January 2020 Group Read #2- Horrorstor

[Carrie (brightbeautifulthings)]

Summer wrote: "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 characteriza..."

It's about the same level of weird. 😂 I liked WSOS better though. Less stylization and a more developed story.

[destiny ♡]

We Sold Our Souls is in my top 3 favorite horror books of all time, it's SO GOOD. Especially if you like metal music because it is also totally a love letter to the metal family, musicians, etc. (Though, even if you don't like metal, I think it would be just as fun to read.) Kris is such a great main character (I feel like it's rare that we get to see women as narrators who are in their 40s+), and there are also some found family elements and bits about how sometimes we carry people with us throughout life, even if they aren't a daily part of it anymore, that meant a lot to me.

Plus, it has this one scene that's so gory and disgusting in the best way. 😈

[Latasha]

It’s one of my favorite too Destiny. I love all of it.

[Amanda]

I got a little bit of a lagged start but so far it's great! I'm on chapter 10 now and I'm surprised at how fast it reads. The imagery has to be the best part so far, some of the things that happen sound so gross.

[it's ya boy harv]

Hi y'all, I just read Horrorstör and I loved it! I had been reading some pretty heavy stuff so it was nice to have something lighter and more fun. I'm definitely going to read more from this author.

(view spoiler)[I feel so bad about Ruth Ann though. (hide spoiler)]

[Chandler]

Just finished it! What a read!

(view spoiler)[Cliffhangers usually drive me nuts but I liked this one. It was hopeful and bad ass at the same time. The corporate managers' treatment of the whole thing was horrible and probably on point. They'd do the best they could to cover up the real horror or hide additional bodies. The fact that they added the missing girl in their memo at the very bottom on the last page spoke volumes.

Speaking of which, was that an indicator that more Orsk stores were haunted? Or that they couldn't bother to release a full report about their own missing employee? (hide spoiler)]

[Jennifer]

Chandler (view spoiler)[They are haunted. Portals to somewhere else, Its a known fact. (hide spoiler)]

[Alastor]

Hang on. Is everyone convinced about Ruth Anne? I thought there was a chance of her being alive

[Suki]

it's ya boy harv wrote: "Hi y'all, I just read Horrorstör and I loved it! I had been reading some pretty heavy stuff so it was nice to have something lighter and more fun. I'm definitely going to read more from this author..."

I completely agree with you about (view spoiler)[ Ruth Anne. I kept waiting for her to be found still alive and saved at the last minute. Poor Snoopy, waiting for her to come home and watch TV with him (yeah, I know he's only a stuffed toy, but that part made me choke up a bit). (hide spoiler)]

[Cassandra]

Finished it. Didn't scare me or induce a sense of dread.
3.1 stars bumped to 3.5 stars. Why? Although I won't reread it again, I might crack it open to look at products, graffiti, and sundry goodies. Grady's extended metaphors impressed me. I preferred Bentley Little's horror classic- "The Store".

[M.E.]

Just finished it. I loved it. I thought it was clever and entertaining. There were a couple of parts that weren't entirely perfect ((view spoiler)[e.g. it was terribly easy to kill off the main antagonist (hide spoiler)]) but it was a fun read and I loved the buried references throughout.

BTW Suki, it turns out the pictures I thought were missing are actually in the Kindle version. They are just at the very end. :-)

[Chandler]

Jennifer wrote: "Chandler [spoilers removed]"

Thank you, Jennifer! I didn't realize that.

[Jennifer]

Chandler wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "Chandler [spoilers removed]"

Thank you, Jennifer! I didn't realize that."

That is really my opinion. :)

[Chandler]

Jennifer wrote: "Chandler wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "Chandler [spoilers removed]"

Thank you, Jennifer! I didn't realize that."

That is really my opinion. :)"

It makes sense, though :)

[Cheryl]

This was a really fun read! Dark and creepy, and I probably won't ever look at an IKEA quite the same.

[Robert]

I totally agree. Fun.

[Alastor]

Is anyone else puzzled by the significance of the police not being able to locate the store? Cloaking mechanism ?

[M.E.]

Alastor wrote: "Is anyone else puzzled by the significance of the police not being able to locate the store? Cloaking mechanism ?"

My take is that it was a story mechanism to prevent the cavalry from showing up and rescuing everyone. I liked it better than the over used mysterious-lack-of-cell-phone-reception trope.

[Cassandra]

M.E. wrote: "Alastor wrote: "Is anyone else puzzled by the significance of the police not being able to locate the store? Cloaking mechanism ?"

My take is that it was a story mechanism to prevent the cavalry f..."

As if Orsk existed in another dimension, cut off physically, accessible by phone. I like that horror trope. Reminded me of Twilight Zone episode featuring Bill Mumy, talking to his dead grandma, on a toy phone.

Kind of Lovecraftian too...The narrator couldn't find the building anymore, no matter how hard he looked for it.

[Chandler]

M.E. wrote: "Alastor wrote: "Is anyone else puzzled by the significance of the police not being able to locate the store? Cloaking mechanism ?"

My take is that it was a story mechanism to prevent the cavalry f..."

Agreed! Much more refreshing and scarier. The book was saying, "Hey, the police can't flipping find them, no matter how hard they try. Happy haunting!"

[Kelly B]

I finally finished my current read, so I can start Horrorstor tonight.

[Klee]

I actually found this book to be rather scary even though it was a horror comedy. I'm not scared easily, but I was having nightmares about being stuck in an IKEA.

[Suki]

Dana wrote: "I actually found this book to be rather scary even though it was a horror comedy. I'm not scared easily, but I was having nightmares about being stuck in an IKEA."

It was creepy when the store areas were shifting around, and Matt's camera showed a different view than what they thought they were seeing in front of them.

[Carrie (brightbeautifulthings)]

Suki wrote: "Dana wrote: "I actually found this book to be rather scary even though it was a horror comedy. I'm not scared easily, but I was having nightmares about being stuck in an IKEA."

It was creepy when ..."

That was the scariest part for me too, when they couldn't find their way out. Being in an IKEA does sometimes feel like that, so it was very apt!

[Kain]

Latasha wrote: "Our second group read for January is Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix. Please remember to use page numbers, percentages read and spoiler tags."

Would love to read this, the idea itself is very humourous despite obviously it being a haunting style story.

[Kelly B]

I'm about half-ways through it. I really like it.

There was one moment I thought was really creepy: (view spoiler)[ when Trinity is showing everyone in the break room the footage of the "ghost", and the film pans past the man standing in the doorway. (hide spoiler)].

[Kelly B]

Kain wrote: "Would love to read this, the idea itself is very humourous despite obviously it being a haunting style story."

It does have some funny moments in the beginning :-).

[Kelly B]

I finished the book tonight.

I gave it 4 stars despite getting bogged down in the middle, (view spoiler)[ I felt the parts with the warden and the penitents dragged on a bit, especially since the same thing kept happening. (hide spoiler)]. The premise of the book was unique and interesting.

[Kelly B]

Alastor wrote: "Sorry for (very minor) spoilers, does anyone else think the situation with Carl was mishandled?"

For sure! I'm thinking, (view spoiler)[ get the hell out of there, call the police from the parking lot, and let them deal with the random man who broke into the store. (hide spoiler)].

[Atlanta]

I decided to dive in, wasn’t feeling the other two books I am reading . I also spent three years in retail albeit in the coffee industry. This is my first Grady Hendrix novel.

[Jamie]

This was a very entertaining horror with elements of comedy and wonderful pop culture references. I enjoyed the story and liked the ending too.

[Atlanta]

Im 80% through. I like the beginning more then the ending ;) however I enjoy reading it with the group.

[Jill]

After reading Imaginary Friend, this book is a breath of much needed fresh air! Oh how fun is this going to be, I’m only on page 67 and am enjoying this tremendously. Love the characters. And the furniture. Bring on the ghosts!

[Atlanta]

😂 that’s what my sisters grave was for me after I finished horrorstor! 😂

[Rachel]

I liked it but wasn’t a favorite

[Lisa]

Kimberly wrote: "I'm on Chapter 12 now. [spoilers removed]Anybody got an idea why?"
(view spoiler)[ Kimberly, I think it's because she has the most individuality of any of the employees, and shuns the groupthink mentality. I really liked Basil. He proved much more interesting than if he would have just towed the company line - he really believed it, and actually valued his job because of how it helped him. He didn't just say "I'm responsible for my staff", he risked his life for them because he walked the talk. A cool spin on this character. (hide spoiler)]

[Lisa]

I just finished, and found this to be a fun and creative book. Clever, and enough of a turn toward the gruesome and suspenseful to make it a bit scary. I liked the graphics within the book, and they even worked very well in the Kindle version. (view spoiler)[ I loved the turn that the furniture descriptions took halfway through. (hide spoiler)] I think I need to dive into some more of Grady Hendrix's work.

[Jill]

Just finished!!! Oh my goodness, what a fun time I had reading this story, it had such a great mix of humor & horror and I was thoroughly entertained. Yes, I will be looking forward to reading more from Grady Hendrix!

[Sonja]

Just finished!

[Rachel]

Alastor wrote: "Hang on. Is everyone convinced about Ruth Anne? I thought there was a chance of her being alive"

I briefly thought that, mainly because I thought this book would end with everything being something that only happened within the store and that outsiders couldn't see. The store would make you think people were dead but then they'd show up fine at the end. That kind of would've been a cop out ending though. I still think she might be lost somewhere rather than dead.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was fun and inventive. It balances it's tone really well. I still like My Best Friend's Exorcism better, but I think I connect with those characters more.

I had a couple issues with some of the Cleveland stuff (life long resident here). Not sure why Hendrix chose to refer to one location with the name of a city (Youngstown) and the other with the name of a county (Cuyahoga). Even the dust jacket refers to the store as being in Cleveland, although Independence is slightly south. My biggest issue was that Basil, the only black character in the book, has to be from East Cleveland. This is very stereotypical.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. It was a quick read and a great companion for the travel I did over the last couple days.

[Lisa]

I wonder if there will be a sequel...

[Michael]

Lisa wrote: "I wonder if there will be a sequel..."

I prefer to see it as a stand-alone. I can't think of anything that would advance the story or make it better than the original. A sequel might just water it down too much, especially with more creative furniture names, etc.

[Rachel]

While I was reading, I was thinking that the story would make a great movie. It looks like it was going to be adapted into a TV show in 2015 but nothing ever happened with it.

[Atlanta]

At first I was hooked by the beginning, having worked in 3 years for retail it was relatable content, however once the weird stuff started happening it was too unbelievable to be scary. It might work better as an adaptation.

[Stephanie]

I know this was January reading but still wanted to comment. i read this book couple years ago and this was one of the most uniquely created horror story ive ever read!!!

[M.E.]

Stephanie wrote: "I know this was January reading but still wanted to comment. i read this book couple years ago and this was one of the most uniquely created horror story ive ever read!!!"

I agree. It was quite different. I enjoyed it.