Reviews
Focusing on a core group of five characters trapped within this store we get a fast paced tale that doesn’t take itself too seriously and knows what it’s meant to be and doesn’t try to be anything it isn’t. What is it? Good old fashioned popcorn slasher movie fun. The perfect type of book to sneak in between longer books you may be working through that seems tailor made to leave you smiling by the end, even in the face of the actual horrors taking place in the story. While it’s not going to blow anyone away as a literary masterpiece, it also doesn’t try or need to. If you grew up loving classic horror/slasher films from the 90’s such as Scream or Final Destination, then you’re going to have fun with this one. It makes me want to explore more of Grady Hendrix’s work going forward as he’s quickly edging closer to being an “auto-buy” author for me. It’s comfort food for the horror lovers soul, a refreshing and light-hearted blast of terror that will leave you smiling long after the last pages.
** spoiler alert ** The book is a bit of a Poltergeist-style retread, with the location being an Ikea-like store built over the site of an old prison rather than a house over an Indian cemetery. It's pretty much exactly what you'd expect from a story like that. It was ok, not great. The main narrator on the audio version I listened to was just ok. On the plus side: it's short.
It’s a fun concept that makes for a quick and easy read/listen (I went audiobook route). But the “horror” element was lacking and not fully fleshed out to its potential.
