Name: Horrorstör
Rating: 3.645089285714286 (112 reviews)
ISBN: 9781594745263

Horrorstör

coco nini

tori 👻

the build-up was great, the conclusion not so much, but I did enjoy it quite a lot, hence the 4 stars

Amna A.

"Orsk is all about scripted disorientation. It wants you to surrender to a programmed experience."

Yeah, Grady Hendrix just does not miss. Interesting idea, and the plot is humorous with the classic Hendrix twist that makes you laugh one second and then the next you're absolutely gagging at the horror. Wanted to note that he really, truly, captured the cycle of grief very well in the epilogue. Also, the formatting is great and really adds to the story. This would be a great movie!

(Bre)anne✨

TW to be added later

Yeah, Grady Hendrix just does not miss. Interesting idea, and the plot is humorous with the classic Hendrix twist that makes you laugh one second and then the next you're absolutely gagging at the horror. Wanted to note that he really, truly, captured the cycle of grief very well in the epilogue. Also, the formatting is great and really adds to the story. This would be a great movie!

This book was very good. At first I really didn't see how this was going be a horror story, but once it started, the horror just didn't let up. 

The author is very good at imagery and there were definitely times I found myself squirming at the descriptions because... ick.

I had fun reading it though and wouldn't mind reading more like it.

Alex Landau

This book was very good. At first I really didn't see how this was going be a horror story, but once it started, the horror just didn't let up. 

The author is very good at imagery and there were definitely times I found myself squirming at the descriptions because... ick.

I had fun reading it though and wouldn't mind reading more like it.

rumbledethumps

Quick, fun read. Pacing is swift, dialogue is good, and the take on corporate retail is funny. Can easily see it turned into a movie.

Colleen

2.5 Stars
 
*A bamboozled story that couldn’t decide whether to be scary or spoofy*


This was another book from my TBD backlog. I thought it would be a nice, scary, quick read for October. The story is set in a big box store that is unashamedly a knockoff of Ikea. (It outright says that.) A couple of employees get paid to stay the night in the store to figure out why they keep finding strange things each morning. Of course, typical horror movie hijinks ensue. 


  “It was the voice of a preacher, a voice of the past, a voice for cathedrals, a voice from a time before microphones. It was a voice that denounced witches and flogged sinners. It was a voice that sang Latin while women burned at the stake and men were crushed beneath stones.” 

The setup had the right elements. Box stores are certainly scary and soulless – probably more so at night. There were times when the writing almost worked, but it just never felt cohesive enough. The biggest problem was that I couldn’t tell whether or not this was supposed to be a spoof. There were a lot of moments that felt like jokes that didn’t land. Unfortunately, those made the moments that seemed like they were intended to actually be scary seem… well, they just weren’t scary. The attempts at corniness ruined the atmosphere. There was one scene where a woman starts choking on ectoplasm, and I swear the description sounded more like a bukkake porno than a ghost encounter. Hendrix went way over the top describing it, and it sounded more like a skeevy sexual fantasy. Scary, yes; but probably not in the way the author intended. And having finished the book, I still can’t say for sure whether this was meant to be a spoof or not.


  “‘You're sure this isn't satanic?' Ruth Anne asked.
'It's a nondenominational séance," Trinity said.”

None of the characters were compelling either. So I was not at all invested in whether or not they survived the night.

Also, I listened to the audiobook of this, and they played the most obnoxious sound affects for the little advertising and training guides that were in-between each section. I wanted to rip out my earbuds every time those sounds started. Actually, I did a couple of times. It was entirely obnoxious. And it added to my inability to take the book seriously.

This teetered between 2 and 3 stars for me. But when it boils down, I think my dominate emotion after reading this was disappointment. So I rounded down. Mainly because I’m still trying to get the sleazy ghost bukkake out of my head. Honestly, that was not the kind of haunting I was looking for!


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 3 Stars
Writing Style: 2 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 2 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars
Level of Captivation: 2 Stars
Originality: 2 Stars

aisha

fun and quick read! nothing beats the design of the actual book though.

Megan Ferguson

Started out kinda cheesy in a good way, but damn it launches you into the darkness and give you the damn CHILLS.

Ryan LaFerney

You'll never look at IKEA the same way again due to this clever, slightly campy little horror story from Grady Hendrix. Set inside a disturbingly familiar Scandinavian furniture superstore in Cleveland called Orsk, the book on the surface seems to be satire about the things we own—the novel is even wrapped in the form of a retail catalog complete with product illustrations. It also seems to be satire about the dead-end monotony of working in retail. Our main protagonist is Amy, an aimless 24-year-old retail clerk. She and an elderly co-worker, Ruth Anne, are recruited by their Orsk loving boss, Basil (a closet Doctor Who geek), to investigate a series of strange breakages by walking the showroom floor overnight. They quickly uncover two other co-workers, Matt and Trinity, who have stayed in the store to film a reality show called Ghost Bomb in hopes of catching a spirit on tape. It's silly until they run into Carl, a homeless squatter who's just trying to catch a break by living in the store. Following an impromptu séance, Carl is possessed by an evil spirit and cuts his own throat. It turns out the Orsk store was built on the remains of a brutal prison called the Cuyahoga Panopticon, and its former warden, Josiah Worth, has returned from the dead. Striking a nice balance between comedy and horror, this haunted-house novel, is a fun romp. Hendrix makes it work somehow. He turns the manipulations of a retail experience into a sinister fight for survival. Going shopping at IKEA for some, is already a nightmare. Way to amplify the fear Hendrix. Cudos.

Emelie

Nja.. inte ett dugg läskig och jag tappade intresset efter halva!

Marion

2.5⭐
Le concept du livre et son design est poussé jusqu'au dans les détails et c'est vraiment top. Malheureusement je n'ai pas eu peur, c'est sûrement lié au fait que c'est basé sur les descriptions de scène creepy et que j'ai des difficultés à visualiser. J'étais donc moins réceptive.

Eva Bailey

Weird and fun and terrifying. I love Grady Hendrix.

mighty dragon 

this was fun!! but not as creepy as thought... but when you think about the pictures of those furniture... well

Horrorstör

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