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Jul 24, 2011

mark rated it:

Bentley Little established himself as the premier expert of institutional deconstruction with The Store. This is a smart and fast-paced novel, and its attack on consumer culture is so obvious yet so smoothly encapsulated within the traditional horror genre, that the genuinely sharp critique - the entire reason for this novel's existence - may pass almost unnoticed by the frequent and possibly jaded horror reader.

If the western is the most conservative of genres, then horror is surely More...

7 comments like (13 people liked it)

Aug 15, 2007

Jack rated it:

Bentley Little has created a novel chronicling how discount chains like Wal-Mart move into small towns, change their local economies and drive many small "mom-and-pop" stores out of business. Little stretches his plausible premise like a rubber band, to improbable extremes. He stretches it slowly, gradually so even the stretching seems plausible. And accompaning the stretch looms a sinister supernatural undercurrent to this discount chain called the The Store.

Somehow he More...

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Jan 14, 2011

Dan rated it:

After what seemed an eternity, I made it half way through this book, and couldn't muster up the will to read any further. The story seems promising: An evil Walmart-like store moves into small towns and slowly consumes them. The problem is that the story as the author tells it has no heart at all. Basically, the main character attends a town hall meeting, gets ticked off as the store erodes yet another piece of the town, then nothing happens for another forty pages until the guy attends anot More...

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Nov 03, 2009

Tom rated it:

Bentley Little quite likely used Walmart as the model for _The Store_. This work is a satire worthy of Jonathan Swift! The first chapters are an expose of one aspect of 'big box' stores I find offensive; their penchant for circumventing many zoning and environmental laws. Community "mom & pops" stores are closing in droves, unemployment skyrockets, and underemployment becomes the norm. "The Store" gains control of the City Council, privatizes schools, the police and Fire More...

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Dec 19, 2008

Erin rated it:

I've already shared my opinion on Bentley Little as an author - he's an evil genius of bad dreams, and takes the "ewww-factor" to a new level with his writing. I'm not seeking out his books anymore (my stomach's not as strong as it used to be before I had my kids) but I did enjoy "The Store."

Imagine if Wal-mart was evil. Not evil like they are now... but really, actually evil. When a new branch of The Store opens up, birds drop dead from the sky in the parking lo More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 17, 2011

Erin rated it:

This is probably the worst book I've ever read, and that's saying something, okay, I've read Dean Koontz and Stephanie Meyer. The plot was ridiculous the whole way through, the characters were one dimensional and boring as all fuck, and the ending was even more retarded than the rest of the book thrown together. Add in the surprise! incest!, the ridiculous portrayal of local government, and the absolutely uncreative and unimaginative writing that has ever been written, and you have the steaming More...

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Oct 16, 2011

NumberLord rated it:

Based on the description, I was expecting something like Stephen King's Needful Things. But it's not quite like that.
After an awesome use of the Imagination Trap in the Prologue, I had some high expectations. And Little did manage to impress me again. The Store in the story comes across as an evil WalMart-like corporation wreaking havoc on the community of Juniper, Arizona. But the novel is not so much about the evils of corporatism; it's really about fascism--at least for about 80% of More...

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Jun 11, 2010

Robert rated it:

Bentley Little was a bit ahead of the curve with this 1998 socio-political horror story about a huge discount store chain (likely based on Wal-Mart) that is not only evil – you know, moving into small towns and driving small mom and pop stores out of business, as in the real world – but flat out E-VIL, literally sucking the life out of its host towns in order to control, terrorize and enslave their citizens. As memory recalls, the Wal-Mart-as-the-enemy-of-the-little-guy meme didn’t really becom More...

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Oct 09, 2010

tom rated it:

Basically, what if Walmart was evil.

Oops. Let me rephrase that. What if...Walmart was run by a demon.

The Store comes to bumblefuck, AZ and puts all the local businesses out of business by offering more goods at lower prices (just like Walmart!). It destroys the town by lowering everyone's income and then offering them cheap goods as the only things they can afford (just like Walmart!). Then it kills people who revolt and steals their souls (well, one can argue that Walmart DO More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jun 13, 2008

Tabby rated it:

"The Store" takes place in Juniper, Arizona. Juniper is a podunk town out in the boonies. People have to drive to Flagstaff or Phoenix to visit a mall or a discount retailer. All of that changes when The Store arrives. The Store is a national discount chain, along the lines of Wal-Mart or Kmart. About the only person in town concerned about the new store is Bill Davis, a work at home writer who has plenty of time to poke his nose into what's going on in town. Davis has problems with Th More...

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Apr 29, 2008

Matt added it

Another recommendation; another book read in Arizona. I called this book cute a lot while I was on vacation, and it is; it’s similar to Needful Things, and effectively uses the concept of a giant corporate discount retail store for its business. Little is an OK writer. The eerie and horrific scenes in his book are great; they are often surprising, and they are certainly the strong point of his work. Plot, characters, and flow all, however, remain desirous. The whole books reads like a clich More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 03, 2008

Rita rated it:

I really liked this book. Yes, it’s horror. Stylistically, a lot like Stephen King, and before you razz me about that, remember Stephen King wrote some very good things. He wrote Carrie, he wrote Salem’s Lot, The Shining, and Misery. He even wrote Delores Claiborne, remember that? Yeah, he wrote some marginal stuff and some downright crappy stuff, but he also had some good things in there, too.

Anyway, the writing of The Store is not phenomenal, but nowhere near Dan Brown bad. The w More...

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Aug 27, 2007

Chris rated it:

Wow.

I really really wanted to be completely on board with The Store. I love the idea and Bentley Little cranks out the creepy stuff at a nice clip... but the book really lost me a lot of the time.

Maybe it's just because of a recent re-read, but I kept comparing The Store to Stephen King's vampires-in-a-small-town opus 'Salem's Lot. 'Salem's Lot unspools slowly as the vampire menace takes hold of the town; we get a lot of brief looks at the townspeople of the Lot as the g More...

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Sep 24, 2011

Carl rated it:

This was only my 2nd book of Bentley Little and I have to confess, I loved it. It gripped me a lot more than Dispatch and had much more action. It was similar in that it had a "big boss" ending, reminding me of all the 1990's Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter games! OK I am going too far.
What gripped me most was the Night Managers. They had such a real presence throughout the book that in themselves, they were the scariest part of the story.

I loved the way the book painted g More...

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Dec 07, 2011

Zuzana rated it:

Hmm, I don't think I'll be reading more Bentley Little unless I have nothing else to read ... and with my piles of TBR books, that's about 187 years after hell freezes over. This was a passably imaginative tale, and in the hands of a master storyteller (like Stephen King), it may have been fascinating. But the storytelling here it stilted, trite, and repetitive. Characters' emotions or revelations that might have made for interesting exposition are summed up in a line or two, and other details More...

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Oct 06, 2011

Georgina rated it:

THE STORE IS COMING THE STORE IS COMING

I haven't enjoyed a book this much in a long time. Wal Mart from hell has arrived in Juniper and it is looking to eliminate all competition. The pacing was maybe a bit slow in the beginning, but I didn't mind because the book was describing how, bit by bit, The Store was taking over. Some very very messed up things happen along the way to the satifying ending. Definitely recommend.

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Aug 19, 2011

Gayle rated it:

My first Bentley Little book and I hate they're so difficult to find.
A true horror tale about a chain of stores that take over small towns
all over the country. They control every aspect of the citizens' lives
and some of the control is on the down and dirty.
Can one man fight this system and win or will he be taken down
with the rest of them?
A thrilling book that was difficult to put down.

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Nov 10, 2010

Helen rated it:

Ah, the creepiness of everyday things! Little really hones in on the disturbing phenomena of the insidious spread of the chain store and clone-towns, and much of the first part of the book is utterly believable, the element of truth in the book is what is most disturbing.
An unsettling and creepy read, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

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Feb 22, 2010

Steven rated it:

One day in the small town of Juniper, Arizona a sign goes up announcing "The Store is Coming." A large mega-store where you buy just about anything. The large selection, low prices, and the prospect of providing a number of jobs for local residents make The Store's arrival attractive to many residents. Local businesses take a hit and once The Store is established it expands and reaches out into every aspect of life in this small community. Horror story or reality? There are bizarre and More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 28, 2011

William rated it:

If you can accept the premise of a wealthy chain of stores slowly taking over the country (even though it's slowly happening now... Walmart, etc.) you'll love it. Graphic scenes, fast paced action, and characters you CARE ABOUT make this a must for horror fans. Not terribly scary, but sooooo much fun!

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Nov 07, 2010

Lisa rated it:

Uggghhh! This book had so many, many chances to become an excellent book!! A lot of the scenes it set up, it didn't follow through with! I feel like it was the generic version of Needful Things in a way. This was not a page turner for me because it kept me wanting more. I kept turning pages expecting/hoping for more and it fell very flat.

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Nov 10, 2010

PATRICK rated it:

I picked this book at random, and I'm thoroughly glad I did. I was literally glued to this from cover to cover. I loved how the supernatural and the mundane are brilliantly counterbalanced. The despicable evil things The Store does to take over the town of Juniper on a political level are very much based in reality and gripping in their own right. When juxtaposed with the evil things The Store does to take over Juniper on a spiritual level, the effect it chilling.

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Nov 30, 2009

Angela rated it:

I could only think about Wal-Mart...and somewhere I heard of the pre work ritual (with a little dance) that you have to do -- but I may have heard about that later. A scary book, especially if you think of it as the big stores that really do seem to be taking over.

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Dec 16, 2010

Linda rated it:

Fascinating and scary story of what could happen if a business literally took over your town where the only place you could shop was there and they carried a lot more than you'd consider. I'm positive they even had straitjackets in the clothing dept!

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Aug 29, 2010

Nancy rated it:

I enjoyed this mainly because I hate Walmart. Don't know how he does it, but the author makes it possible for the reader to swallow the most unbelievable events enough to enjoy the whole book. Weird, but a fun read. Probably good for a Halloween read!

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Dec 04, 2010

Maicie rated it:

library, HA group read for Dec. 2010, reread (but can't remember ending)

Little is one of my horror go-to authors; quick and quirky. If you're one of the mass who despise supermarket chains such as WalMart, KMart and Target, you'll get a kick out of this story.

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Nov 02, 2010

Dave rated it:

I read Bentley Little for a straightforward, twisted story, and would rate most of his books 3 stars. But the topic of this book is just so funny that I was able to appreciate a horror story and a comedy all at the same time. Good job!

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Jul 30, 2011

Andre rated it:

This was my first Bentley Little title, and I was pleasantly surprised at the entertainment level this book procured me. I couldn't wait to see how all this would end. A very good weird tale of urban horror. I will definitely check out more of his works.

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Nov 29, 2009

Dave rated it:

A very intelligently written and well crafted book that can stand alone as a horror novel or be taken as an allegory of the insidiousness of greed and apathy. This work makes the reader question the motivations and hidden agendas that seem to permeate our lives and actually consider "could this happen?"...is this happening?" To what extent are our lives, opinions, and choices actuall made FOR us?

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Jan 15, 2008

Jeremy rated it:

At first, I thought THE STORE would eventually collapse into some sort of anti-capitalist conspiracy theory claptrap, but instead it played up a fascism angle. A giant retail chain store comes to a small Arizona town and starts to take over...Not just the local businesses, but EVERYTHING. In one memorable passage, a mother is breastfeeding her newborn daughter in the hospital when a group of jackbooted STORE employees bust in and confiscate the infant because the young mother and her husband fai More...

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