Grady Hendrix’s ‘Horrorstör’ is book thirty-nine of 2023.

I’ve read one book from Hendrix before, and I loved it—’My Best Friend’s Exorcism’. ‘Horrorstör’ is more of a novella than a novel, coming in at under 200 pages. The short length means that this book was perfect, as the previous book I read was a 700+ page mammoth.

‘Horrorstör’ follows Amy, a poor, down-on-her-luck employee of Orsk. Orsk is Ikea, but Hendrix has changed the name to avoid a lawsuit. It’s a massive store with many departments, each designed to look like a section of a house. We all know how Ikea works. Well, it turns out that things are going bump in the night, and Amy’s boss, Basil, is set on finding an explanation. It’s a haunted house story set in a furniture store—a pretty cool idea.

Overall, I liked ‘Horrorstör’, but I didn’t love it. The premise is better than the execution. It doesn’t mean it’s terrible. It’s fun; the pages breeze by. There are a few fun pokes at capitalism and corporate culture. It didn’t reinvent the wheel, but it does the job fine. The shorter length is a plus because it’s a fun little fling.

I’d read more from Hendrix in the future, but I hope they are more like ‘My Best Friend’s Exorcism’.