Entry No. 37 — the Providence file — filed under: lovecraft
Lovecraft Arts & Sciences (Weird Providence)
The retail face of the nonprofit Lovecraft Arts & Sciences Council — these days trading as Weird Providence — occupies suite 105 inside the Arcade, the 1828 Greek Revival hall that was America's first enclosed shopping mall. Inside are new and vintage weird fiction, esoterica, academic texts, games, collectibles, and a center display case of rare books, tended by what Atlas Obscura calls a "rogues gallery of friendly bookworms" who will happily route a beginner into the genre. The Council runs the biennial NecronomiCon convention — the 2026 edition, Armitage Symposium and all, just wrapped in August — plus walking tours, lectures, and exhibits through the year. Functionally, it is the information desk for anyone chasing H.P. Lovecraft across his home city.
→ Three at a time, never the same twice — explore weird Providence
The story
The Council started at a brunch table in 2011, when a group of Providence friends worked out that H. P. Lovecraft — born here in 1890, dead here in 1937, and by then read in dozens of languages — was essentially unfindable in his own city. Their fix was a nonprofit educational organization that calls itself a networking center for scholars, authors and fans of weird fiction, and it has run on that premise since: headquarters and store in the Arcade, programming everywhere else in town.
The Arcade is not a neutral container. Russell Warren and Tallman & Bucklin put it up in 1828 as the first enclosed shopping mall in the United States, with six Ionic columns forty-five feet high, quarried in Johnston eight miles off and hauled in by ox team. Downtown decided it was too far from the shops and called it Butler's Folly. It is a National Historic Landmark now, and after a long decline it reopened in October 2013 with micro-lofts upstairs and retail below. Suite 105 is on that ground floor, off the atrium it shares with a few food counters.
Inside: new and vintage weird fiction, esoterica, academic texts, games and collectibles, with a case of rare books at the center. Atlas Obscura called the staff a "rogues gallery of friendly bookworms," and they will happily press a first paperback on a beginner. The shop is also the Council's front desk. NecronomiCon Providence — launched in 2013, biennial, timed to the weekend nearest Lovecraft's August 20 birthday, carrying the Dr. Henry Armitage Memorial Scholarship Symposium whose papers are published as Lovecraftian Proceedings — is the flagship. Between conventions there is the Arcade Asylum author series in the store itself, the Tour de Tentacle bicycle scavenger hunt, and a March 15 tribute at Swan Point Cemetery.
What it's like
Enter from Weybosset or Westminster — the Arcade's central hall is a public passage, so nobody minds you walking through. Suite 105 is on the ground floor and the room is small; browsing is slow and vertical rather than laps around tables. Staff talk. Ask for a starting point and you get one, usually with an argument attached about which story to read first, and ask where Lovecraft actually lived and you get directions up College Hill. The rare-book case in the middle is look-first; they will open it if you are serious. Etiquette is bookstore-normal with one wrinkle: on Arcade Asylum nights the shop becomes a reading room around 6, seating is limited and free, and browsing the shelves while an author reads is not the move.
The move: Land at opening, have the staff pick each of you a first weird-fiction paperback to swap, then ask for pointers on the Lovecraft sites up College Hill and do the loop on foot, ending at Prospect Terrace for the skyline at dusk.
📍 Before you go Open Mon–Sat 11–6, Sun 12–5, on the ground floor of the Arcade — enter from either Weybosset or Westminster Street. Downtown is metered street parking and garages; the shop is small, so a visit pairs best with a College Hill walk. It answers to both names — signage and Google now say Weird Providence.
- 📍 Providence
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 65 Weybosset St #105, Providence, RI 02903
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- John Hay Library — A third of a mile up College Hill: you buy the paperbacks in the Arcade, and Brown holds the 2,000-plus original letters and manuscripts they descend from — check the reading room's renovation status first.
- Fleur-de-Lys Studio — Five minutes' walk to 7 Thomas St, free from the sidewalk, and the building Lovecraft wrote into 'The Call of Cthulhu' after sneering at it in print as a hideous Victorian imitation.
- Graduate Providence (the old Biltmore) — Three blocks away at 11 Dorrance, and not an arbitrary pairing — NecronomiCon's own site lists the hotel as a convention venue, so the shop's flagship event is held in that lobby.
More weird in Providence
Good to know
Is it Lovecraft Arts & Sciences or Weird Providence?
Both. The nonprofit is the Lovecraft Arts & Sciences Council; the storefront and its website (weirdprovidence.org) trade as Weird Providence, and current signage and the Google listing use the newer name. Same phone either way: 401-264-0838.
When is it open, and which door do I use?
Monday–Saturday 11–6 and Sunday noon–5. Suite 105 sits on the Arcade's ground floor at 65 Weybosset St, which is the same building as 130 Westminster St — either entrance drops you into the hall. Downtown parking is metered street or garages. It is a small operation, so confirm hours before making a special trip.
Can I go to NecronomiCon?
It runs biennially on the weekend nearest Lovecraft's August 20 birthday, based at the Graduate Providence (11 Dorrance St) and the Omni (1 W Exchange St), with programming spilling into surrounding venues. The 2026 edition has already wrapped, which puts the next one in 2028. Passes are sold separately from anything happening in the shop.
I want the Lovecraft sites, not a convention. Where do I start?
At the counter — that is what the staff are for. The Council keeps a calendar of walking tours, and the Rhode Island Historical Society runs Lovecraft walks of College Hill departing from the John Brown House at 52 Power St, roughly $10–22 depending on add-ons. March 15 brings an annual tribute at Swan Point Cemetery.
Is anything free?
The Arcade Asylum author series is free and monthly in the store, typically 6:00–8:30 p.m., with limited seating and local and regional writers of dark and weird fiction. The Tour de Tentacle bike scavenger hunt has run around $10 a head, refreshments included.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · Atlas Obscura · Google
📷 We made a card for this one on Instagram →
last checked: 2026-08-25