I had no idea our local BaM carried romantica until a friend online mentioned that she saw it shelved in the general fiction section at her own store. Sure enough, the next time I went in, I easily found a four shelf section of romantica books set up in the general fiction section.

It's pretty much the same thing when searching for urban fantasy. You have to know where to look for it.

I don't know why they shelve it in with horror. I fear that if urban fantasy had more of an element of romance in it, they'd shelve it in with the general fiction section and it would be lost there with the rest. Instead, when it lands on the horror shelves, I think that's probably the bookstore's way of doing their part to keep it out of no man's land.

Where they do choose to shelve it leads me to believe most bookstores don't quite know what to do with urban fantasy at this point. I could almost understand the confusion, in some circles the elements of what makes up an urban fantasy are still up for debate. However, the indicia on the spine of most urban fantasies I've seen clearly states "Fantasy".

I can only guess that bookstores are looking at this genre as still in its infancy and are dropping it wherever they can fit it, nevermind that what they're doing is a great disservice to their customers.