If you read my reviews enough, you’ll probably realize I’m not much of a horror fan. Oh, I like scary movies well enough, but I don’t read much in the genre. Thus, as I sit here, I feel slightly ill-prepared for putting together some thoughts on this book. As a matter of fact, that’s more or less how I feel putting together a piece of Ikea furniture: not quite sure I understand all the pieces, but still sure I can make it through to the end.

In Horrorstör, Grady Hendrix and his Quirk conspirators have made a book which not only resembles an Ikea catalog, but they have given readers a story dominated by that same unsettled feeling.

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What a very well-written horror (story? experience? yes?); it was also a well-done slope that had me cringily anticipating Bad Things, easing up and even laughing, thinking it wouldn't be so horrific after all, and then . . . hooboy. ( )

(3.5 Stars)

This was actually better than I expected it was going to be. The author stuck to the bit the entire way through and held it together enough to maker a fun little horror story. I look forward to reading more by this author.

If you like bizarre horror, similar to John Dies at the End, but without all that juvenile humor and all those plot holes you should like this book.

It is a very fast paced story so there isn't much chance for character development, but the author does a good job setting the scene for their personalities and remains fairly consistent. He is good with dialog and the shortcuts he took with "world building" all made sense and were necessary to accomplish story elements without needing an abundance of background detailing. ( )

Set in a middle America Ikea-type furniture store called Orsk, HORRORSTOR starts out only ordinarily grim, with mid-twenties Amy clocking in and trying to avoid her manager, Basil, because she has put in for a transfer. But unexplained things have been happening in the store overnight, and Basil asks Amy and Ruth Anne to work an overnight shift with him to get to the bottom of it. Employees Trinity and Matt show up too, set on catching a ghost on camera, but the five of them encounter so much worse than a ghost: they discover the swampy, horrible history of the land the Orsk was built on, a former panopticon known as the Beehive where warden Josiah Worth tortured his "penitents" with meaningless, repetitive physical labor until they were destroyed.

*Spoiler alert*

After sustaining serious pain and anguish, Amy and Basil escape, but Trinity and Matt are lost in the Beehive, and Ruth Anne is likely dead. Orsk tries to buy off Amy and Basil with cash and offers of better jobs at regional, but both ultimately turn the offers down; they reunite at the big box store that takes Orsk's place, intent on rescuing their friends from the Beehive.

Quotes

In the end, Amy thought, everything always comes down to those two choices: stay down or stand up. (171)

"There was a prison here, and we built a new prison on its ruins" (227)

...her anger felt bigger than the world. (231) ( )

So you have a mundane job, but the hamster wheel keeps turning, maybe clouding that important inner voice. You get a chance to get a little ahead with a bizarre proposal from your boss which, of course, goes completely wrong. “There was a prison here, and we built a new prison on its ruins, and all the old prisoners came out to give it a try.”
On a fast paced experience, one young woman will endure battles of the mind and flesh as she enters a world of hellrazer meets home and gardens, making choices no one would ever want to. Guarantee to make you panic, squirm, and maybe make your tummy churn you will see this young girl evolve….but into what….you will need to read it yourself. No spoilers here ( )