Inside the Vortex - 23

Summer Ends Not With A Whimper

Hello again from inside Vortex Books & Comics. The heatwave has finally broken, the nights are getting cool, and next week the kids start back to school. But summer still has a few weeks left, and we intend to see it out with a bang, rather than a whimper!

Tonight is FREE MOVIE NIGHT. Yes, you read that correctly. There’s no catch. Be here at 7pm sharp and watch a free movie with us, hosted by Wesley Southard. Each month he picks a rare genre film that you’ve probably never seen before and we show it for free. But as we said, it starts at 7pm sharp and seating is limited, so we suggest you arrive a little early.

Tomorrow (Saturday) authors Joseph Pesavento, Mona Kabbani, and Spencer Hamilton join us for an in-store book signing, beginning at 1pm and ending at 3pm. All three of them are exciting indie up-and-comers, and we’re thrilled to introduce them to readers. We will have books for sale. You are also welcome to bring books from home to be signed.

And, of course, this Sunday is free Magic the Gathering from noon until 4pm.

Closing out the month of August we’ve got the return of our Writers Group next Friday (August 23) from 6pm to 8pm, a release party for thriller writer and USA Today bestselling author Robert Swartwood’s new novel on Saturday the 24th from 1pm to 3pm, and both magic the Gathering and D&D on Sunday the 25th.

And we’ve got a ton more appearances in the months ahead, including: Wrath James White, Laurel Hightower, Daniel J. Volpe, Red Lagoe, Hailey Piper, Hunter Shea, Samantha Kolesnik, Lucas Mangum, Jeff Strand, and many, many, many, many more. For a complete schedule, click here.

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Speaking of Magic the Gathering, we’ve restocked on Bloomburrow, Fallout, and Modern Horizons III. We’re down to only 4 vintage sealed Fallen Empires boosters.

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A note regarding book signings and in-store appearances. Many of these authors travel a great distance to be here. Sarah Langan, for example, traveled all the way from Los Angeles. John Little came from Canada. Cynthia Pelayo from Chicago. Paul Tremblay in the midst of a dizzying whirlwind cross-country tour. They don’t get paid for that, and indeed, the vast majority of them pay for it themselves out of their own pockets because they want to meet their readers, and make new readers.

That’s why it’s important for you to show up and show your support. Even if it’s an author you’ve never read or heard of before, we encourage you to stop in for their signing, and meet them, and say “Hello. Thank you for coming to our little river town.” And maybe check out one of their books.

It really does make a world of difference for them, and for us. And given the condition of the world here in mid-2024, it’s more important than ever to support the arts.

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VORTEX BESTSELLER LIST

Our Top Ten Best-Selling Books For Week Of 8/5/2024

1. House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias
2. The Cuck by Aron Beauregard
3. The Old Lady by Kristopher Triana
4. The Train Derails In Boston by Jessica McHugh
5. Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay
6. Toil & Trouble: A Women’s History of the Occult by Lisa Kroger and Melanie R. Anderson
7. Jack’s Magic Beans by Brian Keene
8. Growing Things by Paul Tremblay
9. Every Kingdom Divided by Stephen Kozeniewski
10. Seek & Hide by Jessica McHugh

Our Top Ten Best-Selling Comics For Week Of 8/6/2024

1. Cruel Universe
2. Epitaphs From the Abyss
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
4. Deathstalker
5. Saga
6. Self Help
7. X-Force
8. Blood Hunters
9. X-Factor
10. Grommets

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And that does it for this week! We hope to see you for tonight’s movie or tomorrow’s signing!

— Brian and Mary