Wax Moon Vinyl and Video

Wax Moon Vinyl and Video has always stood out as more than a standard record shop: heavy music at the core, horror movies, pinball, and a broader pop and hip-hop side that regulars may not expect from the outside. The interview below explains how that identity took shape in Richmond and how the shop kept widening its orbit without losing focus.

Interview with Wax Moon Vinyl and Video

Wax Moon has carved out a clear identity as Richmond's metal, goth, and horror shop. What made you commit to that territory when you opened in 2015?

I love those genres and at the time we opened no other shops really focused on them. Those styles of music influence the music I make in my bands Aural Exile, Misiria, and Griim Phantasm and are formative in my taste as a listener and ethos towards music and art. As the years went by we refined that focus while also expanding into all sorts of genres.

You've got the largest horror-video selection in Richmond, plus a pinball room in the back. How did the shop grow beyond just records?

There was a local rental store people loved called Video Fan that i used to rent from and when they closed i felt my city might want more videos. Rental (though nostalgic) i think is a lot more work than its worth and with buy/sell/trade people can buy movies, watch them, and then trade them back to you for other movies. I always loved pinball and noticed a local vendor Games People Play was selling a GORGAR. Gorgar was the first talking pinball machine and the heavy metal band Helloween wrote a song about it. I was so hooked after that and kept buying more! In the early days i could never afford a pinball machine so i would set aside money from sales every day to buy one! Now we have over 50 which is the second largest selection in Virginia!

Scott's Addition has changed a lot around you. Has the crowd changed with it?

When i moved in Scott's Addition the rent was $675 for a small studio 2 bedroom apartment. That same apartment now is over $2000 to rent. Over the years it really evolved with the craft beer scene which is now no longer at its cultural peak. Our stores grew while old buildings and trees that i loved were demolished around us. We were really the first retail store in our neighborhood which was historically warehouses and industrial style businesses. From Wax Moon we expanded into DawnStar Video Games and Eclipse Pinball. The people who live here frequent our businesses and people travel from across the world to visit every weekend!

You take trade-ins on band tees and even anime and manga collections. What's the most memorable thing someone's brought in?

I had a GG Allin shirt with his blood on it come in once. We've had everything from original animation cells to rare test pressings and signatures from long deceased musicians. Our coolest piece by far is our lifesize DEVILMAN statue which is the only one in the United States and was on display in Little Tokyo for the last 10 years or so!

What's been quietly strong in the bins lately, inside or outside the heavy stuff?

The demand for K-pop has really risen recently! Being a goth shop i have always been proud of how stacked our pop and hip-hop selections are, definitely the most extensive in the city!

When someone wants to sell records, tapes, or games, what's the best way to start - and what makes a lot an easy yes?

Simply bring em by! We're super fair and fast! We of course pay more for rarer and more desirable records.

First visit to Wax Moon - what should someone dig through first?

I think soundtracks are so exciting to flip thru and we have them up front for a reason! Particularly the video game osts which have that wow i didnt know that exists factor.

Last updated: 2026-08-01