Antique Literature is a small two-story occult bookstore originally located in Manchester, UK, and recently relocated from there to Xanadu. Owned by Edmund Leftwich and operated by December Lehane, business is modestly booming.
locally owned and operated[]
Adopting a very philosophical attitude about the abrupt relocation of his store from Manchester to Xanadu - 'I suppose I'll get more foot traffic this way' - December has simply continued business as usual. Antique Literature specializes in the occult; the ground floor features a wide selection of texts of varying seriousness, and one bookshelf devoted to classic or just really funny fantasy because Leftwich always enjoyed shelving it next to the serious vampire business, it appeals to his sense of 'fuck all of you'. December drew the line at stocking Twilight.
While this is not a library and you will not win any friends by treating it like one, there are a few well-loved ('old') armchairs and a sofa, and December will occasionally make a pot of tea or coffee. It's that kind of place - where a slight mark up in prices is often justified by the fact that the man operating the store will sometimes personally walk a customer through what they're looking for and answer extra questions.
where we keep the books with locks and wards[]
Located up these stairs are the more expensive and more restricted books; the very rare and the very dangerous, respectively. Browsing privileges are on a case-by-case basis and December reserves the right to change his mind at any time - but most people who go upstairs do so already knowing what they're looking for specifically. The security on the store in general is primarily magical and extremely good, but it's particularly a concern with the second floor stock and some of the display cases have their own specific warding.
The anti-theft spells originate from upstairs, but are throughout the store; there's nothing to prevent someone from taking a book from the lower level without paying for it besides the usual, normal precautions - but doing so will not result in anything good. (Some of the books start biting, which December was particularly proud of.)
store promotions & special offers[]
Over the weekend of May 9th there will be a minor sale to mark Mother's Day in the US; copies of Malleus Maleficarum are marked down, as are all texts on banshees and box sets of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles.