The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe Series

An atmospheric fantasy series for bibliophiles and fans of Japanese ghost stories! (And don’t miss the manga adaptation, also from Seven Seas.)

Kaori lives in an otherworldly bookstore with her adoptive father. Together, they provide books to the strange denizens of the spirit realm. But Kaori’s peaceful days come to an end when she rescues an injured boy from the streets–a human, like her, from the mortal realm. The boy’s name is Suimei, and he’s an exorcist, the natural enemy of all spirits. Can Kaori convince Suimei that the line between human and spirit is far hazier than he thinks? A touching supernatural tale where humanity and Japanese folklore intertwine!

“SURE. THE MOMENT I FIND SOMETHING I WANT TO BE, I’LL BE SURE TO COME TO YOU.”

Shinonome, a Tsukumogami, runs the spirit realm’s only bookstore with his daughter, Kaori, who happens to be a different species entirely. Now, the spirit and human father-daughter pair are faced with decisions that will change the course of their lives forever. Prepare to laugh, cry, and go through a rollercoaster of emotions with the conclusion of this heartwarming tale of the spirit realm!

STORY OF THE HEART

Kaori and Suimei have finally realized how they feel about each other, but their love will have to wait—the bookstore is in terrible danger. One day, a fox spirit called Hakuzousu storms in, screaming, “The spirit realm has no use for such an unscrupulous bookstore!” He blames his daughter’s love for a human on the influence of human books. Shinonome can’t just shrug off such an insult, and Kaori fears that a fight between her father and the fox will reduce the store to ashes. So, she sets out to seek help from the Three Great Tanukis of Japan to quell Hakuzousu’s anger, but whether they’ll answer her call is another story…

DANGERS OF THE HEART

Something wicked this way comes—and it isn’t a spirit. A strange fox-masked man has breached the boundaries of the spirit realm, and his designs are as life-threatening as they are mysterious. Worst of all, Suimei suspects that the man is an exorcist, so as a safety precaution, he asks Kaori to move in with him. Neither Suimei nor Kaori expect the spirits to kick up such a fuss over his simple suggestion, but it’s plain as day to everyone else that the two are more than friends. Will they understand their feelings for each other before this new threat tears them apart forever?

HIDDEN TRUTHS REVEALED

When Kaori learns that the young wife who lives next door will soon give birth, it should be a joyous occasion. But the mother-to-be leaves Kaori wondering about her own past. How in the world did she come to enter the spirit realm, all those years ago? And whatever became of her human parents? Little does she realize that the answer is far closer than she thinks. The kasha Nyaa, Kaori’s lifelong best friend, knows more than she’s ever let on, and she’s about to finally yield the secret of Kaori’s birth mother.

HEALING BROKEN BONDS

For as long as Kaori can remember, she has run the spirit realm’s only bookstore alongside Shinonome, the spirit who is her adoptive father. But Kaori begins to fear that her bond with Shinonome has frayed. He’s keeping secrets from her, and they have something to do with his mysterious friend, the story-seller Tamaki. Worse, Kaori finds herself questioning the purpose of the bookstore itself—what if the stories she and her father bring to the spirit realm are doing more harm than good?

An atmospheric fantasy series for bibliophiles and fans of Japanese ghost stories! (And don’t miss the manga adaptation, also from Seven Seas.)

Kaori lives in an otherworldly bookstore with her adoptive father. Together, they provide books to the strange denizens of the spirit realm. But Kaori’s peaceful days come to an end when she rescues an injured boy from the streets–a human, like her, from the mortal realm. The boy’s name is Suimei, and he’s an exorcist, the natural enemy of all spirits. Can Kaori convince Suimei that the line between human and spirit is far hazier than he thinks? A touching supernatural tale where humanity and Japanese folklore intertwine!