out of Oz marks Gregory Maguire’s fourth and final book in the series beginning with his brilliant, beloved Wicked. Maguire’s Wicked universe is richly complex, politically contentious, and fille...

Reedsy | Editors with Marker (Marketplace Editors)| 2024-05

Submitting your manuscript?

Professional editors help your manuscript stand out for the right reasons.