Horrorstör Commentary
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Before My Best Friend’s Exorcism, there was Horrorstör— Grady Hendrix’s second published work with a liminal setting and a satirical voice about a haunted IKEA knock-off store called Orsk.
When you first pick up the book, you can automatically see that it’s something different. Designed like an IKEA catalogue the first few pages include: instructions on how to properly navigate the store, a home delivery order form with the publishing information, and a page about deliveries, all written in the humorously believable voice of a corporation’s marketing materials. But then, you find yourself very much in a typical chapter book, each chapter being represented by a piece of furniture with an unpronounceable name, starting off normal but growing ever-more sinister.
Unwittingly, it’s our protagonist, Amy’s, last shift at Orsk— an overnight shift guarding the enormous store from an unknown presence causing strange occurrences that happen only after closing. Initially, they believe it to be someone breaking into the store at night and destroying property. But soon, they realize that it’s something else.
Amy and her co-workers Basil and Ruth Anne patrol the empty store, on the lookout for any suspicious activity, when they bump into two other co-workers who snuck in to film their own ghost-hunting show. When the group does a seance, things start getting weirder until, a little suddenly, the full-on horror starts.
Without spoiling too much, the Orsk building is located on the site of what used to be the Cuyahoga Panopticon. The timelines of then and now blur in the store, bringing together two different kinds of victims: the penitents of the institution and the employees of Orsk. There’s much they share, but life and death separate them. Under the watchful eye of the spirit of the malignant warden, Josiah Worth, known for torturing his patients to cure them of their ailments, the Orsk employees battle for their lives.
Our protagonist‘s arc is away from passivity and defeat, toward action and perseverance. Throughout the story, we witness her fight agains the urge to abandon her friends with the violent spirits to save herself. Amy knows her weakness: the tendency to run away from problems. At critical moments, she must choose between herself and her co-workers, as well as between trying and giving up. A satisfying arc for a horror story.
Going into this book, I had no idea what to expect, so I chose a mentality of just enjoying the ride— see where it leads. And I was surprised. Avoiding spoilers, the book goes from a sort of liminal horror to a more traditional haunted house narrative. The transition happens quickly, maybe too quickly for my taste. However, I will say that even though the story became less ambiguous and more on-the-nose, there were still plenty of uniquely terrifying moments. Though I may not be the biggest fan of Hendrix’s writing, I do think he has a good sense of how to keep readers eyes glued to the page.
For readers looking for a great haunted house story, but crave a unique setting that isn’t an old, abandoned, Victorian mansion, this is for you.