Now I love my local bookstore as much as the next one, but they aren’t being nearly as weird about displaying their books as I want them to be. Fortunately, the Wuguan Bookstore in Kaohsiung, Taiwan is taking things to the next level, as first reported on by lithub. Once you enter their store, you are dropped into pitch blackness, with only small spotlights strategically focused around the store on the display books. Imagine walking with nothing else around you but the floating orbs of book titles staring back at you. You might think you’re hallucinating, but nope, this is a very real place you can visit, and it was intended to be this disorienting. Take a look at what I’m talking about below:
According to the people running this magical realm of a store, “The idea behind the store is to create an immersive sensory experience in which the books themselves supersede all other distractions, with a carpeted floor to deaden the shuffling footfalls of fellow browsers and heavily curtained windows to keep out the pesky daylight.”
This seems like a once-in-a-lifetime experience for any bookworm to enjoy, and I desperately wish it could be developed somewhere in the states. It would be such a calm atmosphere, which we could all desperately use after the dumpster fire that was 2020. My local bookstore wouldn’t let me turn off all the lights and block the windows to recreate this unfortunately, so I guess I’ll just have to imagine for now. What are some of the weirdest bookstores you have visited? Let us know in the comments!