Friday Face-Off: Store or Market
Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a weekly meme created by Books by Proxy! Each Friday, we will pit cover against cover while also taking the opportunity to showcase gorgeous artwork and feature some of our favorite book covers. If you want to join the fun, simply choose a book each Friday that fits that week’s predetermined theme, post and compare two or more different covers available for that book, then name your favorite. A list of future weeks’ themes are available at Lynn’s Book Blog.
This week’s theme is:
“Who will buy this wonderful morning?”
~ a cover featuring a STORE OR MARKET
Mogsy’s Pick:
Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix
I racked my brain this week for a cover featuring a shop or market setting, and the closest I could come up with was Grady Hendrix’s big-box furniture store horror which pokes fun at retail culture while offering a chillingly spooky experience. I had a great time with this novel and its memorable and quirky take on the classic haunted house story which takes place in an Orsk superstore, the author’s razor-sharp parody of our real world’s IKEA.
There’s something strange about this particular Orsk store, though. Every morning, store employees arrive at work to find damaged and vandalized goods, not to mention the creepy “HELP” messages that randomly show up on everyone’s cell phones. To get to the bottom of this mystery once and for all, store manager Basil recruits our protagonist Amy and her fellow sales associate Ruth Anne for an overnight shift. Expecting to find some innocuous and mundane reason for all the strange things going on, they are totally unprepared for the horrors awaiting them on showroom floor in the dead of night.
Shall we look at the available covers?
Quirk Books (2014)
Blackstone Audio (2014)
Thai Edition (2017)
Winner:
There’s no contest this week. The cover design and appearance of the Quirk edition is just so clever that I even made special mention of it in my review of the book. The fact that this book comes published in the shape and size of a glossy mail order catalog complete with product illustrations, descriptions, “coupons”, order forms, and other such features might seem like a gimmick, but hey, it works. The creepy face and hands in the picture frames further seal the deal. High marks for creativity and presentation.
But what do you think? Which one is your favorite?
The BiblioSanctum 
I also liked the cover of the Quirk edition the most. It simply is brilliant.
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I know, I love the presentation!
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Well yes Mogsy I so agree with this week’s choice!
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The only choice, imo 🙂
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Great choice! I love this cover a lot ❤
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Me too, it’s very creative 🙂
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I really want to read this one-it has been on my wishlist for a while! I agree with your cover choice…it fits the book!
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It was a fun book, just the right amount of funny and scary 🙂
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I own this but have not read it yet. There really isn’t a contest here. The Quirk edition is awesome and having seen it in person, such a fun concept!
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I agree, it was no contest. And I hope you enjoy the book!
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That last cover is like WTF? Great choice, I think this really fits the theme. And the original Quirk cover is definitely my favorite as well😁
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I know, that last cover is just awful! Like, what is that white stuff supposed to be? Ectoplasm? I hope! 😛
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I love your choice: it does indeed look like many of the images in IKEA’s catalog (minus the scary pictures on the wall, of course…). The middle cover is not bad either 🙂
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I like the middle cover as well, as it’s very “IKEA”, but the only downside is that it shows no indication of it being a horror 🙂
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Haha – I remember your review of this and the cover at the time – which feels like an IKEA store. I love your choice.
Lynn 😀
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Yeah, the Quirk edition is so awesome 🙂
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I definitely like the cover you picked the best. It’s so innocuous looking until you see the pictures!
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The pictures on the wall definitely sell it!
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Yes on the first one. That last one is just awful
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I know, that last one is terrible. What is the pattern supposed to be? A skull? Just all around bad!
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Oh absolutely right! I love your favourite – it’s both clever and quirky.
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Yeah, it really is the whole package 🙂
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Omg, how have I not heard of this?! I love Ikea lol. This looks interesting.
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It’s a great book, and really nails the whole IKEA parody! 😀
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Definitely agree with your pick! It’s the reason I bought the physical copy as well!
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Yeah, it’s a really special book to have. And visitors who see it thinking it’s an IKEA catalog are in for a surprise when they pick it up 🙂
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Great pick for this week! I agree with your pick 🙂 And I have no idea what is going on in the Thai cover?
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