Book review – Horrorstör

At ORSK, a Scandinavian build-it-yourself furniture store in Ohio, something is going bump in the night and it’s up to 5 mismatched employees to figure out who or what it is.

Horrorstör is the latest novel from New York Asian Film Festival co-founder Grady Hendrix, and it’s a unique twist on the classic ghost haunting story, even down to the packaging. The whole book is made to resemble a IKEA-esque retail catalogue, complete with illustrations of build-it-yourself furniture and some interesting, evil torture devices.

Here’s the plot. The employees of the Ohio furniture store arrive to work one morning to find some things out of place. Bad smells, defiled and destroyed furniture and strange writing in the washroom have all appeared overnight. Uptight, by-the-book store manager Basil is tasked with figuring out the mystery on an overnight stakeout. To aid him, Basil recruits slacker Amy and ORSK lifer Ruth Anne to track down the vandal. Their investigation is infiltrated by two ghost enthusiast employees who are convinced that the superstore is plagued by ghosts. Is it indeed ghosts, or just rowdy kids vandalizing ORSK? Grady Hendrix leads you through a number of twists and turns as the enigma slowly unravels.

Horrorstör is funny, creepy and a great take on the traditional haunted house story. Full of unique characters and intense, spine chilling moments, every chapter keeps you on the edge of your seat and ensures you’ll keep the lights on at night. It’s very refreshing to read something as unique as Horrorstör. If you’re looking for something different and aren’t afraid of the things that go bump in the night, I definitely recommend you check it out.

If you read only one book this year about a haunted Scandinavian furniture superstore… I’m guessing it’ll be Horrorstör (no assembly required).