Horrorstör - Grady Hendrix

Pardon me, I might be slow, but what the hell are book trailers? I just came across this Horrorstör 'book trailer' on YouTube while finding photos of its book so I can rave about its design but now, chancing upon this weird trend that I not know of, I have this sudden stroke of epiphany.

Just like movie trailers, book trailers seem to function as a visual expectation of the piece of media. While movie trailers are constructed of spliced scenes from the actual movie itself, and therefore giving the viewer an accurate pre-show, book trailers on the other hand leave little room for the reader's imagination because all these scenes serve as spoonfed visual expectations. I mean, just think about it; I watched the Harry Potter movies before starting on the book series, and now whenever I pick up any of its books, I immediately construe corresponding scenes from the movies to aid my imagination, mapping the movie stars' faces onto the characters'. Thinking about it, there's actually nothing wrong with that, but don't you lose that element of visual creation and imagination that books offer?
But thankfully, the book trailers I've clicked around on YouTube so far like this and this are of such sub-par quality, they defeat their original purpose of advertising. Maybe they appeal to a younger audience? I don't know.

Absolutely love the design concept. From the covers, to a few pages into the book where they state their terms and policies and Orsk's motto (just like IKEA catalogues), and to chapter covers. Fine parody.

Actually, Horrorstör is my first horror novel. I mean, I've read Poe's short tales (which can be REALLY creepy if you use your imagination well), but never a book cataloged under the horror genre. [One of my favourite Poe tales: here.] I was curious how the author would try to sustain the feeling of fear within the reader for the entire course of the book, but I'm just dismayed because Horrorstör wasn't creepy, nor frightening. To "get in the mood" I went as far as to turning off the lights and searching "creepy music" on YouTube. Urgh, very lame, but all in vain.

The central theme of this 246 paged book is the inevitability of the daily grind that pawns of the economy, like us, subscribe ourselves to. So you have the skeptical Amy, a mere college drop-out, making both ends meet with her less than satisfactory work at Orsk, and Basil, who has already been insidiously indoctrinated by Orsk's phony taglines like "Approachable And Agreeable Attitude" to become a "Shop Responsible" store manager. I really can't help but have those "I KNOW RIGHT" moments and feel empathetic towards Amy when reading her private thoughts. Like you know you're not in line for customer service when you choose to display anti-social behaviour at work in bleak hope of scaring customers to seek help from your partner instead. And I'm not talking about Amy.

Back to the book. Think Running Man in Ikea (people chasing people), but in a horror setting. Someone is possessed, relinquishing an army of not-so-scary penitents who had similarly undergone mundane work. There were a few other characters in the book that seemed so convenient to exist that you realise that their presence is just a function for a gore spectacle - a horror story, some people just must die or get hurt or disappear. The book was bereft of emotion, or maybe I was, because Amy (or I) didn't have a deep enough connection with the aforementioned expendables.

Something I gleaned from the book was the ingenious purpose of IKEA's Orsk's showroom layout. Think about it! A maze of furniture in Swedish drag in an expanse of land, no windows or doors to suggest the time of the day. You don't get lost, though, because the handy directory will guide you through every section of the marketfloor even if you're in search of a pillow. You don't take the shortcuts because you cannot resist looking at those iconic showrooms brimming of cheap but stylish Swedish flair.

Seriously, read more here. To be honest, I feel a little stupid now that I realise I've been a tried and tested specimen in a psychologically manipulative retail machination. The worst thing is that I still really like the IKEA showrooms??? Horrorstör was just okay, 2.5/5, ok maybe 2.9 for its design. And didactic sidetrack to pull me out of today's voracious consumerism.