January 2020 Group Read #2- Horrorstor

[Rachel]

I've never been to Ikea (I'm like... Aware of them though.) so I feel like I'm missing out somehow by not having first-hand knowledge, ha ha.

[Kimberly]

This was the first book I had ever read by Hendrix, and I really thought it "unique", how he incorporated everything!!

[Tom]

I've been listening to the audio of this for about three days now and I'm really enjoying it. The chapter headers are my favorite parts. I'm definitely going to look up the English translations of the products.

[Rachel]

I just finished chapter 8...

(view spoiler)[I was starting to get worried when I noticed I was almost to the halfway point and nothing super creepy had happened. Now post-seance, I'm really excited to see what the fuck is happening here. 😂

My theory is not ghosts, but horrible eldritch abomination so we'll see. (hide spoiler)]

[Michael]

Rachel wrote: "I just finished chapter 8...

Hold onto that theory (in the spoilers), Rachel.

[M.E.]

Rachel wrote: "I've never been to Ikea (I'm like... Aware of them though.) so I feel like I'm missing out somehow by not having first-hand knowledge, ha ha."

Same here. I feel like I need to make an excursion to the nearest one.

[Rachel]

Expanding on the theory of my previous post... (I'm on chapter 10-ish now.)

(view spoiler)[Warden Worth is the awful god of shitty retail experiences? The way he turns people into faceless goons and wipes away their individuality. And turning the crank for no other purpose than to do it. Am I connecting dots that aren't there? 😂 (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah]

I feel like the book begins with promise, but then it became a chore to read.

[Alastor]

Rachel, I think the dots you're connecting very much are there. Also I think the dots join up to form an endless loop

[Atlanta]

I have it in my kindle library so as soon as I finish the shining I’m on it.

[Kim]

Im in chapter 8. Getting into the scary stuff now. Basil is making me mad!

[Tom]

It changes gears pretty quickly about halfway through.

[Kimberly]

I am loving the chapter titles.

[Kelly B]

Rachel wrote: "I've never been to Ikea (I'm like... Aware of them though.) so I feel like I'm missing out somehow by not having first-hand knowledge, ha ha."

I've never been to one, either :-). There's one about 2 hours from where I live, but we've never made the effort to go.

One more book to finish, then I'll be starting this one. I really enjoyed My Best Friend's Exorcism, so I think I'll like this one as well.

[Kim]

I'm on Chapter 12 now. (view spoiler)[Warden Worth wants Amy bad. I don't know why, Amy is not the boss. (hide spoiler)]Anybody got an idea why?

[Rachel]

I finished it! Overall, it was a fun read and it kept me entertained, but I don't actually feel like it was a "good" book. Too much happening for no reason other than for it to happen, and I had a hard time liking any of the characters. Gave it 3 stars because I did enjoy it though.

Also, is anyone else having this issue where you can't update your book progress on the front page anymore?

Kelly B wrote: "I've never been to one, either :-). There's one about 2 hours from where I live, but we've never made the effort to go."

Right? I feel like I need to go now. Ikea should be paying Grady Hendrix for the advertising. 😂

Kimberly wrote: "I'm on Chapter 12 now. [spoilers removed]Anybody got an idea why?"

I guess because she's the POV character so she gets most of the action? I wondered that too though. Story-wise, there's not a reason for it, I don't think.

[Kimberly]

As for Goodreads--I can't update anything on the homepage either. I think this happened at the beginning of last year, too...

[Latasha]

Same here.

[jamako]

Rachel wrote: "Also, is anyone else having this issue where you can't update your book progress on the front page anymore?"

Yep, same here. It is still possible with the app though.

[Rachel]

Found a work around in the mobile site right after my last comment. You have to go to the 'my books' page. 👍🏼

[J.D.]

Just finished it, I thought it was an interesting read. I absolutely loved the furniture inserts at the beginning of each chapter and that it was laid out like an actual store catalogue. The story itself was pretty original too.

[Alastor]

Kimberly wrote: "I'm on Chapter 12 now. [spoilers removed]Anybody got an idea why?"

The recalcitrant employee needs discipline trope?

[Rachel]

Cynthia wrote: "I haven't started Horrorstor. I was cracking a joke, a repartee to your PTSD comment, that Horrorstor was triggering furniture-buyer remorse PTSD flashbacks."

My mistake. I thought the joke was that you didn't like the book and had buyer's remorse yourself. 😂

[Cassandra]

Rachel wrote: "Cynthia wrote: "Buyer's remorse PTSD?"

Ha ha, I'm guessing you aren't enjoying this read? 😂"

Have not started Horrorstor yet. Guess I made a lounge and a miss jest. As if a novel could trigger IKEA buyer's remorse, PTSD flashbacks. I imagined Rachel reading Horrorstor and then suddenly you have a painful Harper Lee flashback to a sales person selling you an IKEA "To Kill a Mockingbird" edition chiffarobe that you didn't need.

[Kim]

I am now on Chapter 17 at 94 percent.(view spoiler)[Orsk offers them better jobs to keep their mouth shut over what they went through.I loved it when Amy basically told them to kiss her ass! (hide spoiler)]I really love this book!

[Cassandra]

Rachel wrote: "Cynthia wrote: "I haven't started Horrorstor. I was cracking a joke, a repartee to your PTSD comment, that Horrorstor was triggering furniture-buyer remorse PTSD flashbacks."

My mistake. I thought..."

Your initial impression may prove correct, Rachel. I'm 37 pages in. Spick and span as an IKEA showroom. Hope characterizations plumb deeper than financial situation and store reputation.

[Carrie (brightbeautifulthings)]

This isn't my favorite Hendrix book, but I liked it. The catalog format is really fun without being distracting, and I like what he does with the furniture descriptions later in the book. The commentary on retail and running the hamster wheel of capitalism is really apt--probably scarier than anything else in the book.

I wanted more character development though. The characters feel almost stock, but then he takes those stock characters in unexpected directions. I like how Hendrix's main characters are usually girls (view spoiler)[who have been dealt a bad hand and just don't give up. (Not sure if that's spoiling the direction Amy's character takes, so JIC.) (hide spoiler)]

[Alastor]

Kimberly, I think Amy always had it in her. I was surprised by her sense of loyalty though.

[Kim]

Well I finished it! I really loved this book. I will be reading more of Mr. Hendrix. So much fun you'll never leave!

[Rachel]

Cynthia wrote: "Hope characterizations plumb deeper than financial situation and store reputation."

I mean, I don't want to ruin the read for anyone (view spoiler)[but they don't. The characters are pretty static through the whole thing. It was one of the things that disappointed me about it. (hide spoiler)]

[Suki]

I've had this book on my TBR for a few years now-- I love the Ikea spoof format-- but I never got around to reading it, so I'm really happy that it's a group read this month. I just finished Chapter 1, and I'm definitely intrigued. Like many of you, I spent a portion of my younger years mired in retail employment, and it will be fun to see where the story goes.

The only other Grady Hendrix book I've read is Paperbacks From Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction and I really enjoyed the trip down memory lane. (I wish I still had my copies of those old paperbacks!)

[Suki]

I'm just starting Chapter 6, and things are getting creepy. I'm pretty sure I know where this is heading-- (view spoiler)[ between the Beehive bathroom graffiti that Amy found in Chapter 3 and idly gazing at the cover, I think that the store reverts to the old prison at night (the panopticon round architectural style being the Beehive). On the front cover, the daytime store is bright and sparkling clean. On the back cover, dark and dirty, the shelving unit becomes prison cells, and the neatly striped floor rug on the front cover transforms into a maze, representing the sub-basements where the prisoners worked. (I don't even want to think about what the hook apparatus hanging from the ceiling was used for!) The building itself and the jobs the prisoners were required to do in the labyrinth under the cells were intended to "rewire" the brains of the prisoners. Was this successful, and if so, what did the rewired prisoners become? If the Beehive metaphor is carried through, will the prisoners' ghosts be separate units functioning with a hive/group mentality?

In an interesting parallel, Orsk is set up like a labyrinth that is hard to find one's way out of, and a dead-end retail job can feel like being in prison. (hide spoiler)]

I am really liking Hendrix' "voice". He is very easy to read.

[M.E.]

Suki wrote: "...[Spoiler]..."

Ah, that's one drawback to the ebook. Mine doesn't have the back cover.

[Suki]

M.E. wrote: "Suki wrote: "...[Spoiler]..."

Ah, that's one drawback to the ebook. Mine doesn't have the back cover."

It's in the book photos here:
https://www.amazon.ca/Horrorstor-Nove...

[Cassandra]

Suki wrote: "I'm just starting Chapter 6, and things are getting creepy. I'm pretty sure I know where this is heading-- between the Beehive bathroom graffiti that Amy found in Chapter 3 and idly gazing at the ..."

His voice is easy to read. Really easy. I haven't reached the creepy chapter 6 yet. Normally I would have finished Horrorstor, but my little puppy is a handful. He thinks picking up a book is a signal to initiate puppy mayhem (another horror story, altogether).

[Kari]

This is a breath of fresh air, easy to read after a bit of a reading drought for me for the past few months. The characters are interesting, the pacing is fast, the narration is funny without being overbearing. I'm about halfway so I guess coming up to the place where an earlier comment said the book "switches gears" and am pretty excited to see where this is going to go. Loving all the theories people are posting as they read but I don't have a particular one myself, which is rare for me. Looking forward to being surprised!

[Suki]

I just finished Chapter 8, and the book has definitely switched gears. Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...

[Robert]

This was a new discovery for me. It was very fun and a quick read. I am surprised it is not already a movie. Budget no object, it could be as fun as Thirteen Ghosts. Not directly related, but you know what I mean.

[Jennifer]

I will be visiting my sister soon. That means our pilgrimage to IKEA. A comforter can fit well into a suitcase, as can pans and things.... and since I read this book, I look at things a little closer. I am not allowed to eat in the cafeteria.

[Cassandra]

Made it to page 100 before my puppy sucked up my time. I got a hypothesis. I don't think Matt's philosophical observations on Orsk qualify as a spoiler. That said, if you feel Matt's philosophy qualifies as a spoiler then please cease reading....NOW.

Matt compares Orsk to a "panopticon. A panopticon is a type of institutional building and a system of control designed by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The concept of the design is to allow all prisoners of an institution to be observed by a single security guard, without the inmates being able to tell whether they are being watched.

Although it is physically impossible for the single guard to observe all the inmates' cells at once, the fact that the inmates cannot know when they are being watched means that they are motivated to act as though they are being watched at all times. Thus, the inmates are effectively compelled to regulate their own behavior.

It would seem Grady Hendrix believes that a panopticon as well as IKEA stores are an extended metaphor for modern society and culture. The right to privacy resides in the Constitution. The government should be "transparent". But it doesn't work that way.

Government,society, modern culture are like a giant panopticon. We CAN'T SEE behind the walls of intelligence agencies like the FBI, CIA, and the NSA. But, intelligence agencies can SEE everything we do. Smart phones spy on us, camera's record our every move, our emails are archived. In other words, the Powers-that-be see everything we do, while we see very little of the Power. Furthermore, for a panopticon to work, its important that we're aware of the panopticon's design. Why? That way, we end up policing, modifying, regulating our own behavior. They don't have to see each action you take or word you utter. You just have believe they can see and hear you. If we believe an authoritative, all-seeing-all-knowing EYE watches us, we effectively become our own Prison Warden. We voluntarily modify and regulate our behavior, kowtowing, bowing to the EYE's will.

In the same way, we voluntarily enter the IKEA/Orsk maze, subjecting our psyches to Corporate Control. Similar to George Romaro's "Dawn of the Dead" mall scenes. It would interesting to measure IKEA shopper's brain waves. I doubt shoppers would register Gamma or Beta brain waves (waves associated higher brain activities, such as problem solving and logic.) No! More like Theta waves, associated with trances and hypnosis. That's scary. What did you expect? It's a Horrorstor!

Or, perhaps Grady Hendrix is setting up a deterministic horror metaphorical argument? Orsk trumps free will!

"Its not my fault! It was an impulse buy, predetermined, since the beginning of time, that I purchase "Horrorstor", "Imaginary Friend", and "Invasion of the ...

[M.E.]

Suki wrote: "It's in the book photos here:
https://www.amazon.ca/Horrorstor-Nove......"

Thanks!

[Suki]

There is an interesting mini-interview with Grady Hendrix about Horrorstör here:
https://www.fastcompany.com/3035340/h...

This quote about the Orsk furniture line comes from the interview. Note the last chilling sentence in the paragraph (bold italics are mine):

“Coming up with the furniture in Horrorstör was like eating candy,” author Grady Hendrix told Boing Boing. “Some of the pieces were things I want to own, like the Frånjk, which is basically my ideal dining room table. Others, like the Tossur treadmill desk, were things I wanted to make fun of. And all the “augmented” furniture that serves a correctional purpose—the Jodlöpp, the Ingalutt, the Kraanjk—are based on real devices used in 19th-century prisons.”

[Kim]

19th-century prisons! Now that is some true horror!

[Melanie]

Cynthia wrote: "Made it to page 100 before my puppy sucked up my time. I got a hypothesis. I don't think Matt's philosophical observations on Orsk qualify as a spoiler. That said, if you feel Matt's philosophy qua..."

Well done Cynthia. Now google some of the names on the bathroom wall.....and set aside another trip down the Hendrix rabbit hole...

[Cassandra]

Melanie wrote: "Cynthia wrote: "Made it to page 100 before my puppy sucked up my time. I got a hypothesis. I don't think Matt's philosophical observations on Orsk qualify as a spoiler. That said, if you feel Matt'..."

Melanie wrote: Well done Cynthia. Now google some of the names on the bathroom wall.....and set aside another trip down the Hendrix rabbit hole..



Cynthia wrote: Researching bathroom graffiti didn't cross my mind. That said, two days ago, I was translating Vietnamese signs in the background, of Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket" , ferreting for deeper meanings. Thanks for the head's up, Melanie...I'll get right on it!

[Suki]

Well, I'm finished. The ending wasn't quite what I expected, but given what we've learned about (view spoiler)[ Amy and Basil's personalities, (hide spoiler)] I can't really see how it could have ended any differently.

My next trip to Ikea will be a bit different-- usually I find the item(s) I'm looking for in the catalog or online, check my local store online to make sure the item is in stock, write down the number, go to the store, get my item and leave. Get in and get out. Avoid the showrooms altogether if possible. Next trip, I think I will meander through the entire maze, thinking about this book, looking for cracks in the bright, candy-coated shell. 😀

[Summer]

I read this last year and it was my favorite book of the year. To be fair, I was hoping for a little bit more in-depth plotting or characterization but the idea behind it all was more than enough to pull me through.

For those who've read more from this author, is their other work similar to this? Worth the read?

[Carrie (brightbeautifulthings)]

Summer wrote: "I read this last year and it was my favorite book of the year. To be fair, I was hoping for a little bit more in-depth plotting or characterization but the idea behind it all was more than enough t..."

Hendrix is one of my favorite horror writers and an automatic read for me now, but I think Horrorstor is probably my least favorite of his books that I've read. It seems the least developed to me in terms of character/plot. My Best Friend's Exorcism is very creepy and full of 80s pop culture (loved it), and We Sold Our Souls is pretty much what it sounds like. 😂

His heroines are usually tough/sassy, and like Amy, they're facing some bigger system that's stacked against them (retail, the music industry, the education system, poverty in general). They're realistic, but unlike a lot of horror, I don't feel like they descend totally into nihilism either.

[Chandler]

I have about 40 pages to go, so will probably finish today. I'm enjoying it! It's a creative spin on the haunted house take.

(view spoiler)[Initially I wasn't sure about the ghostly prison reveal but it clicked that it's a parallel to the working environment and how it can be like a prison. As someone who once worked retail and is in a job I'm unhappy with, this hit home.

While the characters aren't entirely fleshed out, they're interesting enough. They're flawed but still relatable. And Ruth Anne's death scene? Ummm...holy shit!

Looking forward to finishing it! (hide spoiler)]

[Summer]

Carrie (brightbeautifulthings) wrote: "Summer wrote: "I read this last year and it was my favorite book of the year. To be fair, I was hoping for a little bit more in-depth plotting or characterization but the idea behind it all was mor..."

Thanks, Carrie! We Sold Our Souls has been on my TBR for a while, but I couldn't get a good read on just how weird his writing is. If WSOS is about on the level of Horrorstor, I'll definitely give it a read!