Review: Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

Horrorstör

By: Grady Hendrix

Pub. Date: September 23, 2014

Publisher: Quirk Books

Pages: 256

Source: Edelweiss

Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring wardrobes, shattered Brooka glassware, and vandalized Liripip sofa beds—clearly, someone or something is up to no good. To unravel the mystery, five young employees volunteer for a long dusk-till-dawn shift—and they encounter horrors that defy imagination. Along the way, author Grady Hendrix infuses sly social commentary on the nature of work in the new twenty-first century economy.

A traditional haunted house story in a contemporary setting (and full of current fears), Horrorstör comes conveniently packaged in the form of a retail catalog, complete with illustrations of ready-to-assemble furniture and other, more sinister accessories. We promise you’ve never seen anything quite like it!

I received this galley from edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

When I first heard about Horrorstör I became a little obsessed. I thought this was the coolest book I have ever heard about it. I was so excited when I got the opportunity to read it early and I absolutely loved it! So original, creepy, fun and fast paced!

Amy, our MC is not very driven. She works at Orsk superstore, basically a knock off Ikea (her words, not mine!). She doesn't like her job, she's in debt, she's really not heading anywhere in life. The only thing she can think about is being allowed to transfer to a different Orsk to get away from her manager, Basil, who she can't stand. It was hard to like Amy at first. Her personality did not make it easy too, but I love seeing how much she changed from the beginning to the end of the book. She ended up being a very loyal, kind, selfless person. One character that completely surprised me, and ended up being my favorite was Basil. We start off not liking him because of Amy, but by the end I was completely in love with him. Such a sweet and awkward guy who really just wanted to do the right thing.

Things have been happening at Orsk that no one can explain. Basil decides to ask some employees, including Amy to stay the night so they can catch the guy who is vandalizing the store after closing. The money is good so Amy agrees. No one expected that it could be ghosts. Ghosts who died over a hundred years ago and are still being tortured, even after death. This is when the story really started to pick up. Who doesn't love a good ghost story? Sometimes ghost stories are done really stupid. The authors try to hard to make it scary and creepy. This story was actually scary and creepy in the most subtle ways. I had goose bumps for basically the whole second half of the novel.

The ending is definitely something to think about. I have no clue if there is going to be a second book, it really can go both ways!

I don't want to give anything away, but I highly recommend that you read this book. Not only is the story well written, but the book is super cool looking. It looks just like a catalog. There are pictures of products, a how to guide on how to work the store, and even an order form. I can not wait to have a physical copy of this super original book!