Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix

63 reviews

j_daskiewicz's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

seawarrior's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Funny, thrilling and disturbing, Horrorstör presents a haunting with a Ikea-esque gimmick. Graphics of furniture options introduce each chapter with witty captions alongside warnings of what's to come as they grow increasingly demented. The amount of detail put into these false catalog pages and other graphic additions definitely added to the humor, horror, and immersion of the story. I felt that the plot was engaging and genuinely terrifying, but the characters felt somewhat flat, though that seems fairly standard for the horror genre. They're mainly there to experience the meat of the story by enduring hours of terror in their labyrinthian place of employment. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to read a scary story that doesn't take itself too seriously. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

raenyreads's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

This gave me the Halloween vibes I wanted, I really liked the premise and the characters. Can't really fault it except I wasn't scared when listening to it - but then I haven't found any books that make me scared so this may be a me problem!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Body horror, Confinement, Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

teashirts's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

1.25

Stilted writing style and lack of tension make this read like a creepypasta. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Torture

Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Murder

aliceayres's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

sunsetcity's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Torture, and Violence

bookedrightmeow's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-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

- Perfect balance of snarky and spooky 
- Main character who turns out to be kickass
- Creepy details that horrified me and grossed me out 
- Definitely reading this author’s backlist 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

cupofbooksreviews's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I read Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix for Chloe’s Crime Scene Corner book club pick and I have given this book four out of four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Creative, fun and creepy all wrapped up in one book. 

The format of this book was so much fun! You can definitely tell that Grady Hendrix took a lot of time and thought into making Horrorstör; this is a well-designed, attention to detail and cleverly written book, like no other that I have read before. Each chapter starts off with an “Ikea” styled description of the furniture featured for that chapter which played an important part to this story.

I liked how there was a slow build to the plot of this story, it didn’t feel rushed and I thought it helped to set the scene better (especially with the influence of Ikea involved). There were some disturbingly creepy scenes that happen in this novel. I started to second guess the ending but really liked how it played out, I wouldn’t it to be a waste of a book but I would be interested to read a sequel to this book.

I’m really looking forward to diving into Grady Hendrix’s backlist of books. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys creepy, spooky and suspenseful novels. If this book sounds interesting to you, I would suggest to pick it up and give it a read.

Next time I visit an Ikea store, I’ll keep my wits about myself and make sure not to stray off of the one way maze path..

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Murder, Torture, and Violence

msradiosilence's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Excrement, Gore, Murder, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Torture, Misogyny, Mental illness, Grief, Gaslighting, and Forced institutionalization

oliviafaye's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, and Violence