Louisville author opening horror-themed bookstore in the Highlands

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Just in time for Halloween, a Louisville-based author is opening a bookstore focusing on all things spooky and scary.

Many people roaming on Barret Avenue may have noticed “blood” dripping from the walls where Currie Sound & Systems operates.

That’s where Jenny Kiefer, a horror author herself, will be opening up the new horror-themed bookstore Butcher Cabin Books.

Kiefer graduated from Western Kentucky University with a degree in creative writing and received her Master’s degree at the University of Louisville.

She said she’s been writing for as long as she can remember and has a new horror book, “That Wretched Valley,” that will release in 2024.

After her father, who owns the Barret Avenue location, began looking for a new tenant for the building, Kiefer said she and her mother took the opportunity to open up the horror-themed store.

“My mom and I both love reading horror, so we thought we would try to open a horror bookstore,” Kiefer said. “We chose that sort of specific niche not just because we love it, but because it’s kind of hard to find certain things.”

Kiefer said most bookstores tend to not have horror sections, or only stock mainstream authors like Stephen King or Dean Koontz.

“It’s just sort of hard to have that sort of discovery aspect of just going into a store and finding a book you didn’t know existed,” Kiefer said.

Butcher Cabin Books will sell horror books as well as horror-themed gifts curated and created by local artists around Louisville.

“In the future, we might also sell some movies, we might also want to sell some horror movie soundtrack vinyl,” Kiefer said.

The grand opening for Butcher Cabin Books is scheduled for Oct. 15, according to a post on the bookstore’s Instagram page.

“We’re going to try to get a food truck and some other people have reached out to us to do some sort of interesting things,” Kiefer said.

Kiefer said for those looking for a book recommendation this Halloween, “We Need to Do Something” by Max Booth III and “Ghost Eaters” by Clay McLeod Chapman are her picks, in addition to keeping a look out for her book coming in Jan. 2024.

For more information on Butcher Cabin Books, visit their Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages.