Review | Horrorstör

The Book: Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

Date Published: September 23, 2014

Dates Read: April 4-10, 2019

Current Goodreads Rating: 3.61/5

I had to take a quick breather from my Popsugar Challenge reading as our last few books had been incredibly dense and difficult to get through. I found I was really craving something quick and easy to digest. Horrorstör had been sitting in my 'To-Read' shelf for a very long time and it had always intrigued me. The cover looks like the cover to an Ikea catalog and throughout the book are various ads or company logos that look incredibly legit. This book was actually on our shortlist for "A book with a plant in the title or on the cover," but we ended up choosing a different book in the end.

Horrorstör is basically what it sounds like. It's a horror novel set in a knock off Ikea that was built on the remains of an old prison. Focusing mainly on Amy, a young woman fresh out of college with no goals and no motivation, the beginning of this story probably connects with a lot of readers who have worked in retail before. Hell, I worked in food and beverage for a majority of my young life and I understood the mind numbingly dumb questions customers would ask and the disgusting things people did when they believe that the workers "get paid to clean things up."

However, once the store closes down Orsk becomes a creepier version of The Night at the Museum. In an attempt to learn who has been vandalizing merchandise after hours, Amy; her manager, Basil; and her fellow co-worker, Ruth Anne stay behind after hours and witness the true horrors Orsk After Dark has to offer. The visuals are disgusting and gory and just downright nauseating at some points. There's blood, bones, rats, and grimy water splattered across these pages.

Would I buy the merchandise? This was my awful way of asking if I liked the book, but also, no I would not buy the merchandise. The book on the other hand was pretty solid. Granted, it did feel very similar to a horror book I had read last year, Asylum by Madeleine Roux (which you can see my mini-review in this blog post). However, I think the idea of a haunted Ikea is genius. Have you ever been in an Ikea? It is specially designed to make sure you see every single inch of the store. Horrorstör encapsulates the feeling of an Orsk/Ikea well by stating:

Our customers either leave with nothing or buy everything.

One of the main selling points behind this entire book was its aesthetic. Like I stated earlier, the cover was laid out exactly like the cover to an Ikea catalog, but that even continues inside the book. There are things like I previously mentioned like coupons to the fictional store or various ads that had probably been posted around this fictional town, but there were also smaller details. For example, every chapter opened with a picture and description of a piece of furniture Orsk sold. However, as the store and the team members inside slowly descend into more horror and madness, the furniture changes. While Chapter One showcased a cheap looking Ikea-knockoff couch, several chapters later that cheap looking Ikea-knockoff is actually a treadmill with spikes on it and the description is incredibly eerie.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Now let's talk about the ending. I honestly think this book had a pretty solid ending, as long as you read the epilogue (side note: I've heard that some people don't read those or prologues and....just...how? Why?) After being trapped in this haunted Orsk for an evening, Amy and Basil manage to escape, but several of their friends, Ruth Anne included, do not make it out. The book ends on the brightest ending it can really think of which is Basil and Amy storming the store several months after the disaster in an attempt to save their friends and end the horror that is Horrorstör. However, if they do end up saving them is entirely up to the reader. We don't get to see the result or even if their friends are rescued.

This begs the question, should there be a sequel? Honestly, I think this book is perfect the way it is. There is a possibility that Hendrix could write another book that looks like a Baby's R Us catalog, but I think at that point the joke would be too overdone. Horrorstör is just perfectly meta where I can get absorbed in the story and freak myself out while also laughing at the (not so) subtle jabs Hendrix is making at Ikea. It also may have made it where I can't step into another Ikea without thinking of grimy water and slimy hands reaching out for me. I'm glad we don't have an Ikea nearby.

Side note: Do you think Ikea can or would sue Hendrix? If its gross enough to turn enough people away from Ikea couldn't they sue for defamation or something? I don't know I'm an English major not a lawyer.

Long Story Short:

• Ikea stores are creepy

• Aesthetic can really make or break you

• Open ended questions and endings are best

My Rating: 4/5