Overall, Horrorstor reads less like a novel in its own right than like the novelization of a screenplay its author couldn't sell. That's kind of a shame, because this story might just work pretty well on film, where thoughtful visual design might make up for the deficiencies of the narrative, and where the scares could be made to pack a punch which, on paper, they lack. This is nowhere more evident than in the publisher's "book trailer", which in a minute and a half does more to show Horrorstor's potential than the book itself does in almost 250 pages. Then, too, there's the series pilot recently announced to be heading into production with Fox TV, and on the whole, I'd recommend you skip the book entirely in its favor.
Literature A rare case in which the TV show might actually be better
Hendrix attempts to revitalize the "haunted house" cliché by juxtaposing it with the obsessively micromanaged Ikea Experience, but despite a few interesting turns, the book doesn't quite achieve true horror. The notes are mostly right — a place that confuses people by showing them false images of itself, a séance gone unexpectedly right, a new building on the site of a past injustice whose psychic stain taints the present — but the music just isn't there; everything's just a little too pat, none of the characters is particularly believable, and the story moves itself along too quickly to let anything sink in to the point of having a real effect. The only real "Ikea touches" to be seen are the chapter-leading fake ads, which go from subtly suggestive to outright depicting torture implements around midway through the book; while they're mildly diverting, and the change is a bit of a surprise, they can't do nearly enough to redeem the predictable narrative and dull, if technically competent, details.
Overall, Horrorstor reads less like a novel in its own right than like the novelization of a screenplay its author couldn't sell. That's kind of a shame, because this story might just work pretty well on film, where thoughtful visual design might make up for the deficiencies of the narrative, and where the scares could be made to pack a punch which, on paper, they lack. This is nowhere more evident than in the publisher's "book trailer"
, which in a minute and a half does more to show Horrorstor's potential than the book itself does in almost 250 pages. Then, too, there's the series pilot recently announced to be heading into production
with Fox TV, and on the whole, I'd recommend you skip the book entirely in its favor.