Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix

45 reviews

oprah_wimpy's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Much scarier than expected. A fast and creepy read but left on a bit of a cliffhanger. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Physical abuse, Confinement, and Violence

kellyofcali's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

It was fine, entertaining enough, but kind of felt sometimes run of the mill horror and sometime gratuitous violence. I guess it was kind of a slasher novel, but then tried to be more sometimes? I did enjoy the design of the book, like an IKEA catalogue!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Forced institutionalization, and Gore

Minor: Sexual content

ricksilva's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A solid four-star horror story that gains a star for it's ridiculous (in the best possibly way) design/layout and it's total dedication to sticking to it's gimmick.

Strange things are afoot at the local Orsk, a big-box retailer of Swedish-style furniture that is absolutely not just a knockoff of it's better-known competitor, Ikea.

Amy, an employee stuck in the retail grind, is offered double-overtime for an overnight shift with her manager, Basil, and longtime cashier Ruth Anne. It seems there has been a series of vandalism incidents overnight, and Basil has a team from corporate showing up the next morning expecting answers.

No problem, just a night in a giant maze-like furniture store full of doors to nowhere and stocked with the latest in fashionable home design. What could possibly go wrong?

Everything does, of course. The story hits a bunch of standard horror beats while never losing its central metaphor of retail work as prison. The characters have enough complexity to each pull off a few surprises, and the author does a nice job mixing the creepiness and overall absurdity of the setting.

The book is laid out like a furniture catalogue, and it's done with delightful attention to detail (why yes, I did notice that every furniture piece has 666 somewhere in its item number). The Orsk corporate-speak and slogans, lovingly quoted by Basil, get more and more disturbing as the story moves on. And I particularly loved how all of the characters referred to the furniture pieces by their Swedish names no matter how stressful the situation was.

This is a harrowing story (avoid if you're bothered by claustrophobia, bondage, and/or drowning) that is loaded with dark humor in a wonderfully absurd package.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Torture

maddiearthur's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Confinement, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Death, Murder, Body horror, Physical abuse, Slavery, Blood, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

justwordsandink's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Death, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Body horror, and Gore

add_a_little_spook's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Physical abuse, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Sexual content

lottieingham's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Physical abuse, Vomit, and Confinement

Moderate: Blood, Torture, Gore, and Death

milly_gm01's review against another edition

challenging dark funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Murder, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Body horror, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

embee007's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"It was the kind of repetitive labor that killed your soul."

Quick, fun read. The joys of working in a very strict retail place,

compared to a jail, when it's is haunted by one.

“Orsk: Our Home Is Forever”

This very quickly goes from light, sarcastic, & easy going, to very dark, & traumatic (for our MCs).

"The only thing it didn’t offer was coffins. Yet."

“There was a prison here, and we built a new prison on its ruins, and all the old prisoners came out to give it a try.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Stalking, Death, Murder, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Gaslighting, and Gore

katlam_24's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I just finished this, and it’s the first horror book I’ve read in a while. I really really hated and loved this book so much. I don’t ever want to read it again, but I will talk about it for years to come. It was so unique right off the bat. I expected this to be a dumb and silly little haunted IKEA, which it was initially and drew me in. The characters felt real but I didn’t realize how much I liked them until I wasn’t sure they’d make it out. Once it got ugly, it got UGLY. There were a handful of times I physically squirmed and had to put the book down because I could FEEL the disgusting gory bits in my mind. I usually read romance and fantasy books and they tend to feel repetitive after a while so I like to throw in a book like this to shake things up. This one for sure did the trick. I want to crawl under the covers and read sweet books until the urge to shake things up grips me again. I highly recommend reading this book if you want suspense, gore, disgust, humor, and just overall a terrifying good bad time

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Physical abuse, Body horror, Violence, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Emotional abuse, Death, and Confinement