What in the holy hell did I read? This book is WILD! I think someone needs to check on Grady Hendrix because he is unwell. This was an incredibly engaging, addicting ride. Now is there a HUGE amount of reality you must suspend, absolutely but if you can do that you're in for an entertaining read.

Grady Hendricks never disappoints! How to sell a Haunted House begins with the trauma of losing both parents in a tragic accident and a need to put their affairs in order. There is no end to the weirdness of this story, from the mysterious reasons behind her parents' car wreck, her mom's odd career as a Christian puppeteer and her fractured relationship with her only brother, They must put their differences aside and work together to put an end to the tyranny of her Mom's favorite (possessed) puppet. At times bordering on pure ridiculousness, this terrifying tale has it all: sadness and horror, and a little humor added to the mix.

Grady Hendrix can write a strange and entertaining book.

After Louise’s parents die in a car accident she comes home to her childhood house to make arrangements. On top of having to bury her parents she has to navigate her strained relationship with her brother, Mark. Worse of all, though, she has to handle the house that is filled to the brim with dolls and puppets her mom made that always gave both Louise and Mark a bad feeling.

First, I want to say that I love Grady Hendrix’s writing. His stories are always incredibly entertaining and filled with comedic moments within the horror. My favorite aspect of this book is the terrible family dynamic and how it centers around Louise and Mark, but you slowly get to see how the rest of the family fits into it. It’s heartbreaking and maddening at the same time.

This book was a rollercoaster of not wanting to put it down to then not wanting to pick it up and, sadly, it fell flat for me. The biggest thing that I disliked was that I felt like there were too many moments in the book that I felt like gave too much detail that just wasn’t needed. I was keeping an open mind thinking that it would come around and tie-in throughout the book but it never did. It was just setting up the characters which could have been done with less in my opinion. I also just didn’t vibe with horror parts of the story until the very end which redeemed a lot of it for me. Though that is definitely more of a personal view and I can see how many people would find this book terrifying.

Overall, it has a good backbone to the story and ended well but the pacing and good chunk of the basis of the story didn’t do it for me.

I LOVED this book. Grady Hendrix hit a new level of nostalgia, suspense, fear and heart with this story about two siblings coming together to sell their late parents haunted house.

Stuffed to the brim with haunted puppets and poignant family dynamics, I was truly blown away by how multifaceted this was for a horror story. I laughed, I cried, and I was truly creeped out! What more can you ask for?! Thank you so much to Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for access to this amazing book!!

Absolutely outstanding discussion of grief told through horror tropes and imagery. Hendrix excels at detailing horrific events and body horror in particular interspersed with comedy and run through with genuine heartbreaking emotion.

Siblings Mark and Louise Joyner must come together and sort through their parent's affairs after their unexpected death. The two can't agree on anything and continually argue. When family secrets come to the surface and a creepy cursed puppet begins to take over, the two have to mend their fences and join forces before the Pupkin their mother's childhood puppet harms anyone else.
Hendrix's book is both entertaining and unsettling. When you relax and get a chuckle or two, the terror amps up.
I enjoyed this book and can see adding this to a display of books about haunted houses and local ghost stories.

A strange book, even for Hendrix, but another win nonetheless. Thematically rich, laugh out loud funny, heartfelt, and downright creepy. Hendrix knows how to send you on a ride where you aren't sure where things will go before he expertly ties it all together in the end. Well worth the wait, and an excellent read that should be put in the pantheon of iconic haunted house stories.

Grady Hendrix really isn't messing around.

I'm not usually someone who scares easily, particularly when it comes to horror books or movies. Haunted houses will have me screaming and running, but if I read it or watch it? Usually I'm fine.

USUALLY.

How to Sell a Haunted House was TERRIFYING. I mean it in the best way humanly possible, but it was really scary. It's that scene from the Poltergeist with the clown doll. It's the scariest parts of Annabelle and Goosebumps and the Conjuring all in one.

It's the feeling of your foot being outside of the protection of your blanket when you're trying to fall asleep.

It's TERRIFYING.

Which really is a testament to just how good of a writer Hendrix is. He can evoke the precise mood he wants you to feel, and knows exactly how to hit you where it hurts--or scares you.

I don't want to say too much about the plot of this one, only because I think the description that the publisher provides is perfectly vague and sets you up really, really well. I kind of want everyone to experience the absolute craziness and horror I felt when the story started coming together, so I can't wait until it's out and people are reacting to Hendrix's latest masterpiece.

Thanks Netgalley and Quirk books for the advanced copy!

Thank you @berkley for the gifted copy of this book.

Um...wth did I just read???? This book was BONKERS, and I kinda loved it! Books don't scare me, but this one gave me the creeps. Puppets, dolls, PUPKIN...I can't even.

I seriously don't want to say too much because I don't want to give a single thing away to anyone that might read this. The gist is that Louise gets a phone call from her brothers that their parents were killed in a car accident. Louise leaves her 5 year old and goes back home for the funeral and to deal with the house and all that jazz. Once home, she realizes that the house is full of her mom's puppets and dolls, the attic is boarded up, and things just don't seem right. The house is giving off weird vibes, and things start happening that terrify Louise, and eventually her brother Mark. The more they discover about each others pasts, the weirder things get, and the last half of this book is flat out terrifying, bizarre, disturbing...all the adjectives.

I think my face was a combination of what the hell, ew, and holy sh*t for like 90% of this book, especially the end.

It's demented brilliance. Not many books can make me react like this. And honestly? I'm not sure how to rate it. I keep going between 4 and 5 stars.

Excuse me while I purge my house of any puppets, and spray holy water on all of my daughters dolls.

Louise Joyner has spent her whole life being the responsible one, so OF COURSE when both her parents die in a tragic car accident, she's the one that has to take care of everything. It's what she and her dad had discussed, in case anything happened to them, because her younger brother Mark can't be trusted with that kind of responsibility, or any kind of responsibility for that matter. So Louise flies home to Charleston from San Francisco, leaving her 5 year old daughter with her father. When Louise arrives, she finds that her parents' will actually leaves everything to Mark except her mother's art. Mark wants to gut the house and put it on the market as quickly as possible, but Louise decides to take her sweet time gathering her inheritance, which is vast but not exactly valuable. Her mother was a member of a Christian puppeteering group, and had a roomful of homemade puppets. Oh, and tons of creepy dolls too. While Louise and Mark bicker about their parent's estate, strange things start to happen in the house, strange enough that even Louise wants to get it all over and done with quickly. Unfortunately, no realtor wants anything to do with it, because guess what? It's haunted.

I have to say, Grady Hendrix never disappoints me. I LOVE his writing style and vibes, and he makes this book CREEPY. He also really nails familial relationships, especially between brothers and sisters, and I enjoyed the depth that this gave to the story. If you're the kind of person that gets the heebie jeebies from dolls, this book takes that and runs with it, so be warned...

I recieved this ARC courtesy of NetGalley in return for my honest opinion and review.

I have enjoyed Grady Hendrix's other books, but this one... woof. It was another level! Personally, this one wasn't my cup of tea. It was made up of everything nightmares are made of - puppets, haunted houses, and taxidermy... oh my! Definitely a unique book and not your average haunted house story. Of course not! It's Grady Hendrix after all. Definitely will recommend it to others, just wasn't quite for me! Read during the day time lol!

This was my first foray into this author's books and WOW it was crazy...and yet enjoyable.

Hendrix has a really odd sense of humor that just seems to work. And let's be real - dolls and puppets are creepy as ever. I was instantly sucked into this book and had to see what would happen. There was a point about 3/4ths of the way through where something happened and I thought to myself...how is this book not over? (Not that it was long, just that it "felt" like an ending) and then he turned it around and I just loved it.

It's a bit ridiculous, there's some gore, an odd demonic element that's pretty downplayed (mostly), and a twist you don't really see coming...but if you can get past the dolls I think you'll enjoy this one.

!There is language and violent scenes (mostly done in a detached way).

My rating: 4*

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Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

"How to Sell a Haunted House" was not the haunted house full of ghosts story I was expecting. It's more in the category of horror that the film Annabelle falls under. It's still a Grady Hendrix book so it's certainly enjoyable but it's not what I expected.

I have such mixed views on this book.

This book is about 2 siblings who are attempting to sell their parents house in the wake of their sudden deaths. Before the house can sold, strange events begin to occur that cause the siblings to revisit their decisions, their past, and their relationships with each other and their family.

Ultimately, this book is about grief. In that regard, it succeeds very well. My mom had just been in a wreck (and she was fine!) right before I started reading this, and I found that it made me tap into that deep-seated knowledge most middle aged people carry. The most interesting parts of the book for me the ones that delved into the conflicts and history of the family.

The horror unfortunately only partially worked for me. Some parts I found cheesey, others fascinating and terrifying.

This was a propulsive read that gripped me from beginning to end. One could say...it possessed me. I have long been a fan of Grady Hendrix' writing and HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE is peak Grady. What I admire most about his writing is his uncanny ability to balance energetic, efficient prose with raw examinations of trauma, grief, and family disfunction. He uses repressed memory and flashback in ways that make you radically reconsider characters, relationships, and narrative possibilities. There are images in this book that made me laugh out loud while simultaneously scaring the pants off me. What's next, Grady???

Grady Hendrix knows horror and it is so very refreshing. He is great at bringing a classic vibe to a new story. With that every horror author deserves their own haunted house story, but this isn't just a haunted house. I couldn't say more without ruining fun surprises.

I thought this was going to be a haunted house book, not a possessed puppet story. It was creepy. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Grady Hendrix has skyrocketed to the pinnacle of great horror novelists in the last few years, so I was eager to read his newest book, How to Sell a Haunted House….or at least I thought I was. Let me preface this by saying that Hendrix’s novel, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires was the most exciting thing to happen to horror in decades. A novel that made you laugh, delivered genuine chills, reinvented the vampire mythology and had some important things to say about the treatment of women and minorities in the society we live in. However, his follow up book, The Final Girl’s Support Group was a huge disappointment for me and is the reason I approached this novel with a lot of trepidation.

This books begins with the sudden deaths of Louise’s parents and her flying back home to Charleston to make funeral arrangements and clear out the family home with her ne’er do well brother, Mark. Where this novel shines is in the depiction of a dysfunctional family. The sibling relationship rings especially true. Also, the portrayal of such a family dealing with the aftermath of death was especially well done. Anyone who has ever had to watch greedy relatives fight over a loved ones estate like five year olds will relate. And Hendrix gets Southerners right in a way few novelists do.

Where this novel missed the mark for me was in the actual horror story. Louise and Mark’s mother had been a puppeteer and doll collector and as they soon find out, the puppets, one in particular, are not about to let the house go without a fight. Now I love a good and spooky doll, but Hendrix goes overboard with the sheer amount of them here. He goes straight to Grand Guignol campiness that is much more laughable than frightening- Although I did find the taxidermic squirrel nativity scene come to life hilarious. I supposed if you have a serious fear of dolls or puppets you will find this scary, but I just thought it was overblown silliness. Still, I can’t completely write this book or Hendrix off. His portrayal of sibling rivalry and love had an unbelievable amount of heart that ended up making it a worthwhile read.

It's always great when there's a new Grady Hendrix novel in the world. Taking place in moder-day Charleston, this follows two estranged siblings who have to come together to handle their deceased parent's estate. This had scenes that resonated with me emotionally, scenes that cracked me up, and gave me a bit to think about. A great modern haunted house story about how the secrets we keep might hurt our children if we don't confront them and deal with them.

Grady Hendrix has a distinct way of infusing scares with sentimentality, which continues with his latest. Before we're even introduced to the eponymous haunted house, Hendrix instills foreboding anxiety through protagonist Louise and her endless string of domestic stresses compounded by her parents' death. The tense, deeply estranged sibling rivalry, the missteps of motherhood, and unearthing sometimes painful family memories drive the narrative. The terrifying puppetry and haunted house shenanigans are compelling confetti.