Have you visited Horror Mall yet?
If not, feel free to click on the banner image just below and to the left. It’s an affiliate link that will take you there and if you make a purchase, I’ll get a small amount of change to help keep this website going. If you don’t like affiliate links, feel free to type in http://www.horror-mall.com/ into your address box or use a search engine and type in: Horror Mall.
When you visit Horror Mall it can seem overwhelming for the first time. How do you find things? Where do you go? All valid questions. They were the same ones floating in my head the first time I visited. Luckily for you, I have a handy-dandy travellin’ guide right here.
Search Engine:
Other online bookstores have a search engine displayed prominently across the top. You type in the author or title and the database spits out the most likely matches. For Horror Mall, the search engine is smaller and to the left hand side towards the top. But don’t let its smallness fool you, it will return matches on anything the Mall has in stock or will soon have in stock.
Type in the name Gary Braunbeck and you get four books written or edited by Gary. Then you get a list of two types of books: One type has Gary’s name appearing in the description text — as in a recommendation from Gary, while the other are books by authors who share part of his name, such as Gary Fry’s horror novels.
Scroll down the page even further and you get some breakdown information from the search engine, which if you’re a search geek like me, you’ll love, but most people can pass over. Below that is a tag cloud of search teams that often accompany Gary Braunbeck’s name, with the bigger words being used in the search more often than the smaller words.
Below all of that, is the page count, if your search returns more than one page. Yes, you’ll need to scroll down a little bit to get to the link to take you to page two. Generally with search engines, most people never leave page one — but don’t be like that here. Click on page two and three if you get them. You’ll never know what you’ll find there . . . perhaps the book or author you were looking for.
If you have a more difficult search, try clicking on the “advance search” link to the right of the search box. There you’ll be presented with options for your search that will make you giddy with delight . . . if you’re a search geek like me.
Categories:
Another way to find books, or just to browse Horror Mall’s wares, is the use the categories section in the left hand column, below the search box.
Advance Order will show you what’s coming up but not in yet. This is a great place to snag your limited edition copy now before they’re all sold out.
Click on the Book category and you get a list of options: Authors, Publishers, Lettered Hardcovers, Hardcovers, Paperbacks, and so on.
Click on Authors or Publishers and you’ll get another list of horror authors or publishers that you’ll find here at Horror Mall. Click on the name and you’ll get the complete list of items available by the author or publisher. This is a neat way to browse but it doesn’t include a lot of small presses or newer authors who are just getting started. You won’t find everything by browsing the categories section.
Digital Editions lists the ebooks available at Horror Mall by Format — Digital Shorts, Digital Chapbooks, Digital Novellas, etc., and by publisher. Digital Download is the term often used for ebooks at Horror Mall and Mall owner Shane Ryan Staley has said on several occasions that he believes digital ebooks are the future for horror. He’s backing up his words by growing the ebook section — adding new titles frequently.
Book Reviews:
Below categories is a random book review which changes each time you return to Horror Mall or just refresh the page. It’s worth checking out. I’ve discovered a couple of books to purchase by reading the review.
The Bestseller Lists:
Below that is testimonials and after that is another section I enjoy tremendously: The Horror Mall Bestseller List. There you can see the top ten bestsellers of last month in the following categories: Pre-Order, Books and Digital.
Pre-Orders are the books that are being purchased even though they haven’t been published yet. You can check out Horror Mall’s FAQ for information on the rules of pre-ordering a book. Books are the bestselling books and Digital are the bestselling ebooks of last month. Each title links to its page where you can read more about them and make a purchase if you want.
Read-Alikes:
Finally there is a sort of computer-generated list of read-alikes at the bottom of most book pages. These titles are books that customers bought when they purchased the book you’re looking at. The thinking is that someone who buys a book by Edward Lee will purchase books by similar authors like Wrath James White. Of course, there are people like me who by all types of horror and mess that system up, so take it with a grain of salt.
Introduction to Horror Mall Series:
Part 1 — What is Horror Mall, Anyway?
Part 2 — How can I find stuff at Horror Mall?
Part 3 — How Do I Purchase Stuff at Horror Mall?
Part 4 — The Digital Download from Horror Mall
Part 5 — What if I Have Problems at Horror Mall?
Part 6 — Some Final Words about Horror Mall
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