All too rare today is a neighborhood bookstore. Alas, online giants like Amazon, along with ubiquitous brick-and-mortar chains like Borders and Barnes & Noble, have almost eliminated them all. The few left are often struggling with an air of defiant desperation you can smell from their outdated and disappointing selection.

Not Borderlands. This fine San Francisco institution, located conveniently in the Mission, is not only open 7 days a week from noon until 8 pm, but thriving with author signings, guest speakers, and other events. And did Monster mention it specializes in new and used genre literature: science fiction, horror, and fantasy? How cool is that? Not only can you keep up with new releases here, but also purchase periodicals or DVDs domestic and imported, find out-of-print or rare books, or at a bargain price, a sci-fi classic you’ve been yearning to curl up with!

Monster loves sci-fi and horror, especially those featuring Monsters! The selection is large and excellent, and Borderlands is so much more than a bookstore. Read their mission statement, and you’ll realize that they strive to be a “social and professional center for readers, writers, publishers, reviewers, artists and other individuals with a strong interest in the fields of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Macabre Fiction,” and succeed they did.

The staff is knowledgeable and helpful, and should you be looking for something specific, they will happily search for it for you, along with the Borderlands hairless cats, who may regally rest on top of the computer monitor or strike a pose next to the author/speaker. Either way, they bring a casual sense of community and family to the store. Monster thinks they feel like heated fuzzy peaches, odd but in a comforting way.

Visit Borderlands if you haven’t already, and please, if you find something you like, purchase it here! By helping to support it as a business, you also support it as a great neighborhood place for readers, authors, and even cats, to hang out.

  Store web site