Maybe It’s Good There’s No Ikea in Canton, NY: Haunted Retail in “Horrorstör”

I had no idea what I was truly getting myself into when I picked up the horror novel “Horrorstör.” From what I’ve read and seen across other readers, this seems to be the case for most Grady Hendrix books, who writes under a genre dubbed “comedy horror.” Whether it’s the adventurous “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” whose cover is created to look like an 80s VHS rental sleeve and whose chapters are all titled a different 80s song, or the rock ‘n roll “We Sold our Souls,” whose cover mimics a Rolling Stones magazine cover, Hendrix definitely has fun with all the novels he writes.

“Horrorstör” is exactly what I wanted, but I didn’t know it at the time. It’s a low stakes, engaging and fun (albeit strange) read about a supernatural department store. It was everything I needed: an engrossing quick and weird read easy enough to fit within my ramped up school schedule (shoutout to no mid-semester break, people! I am feeling it now), and a book festive enough to fit within my pursuit to read all horror novels during the Halloween season (disappointed to say I’ve only read “Horrorstör” and “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” so far, but I am halfway through “Frankenstein,” so at least I’ve fit some in there). If this description alone peaks your interest, just read the book, trust me it’ll be worth it. 

Hendrix’s novel follows a twenty-four year old woman named Amy, who’s kind of stuck in life. She had to drop out of college because it became too expensive, she’s working extensive work weeks just to scavenge up $600 for her rent, her Honda Civic is leaking oil. On top of this, she works retail, which if any of you have had any customer service experience whatsoever, you’ll relate to the overly passionate managers whose paychecks depend on their stores performance, the way you know what you’re selling is garbage but you do it anyways, the way your co-workers are your friends but also not really. Amy must deal with all of this in her store, Orsk, which is pretty much an Ikea-but-not-Ikea-because-copyright-so-it’s-Orsk kind of store. They sell furniture, storage, you get the idea. But then…everything goes awry. Amy, Basil the store manager, and Ruth Anne (one of the nicer older employees in the store), are set to find someone who’s been breaking in at night and ruining stock. And yeah, it gets weird. I won’t give too much away, but I will just give you a tidbit of information, and you can feel free to run as far with it as you please: Orsk just happens to be built on the grounds of an old and tortuous panopticon prison. I’m sure you can guess what that entails for the rest of the novel. 

It’s not just the content of “Horrorstör” itself that has me so amped up about it, because like I said, the writing itself is easy to read and fun in and of itself, but I absolutely must give credit to Michael Rogalski who designed the book itself. The entire thing looks like an Ikea (or should I say Orsk) catalog, even down to the shape of the book that’s more square than it is rectangle. The first few pages include a greeting from the Orsk family, and forms to fill out with products you may want. Better yet, each chapter is dedicated to a different piece of furniture from the store, but they slowly devolve into more sinister pieces that become more torture pieces than furniture. You can’t help but enjoy both the writing and the art- it’s so much fun. 

“Horrorstör” is the perfect novel for Halloween time. It’s ridiculous, but in the best way possible. Hendrix perfectly captures the banality of retail and somehow makes it even stranger than its reality. He manages to create critique of retail and capitalism too, in a subtle sort of way. If you want a read that you can’t put down and will read in one sitting, a read that is fun and creepy all at once, why not celebrate Halloween season and crack open “Horrorstör?” You may never want to step into one of those disorienting Ikea stores again.