Need a scary book? Just Orsk!

One of the best things about my job as a cataloger is getting to see the new books as they arrive. My primary job responsibilities revolve around entering and coding data into the catalog for each book, ensuring consistency across genres and series, and doing it all in a timely manner. As a bibliovore, sometimes the best part about my job can also be my downfall. Consider the following:

Me: Awesome book! Awesome book! Red alert! Need to check it out!

Inner voice: You already have a ton at home, and over a thousand in your TBR list on GoodReads.

Me: But…this one is different! I will read this one tonight!

Inner voice: Ummm…you’re delusional, lady. Why do I even bother trying to get you to see reason?

Me: That’s right! *sounds of book being checked out*

The most recent example of a book that so captured my interest was Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix. The book, as you can probably tell, is designed to look very similar to the iconic Ikea catalog, complete with product descriptions and even a mock order form. I totally judged this book by its cover, and I am so happy I did. Had this not looked so dang quirky I would have most definitely passed it by.

Our protagonist is Amy. Amy’s in her mid-twenties, a college dropout, and someone who is always working extra hard just to scrape by. She finally moved out of her mom’s trailer, but she’s always mooching food off of her roommates and the rent is often late. She’s kind of a screw-up but she still has hope that she can change her situation, rise above her humble beginnings, and beat the odds to eventually become happy.

Amy works at Orsk, an Ikea-wannabe that deals in cheaply priced flat pack Scandinavian-style furniture and accessories. She moved from the Youngstown, OH store to the Cuyahoga store when it first opened eleven months ago, but she has recently put in for a transfer back to Youngstown. The Cuyahoga store, despite being extremely busy, isn’t hitting sales projections and Amy would rather align herself with a superstar store than a sinking ship. She’d like to eventually get into a cushy desk job at Corporate, but she doesn’t think she’ll ever stand a chance in Cuyahoga. She’s also fed up with her coworkers, thinks her supervisor is trying to get her fired, and feels like she’s going nowhere fast which is taking a hit on her psyche.

So when Basil, her supervisor, asks Amy and store superstar Ruth Anne to clock in to a covert overnight shift with him to try and catch whoever is vandalizing the store at night, Amy can’t refuse. She can use the brownie points and extra cash. What she doesn’t count on is running into fellow Orsk employees Matt and Trinity, who have snuck into the store overnight for ghost hunting purposes. What none of them count on is the horrors and pain that await them after closing time.

Am I being vague? Sure! How’s this for more specific: the first half of the book is a dark comedy that centers on a beat-down retail employee in her natural habitat, navigating the world of work. The second half of the book slams you into a horror story beyond my worst nightmares. As someone who hasn’t picked up a horror book since the Fear Street novels of my teenage years in the ’90s, I was shocked, scared, and actually intimidated. I read the first half of the book in one night, got to the scary part, and went, “Nope!” and put it down again. Thankfully I eventually got the courage to crack the spine again and ended up with the following summary:

It was terrifying and hilarious. And just when I thought the ending was going to be super lame, it turned out to be super good.

Be warned. The scary scenes are truly scary, gory, and heart-wrenchingly graphic. But the book overall was a story that made me so happy I stuck with it. It’s packed with social commentary you won’t soon forget. I immediately recommended this to a bunch of coworkers, who also put it on hold. So you may have to wait a bit but I promise it’s worth it.

Due to the graphic nature of the second half of the book and the fact that it completely intimidated me into not reading it for a whole week, I’m technically counting this as number 3 on my 2014 Reading Resolutions list: