• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Me
    • Connect With Me
    • Request A Review
    • Beta Reading Requests
    • Policies
    • Testimonials
  • Book Review Archive
    • Book Review Archive
    • Audiobook Review Archive
    • Spooky Children’s Book Review Archive
  • Resources
    • A Running List of 2023 Horror Book Releases
    • Interview Archive
    • List of Horror Author Online Bookshops
    • List of Horror Publishers That Sell Books Directly
    • Podcast Recs
    • Referral Links
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Goodreads
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Erica Robyn Reads

a horror book review blog

Recent Posts

Magick by Judith Sonnet book photo by Erica Robyn Reads

Magick by Judith SonnetΒ | Book Review

Depart, Depart by Sim Kern book photo

Depart, Depart by Sim Kern | Book Review

American Cannibal Anthology edited by Rebecca Rowland

American Cannibal Anthology edited by Rebecca Rowland | Book Review

My Trip To The Book Barn in Niantic, Connecticut

July 30, 2017      Erica Robyn      26 Comments

July 28th, 2017 was certainly one for the books! I hit the road early in the morning and traveled to Niantic, Connecticut to meet up with a couple of book bloggers and explore The Book Barn.

I admit, I didn’t do much research before the trip… I knew there would be lots of books, but I totally underestimated just how many!

The drive itself was over two and a half hours. Luckily, it flew right by and we didn’t hit any traffic. My future sister-in-law, Alex, and I arrived much earlier than I expected, so we decided to take a look around while we waited for the meet-up time.

When we first walked into the Main Barn property, I was totally blown away! I had no idea that The Book Barn would be that massive! And then Alex pointed out that there were three other locations! WHAT?!

We did a quick lap around the property taking it all in. It was absolutely incredible!

A short while later, we met up with the two book bloggers that I had been in touch with regarding this trip. We all chatted for a little bit and then made a game plan for the rest of the day. We were going to continue wandering the Main Barn for some time, go snag some lunch at a local pizza place, and then hit the other three locations. Below is a group shot of us.

From left to right:
Alex, my future sister-in-law that joined me for this road trip!
Chris of Wildmoo Books. (Photo credit!)
Myself.
Lory of The Emerald City Book Reviews.

While we all did our own thing at each location, we kept bumping in to one another and chatting for a bit, showing off our finds!

Lunch was where we really got to talk and get to know one another. We went to a local pizza shop and Chris treated us all to a pie and drinks. Thanks again Chris, that was so lovely of you! What a welcome to Connecticut!

During lunch, we talked about blogging platforms, bookish events, local book shops, best practices, social media, and many other such things. I very easily could have sat there all afternoon chatting, but the other three barns were beckoning!

Needless to say, I had an absolutely incredible time!

Special shout out to Lory for getting us all together and organizing this lovely trip! I cannot wait to meet up with both of you ladies again soon!

Now, let’s get to the photos!

Here are a bunch of photos that I took throughout the day as we visited each location.

Enjoy!

Main Barn, 41 W Main Street

Below is the map of just the first location!

There were books EVERYWHERE and all of the shelves, carts, and racks were packed!

Seriously, books were EVERYWHERE:
There were also many lovely gardens with lots of flowers, decorations, and seating. There was even a Koi pond!

I LOVED all of the little touches like these:

“HIT MEN! EXTORTION! MURDER! ROBBERY! ALL YOUR FAVORITES!” πŸ˜‚
Decorations like this cracked me up! The Hobbit hole was near the entrance and the graveyards were over by the Haunted Book Shop, which was a shed in the far corner of the property.

Here are some shots from the Haunted Book Shop:

There were also games and things scattered all around the property for visitors to use, like chalk, checkers, chess, connect four, basketball, and such!

And to top it all off, there were cats that wandered the property and a couple of goats!

Store Four, 55 W Main Street

These images are from Store Four of the Book Barn locations. This first image does not do justice for how large this buildings book selection was. This shop also had a lovely selection of rare books as well as t-shirts, mugs, magnets, and other such things. I, of course, got a shirt and a mug.

Books on books!

Downtown, 269 Main Street

Here are a few shots from the Downtown location. This was one of my favorite stops because it held all of the Horror books and Graphic Novels. There was also a LOT of Sci-Fi! Boy, did I load up at this stop!

Midtown, 291 Main Street 

The last stop we made was the Midtown store. We missed this one on our way into town because it is set back off of the main strip. This shop had incredible middle grade and mystery sections!

My Book Barn Haul

I’m not usually one to post my book hauls…but this time I just have to. I could not help myself while I was there… Alex and I just kept saying things like, “Oh, it’s only a dollar! I gotta have it!” 
Check out this stack!





Thanks for reading!
If you ever had the opportunity to travel to New England/Connecticut, I highly recommend taking a day to check these locations out. You will not regret it, though your wallet may struggle a bit! πŸ˜‰

Check out this great recap of our trip from Chris of WildmooBooks! And this awesome trip summary and haul from Lory of The Emerald City Book Review!

SaveSave

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Heather Cilley says

    July 30, 2017 at 1:37 pm

    Awww yayyyy! I'm happy you had so much fun E!! So many books! 😱😱

    Reply
    • Erica Hatch says

      July 30, 2017 at 8:47 pm

      It was so intense!!

      Reply
  2. Sassy Brit says

    July 30, 2017 at 3:49 pm

    OMG! That's book heaven! Wish we had one in England πŸ™‚ Loved your "Book Barn Haul" You got some beauties there! Thanks for sharing πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Erica Hatch says

      July 30, 2017 at 8:48 pm

      Oh my gosh, right!? Every area needs an incredible place like this!!

      Reply
  3. Chris Wolak says

    July 30, 2017 at 5:25 pm

    It was so much fun to meet you and talk about books & blogging practices. Great photos! I'm going to have to go back for one of those tshirts. Hope to see you again soon!

    Reply
    • Erica Hatch says

      July 30, 2017 at 8:50 pm

      Definitely! I'm really looking forward to another meet up and chat soon!

      Reply
  4. Meg Talks Life says

    July 30, 2017 at 9:29 pm

    I need to go here! It sounds and looks absolutely magical. As always your pictures are gorgeous too.

    Reply
    • Erica Hatch says

      July 31, 2017 at 12:29 pm

      Oh my gosh, it was so amazing! Definitely plan to spend most of the day down there browsing! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  5. Barb says

    July 31, 2017 at 12:16 pm

    Man, I could spend a whole week's vacation there! It looks like such a lovely place and your meet-up sounds like such fun. I see some Stephen King in your stack – I really liked Doctor Sleep and even though it's a sequel to The Shining, I sort of consider it a stand-alone. I can't wait to see more of your blog and am glad to be your August comment buddy!

    Reply
    • Erica Hatch says

      July 31, 2017 at 12:31 pm

      Absolutely!! It is such an amazing place! And I totally agree with you about Doctor Sleep! Thanks so much for stopping by! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  6. Rissi says

    July 31, 2017 at 6:54 pm

    Looks like a fun trip. How cool that you were able to have this kind of meet up and that your future sis-in-law was able to come with you. Always makes that kind of trip more fun when you have company. πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Erica Robyn says

      July 31, 2017 at 7:01 pm

      It was so amazing! I would love to do it all again soon! πŸ™‚ Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  7. Lory says

    August 1, 2017 at 10:53 pm

    I love your photos! I did not even notice many of those details because I was just looking at the books. This was really a special place, I definitely want to go back.

    Reply
    • Erica Hatch says

      August 2, 2017 at 12:46 am

      Thank you so much, Lory! I want to go back too! Hopefully we can all make it a yearly trip! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  8. Katiria Rodriguez says

    August 2, 2017 at 2:31 am

    Ohh wow I absolutely love the idea of barns being book stores especially if there are different sections. This is the first time I heard about this. Glad you enjoyed your trip Erica and great haul my friend. Thank you so much for the awesome post Erica!

    Reply
    • Erica Hatch says

      August 2, 2017 at 12:47 pm

      Right?! It was so incredible!! Thanks for checking this post out! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  9. Alexia561 says

    August 2, 2017 at 9:17 pm

    Love that you drove 2 1/2 hours to go to a bookstore, as that's totally something I would do! I think I need to visit the Book Barn next time I'm on the East Coast, as it looks amazing!

    Reply
    • Erica Hatch says

      August 3, 2017 at 12:31 pm

      πŸ˜€ If you have the opportunity to make a trip, I highly recommend it!! It was so awesome!

      Reply
  10. Greg says

    August 3, 2017 at 8:50 am

    Wow, I think I'd move in. Fabulous looking bookstore! And 4 locations? I want to check out the sci fi downtown location myself, but who am I kidding? I'd have to see all four.

    Thanks for sharing! What a cool place…

    Reply
    • Erica Hatch says

      August 3, 2017 at 12:28 pm

      Right!? I highly recommend a trip if you ever have the opportunity! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  11. So many books, so little time says

    August 18, 2017 at 8:51 am

    Oh my actual God <3 I so need to visit. I love love love it, it just looks like heaven. I love there is a piccy of a wee kitty too. R L Stine was one of my fav point horror authors as a teen, Stephen King is a huge love of mine! Absolutely great haul and fantastic pictures, I wish there was more xxx

    Lainy http://www.alwaysreading.net

    Reply
    • Erica Hatch says

      August 18, 2017 at 1:10 pm

      It is truly an incredible place!! I highly recommend making the trip if you can! <3

      Reply
  12. Melissa Martin says

    August 20, 2017 at 7:43 pm

    OMG! I'm so in love with this! I wish I could have gone with you guys =) β™₯

    Reply
    • Erica Hatch says

      August 21, 2017 at 12:41 am

      Do you live anywhere near CT? We're hoping to make this an annual trip! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  13. Nicole Hewitt says

    August 21, 2017 at 12:18 pm

    This place looks so incredibly fun! I love Lory—it seems like she's great about organizing get-togethers. Too bad I don't live near you guys. πŸ™‚

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

    Reply
    • Erica Hatch says

      August 21, 2017 at 12:49 pm

      It certainly is! I can't wait to go back!! πŸ™‚

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Welcome to Erica Robyn Reads!

Erica Robyn of Erica Robyn Reads
Hello! I’m Erica, a Mainer living in New Hampshire who runs on hot tea, good books, and loud music. Join me as I seek out amazing horror tales and help support the indie horror community!
 

Subscribe via Email

Loading

Search This Blog

Browse By Category

Recent Popular Posts

  • Cover Reveal for The Wild Fall by Katherine Silva
  • Little Ghosts Unboxing | February 2023
  • [Feature] Little Free Library Visit – #14
  • Book Launch Party for Hell On High by Michael Clark | Book Event
  • Magnum Opus by Caitlin Marceau | Book Review

An Easy Guide to Locating Horror Reviews Without Losing Your Mind created by Lori of Barks At The Ghouls
Shirley's Book Blogger List
Ultimate List of the Best Book Review Blogs by Kindlepreneur

Copyright © 2023 Erica Robyn Reads