Ghosts, Asylums and Vampires | Recommendations

"Autumn is the hardest season. The leaves are all falling, and they're falling like they're falling in love w ith the ground."

Fall is my absolute favorite season. I don't think I truly fell in love with this season until I went to Paris and saw the breath-taking trees au Jardin des Plantes change color. That was also the beginning of my love affair with the color Orange (as you can see my blog layout). Sorry Purple, step aside.

And what better way to celebrate the fall season than a 

*drumroll* 

HALLOWEEN BOOK RECOMMENDATION! ... list... favorites... get chyo hands on.

 

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix was recently published last month and I did an in-depth review of an advanced-readers-copy last month right here. At first glance, the cover looks like an IKEA catalog, but if you look closely you can see the horror lurking in the... picture frames. The book is Saw-like but it's definitely refreshing. Employees of an IKEA-like furniture superstore called Orsk decide to take on a graveyard shift after finding continual signs of break-in and vandalism.They're in for a surprise as a simple floor sweep takes them deep into the horrifying history and secret of the land Orsk is built upon.

The Asylum by John Harwood is a Gothic horror treasure. His Victorian-inspired narration is nostalgic of the Classics, but also uniquely addicting. I love it! I also consider my discovery of this book a bit John Harwood-like (teehee). I had stumbled upon an obscure review in an out-dated Literary Review magazine. Immediately intrigued, I tracked down the only hardcover copy in Los Angeles at a small bookshop on the coast of Malibu. This horror thriller is about Georgina Ferrars who wakes up at an asylum in the English countryside with no memory of how she got there. On top of that, her identity has been stolen dun, Dun, DUN!

Halfway to the Grave is book one of the Night Huntress series, which is one of my favorite paranormal romance series. If you like this book, you're in for a treat because the series is complete with six additional books! Half human, half vampire Catherine Crawford hates vampires. In fact, she's made it her duty to go out and kill them with the hope of finding her vampire father. After meeting Bones, a sexy vampire bounty hunter, she forms an unlikely partnership with him to go after the bad guys. There's action, blood, snappy and witty dialogues, and sexy times. I also recommend the spin-off Night Prince series.

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa is book one of the Blood of Eden series and one of my all-time favorite YA series. It's a heady combination of vampires, romance, and dystopia, with a hint of Walking Dead nomadism and zombie-like abominations. The Immortal Rules follows Allison Sekemoto in a vampire-dominated world where everyday is a test of life or death. This is not your typical girl-meets-vampire love story. It's raw, gutty, and evokes controversial questions of humanity and morality. And Allison is one of my favorite YA heroines of all time. ALL TIME. She has so much character development. When people hear of character development, they think of a character becoming stronger, wiser, and perhaps more kick-ass, but Allison is already all of those things. That's why it's so remarkable seeing her grow in other ways. 

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix | ARC Review

Discovered: BookRiot Youtube

Status: Read

Received: First Reads Giveaway from Quirk Books and Goodreads

Mode: Paperback

Goodreads Rating: ****

Ever wish you could sleep over at an Ikea?

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix takes that simple curiosity of retail comfort and terrifies it into all things that go bump in the night. 

Synopsis:

Horrorstör is about an Ikea knock-off chain called Orsk where eerie things start to happen at one of its retail locations in Columbus, Ohio. Employees clock-in to find broken furniture, defecated sofas, and reversing escalators. Naturally, upright manager Basil Washington needs to do something about it and that something involves gathering a team of store partners to investigate during a graveyard shift. That team involves reluctant Amy, the ever-kind Ruth Anne, and quirky couple Matt and Trinity. And they're in for a surprise as a simple floor sweep takes them deep into the horrifying history and secret of the land Orsk is built upon.   

In Depth:

Do you know the true horror of Horrorstör? It's the idea that the paranormal is not limited to haunted houses, schools, and hospitals. It's found in everyday retail stores and the furniture we bring into our homes. Orsk is a satire on the labor and culture of the retail industry. The exaggerated company motto plastered all over the store does nothing to ebb the monotony of mindless work, nor does it hide the sterile corporate mindset we see at the end of the book. Also, Horrorstör shows that the work and furniture we take for granted could be perverted into something horrifying and unforgiving. 

My Favorite Parts:

What's great about this book is that it reads like a movie. At first, I started reading Horrorstör as a secondary book, to take breaks from the primary book I was reading at the time. After three chapters, it took the place of my primary book. I was hooked! The narrative and story flowed and I was easily visualizing every chapter as if I was watching a horror film inside my mind. 

Lastly, if you've done some research you'll know that the book was created to look like an Ikea catalog. One my favorite parts of Horrorstör is the illustration and description of a piece of furniture in the beginning of every chapter. And that piece of furniture takes precedent in that specific chapter. It was scary and awesome flipping through the pages and seeing the growing perversion of each furniture. 

All I'm asking of Grady Hendrix and Quirk Books is a sequel to Horrorstör! I love the Amy-Basil duo and would love to see them kicking more ghost-butts!