The Creaky Spine Bindery

The Creaky Spine Bindery Bookbinder specializing in all things spooky and grim— open to commissions.

When mom says you can’t eat any more books and your nearly vampiric craving for leather must end.
05/28/2026

When mom says you can’t eat any more books and your nearly vampiric craving for leather must end.

*drumroll*For the past nine weeks, I have had the privilege of completing this cutaway fine binding model in Karen Hanme...
05/23/2026

*drumroll*

For the past nine weeks, I have had the privilege of completing this cutaway fine binding model in Karen Hanmer’s class. 🐈‍⬛ Look how cool it is!

Some thoughts:
- the difference between the chamfered and unchamfered boards is wild and I guess this means a lot more sanding in my future
- so much sanding
- look how sexy my corners and endcap turned out? Whew! 🔥
- I learned so much and feel so much more confident in my fine binding journey! I’ll be applying everything I learned to The Hobbit now. Before I forget. Though I have this handy cutaway so I’d better not forget.
- cutaways are so useful, I want to make more to bring to my events this summer. Because this one is mine and you can’t touch it 😂😂

My nearly complete list of 2026 events! Hopefully I will have a finished version soon, but in the meantime, here is wher...
05/21/2026

My nearly complete list of 2026 events! Hopefully I will have a finished version soon, but in the meantime, here is where you will find me selling my books in person for 2026! Some returning events and some new ones I can’t wait to check out. See you there!

3/4 endbands finished for this book… because yes, there are four endbands on this monstrosity. I’m so excited!
05/19/2026

3/4 endbands finished for this book… because yes, there are four endbands on this monstrosity. I’m so excited!

The vision is coming together!!
05/13/2026

The vision is coming together!!

It’s probably been a year since I guarded these sections with big fine binding plans and dreams, then set them aside and...
05/06/2026

It’s probably been a year since I guarded these sections with big fine binding plans and dreams, then set them aside and got too busy. Today, the guards have been trimmed! So excited to finally see this vision come to life.

Calling all bookbinders! Something new is available on my website. I’ve been asked many times for access to my typesets ...
01/28/2026

Calling all bookbinders! Something new is available on my website. I’ve been asked many times for access to my typesets of public domain novels, so I’ve finally gone and added the two most popular ones to my website. They’re now available as digital downloads so you can print and bind them yourselves.

These are my own formatting based off public domain versions of the text, so they are not a facsimile of any published edition.

Please be patient and let me know if you have any problems with my files. I’ve never tried selling digital copies so I’m just trying to see how it goes and work out the kinks. If all goes well, I will continue adding the rest of the novels I’ve done and expand into versions for A4 paper.

Please note these are not physical items. If you’re interested in a printed copy, send me a message.



https://www.thecreakyspinebindery.com/thecreakyspinebindery/typesets

A commission I was lucky enough to create at the end of last year. So much tooling. So much painting. I got to do moss, ...
01/12/2026

A commission I was lucky enough to create at the end of last year. So much tooling. So much painting. I got to do moss, a door, and work with my favorite leather? Amazing. I always love that this is what I get to do, but some projects are just extra enjoyable.

One thing I haven’t posted much about lately has been my repair work. Old flakes of glue don’t look nearly as glamorous ...
01/07/2026

One thing I haven’t posted much about lately has been my repair work. Old flakes of glue don’t look nearly as glamorous as shiny new leather, do they? 😂 But last year I was asked to do a simple repair to this paperback by a vendor friend and jumped to the occasion. It’s a bit meditative to slowly remove the old hunks of dry glue off the edges of each sheet of paper. And look how the original manufacturer gouged into those edges so unevenly? It was a hot mess to get some of that out of there. I fixed it up with a fresh double fan binding, reinforced it with some thin linen cords, and lined the spine with a fresh piece of cream card, allowing what remained of the original cover to sit on top and look pretty.

Most of my start to this year will be filled with more complicated repairs and restorations, so I’ll try to actually document them and take you all along for the ride. Though I’ll also be working on something very fancy and purple, because balance.

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Erie, PA

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