Something thrilling this way comes …
Thrillerdelphia — a horror-themed bookstore dedicated to all stories gut wrenching and disturbing — is coming to Manayunk this Halloween.
No matter how many jumpscares get delivered at a haunted house, a good book remains one of the best and most immersive ways to dive into the world of horror.
“It just pulls you in,” said Tina Long, the owner of Thrillerdelphia. “It’s the dead body. Who’s the killer? It’s the mystery, and it’s that creepy feeling in your neck, when you’re reading it.”
Long is opening the new store with her husband, Anthony. It’s the couple’s second venture in Manayunk. They also run Cupid’s Bookshop, the romance-themed bookstore that opened last Spring.
“We have a huge horror community in Philly,” Anthony said. “People are really, really into horror here, and horror has worked its way into a lot of local businesses — even locally in Manayunk there’s Lincoln Mill Haunted House. It’s interesting. Philly is the right place for a horror bookstore.”
While Cupid’s is Tina’s baby, Thrillerdelphia has more of Anthony’s DNA.
“It’s Anthony,” Tina said. “Mostly it’s his creative vision. We work together, but he’s such the horror lover. It’s definitely more his aesthetic. We both read horror thrillers, but I wanted to also cater to people who are more masculine.”
Cupid’s decor is pink and girly (think a mix between Barbie’s dream house and a Valentine’s Day card), and Thrillerdelphia is more gothic, with dark chestnut floors and gold accents. Tina called it the “weird sister to Cupid’s.”
“We are basically going for the complete opposite of what Cupid’s is,” Tina said. “It’s a dark Victorian style, whereas Cupid’s is in-your-face pink, Thrillerdelphia is going to be black walls.”
Mixing romance and horror
The seeds for Thrillerdelphia and Cupid’s Bookshop began with a “Bookstagram” that Tina created in 2019.
“Anyone who looks at the early days, half of my feed was romance and half of it was psychological thrillers,” she said. “I’ve always loved both because they excite you, each in a different way.”
Certainly, both horror and romance have that unique ability to absorb their readers in an intense feeling — whether it’s the terror of a monster in the house, or the strong desire for the right fictional boyfriend.
“Even when I’m reading romance, I’m like, ‘Oh, the next one should be a good palette cleanser. There should be a killer, a slasher or something,’ ” Tina said.
And of course, certain monsters and undead creatures, like vampires, have a little bit of horror and romance mixed together.
“In our romance bookstore, we have a lot of the paranormal romances like Twilight,
Tina said. “There’s been a huge rise in dark romance … It’s a little bit darker, has more violence. There are some that even border on horror.”
The Longs’ own romance began in 2016 after matching on Tinder. Tina swiped right because she liked Anthony’s profession, which was listed as “ghost hunter.”
“I thought that was hilarious, and so we met up for drinks,” she said.
“That wasn’t my real job,” Anthony added. “My real job was in software engineering, but I ran, and still run the Brooklyn Paranormal Society. It’s been 11 years now, and through that group, I popularized the concept of drunken ghost hunting.”
The pair moved to Philadelphia about four years ago.
“When we found Manayunk, it felt truly like a hidden gem,” Anthony said. “We were like, wow. It’s so clean, so charming. There’s so much history. There’s so much going on.”
“I just came in loving Manayunk the minute we saw it,” Tina said. “We looked at all these different neighborhoods, and we immediately just fell in love — the canals, the main street, the buildings and just the sense of community. Since we opened Cupid’s, everyone has been so wonderful and welcoming and it feels like a little small town.”
‘A little torture in the beginning’
The Longs have had fun marketing Thrillerdelphia — creating an intentionally vague website that didn’t list the date of their opening or an address.
“It’s really important to engage with people on social,” Tina said, noting that mystery is a key ingredient to any good horror story. “People are frustrated with why we’re not putting the address on yet, and there’s a reason for that. It’s because we do want engagement, and we do want the interest … I do like a little torture in the beginning.”
The couple has since made gradual updates to the Thrillerdelphia website. One iteration included a series of mini tasks or “seals” to uncover the store’s whereabouts and opening date. Readers can expect selections from horror authors like Jason Rekulak, Riley Sagar and Freida McFadden, as well as local authors like Jonathan Maberry.
Unlike general bookstores, the Longs hope to create more niche and personal options.
“There is a rise of a very curated selection.” Tina said. “You can go to a broader general store and they have a very small section dedicated to [a genre], because they definitely have to roll out their inventory a lot faster, which I understand. For us, it’s important to give a place for people to go, who love a genre, where they can go and have a much larger selection.”
The new store will be more than just a place to find your next haunted read, but also a community space — with the potential for book clubs, movie screenings, author events and more. Thrillerdelphia also has an outdoor reading area, when the weather is sunny.
“I personally really love seeing how people connect over the books, and we definitely want to encourage that,” Anthony said. “There’s going to be a focus on curation. Tina is an excellent curator.”
“At the end of the day, we love seeing people.” Tina said. “We love knowing everyone’s name. When I buy the books, I immediately think of the person’s face that I’m buying them for. Being like, ‘Oh, this person would really love this one because they read this last book that was very similar, or actually maybe take them out of their comfort zone, or just show them something that I think that they would like.’ So it becomes a much more personal buying experience.”
Thrillerdelphia is holding its soft opening at 4203 Main St. in Manayunk this Friday from 12 to 8 p.m.
