Store Information

Mysterious Galaxy celebrated sixteen years in business as an independent specialty genre bookstore in May 2009. Our tagline, “Books of Martians, Murder, Magic and Mayhem,” encompasses the genres for which we are widely known: science fiction, mystery, fantasy and horror. In recent years, we have expanded our galaxy’s borders by participating in community events, creating events of interest to our customers, and partnering with local non-profit organizations. We also particpate in a wide variety of outside events including the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Men of Mystery, Southern California Writers Conferences, Comic-Con International ... and many more.

We have an active young adult program, providing authors to visit, read, and teach at schools that partner with us. Our MG Junior section reflects this program and our passion for young adult literature ... which we all enjoy.

Our staff is composed of passionate and knowledgeable booksellers, and we share our enthusiasm for our genres through hand-selling, great customer service, and regular reviews in our print and electronic newsletters, as well as here on our website.

We are dedicated to providing readers and book collectors with a great selection of books, many of them signed first editions. Signed first editions are a byproduct of the author events in our store and books acquired at conventions or directly from publishers and authors.

The owners of Mysterious Galaxy are Terry Gilman, Maryelizabeth Hart, and Jeff Mariotte. They met and began talking about Mysterious Galaxy in late 1992 when they recognized a need for a genre store in San Diego and saw it as a way to share their passion for books, bookselling, and a love of reading with their community. Mysterious Galaxy opened to much fanfare on May 8, 1993. Among the authors who celebrated the opening of the store with hundreds of fans were Ray Bradbury, David Brin, and Robert Crais.

Our mission is to continue to be a part of our community of readers and writers for as long as there are books to be sold, authors to host, and a variety of ways to share our passion for reading and books.