Horrorstör
Ratings343
Average rating3.6
After a slow start with too much setup, Horrorstör delivers a scary twist on the haunted house formula.
I loved the beginning of this book and the epilogue. I loved poking fun at the retail world and the setting of Orsk. It felt so real and close to home, like it was written for me. Once the horror parts started I did not like it. I felt very confused as to what was happening and even though it was all in Orsk, I was taken out of the setting i loved at the beginning.
There was so much I did not expect about this book! I had heard great things about Grady Hendrix, but this was my first novel of his I read. I expected the formatting to play into the book more, but in the end, I think there was the right balance between looking like a magazine and being a book to read. I expected it to be funnier than it was, but again I felt there was the right balance between humor and horror. Also the horror was better than I expected. I tend to avoid gory horror books and I don't often get creeped out by other kinds of horror. So I can be hard to please with horror novels. This was a good balance of creepy, gory, and a little bit of ‘can't read this in the dark.' I will be reading more Grady Hendrix novels.
2.75?? 2.5? 3 feels way too generous but 2 feels too harsh.
This was a really fun concept and there was a lot that I was ready to like, but it mostly felt like wasted potential. I loved the product guides at each chapter and the little clues/jokes/nods in those moments, but otherwise it just fell flat. There's a whole commentary on capitalism here that just.... Never materializes, despite Orsk/IKEA literally being a prison. In some moments it seemed to go in the opposite direction, framing it as “thank god IKEA is here because otherwise my life would be so sad”. Also couldn't help but notice how the Black and Asian characters are specifically called out as such, but no one else is. There's a way to demonstrate a characters race/ethnicity without resorting to stuff like “she just had to act like a Japanese school girl to make the guys like her”
Very fun, wild ride. I'd even welcome a sequel tbh. Never been super interested in Grady Hendrix, but as soon as I heard about this I knew I had to read it immediately.
Not the best introduction to Grady Hendrix perhaps, as I found this IKEA parody comedy-horror to be lacking in both departments. It's a very cool concept—and one that an indie game Styr is being sued by IKEA for I believe—but one that just wasn't executed neither hauntingly nor comedic ally enough for my tastes. I won't spoil the reveal, but once we learn what is causing all these spooky occupancies at the Örsk store, I knew it wasn't going to be my jam; having not read the synopsis, I was actually under the assumption that this was about a supernatural killer hunting down the night crew at a knock-off IKEA. There is death, violence, and suspense throughout the story, but I just didn't connect to any of the characters, and nothing in particular gave me a vivid mental sensation of a eerie big box furniture store when nobody else is around. Not bad, not great, it was fine.
By no means am I going to stray from Hendrix's various positively spread word of mouth catalogue, but I can't shake the initial reaction that it wasn't everything I heard it praised to be.
I really enjoyed the book and the concept, especially the physical book! It looks like an actual catalog with its manuals, explanations, maps, etc. So detailed!For the story, I think I preferred the plot and climax of [b:The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires 44074800 The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires Grady Hendrix https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1584222716l/44074800.SY75.jpg 68534292], but both books equally have Hendrix's way of giving disturbingly descriptive details that make you pause, spooked, horrified, etc. lol I liked the ending in which Amy and Basil have the same idea of saving the other three that were lost in the incident. It was really sad, especially Ruth Anne's disappearance. I enjoyed her character, and sometimes Basil's, for them to be like a coach or encourage on the side for Amy. I wonder if they ever find them. I'd love to know what the three come back with, and what kind of stories they might tell when, and if, they come back from the Beehive.
I've been seeing this all over bookstagram for some time now and when I saw that like 90% of this author's work is free on audible, I decided to give it a shot.
This is a quick listen, so therefore I'm going to assume it would be a real quick read too. For me this would be best labeled as a comedy-horror. It's not very serious, the copycat IKEA setting is pretty funny, and the writing itself isn't really anything to write home about. But again, this one is kind of silly in its entirety.
It still has some good spots, and the horror is still present for sure. I especially enjoyed the chapter headers being done by another person and how they get progressively more unhinged. Both performances are good!
Personally a 3.5/5* for me.
okay i have soooo many feelings about this book!! i know this is one of grady hendrix's older books but like ??? gurl. this is not it.
it's a short read and if that's a compliment that's definitely where my compliments end for this book. after like page 120 it's just a straight gore (i'm squeamish over everything okay so i'm calling it gore when they litcherally describe finger nails being ripped off like a wet stamp) and action-fest book. character's had no development, no depth, no spice.
and to top it all off there are so! many! plot! holes! what the fuck is the white milky fluid that comes out of trinity and into carl? who the fuck is carl? why couldn't the cops find the address? but then the cops do show up at the end? what , and i cannot stress this enough, the fuck did i just read. hendrix, you owe me one.
read for summerween 2022
i enjoyed this book wayyyyyy more than i expected! it was super fun and i love that this had themes on capitalism and the corporate ladder. nobody really talks about that in relation to this book but that was honestly my favorite part.
Rounded up from a 3.5 because its closer to a 4 than it is a 3 and I don't do half ratings.
“She didn't expect life to be fair, but did it have to be so relentless?”
Something sinister was happening at Orsk, so the m,anager decided to get 2 of his employees to work after hours so that they could check if someone is breaking in at the store at night. Turns out, it's something supernatural.
When I was a child, I would have fantasies of hiding somewhere inside the mall so I could stay out of hours so yeah, this sounded really interesting to me. Anyone else did that?
This book gave me Scary Movie vibes. It's a horror book that's not too creepy and it's sometimes funny. I didn't really feel frightened while I was reading this. It didn't feel atmospheric enough for me, maybe the scene setting was not as dramatic.
I liked the ending, it didn't have proper closure but it's fine. If there was a book 2, I might pick it up because I want to know what will happen next.
BTW, I also loved the book itself! It's unique and creative. It looked like an Ikea catalogue!
La historia está bien, es entretenida y tiene cierto punto de tensión pero lo que es soberbio es la ambientación, el humor y la edición.
De verdad no puedo con que el libro sea como un puto catálogo de Ikea, mis dieces.
3.5
I wanted to love it so much more. It truly was so strange and creepy, and I loved the design of the book, all the little details were so fun. But the ending really disappointed me. An extra line or two could have finished it properly but unfortunately the ending me feeling dissatisfied and lowered my overall rating.
Having heard so many people describe trips to Ikea as their idea of a nightmare, making an Ikea like store the setting for a cosmic horror novel really should have been done earlier. However, Grady Hendrix here has nailed the topic. A dark wit pervades everything here, from the tongue in cheek adverts for flat-pack furniture that gradually evolve into different items through the book, the references for how easy it is to get lost in these giant warehouses with a guided path through the store, the wonderfully inane corporate sloganeering and even the more direct references to its obvious inspiration in Ikea.
Hendrix's writing style is easy to digest, making this a nice easy read. The plot plays with tropes (the shop was built on the site of an ancient evil etc), the characters are likeable with good understandable motivations. Yes, the plot is a bit silly at times, but the tongue is firmly in cheek which all lends to the dark wit of the book. All in all an excellent read and a nice break from a lot of more meaty stuff I have been reading recently.
Ouh no!
It's always hard when you get to a book with very high expectations.. because it not always end good! And this was definitely the case!
Horrorstör missed the spot for me completely! I started loving the story and thought it to be very promising... but somehow it lost it's strength for me!
Being very simplistic, for me the horror books/movies are divided into 2 categories: 1) either the book acknowledges from the beginning that the ghosts exist and deals with them from moment 0 or 2) it plays with your mind and only unveils that ghost exists by the end.
I like the first ones! And Horrorstör fit more on the second category (if we could say so!). Nah!
Also, I'm a new BookTuber! here is my channel in case you want to have a look!: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqu1LgRVYr38sNpMmvqT5Ug
Really not loving it! A shame!!
Ouh no!
It's always hard when you get to a book with very high expectations.. because it not always end good! And this was definitely the case!
Horrorstör missed the spot for me completely! I started loving the story and thought it to be very promising... but somehow it lost it's strength for me!
Being very simplistic, for me the horror books/movies are divided into 2 categories: 1) either the book acknowledges from the beginning that the ghosts exist and deals with them from moment 0 or 2) it plays with your mind and only unveils that ghost exists by the end.
I like the first ones! And Horrorstör fit more on the second category (if we could say so!). Nah!
Also, I'm a new BookTuber! here is my channel in case you want to have a look!: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqu1LgRVYr38sNpMmvqT5Ug
Really not loving it! A shame!!
This was pretty good. It read really quick and I definitely wanted to know what happened. It was a bit much at parts, but not bad. I think the idea was more interesting than the execution though. I really like how the epilogue ended.
3 - 3.5 ⭐
Not the greatest book ever but if you like really crappy B horror films like I do you'll find this to be very similar.