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Gift Guides to Get You in the Giving Spirit

Published on November 26, 2024 0 Comments

Since the season of giving is fast upon us, we at Quimby’s would like to offer you some guidance in your gifting.  So we will be posting our staff-curated gift guides over the next few weeks on our socials, and I’ve been honored with going first.

For the HORROR QUEEN in your life who isn’t ready for Halloween to be over, we’ve got everything from comics and zines, to stickers and poetry, and even a game!  And just to prove that I’m recommending for a friend, I’ll start with my most recent purchase for myself and work back to one of my favorites.

As a lifelong Gorey-phile, I bought Escape From The Evil Garden an Edward Gorey board game the moment we were both in the shop together.  I told myself it was an early Christmas present, but I already opened it and played with my bae (and won!).  The game is for ages 10 and up and plays like a spooky, more advanced Candyland. You might be cast as the Cheerful Woman or the Unwell Man with traits and abilities to match; then you have to make your way through the labyrinth to get out of the garden, battling plants and animals for your survival.  So much fun.

If you’re more in the mood for stocking stuffers, there are oh so many spooky stickers.  I love this sexy trick-or-treater, Bat Girl drawn by Mel Stringer.  Riding Roller Coasters with Vincent Price is a micro-zine by Dayna Meyer celebrating the Master of Horror’s love of the terrifying amusement park ride.  I also really enjoy Spooky Nova by Ari Ganahl.  This all-ages mini-comic shows the meet-cute between a kid and a friendly ghost trick or treating (with a poke at gender roles).  Perfection.

From the folx at Pork Belly Press, I would recommend haunted, a limited edition anthology of poems rooted in the idea of haunting.  If you’ve never noticed the gorgeous chapbooks they make, the cover designs would make them stand out even if we didn’t have them in a special spot on the chapbooks rack.  They’re also hand-numbered and hand-sewn, so yes, I swoon over these.

And last but certainly not least on my list is My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Books One and Two by Emil Ferris.  I’ve included both in case your HORROR QUEEN already has the first or if you’re just feeling generous.  These beautiful comics are drawn in heavy pen and follow Karen, an adolescent who sees themself as a werewolf, as they try to solve the mysteries of the adult world while characterizing everyone as monsters of the silver screen.  Extra bonus features include being created by a Chicago native, so there’s lots of Uptown and the Art Institute among other great Chicago locations and legends.  Among my favorite comic books of all time, I cannot recommend these books enough, whether or not you love horror.

I hope this helps ease you into this holiday season.  And if you’ve already checked your favorite HORROR QUEEN off your list, then stay tuned in on our social media for more gift guides to come.

-elizabeth @getbacktoprint

Helpful Consignment Check-In Clarification!

Published on November 14, 2024 0 Comments

Our consignors rule! They make awesome zines and comics, lug them over here (or send them over here), and then get excited to see their stuff on the shelves. And we’re excited to put their work in people’s paws.

When we updated our consignment policy last year we had faith that our consignors would make our work sustainable by following some changes in our consignment policy. One thing was that we only accepted consignment check-ins via email at info@quimbys.com to tell people they had to check in for restocks and payment. It was an adjustment, for sure! And we also changed our policy about how often you could check in, which was no more than 3 times a year or once every 4 months. And finally, we told consignors which titles we could restock and how many of them we would accept, instead of blindly just taking any restocks. Like any business, we found it made more sense to actually look at numbers and think about which items we could take more of. In the past, people who stopped here, say, on their way to an art opening and didn’t want to carry all their zines couldn’t just drop restocks in our laps anymore, if they were things that we couldn’t afford to take more of. (New stuff though? Hell  yeah! Any time! If we haven’t had it before, we wanna see it! A new issue of your zine, we’ll take 5!) So thanks to everybody who understood and respected why we had to do this. Here is a blog post that outlines why we had to make these changes.

We got some helpful feedback from our consignors. Longtime consignors knew they were being asked to check in every 4 months instead of any time they felt like it, and they were happy to do so. but they weren’t sure when those 4 months started. Was it 4 months from the date they were last paid? Was it 4 months from the last day they asked about their consignment? Well, here’s the answer: you can check in 4 months from the date we itemized your last payout for you. So if you emailed us on Sept 15th (OUR BIRTHDAY!) and we got back to you on say, September 25th (give us a break! We have thousands of consignors!), the next time you’d be eligible to check in would be January 25th. That’s four months from the day we emailed you back and told you what we owe you (and asked you to clarify your payment information).

Thank you so much for your continued patience as we’ve refined our consignment process to meet the unprecedented volume of consignment items we continue to receive. Please keep sending us your awesome stuff! We wanna get it up on our shelves.

(cute consignor image by @fraulein_echo!)

November Newsletter Out Now!

Published on November 8, 2024 0 Comments

Read it here and make sure you sign up to get it in your inbox at quimbys.com.

Blurry by Dash Shaw

Published on November 5, 2024 0 Comments

Have you ever lost your glasses? Or gazed at an impressionist painting? Or gotten lotion in your eye? Seen through a blurry lens, the world becomes indistinct; it’s harder to tell where one thing ends and another begins.

Dash Shaw’s newest book, Blurry, blends the individual stories of several different characters as they struggle to answer both commonplace and life-changing questions. They’re the kinds of conundrums that we are all inevitably faced with. What to create? Who to partner with? What to do with our time? Which ice cream flavor to choose? Such problems sprout like dandelions from the liminal cracks in our lives. And, as Shaw skillfully demonstrates, they’re the questions that spur us to grow as people.

Blurry beautifully portrays the complexity of our inner lives as it fluidly intertwines the protagonists’ narratives. I really loved following each character’s thought process as they sorted through their individual quandaries. Reading this book helped me feel less alienated in my own inner deliberations. It reminded me that, while I might get a bit lost in my own problems from time to time, so does everyone else I come into contact with every day. And even if we sometimes feel alone in our unique struggles, it’s nice to remember that our problems actually connect us to one another, because they are a quintessential part of the human experience. 

Be sure to stop by for our event on Saturday, November 9th when Dash Shaw will be in conversation with acclaimed graphic novelist Olivier Schrauwen and brilliant cartoonist Conor Stechschulte! More info here!

Polish up those contact lenses and come on down to Quimby’s to pick up this lovely tome!

~ Echo

Scary Zines in Spooky Series!!

Published on October 29, 2024 0 Comments
With the full force of spooky season upon us, I’d like to share some of my favorite scary zines around the shop, each of which just happens to come from a series.  So whether you want classic tales, fabulous comics, or a heavy dose of reality, we’ve got something for you with issues to spare.
DSP Classic Ghosties Book Five: The Shell of Sense by Olivia Howard Dunbar
 The last of this spooky series is perhaps my favorite; a heart-breaking, inspiring tale of life after death and love after jealousy.  I didn’t know who Olivia Howard Dunbar was before this perfectly pocket-sized zine fell into my hands, but now that I do I’m hungry for more.  Presented by Displaced Snail Publications via Project Gutenberg, these public domain classic short stories are sure to sneak a little creep into your reading pile.  @DisplacedSnail
Scorpio Venus Rising #2 by Corinne Halbert
Following Venus on her escape through celestial existence steeped in Tarot is gorgeously horrific.  I especially enjoyed #2, because her strength is challenged as she literally unpacks her emotional baggage in a struggle of self-transformation. And if you can’t relate to that, then perhaps you should take a moment to contemplate your own existence or get yourself a reading to consider what Scorpio season has in store for you.  Fans of Acid Nun will eat up the artwork by the one and only Corrine Halbert (full disclosure of her awesomeness: she used to work here!).  @CorinneHalbert
So… You Wanna Unionize? #2
Let’s be serious for a second: there are few things in this world scarier than unchecked capitalism!  Thank the heavens for unions and the workers who have fought and continue to fight against the evils of corporate greed.  This series of political zines from the Starbucks Workers United gives voice to the working class struggle with a heavy dose of education and community.  Because step one in worker solidarity is knowledge, these zines explain terms, quote laws & policies, and present infographics alongside comics and collages to clarify the importance of unions and the path to get them.  All three are great, but I especially love the cover art of a decaying skeleton worker on issue #2.  @SBWorkersUnited
Because they are abundant with Halloweenie content, I have shied away from the Outer Limits, the How To, and the Film & TV sections, though I highly recommend that you browse those in our store as well.  Honorable mention goes to the mini-zine series of ‘Thirteen Facts’ which lists–you guessed it–thirteen facts about select horror movies, their characters, and actors such as the venerable Vincent Price.
Keep it spooky silly!
Toujours, elizabeth  @GetBackToPrint
P.S.  Yes, Rosie is my third costume so far this week!  You’re welcome.