Book Review: Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix
Published September 2014
Quirk
One-sentence summary:
A small crew of employees work overnight at Orsk, an Ikea-like big-box furniture store, and must fight to live when faced with supernatural sadists.
Is it strange that Horrorstor makes me want to go to Ikea really badly?
Three employees stay overnight at Orsk to work on a display before the corporate head honchos come for a morning visit. Two additional employees sneak in for the night to film a Ghost Hunters-esque demo video.
They’re convinced the store is haunted. Turns out, they’re right. What they underestimated was the pure evil and bloodlust of the ghosts.
The experiences they endure are terrifying enough to put most people into a rocking-back-and-forth-fetal-position for the rest of their lives. And somehow, the book still manages to be delightful.
Most of the characters are drawn clearly without getting too far into their backstories. We’re able to see the personality flaws, driving forces, and lifestyles of each of the characters. And they’re all flawed, one of my favorite things in a character. No one’s a hero in a white hat, or what I like to call a Stanley Pureheart.
Part of the fun of Horrorstor is the cheeky branding and products offered at Orsk, an Ikea-like big-box store that offers modern, modular, funky furniture made of materials just a step or two up from particle-board.
The rest of the fun is in the characters themselves and their reactions to the horrors in the store.
And by fun, I mean terrifying horror and gruesome death mixed with whimsy.
It’s a strange balance Hendrix achieves; I’m both frightened and amused by this book.
Many thanks to one of my booktube viewers for recommending this book to me on YouTube in the comments of my Spooky Books to Read in October video! Thanks, Olive Hue! You were right, and now I need to read his next book, too.
