LTJ's Reviews > Horrorstör

“Horrorstör” by Grady Hendrix has been a book I’ve been wanting to read for a while. I’ve read a handful of novels by Hendrix and I absolutely love his style of writing, horror, and the hilarious dark humor often found in everything he does. When it comes to Horrorstör, it’s simply put, a good time.

From the awesome graphic illustrations before each chapter and the whole story being around a retail furniture store, this book really hit home with me. I spent over 15 years working in retail electronics (Best Buy) and let me tell you, Hendrix hit the nail right on the head with how everything works behind the scenes. Even with the usual characters you’d find in retail, he did a fantastic job getting everything eerily accurate to what it’s like working in retail and the people/customers you deal with on a daily basis.

I’ve worked countless overnights and let me tell you, sometimes you do get a bit freaked out/chills down your spine when it’s 2:15 AM and you can hear a pin drop in a completely empty and quiet retail store. Especially when you start hearing the usual random noises throughout the night as I loved the authenticity of how Hendrix captured all that. I don’t know if he’s ever worked in retail or asked people that did but my goodness, combining that with all the crazy horror in this book was perfect.

I enjoyed all the characters, especially Amy, as she was totally relatable. I’ve met countless people working in retail and have known co-workers dealing with everything she does which made it feel so authentic. I had a lot of empathy with her and this made me connect with her character and why she did the things that she did.

Hendrix did a great job with lots of little references that made me smile from mentioning Best Buy, Lorraine Warren (I’m a huge fan of The Conjuring series), and capturing the essence of an IKEA store. LoL I’ve only shopped there twice in my life and let me tell you, that place has to be terrifying late at night in complete darkness.

As I kept reading Horrorstör, I truly loved all the solid layers of creepiness and how things got progressively scarier over time. Even the graphic illustrations reflected this and don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything for you but wow, things get wild! There is one horrific moment that was so intense and terrifying, I gladly enjoyed reading it several times because it was that epic.

For the most part, Horrorstör is an entertaining, awesome, and gruesome read. I thought it was a very unique look at what happens when a retail store closes at night and you’re dealt with scary events and situations. The atmospheric horror was brilliant and the only thing I didn’t like was the ending. Again, no spoilers here but I wanted things wrapped up for a perfect read from beginning to end. It left me wanting more as I wish things were settled, closed up, and one way or the other, complete.

I give “Horrorstör” by Grady Hendrix a 4/5 as it was everything I expected going into a novel written by one of the best horror authors out there today. The overall terror, tension, atmospheric horror, characters, and creepy setting in a retail furniture store were all top-notch. The only thing I didn’t like was the ending as I felt it didn’t make sense and wasn’t satisfying after such a crazy fun horror-filled ghost adventure. Either way, this was an awesome book and hit home with me being in a retail setting. I’d recommend this to anyone that loves horror and wants a unique take on what could happen when the lights go out late at night in an empty retail store that’s probably haunted.