Book Review: Horrorstor: A Novel (Grady Hendrix)

Horrorstor: A Novel  is a quick, fun horror comedy that is best likened to a well written fan fiction of a disgruntled Ikea worker.

Trinity has no desire to be working at Orsk, “the all-American furniture superstore in Scandinavian drag, offering well-designed lifestyles at below-Ikea prices,” and her biggest plans are to transfer back to her original Orsk when she is given the chance. Even though both stores are identical, she mainly wants to escape management, or more specifically, her overenthusiastic boss Basil, who, according to the management handbook, just needs to give Trinity a nudge in the right direction, and she will be sure to be just as excited to work at Orsk as he is.

Trinity is not the only one who believes that her work is more likened to slavery or imprisonment. Matt and Amy are coworkers that find the only silver lining in working at Orsk is each other and the chance of proving it to be haunted.

After a few odd instances such as messes created overnight and smells left on furniture, Trinity reluctantly spends an overnight shift with a few coworkers to ensure that nothing interferes with a visit from corporate the next day. The night proves to be one that tests Trinity’s dedication to the store and her natural inclination to always give up when things get tough when she discovers that the store is carrying a few more pieces that come in the haunted variety.

I picked up Grady Hendrick's Horrorstor: A Novel because I was surprised by its great reviews and promising TV show. I had to know how a play on Ikea furniture could turn into a haunted story. 

Despite it's curb appeal, the story is somewhat trite using well overplayed archetypes: the daddy's girl, the bored employee, the old burial ground, and the hidden passage ways and torture devices. I can see, though, that this book could make a good horror comedy, much like Krampus or The Cabin in the Woods as long as the film uses the archetypes mentioned above to play more into the comedy role. Other than the clever Ikea-esque descriptions of torture devices used in the beginning of the chapters, I had very few laughs. Hendricks missed some great opportunities for laughs by not giving more dialogue to the haunted warden or odd duck Ruth.

Any disgruntled veteran retail employee will enjoy the musings of a tenured employee, whose last exciting event before a haunting was last year's Black Friday sale.

I read Horrorstor: A Novel  by Grady Hendrix (ISBN 1594745269) on Overdrive (a free app through your local library), but you can purchase the book on Amazon for $9.33 here.