Module 9: Horror: Horrorstor

Photo taken by me

Hendrix, G. (2014). Horrorstör. Philadelphia, PA: Quirk Books. 978-1-59474-526-4

Summary 

Amy works at Orsk, the cheaper version of Ikea. She is an average employee with an average Millennial life: mountains of debt, nagging roommates, and a boring and repetitive retail job. When her boss Basil asks her to pick up an extra shift, she jumps at the opportunity to make a little extra cash, even though the hours are overnight. When the store is closed. With only the annoying Basil and Miss Perfect Ruth Anne. To investigate some creepy things that have been happening (i.e. really smelly poop found on a sofa at opening).

During their first sweep of the showroom, Amy and Ruth Anne come across two other coworkers, Matt and Trinity, who stayed behind after closing to film ghosts in order to get an A&E-like ghost hunters show contract. They also happen to find Carl, a homeless man who has been camping out at Orsk at night so as to avoid shelters. During a séance, Carl’s body is possess by Josiah Worth, a warden of a jail during the 1830’s that was located on the same plot as this Orsk building. Josiah employed some rather inhumane “cures” for his inmates, believing that hard and repetitive work would cure them of their ailments. These ghostly inmates capture Amy, Basil, Matt, Ruth Anne, and Trinity at various points, submit them to refitted Orsk/repetitive work/torture devices, and brainwashes them.

Amy and Basil eventually escape, Ruth Anne dies, Carl dies within moments of Josiah occupying his body, and Matt and Trinity are lost to the “Beehive”, the repetitive work-torture chamber that is this plot of land and is under the jurisdiction of Josiah/Carl.

As a Genre Example

Horrorstör is a humorous horror story due to Amy’s cynical commentary, the fact that it’s a book formatted like a furniture store catalog, and that it is poking fun at Ikea. There is a monster that is a paranormal/supernatural creature, a ghost and his “army” of ghost inmates, which puts it in the Supernatural subgenre from the Module notes. There is no strong language or explicit sex. In fact, because of its lightness, I’d recommend this to teens who are looking for a horror story or are interested in breaking into the genre. The vague ending is present: with the Baby Planet store replacing Orsk and Amy and Basil united in finding Trinity and Matt somewhere within the Beehive, there is a feeling of a potential sequel. Readers get a bit of an understanding behind why Josiah is subjecting Amy and the Orsk crew to torturous tasks, but there is no insight into why Josiah is the way he is that would be present in a Thriller. The pacing of Horrorstör is pretty quick; I read it in two sittings.

Evaluation

I don’t think all readers would experience fear reading Horrorstör, but I did. I am the biggest wimp in regards to horror and gore, and this had some of both. When Carl slits his own throat with a pair of handcuffs and rips out his trachea, I threw the book down on my bed. When that sort of stuff happens on a screen, I can just cover my eyes, but with a book, I have to pick it back up and keep reading. As such, I didn’t enjoy the book. It wasn’t awful and mind-numbingly boring like Lakota was, but I don’t plan on reading it again. I would recommend it to fans of light horror and teens, like explained above. I liked the characters of Amy and Basil because Hendrix developed them into round and dynamic characters. This is especially important because as Amy changes her perception of Basil, so does the reader. I definitely “shipped” them before the end of the story. I really think Amy would relish being a positive role model for Basil’s little sister. And I think Basil and Amy would balance out each other’s extremities personality-wise.

Reader's Advisory

Like I mention above, I would recommend Horrorstör to teens who are looking to break into the horror genre. As for adults, those who want something light and quick to read but also like to freaked out would enjoy Horrorstör.