Book Review: 'Horrorstör' By Grady Hendrix
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I’m always on the lookout for creative story ideas, especially in the horror genre. Great short stories like Candle Cove, Ted the Caver, Annie96 is Typing, and A Few Suggestions all take advantage of the unique ways that they tell their stories, and they’re a ton of fun, and add a new way to portray horror. Naturally, when I found out about a book that was presented in essentially a knockoff IKEA catalogue, I couldn’t resist. I found a copy at Barnes and Noble and almost instantly started reading.
The book itself is a fairly easy read. The prose is easy, and it’s not a long book, clocking in at around 240 pages. If you dedicate part of an afternoon to it, you should be able to finish it no problem. It skips on the purple prose that could make it a dense read. The author spends just enough time going into the setting that we can visualize what the surroundings look like. We’ve all either been in an IKEA, or seen what one looks like inside, and the novel even makes it clear in-universe that the fictional company where the story takes place Orsk, is an IKEA knockoff.
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The story does a good job of balancing its horror and comedy for the most part. There are a few slightly comedic moments during intense horror, but they’re never distracting or breaking the tension to the point where it takes away from the latter. It was also interesting to watch the initial mystery unfold, and I found myself constantly wondering what would happen next. Would this place be the site of demon worship, or something closer to SCP-3008?
The story is pretty straightforward on its surface. Three employees of the IKEA store are staying overnight to catch whoever is causing the damage to the store that they find every morning. Madness ensues. To go into much more would be an injustice, as the twists and turns are too interesting to be even hinted at. The progression of events feels natural, and even some of the dumb character moments feel fine because you can see how they’d act that way based on where they are in the story.
The characters are pretty solid for the most part. The protagonist is genuinely interesting, and you definitely root for her to survive. Others are a bit more complex than they initially seem, and it’s absolutely to the story’s benefit. They aren’t all hits, though. Two of them feel like they’re only in there to continue the story, and they don’t have a ton of depth. They’re just there to kick a few things off, then have other things happen to them.
Overall, this one is definitely worth the read if you’re looking for something light and entertaining. A film adaptation has been announced, with the release date of “uh… sometime in the future, we think.” If it does ever come out, count me into the list of people who will go see it.
Rating: 8/10
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