I never thought I would be terrified of Ikea.
But, it’s been a little while since I finished Grady Hendrix’s Horrorstör, and I’m still giving the store some side eye as I drive past it on my way to work.
Despite the fact that I’m now too scared to go buy that third Billy bookcase I’ve been wanting for awhile, I highly recommend you read this book if you’re looking for a good scare.
There are a lot of things I loved about this incredibly unique novel. (There are also a few things I didn’t especially love—more on that in a bit). What I loved best is how Hendrix took something completely innocuous and made it absolutely petrifying.
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t get excited about visiting Ikea. I mean, what’s not to love? It’s not only a shopping experience, but a bonding ritual. You can go there with your parents to shop for cheap dorm accessories before heading off to college for the first time; you can go there with your friends to shop for mass-produced wall art and cheap flatware for your first apartment together; and, eventually, the ultimate level of Ikea shopping — you can go there with your partner to buy EVERYTHING to build your life together. Throw in a café where you can get a cheap lunch of meatballs and lingonberries, and that counter that sells cinnamon buns on your way out the door, and you have one of the best days that money can buy.
Or, not buy. Heck, you don’t even have to buy anything at Ikea to have a good time. You could spend hours there just walking around, testing out couches, opening wardrobe doors, and pretending you can afford the entire kitchen remodel when, really, you can only afford half a barstool — all for free! It’s magical, really. It’s a place of no-strings happiness. A place of optimism and hope.
And, this is exactly what makes Horrorstör so terrifying. This book turns Ikea – or, technically, “Orsk,” which is a fictional, low-budget copycat of Ikea – from this paragon of perfection into a house of horrors.
Before we get into that, though, we need to talk about the design of the book, which is usually something I don’t do. That’s because most book covers are relatively the same – title, author, variably attractive cover art designed to draw the eye, blah blah blah. Some are better than others, sure, but they don’t serve much purpose past being the initial eye candy.
The Horrorstör cover is your gateway into a full immersion reading experience. It’s cleverly designed to look just like an Ikea catalog, so your attention is immediately captured by the fact that the item isn’t what you first think it is. Wait, this isn’t an Ikea catalog! It’s a BOOK! …Hey, it’s a book! That’s clever!
Then, you take a closer look at this clever marketing ploy, and you realize that some of the photos on the “Orsk” catalog wall are a little…weird. Are those people? And hands? Are they trying to escape? What is this??
If you flip over to the back cover, you’ll see that the design further deviates from the traditional catalog, and that’s where you get your first real taste of just what’s in store (ha! A pun!) with this “catalog.”
And, it doesn’t stop there. Start flipping through the book, and you’ll see that the text is laid out in columns, mimicking the layout for product listings and pricing info in the Ikea catalog, and the beginning of each chapter features a different piece of furniture, accompanied by punchy, marketing jargon designed to sell you on the item, just as the catalog would before each showroom section.
This is where you need to pay attention. The furniture chapter openers start off innocently enough, but when the story takes its sinister turn, so do the furniture descriptions. They go from practical, minimalist beds and wardrobes to devices that look straight out of a medieval torture museum. These “dark furniture” features really help set the tone of the book, and the marketing copy is quite humorous if you can get past the gore and creep-out factor. Don’t think too hard about how the devices are used. Just don’t.
On a side note, Horrorstör is published by Quirk Books, which brought us Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. So, this publisher is known for thinking outside the box, and they lived up to their reputation with the design for Hendrix’s novel. I love how the book’s cover and interior layout create a full immersion experience, and at the parts where I couldn’t quite stomach what was going on, the brilliance of this set-up is what kept pushing me through the story.
Yes, the story. Let’s get to that. As you’ve probably gathered by now, Horrorstör takes place in the Ikea look-alike store, Orsk. The Orsk layout is exactly the same as Ikea’s, and in case you’re a bit rusty on that, the author makes sure to walk you through the showroom, marketplace, cafe, escalators, everything, so you are disturbingly familiar with the set up that your memory deems undoubtedly benign.
Horrorstör starts out following the classic formula for a haunted house story. The action begins slowly, with just a few oddities standing out to both the reader and the characters in the book – an escalator is running the wrong way; a couch is vandalized but no one knows how; some employees are receiving creepy text messages from an unknown number.
Each incident is fairly harmless on its own, but, when coupled with the other events, it all seems a bit more unsettling. But, everything’s taking place in the safe space of Ikea/Orsk – so, how bad could it really get? *glances around nervously* Right??
*chuckles darkly* How bad, indeed.
The supernatural phenomena escalates quickly and wildly, and, before you know it, the store is plunged into a complete state of possession.
This Orsk is CRAZY HAUNTED. There’s no other term for it.
Obviously, I really enjoyed this part. It was right up my alley.
However, the action takes an abrupt turn down a much more sinister alley than I prefer to wander. I generally stay away from anything torture-related. Saw, Hostel, Turistas — I’ve never seen those movies, nor do I want to. I cannot stand watching or reading anything like that.
Luckily, Horrorstör doesn’t get nearly as graphic, or I would have had to stop reading. But, I think it’s safe to say there is some light torture in this book, though more on the psychological side than the physical. It’s disturbing nonetheless, especially combined with the whole supernatural haunting that is simultaneously happening.
There is also a fair amount of gore in the book. Much of it is self-inflicted, but still. If you have a weak stomach and/or an aversion for medieval torture devices, this may not be the book for you after around page 160. Basically, once a character named Carl comes on the scene, you wanna close the book and assume that Orsk quietly settles down and the employees all happily go back to their nice, normal, un-haunted lives.
Consider yourself warned. I was able to push through it and keep reading, but I was very aware of the fact that Horrorstör moved swiftly from a scary story to what the title promises you – a horror story.
Even though I liked the first part of this novel better, the entire book is REALLY good. It’s scary, it’s unique, it’s tense, and it definitely makes you see Ikea in a whole different light, which is a fun albeit emotionally perplexing bonus.
Horrorstör is a quick read; I finished it in 24 hours. Part of it is due to the layout (you’re reading only a thin column of text per page), but mostly it’s because it’s so damn good that you want to keep reading whenever you have a spare moment.
Yes, even though it gets a wee bit disturbing. And gross. You still want to keep reading.
The ending was surprising to me, but I liked it. I definitely didn’t see it coming, and I liked that, too. Bonus points to Hendrix for going in the non-traditional route.
So, there you have it. Read Horrorstör with all the lights on – and then visit an Ikea store at your own risk.
Have you read this novel, or any others by Grady Hendrix? Share your thoughts below!
And, stay tuned for the recipe inspired by this novel – you guessed it: One-Pot Swedish Meatball Pasta!
You sold me on the book 🙌🏻🙂
Yaaaas. Another one has been turned! Oh, that sounded creepy. 😀 hahaha. But I’m seriously so glad this review helped you decide to read the book! You won’t regret it; it’s SO good.