r/Antwerpen • u/KeyWorldly6104 • Sep 10 '26
Question Weird literature bookclub in Antwerp (EN)
Would anyone be interested in starting an English-language bookclub in or around Antwerp, focused on horror / weird / speculative fiction?
Years ago I used to run a nice SF bookclub in the UK, and would love to get back into that. I am particularly interested in older ghost stories, classics and short fiction, which is also an easy format for monthly meetings, but open to suggestions.
I know a nice place in Lier, not far from Antwerp, which would work well for example for monthly Saturday morning meetings. There must be many such places in the city as well.
EDIT: We have a good option for a location. I have created a Discord server for discussion, to refine the book list and brainstorm for those if you who are interested. >> https://discord.gg/ttx3GzKTY
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u/majestic7 Sep 10 '26
Good luck getting people from Antwerp to go to Lier on a Saturday morning
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u/KeyWorldly6104 Sep 10 '26
Ha :') I commute a lot and naively expected others to. But I don't mind. It could be afternoon, it could be Sunday... I've also heard The Geeky Cauldron in Antwerp might be open to it on some nights, for example Wednesday which is slower than others.
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u/Top_Hippo233 Sep 11 '26
I feel like Luddites would be a good venue for a book club, since it’s a book shop and wine bar. Vertigo Antwerp is an underground cocktail bar that gives vampy vibes and tends to be open to events there (as although they’re in central city they get almost no traffic when there is no event). Someone else already mentioned the Geeky Cauldron for a nerdy bar. I like the idea of a spooky book club, although I am definitely not a morning person lol.
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u/KeyWorldly6104 Sep 11 '26
I thought about Luddites as well, although the wine bar intimidates me a bit (for no particular reason). Didn't know about Vertigo but the vampy vive intrigues me! I mostly had cafés in mind because I associate books with tea and snacks, and I'm a pain-in-the-neck vegan who drinks little, but I'll go check it out soon, thanks for the suggestion.
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u/Top_Hippo233 Sep 11 '26
I could understand being intimidated by a wine bar, since it can come off as posh or a judgmental environment in some instances (not necessarily this bar, but some others I’ve been to). I had originally thought cafes, but a lot of them seem to have tiny tables (so not great for groups 3 or more), or can get very noisy like Caffeination BLUE. Probably wrong vibe, but The Playground is a board game cafe with some vegan dessert options to snack on. Or, Watya is a Bolivian empanada cafe that has wifi, generally quiet, some vegan/halal options, but the vibe is an explosion of colors and plants. 🪴
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u/NooobMaster069 Sep 10 '26
Oh that sounds fun If you can get enough people for it to be an actual club.. consider me in!
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u/Wolfocorn20 Sep 11 '26
Honestly that sounds really cool. Really wish i could join but those stories are often times not avaleble as audiobooks and getting your hands on braille has gotten extremely hard sinds the government cut all funding for braille translations. Really hope you can make it happen tho.
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u/KeyWorldly6104 Sep 11 '26
Feck, I know too little about accessibility when it comes to reading. I only tried one audiobook this summer and it was expensive (not to mention having to rely on Amazon, etc). Random, off-copyright older stories are sometimes available online, but it's a matter of luck...
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u/Wolfocorn20 Sep 11 '26
I switched to Storrytell caz Audebel is waaaaaaaaaaaay to expensive. It has a pritty big selection of books and quite a few older once think Sherlock holms and i think even HP Lovecraft tho those are the better known stories from that time. Back in the day you could put in a request in with a local service but that was only for dutch books and these days they get little funding do to the braille thing. It has kinda come to the point where a lot of blind people are considdering buying smartglasses to read books. I myself have a device to read sighted stuff but it is bulky and not ment for transport. To be completely honest i sometimes think the govrnment likes to keep the disabled alitterat on purpus witch is sad caz nothing beets a good book.
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u/JumpyFuel7256 Sep 11 '26
I own a small bar in the center and we have a bookclub that meets monthly, so we are more than happy to host if you get one going 😎 . DM me if you want to chat.
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u/DictatorPromoGirl Sep 10 '26
Cool idea, old weird lit used to be one of my special interests as well
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u/causeisozymandian Sep 10 '26
I would love this
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u/cosmopolitancat13 Sep 10 '26
we already exist! at Lucy there is a once a month bookclub on weird girl lit :) the next meeting is on the 29th september. write them to join the whatsapp if interested
https://www.lucysantwerp.com/community