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A review by ricksilva
Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A solid four-star horror story that gains a star for it's ridiculous (in the best possibly way) design/layout and it's total dedication to sticking to it's gimmick.
Strange things are afoot at the local Orsk, a big-box retailer of Swedish-style furniture that is absolutely not just a knockoff of it's better-known competitor, Ikea.
Amy, an employee stuck in the retail grind, is offered double-overtime for an overnight shift with her manager, Basil, and longtime cashier Ruth Anne. It seems there has been a series of vandalism incidents overnight, and Basil has a team from corporate showing up the next morning expecting answers.
No problem, just a night in a giant maze-like furniture store full of doors to nowhere and stocked with the latest in fashionable home design. What could possibly go wrong?
Everything does, of course. The story hits a bunch of standard horror beats while never losing its central metaphor of retail work as prison. The characters have enough complexity to each pull off a few surprises, and the author does a nice job mixing the creepiness and overall absurdity of the setting.
The book is laid out like a furniture catalogue, and it's done with delightful attention to detail (why yes, I did notice that every furniture piece has 666 somewhere in its item number). The Orsk corporate-speak and slogans, lovingly quoted by Basil, get more and more disturbing as the story moves on. And I particularly loved how all of the characters referred to the furniture pieces by their Swedish names no matter how stressful the situation was.
This is a harrowing story (avoid if you're bothered by claustrophobia, bondage, and/or drowning) that is loaded with dark humor in a wonderfully absurd package.
Strange things are afoot at the local Orsk, a big-box retailer of Swedish-style furniture that is absolutely not just a knockoff of it's better-known competitor, Ikea.
Amy, an employee stuck in the retail grind, is offered double-overtime for an overnight shift with her manager, Basil, and longtime cashier Ruth Anne. It seems there has been a series of vandalism incidents overnight, and Basil has a team from corporate showing up the next morning expecting answers.
No problem, just a night in a giant maze-like furniture store full of doors to nowhere and stocked with the latest in fashionable home design. What could possibly go wrong?
Everything does, of course. The story hits a bunch of standard horror beats while never losing its central metaphor of retail work as prison. The characters have enough complexity to each pull off a few surprises, and the author does a nice job mixing the creepiness and overall absurdity of the setting.
The book is laid out like a furniture catalogue, and it's done with delightful attention to detail (why yes, I did notice that every furniture piece has 666 somewhere in its item number). The Orsk corporate-speak and slogans, lovingly quoted by Basil, get more and more disturbing as the story moves on. And I particularly loved how all of the characters referred to the furniture pieces by their Swedish names no matter how stressful the situation was.
This is a harrowing story (avoid if you're bothered by claustrophobia, bondage, and/or drowning) that is loaded with dark humor in a wonderfully absurd package.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Torture