Saturday, October 24, 2015

Review: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE GHOST DIMENSION

Shock Till You Drop
Review: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE GHOST DIMENSION

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Para1 Run, don’t walk, to catch this latest and last installment in the PARANORMAL ACTIVITY franchise…

While the last several PARANORMAL ACTIVITY films have been (let’s face it) a bit lackluster, this latest edition of the franchise surpasses all expectations and is frighteningly and intensely intelligent. Instead of a run-of-the-mill cheapie, found-footage grab for cash during the Halloween season, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE GHOST DIMENSION is a startling and visionary film that can only be described as a work of art worthy of modern savants such as Lars von Trier and Gasper Noë.

Much like Fritz Lang’s classic silent science fiction film METROPOLIS, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE GHOST DIMENSION is an allegory of Marxist alienation pitting the ruling classes against the proletariat while exploring the danger and horror of unbridled personal passion and mob rule. Most of this intellectual and artistic observation is due to input from prolific screenwriter Adam Robitel (his 2015 avant-garde horror film THE TAKING OF DEBORAH LOGAN is known as one of the most thoughtful meditations on denial of dialectic desituationism and affirmation of cultural post textual theory in the 21st Century).

Protagonists Ryan (Chris J. Murray) and Emily (Brit Shaw) are a happily married, heterosexual white bourgeois couple with a mentally disabled daughter named Leila (Ivy George, who does an impeccable job playing an eight year-old with the mental capacity of a three year-old). Isolated in their extremely large and sprawling house, and with no interaction with the outside world, they spend their days staring at blinking lights and at absurdly numerous television and computer screens. Ryan’s upper middle class employment as a gaming developer forces him to work remotely, estranged from not only his product but his fellow man, on a screen barely one foot across. Despite the absolute exploitation of his own creative spirit, the game (which never materializes) is interpolated into a post cultural paradigm of expression that includes art as a whole.

Ryan’s brother Mike (Dan Gill) randomly appears one day in the house and plans to stay with the family, to which they oddly don’t object. While Mike quips existential, Kafka-esque one-liners designed to question the validity of their subconceptualist rationalism and structural materialism, the two parents don’t seem to react and remain sequestered in their glass-walled, white, suffocating bourgeois interior. The beautiful Skyler (Olivia Taylor Dudley) is also trapped in the house, with no apparent relation to anyone. This surreal experiment soon makes Skyler the primary caregiver to tiny Leila while Emily is tasked with repetitively removing groceries from brown bags, over and over, despite the fact that she never leaves the house or goes grocery shopping. The family never eats the food she unpacks, indicating her own failure to connect to her fellow man as anything but a consumer and her inability to connect to her family as anything but an object of slave labor in the kitchen. This obviously Freudian deconstruction is a touchingly simple way to denote Emily’s dissatisfaction with her own role as Mother.

Eventually, Ryan finds a video camera from 1992 in a box in the garage, his only window to the outside world and to other people. In his desperation to connect with other human beings, he begins obsessively watching the video tapes left with the camera, drawing Emily and Mike, and eventually Leila and Skyler, into his demented and manic need to go back to 1992 and prevent his own class alienation under the guise of saving Leila from the inevitable downfall of capitalism. Unfortunately, the entire family is being stalked by the specter of Marxism in the form of a ghastly black entity seeking to steal Leila and force her back into 1992 where a coven of Marxist witches will enact a ritual designed to destroy the power of the bourgeoisie by giving political support to their revolutionary leader named Toby. To the upper-class family, this leader seems to be little more than a demon designed to point out the inherent immorality and inhumanity in their lifestyles; he seems to want to destroy everything they have in order to redistribute their wealth to the Marxist witches (their house is built upon the destroyed ruin of the coven’s original home, torn away from them by the fires of capitalism and trickle-down economics). However, the absurdity, and some would say the failure, of subconceptualist rationalism which is a central theme of Rushdie’s SATANIC VERSES emerges again in PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE GHOST DIMENSION when a portal to 1992 opens up in Leila’s bedroom, forcing the family to take drastic measures to protect her from the dark forces of the futility of class consciousness.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE GHOST DIMENSION’s filmmakers designed gorgeous natural lighting thoughtfully intended as homage to Stanley Kubrick’s BARRY LYNDON. The large house is various shades of pale light whites and grays polluted by the blackness of night when the family is under attack from Toby.

Just like the sans-culottes during their reign of terror in the French Revolution, the coven of witches and Toby assault the family and threaten to execute them physically and morally in order to restore a working-class Jacobin socialism in which witches can freely practice their demonic conjurations without fear of capitalists burning down their home.

Ultimately, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE GHOST DIMENSION is a Nietzsche-esque escalation between good and evil, a battle between Id and Superego, in which allegorical demons battle the soulless, amoral darkness of bourgeois identity. The filmmakers force the audience to choose between the post cultural paradigm of expression and cultural rationalism; this “ghost story” promotes the use of structural materialism to attack outdated, elitist perceptions of narrativity and denotes the role of the viewer as participant in this tale of terror rather than simply creator. Mainly it is the many 3-D jump scares that really accomplish this.

Run, don’t walk, to see this beautiful Camus-like example of modern existential and political art, which I suspect will be on many people’s short-list for the Oscars in March.

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5 Must See Subtitled Horror Films on Netflix

AnythingHorror Central
5 Must See Subtitled Horror Films on Netflix

by EvilQueenB

I have touted the greatest of subtitled horror films, although most people are quick to dismiss them. With reactions being no one wants to read and watch a horror film at the same time! Well these 5 films will help re-evaluate your thoughts on subtitled films by showing you horror comes in all different film forms!

Please note some of these trailers have been English dubbed, but these are subtitled on Netflix.

I SAW THE DEVIL (2010)

This Korean film tells the story of a secret agent whose fiancee is killed by a serial killer. Consumed with rage and grief, Kim Soo-Hyeon goes on a sadistic rampage in order to track down the killer. This film is bloody, gory, suspenseful and has one of the best endings I’ve seen in a long time.

THE HORDE (2009)

This French film tells the story of a group of less than lawful police officers looking for revenge against a gang who murdered their colleague. What starts out as a strategic plan turns into a bloody fight for survival against a horde of zombies. The film is fast paced, action packed and gives a new spin on zombies.

HIGH LANE (2009)

When a group of friends go rock climbing in a closed off part of Croatia they get more than they bargained for when their only way back home is destroyed and they end up being hunted in the forest. Although this is not a new concept in horror of stranded friends in a forest being hunted it is however one of the better done horror films on the subject.

DEAD SNOW (2009)

A group of friend’s snow getaway is interrupted by a group of Nazi zombies. This Norwegian film is a great installment in the zombie genre. It’s fun, it’s blood soaked and the sequel, DEAD SNOW: RED VS. DEAD is a rare example of sequel that is better than the first film (plus it isn’t subtitled).

[REC] 4 APOCALYPSE (2014)

The [REC] franchise to me is one of the best foreign subtitled series in the horror genre. If you haven’t watched the first 3 films I recommend watching those first and then moving on to this newest installment. Angela the reporter from the [REC] and [REC] 2 returns, but she is now quarantined on a boat, but she is not alone in this voyage. Even with a 4th installment, this series is still going strong and how many American horror films can say that!

Did EvilQueenB miss any great subtitled horror on Netflix? Let us know!!

Stay Bloody!!!


Filed under: Guest Contributor, Horror Lists, New Posting

Review: SHOCK Crucifies the MARTYRS Remake

Shock Till You Drop
Review: SHOCK Crucifies the MARTYRS Remake

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Martyrs2 SHOCK weighs in on the Blumhouse remake of classic French shocker MARTYRS.

I must preface this review by saying that I have not seen the original French MARTYRS. Travesty, I know. But it allows me a unique opportunity to review the 2015 remake without being influenced by the original. Basically, I can judge it just as a movie, not as a remake. 

MARTYRS tells the story of Lucie, a young girl who escapes from a warehouse where she has been tortured for an untold amount of time. The cops have no clues and Lucie is sent to a Catholic orphanage, where she is befriended by Anna, an impossibly cheerful girl who stops at nothing to befriend Lucie. 

The girls grow up, and we next see Lucie as she is brutally murdering a seemingly-perfect family family who lives on a farm in the middle of nowhere. She calls Anna, saying she found the monsters who held her captive. Anna can’t believe that Lucie actually killed them, and she has her doubts that these people actually abused Lucie. In fact, she even attempts to call 911, but chickens out after two rings. Anna gives in and helps Lucie clean up the mess, and in doing so discovers a well-hidden tunnel that leads to a massive underground prison, complete with graphic photographs of tortured girls. Anna finds a young girl, Sam, in one of the cells. She tries to help the girl escape, but instead they are set upon by a flock of men who chase the three girls through the woods before catching them and locking all three up downstairs. The torture begins anew, and Anna finally learns the diabolical plot this cabal is involved in.

I did not like MARTYRS.

Maybe it is because I don’t have a religious background, but I didn’t “get” MARTYRS. Since the original has been out for a handful of years, I don’t feel like it is a spoiler to say that the basic idea of MARTYRS is to torture human beings to the brink of death in order to see god or an afterlife. I believe in neither, so to me this seems a huge waste of time and totally illogical. Wouldn’t everyone “see” something different? These religious nuts – of which there are a lot, apparently – are led by a stern woman who seems much more like a businesswoman than a zealot. Other than when she is trying to describe the goal of her group (which she does in a vague way, making me think the screenwriter chickened out of getting too directly religious with it), there is no religious fervor; no bible quotes; no incurring the wrath of god.

Putting aside the religious logic – or lack thereof – there were plenty of other problems with the film. I felt no emotional pull to Lucie or Anna. I thought the friendship between them as children was sweet, but as adults, where we spend the bulk of our time with them, I felt nothing. They are not developed as adult characters. We first see Lucie when she is killing her tormentor; we first see Anna when Lucie calls her for help. There is no sense of where these girls are in their lives. Do they have jobs? Do they have significant others or roommates? Are they happy? They become very two-dimensional: Lucie focused on revenge and banishing the monsters from her head; Anna focused on helping her friend. 

Lucie also seemed to think that no one “believed” her. I don’t know if she was referring to the “monsters” she sees, or to the actual abuse. The abuse seems pretty indisputable; the monsters she sees are clearly in her head, a result of the lack of any sort of counseling. The “monsters” she sees disappear from the plot pretty quickly, making me wonder what the point was to begin with.

I’m not sure who this film is made for. If you liked the original, watch that again. If you didn’t like the original, you probably aren’t going to want to watch the remake. I don’t see this getting a major theatrical release, so it isn’t likely that dumb teenagers are going to wander into a new horror film and fall in love with it. Even if they did, I think it is too esoteric and tries to be too “deep” for a mindless horror fan.

The post Review: SHOCK Crucifies the MARTYRS Remake appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

Friday, October 23, 2015

Review: Graphic Horror meets Western in BONE TOMAHAWK

Shock Till You Drop
Review: Graphic Horror meets Western in BONE TOMAHAWK

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SHOCK heaps praise upon moody horror/western hybrid BONE TOMAHAWK.

Imagine THE SEARCHERS melted into CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and you’ve scratched the surface of the devasting and much-hyped horror/western hybrid BONE TOMAHAWK, opening today in select US theaters.

Debut writer/director S. Craig Zahler’s moody, slow-burning meditation on violence starts with splatter, as a pair of drifters painfully saw away at the still-living throats of a gaggle of sleeping travelers in the scorching desert, robbing them and having verbose debates about everything from the weather to how many arteries are in the human body. Said drifters are played by David Arquette (SCREAM) and genre legend Sid Haig (THE DEVIL’S REJECTS, SPIDER BABY, hundreds of others) and with this bit of eccentric casting, it’s clear Zahler (who is best known as a pulp novelist) is aiming to bridge the gap between the grindhouse and the arthouse, set as the depravity is against a sun-baked, Terrence Mallick-tinted landscape and powered by hideous, casual acts of cruelty. This unsettling opening sets the tone for the queasy amalgam of stomach-churning, eye-filling and semi-heady action that follows and, though the movie might owe a small debt of gratitude to recent, overly-chatty Quentin Tarantino works like INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS and DJANGO UNCHAINED, BONE TOMAHAWK is a far less showy, far more disturbing and ultimately, a considerably more effective effort.

The story kicks into gear shortly after that aforementioned, grisly pre-credits opening, with the drifters attacked by a brutish native tribe and the surviving thug then rolling, dazed, into a dusty gulch. After a barroom scuffle leaves him shot in the leg, the drunken sod gets imprisoned by the Sheriff (played with typical grace and authority by the great Kurt Russell, who also takes the lead in Tarantino’s next western feature, THE HATEFUL EIGHT). When the wife of a recently crippled citizen (Patrick Wilson, INSIDIOUS) is called in to tend to the prisoner’s wounds, both convict and caregiver are attacked and kidnapped in the dead of night by the very same tribe that we saw in the opening. Turns out this is no mere clichéd clan of angry indigenous peoples; rather this is a species of human monsters, cannibalistic and feral and now, very, very pissed off.

Russell, along with his aged and kindly deputy (played by an amazing and barely recognizable Richard Jenkins from TV’s SIX FEET UNDER), a macho Marshall (Mathew Fox) and a limping, borderline hysterical Wilson, launch a party to track the tribe to their lair. Along the way the men talk, argue, bond and battle the elements. In fact, for a good portion of BONE TOMAHAWK’s running time, narrative takes a back seat to mood, tone and amusing, matter-of-fact conversation that serves to create an immersive environment that drags the viewer in, making them an auxiliary member in the men’s quest. Listening to Jenkins muse about how he wishes he could effectively read a book in the bath without ruining it, may not seem to serve any sort of purpose. But what it does is make you love this man, so when he enters Hell in the final third of the film, we are genuinely in knots, worrying about his safety.

Now, about that final third…

Without giving away too much, suffice to say that for the first two thirds of BONE TOMAHAWK, we’re stationed squarely in existential, Cormac McCarthy-meets-DEADWOOD territory; it’s most assuredly a purely cinematic western and a damn good one at that. But, when the men meet the monster they be seeking, the shift into full-blown, graphic horror is alarming and, in some sequences, difficult to endure. In fact, there is at least one scene of butchery that might just be the most shocking, emotionally traumatic sequence of Grand Guignol I’ve seen in any film. I’ve tried to shake it and, upsettingly, I just cannot seem to un-see it…

That said, BONE TOMAHAWK is no mere exploitation film and its horror elements aren’t tacked on, they evolve organically and are very much part of the landscape of the film. The movie is every inch a masterpiece, bold, minimalist of movement but profound in its impact and featuring solid character work by top-drawer actors giving voice to lyrical dialogue. And, it must be said that, unlike many westerns and, certainly unlike every horror film, there is almost no music in the movie. No score. No melody. No tone and no sound but the wind to latch our senses onto. We’re lost with these people in an arid, down-spiraling nightmare; a Conrad-informed venture into the heart of sandy darkness that doesn’t end well for anyone involved.

For my money, BONE TOMAHAWK isn’t just the best horror movie of 2015, it’s the best movie, full stop.

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All Hallows’ Eve 2 (2015)

AnythingHorror Central
All Hallows’ Eve 2 (2015)

I just finished posting my review of TALES OF HALLOWEEN, and no sooner did it post than I’m writing a review for yet another Halloween anthology film, ALL HALLOW’S EVE 2. This is an anthology made up of eight short films by eight different filmmakers, each about a particular aspect of Halloween. There is a superfluous wraparound story that has no payoff (we’ll get to that), but the individual stories here are pretty interesting.

That was one pissed off pumpkin!!

That was one pissed off pumpkin!!

Ignoring the opening wraparound story for the time being, the anthology has a damn strong opening with the two short films, “Jack Attack” and “The Last Halloween.” “Jack Attack” (written and directed by Bryan Norton and Antonio Padovan) is the story of a pumpkin who doesn’t much like being turned into a Jack-o-Lantern, so it exacts some gory revenge on its attackers. “Jack Attack” is an effective short that I actually had the privilege of seeing a couple years ago. At a tight eight-minute runtime, there is no filler here. Elizabeth (Helen Rogers) is babysitting Jack (Tyler Rossell). It is Halloween and Liz curves a pumpkin and roasts the seeds for them to enjoy–except the pumpkin is pissed. What begins as a sentimental, sweet short ends in a gross display of gore and revenge. I love “Jack Attack.”

"Alexia" watched too much RINGU!!

“Alexia” watched too much RINGU!!

“The Last Halloween” is a great follow up to the first story and really kept the ball rolling. In this story (directed by Marc Roussel, written by Roussel and Mark Thibodeau–which is based on Thibodeau’s comic book), we join a few “kids” as they go out trick or treating on Halloween night. Immediately the viewer realizes that something isn’t right as the landscape looks like a war zone. Soon it becomes apparent that the trick or treaters are more interested in doling out tricks than getting treats. This is another short and sweet story that moves quickly and has some great makeup effects. This is one neighborhood you want to stary away from!! This is also the one short in this anthology that I really wanted to see as a feature length film.

All Hallows Eve2 Last Halloween2

Just like in TALES OF HALLOWEEN, there were no stories that I out and out didn’t like. All the entry’s were fun and well made. I was a little disappointed with the short, “Descent” (written and directed by Jay Holben and Christopher Probst). The story was lifted right from an old Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV show. In it, Vanessa (Renee Intlekofer) witnesses a murder. When after a case of bad luck she is stranded in an elevator with the man who committed the murder, she decides to go on the offensive. But there’s just one problem. You’re going to have to see what happens (no spoilers here). But the “twist”–if you want to call it that–was lifted straight from an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. But on the positive side, the acting and cinematography were fantastic. I was just disappointed by the originality.

All Hallows Eve2 Masocist1

The other two that I enjoyed the most are “Mr. Tricker’s Treat” (directed by Mike Kochansky and written by Kochansky and Mark Byers), where a girl (Carrie Seim) finds out the hard way what makes Mr. Tricker’s (Michael Serrato) Halloween decorations look so life-like, and “Alexia” (directed and written by Andreas Borghi), one of the stories not connected to the Halloween theme. In “Alexia,” a guy’s girlfriend who killed herself still haunts him through the computer and social media. “Alexia” is downright scary and is a very effective ghost story with elements of RINGU in it. “Alexia” was breathtaking to look at and we get some fantastic and unique camera angles and colors.

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Think of ALL HALLOW’S EVE 2 as the poorer cousin of TALES OF HALLOWEEN. I still haven’t discussed the wraparound story because it really isn’t worth it. It felt tagged on, like they forgot they needed one and quickly threw something together. But the eight short films here will entertain you and will put a smile on your face this Halloween season. Check this one out.

My Summary:

Directors: Jesse Baget, Elias Benavidez, Andrés Borghi, Jay Holben, Mike Kochansky, James Kondelik, Jon Kondelik, Bryan Norton, Antonio Padovan, Ryan Patch, and Marc Roussel

Plot: 3.5 out of 5 stars for the entire anthology

Gore: 5 out of 10 skulls for the entire anthology

Zombie Mayhem: 0 out of 5 brains for the entire anthology

Reviewed by Scott Shoyer

Stay Bloody!!!

All Hallows Eve2 poster


Filed under: Holiday Horrors, Horror Anthology, Horror Short Films, Independent Horror Scene, Movie Reviews, New Horror Releases, New Posting, Upcoming Releases

Thursday, October 22, 2015

New York! Tristan Risk Thriller SAVE YOURSELF Locks World Premiere

Shock Till You Drop
New York! Tristan Risk Thriller SAVE YOURSELF Locks World Premiere

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Canadian horror thriller SAVE YOURSELF to have World Premiere in New York.

Tireless Canadian indie genre filmmaker Ryan M. Andrews (SICK) has just informed us that his latest effort, the female-driven psycho thriller SAVE YOURSELF, will have its world premiere on Friday, November 13th at the New York City Horror Film Festival, running this year at the atmosphere-packed, post-industrial horror-themed venue/bar/haunted attraction/theatre Times Scare in Manhattan.

Fetish model, burlesque dancer and current indie horror “It” girl Tristan Risk (AMERICAN MARY, THE EDITOR) headlines the cast of SAVE YOURSELF which also stars Canadian actress and director Jessica Cameron (TRUTH OR DARE) plus Tianna Nori (CLEAN BREAK), Sydney Kondruss (THE DROWNSMAN), Elma Begovic (BITE), Ry Barrett (THE DEMOLISHER) and Bobbie Phillips (CARNIVAL OF SOULS). The flick tells the story of five women en route to Los Angeles to screen their latest horror film, who accidentally cross paths with a mysterious scientist hell- bent on using them for his bizarre research. And that’s just scratching the surface of this strange shocker…

For ticket sales and to check out the rest of the great titles unspooling at the NYCHFF go HERE.

And for all things SAVE YOURSELF visit the Official Site.

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Horrorstör Review: Read. This. Book.

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Horrorstör Review: Read. This. Book.

Horrorstör Cover

Some may recognize Grady Hendrix as the former film critic who ran Variety’s superb Asian movie blog, Kaiju Shakedown. I bemoaned when Variety finally shuttered his corner of their site, but if I’d had any idea that closing that door would eventually lead to Hendrix opening the door to the fiction side of his career, I’d have sent them a bottle of whiskey, because Horrorstör is a must-have in this world.

Here’s the basic, Amazon-level pitch: Three employees of an Ikea-esque store called Orsk are tasked with working late one night in order to figure out who has been moving objects and leaving behind disgusting messes and weird graffiti in the middle of the night. They suspect it’s a homeless man or a weird shopper; we, knowing this is a book called Horrorstör, suspect it’s a ghost.

That’s an accurate description of the setup, but here’s an even better way to pitch it: Imagine if in the middle of the night, when no employees were around, Ikea turned into Silent Hill. Now imagine you were just some average nobody who hated their job at Ikea, were forced into working an overnight shift by your socially inept manager, and ended up having to fight your way out of the increasingly twisted hellscape that emerges within. That’s Horrorstör.

And I do mean increasingly twisted. Hendrix opens his novel by letting us get to know our main gal Amy, who is a totally normal, relatable woman who probably could have done something exciting in life if she put her heart into it, but who ended up doing nothing in a boring day job because that’s a whole lot easier. We get to meet her dorky manager, Basil, and the three other employees who wind up in the store after hours, and it leans in to a cheeky setup about how a suburban heaven like Ikea is really a bit of a nightmare on the inside, with all that it represents being a little soul-rotting at its core. And that’s amusing, but it’s pretty surface level stuff.

Hendrix knows this, though. He knows that simply saying, “What if an Ikea was haunted? Wouldn’t that be kinda funny and kinda freaky?” can only carry you so far. And so about half-way through the book, he cranks the horror knob to 11 and never dials it down. From then on it becomes a gripping, imaginative, subversive story that doesn’t necessarily zag when you think it’s going to zig, but it makes damn sure that each zag and zig is coated with razor wire and consequences.

But what’s particularly striking about Horrorstör is how contemporary of a horror story it is. These days I find horror to be largely voiceless. Most, be it a movie a show or a book, don’t exist in the moment. They have nothing to say about the world around us, they simply put people through the grinder to revel in the sausage getting made. But Hendrix isn’t that cynical. There’s a bolt of optimism that runs through Horrorstör as it tests the temerity of a young woman who has been disenfranchised in life purely of her own accord.

Amy is a typical millennial. She was told the future was bright, so she put on sunglasses because she was too cool to look into it. And now she’s stuck holding the bag on her own life because of it. She’s got no one else to truly blame, and so it’s either deal with the overwhelming horde around her or get swept away by the river of time. And the craziest thing about it all, is that once the shit really hits the fan, part of you (and Amy) starts to wonder if it might indeed be better for her to just fade away than fight to matter in the world. There’s actually a logic to letting her become complacent and just another dead-eyed worker bee.

Having you root for a hero one second only to later think “You know, the Warden of Hell she’s facing raises some good points…” is deceptively complex and clever writing, and it shows that Hendrix has what it takes to tell a horror story that will stand the test of time. It’s not just gory. It doesn’t just cash-in on a popular trend. Horrorstör gets inside your head and takes you to a world where this nightmare makes total sense. And like a trip to a real Ikea, it’s a beautiful, punishing hellscape I’d gladly submit myself to again.

 

Buy Horrorstör here. I recommend the paperback, which is shaped like an Ikea catalog and even has appropriate furniture product pages at the start of each chapter. Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that this book just flies by. I tore through it in two sittings, which is exceedingly rare for me these days.