Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring bookshelves, shattered Glans water goblets, and smashed Liripip wardrobes. Sales are down, security cameras reveal nothing, and store managers are panicking. To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift. In the dead of the night, they'll patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination. A traditional haunted house story in a thoroughly contemporary setting, "Horrorstor "comes packaged in the form of a glossy mail order catalog, complete with product illustrations, a home delivery order form, and a map of Orsk's labyrinthine showroom. It's "a treat for fans of "The Evil Dead" or "Zombieland," complete with affordable solutions for better living."--"Kirkus Reviews."
No posts yet
Kick off the convo with a theory, question, musing, or update
Your rating:
0Horrorstor follows a group of employees at an IKEA-alike furniture store who have to investigate their haunted store after hours. After weeks of strange occurrences like mystery texts asking for help, things getting moved around and nasty messes left overnight, the store manager recruits several of the employees (some a bit more of model employees than others) to find out what's happening and fix it before corporate sticks its nose in.
I really wish I had enjoyed Horrorstor more. This was my first attempt at reading a Grady Hendrix story and although I'm pretty sure I have the [b:The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires|59479393|The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires|Grady Hendrix|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1635527844l/59479393._SX50_.jpg|68534292] on my Kindle, I'm now somewhat hesitant to pick it up. The best thing about Horrorstor is the sort of mixed format with little brochures and other pictures/details that make it really feel like an American version of IKEA, which is what Hendrix was going for. And honestly, I think this is just a case of the problem being my expectations more than the book.
I'm a fairly character-driven reader in that I need to connect with the characters in some fashion in order to enjoy it. I don't have to love them and tend to have a soft spot for flawed or complicated characters. But I need to feel something for them. Horrorstor felt like one of those horror movies where you're not really supposed to enjoy any of the characters and if so, props to it because I disliked all of them. And instead of the slow escalation of creepy like I was expecting, events happen very quickly and it doesn't take long for it to feel like an IKEA version of the Evil Dead. I actually like the Evil Dead, but I think I was expecting Horrorstor to be more like The Shining and that left me feeling...unfulfilled by it.
I did enjoy the humor in Horrorstor and if you've ever worked in retail, I think you'll find parts to enjoy. If you want characters to root for or a more subtle creep factor however, this one might be a miss for you as much as it was for me.
0
© 2024 Pagebound