Grady Hendrix knocked it out of the park with this title! I'm a long-time lover of their works and this one is peak horror! When Louise receives a phone call from her estranged brother about her parents' fatal accident, she packs up and flies home to settle their affairs. Unfortunately, their affairs are about as unsettled as they can get and Louise and Mark must battle their own issues, generational trauma, and family secrets to get back to their normal lives.

Normal is overrated and paranormal is par for the course. Creepy dolls, sinister puppets, an abandoned house, and disconnected reality all come to play in this delightfully disturbing take on a haunted house story. Grady Hendrix doesn't disappoint and it's a must-read for anyone dealing with loss - loss of a loved one, loss of innocence, and loss of control. Grab for your favorite stuffed animal, dim the lights, and don't look behind you!

I just reviewed How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix. #HowtoSellaHauntedHouse #NetGalley

My only experience with Grady Hendrix was The Final Girls Support Group, and I enjoyed that one. I had never experienced his paranormal horror and I am not sure that this was the one to start with. I am NOT a fan of puppet/doll stuff. I had high hopes for a literal haunted house and instead I ended up with Pupkin and it didn't matter what house he was in or whose hand he was attached to...and man I REALLY had wanted a spooky house. Was it creepy, yes, absolutely. He sure knows how to write tense scenes and creepy stuff, but it didn't really deliver on the premise of the book for me. There was nothing "wrong" with it, though. Just not my thing.

When the parents of Louise and Mark are killed in a gruesome car accident the siblings are left with two things: their long simmering disdain for each other and the family house in Charleston, SC.

Louise had left the south years ago and moved to the west coast where she is now divorced and raising her daughter Poppy, who she is dreading leaving to go home for the funeral. Mark on the other hand had returned to Charleston and his parents after dropping out of school, the prodigal son returned (something Louise had never gotten over).

As if having to bury their parents wasn’t enough for Louise, Mark is chomping at the bit to have the will read to see who gets the house. But this isn’t just a run of the mill suburban house…it is the one their mother grew up in and is filled with their mother’s lifelong obsession: puppets, hundreds of puppets, including the star (that’s code for creepiest), Pumpkin.

As the two struggle to decide if they should clear the house and sell it (Louise) or keep the house and heirlooms (Mark) strange and nefarious things begin to happen and it becomes clear that something has remained after their parents have gone.

How to Sell a Haunted House is the latest example of what Grady Hendrix excels at: giving us capital H horror through the lens of relationships we can all relate to- coworkers, best friends, neighbors and now siblings- so we can easily put ourselves in the action. Of all his previous novels I gotta say…this book is the scariest one yet! Seriously, you will be totally creeped out reading it and probably have to turn on the lights and if you have pupaphobia godspeed; you’re going to need to read this book outside in the daylight!

I was raised in the house of a dollmaker, so going into this book I thought I would be completely desensitized to the creepiness of puppets. Not so! Grady Hendrix’s latest is perhaps his scariest yet; by the end of the book my skin crawled whenever the puppet came "on screen." Several times I had to put the book down because what was happening was so chilling that my eyes simply did not want to comprehend words anymore. Hendrix is a master at somehow creating “jump scares” in his prose.

I loved our main character, Louise, and felt viscerally her annoyance and exasperation and despair. The story of grief and her memories of her mother were so potent and relatable.

While the book reaches for a story about intergenerational trauma, the final act veers a bit into circus goofiness in the final puppet show down. This is one of Hendrix's less political novels, any social commentary falling by the wayside as the narrative goes full force into “haunted little kid ghost has gone maniacal.”

A delightful romp that resonated with me as a daughter with aging parents fearing the inevitable threat of growing up for good!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Grady Hendrix is such an amazing author. This story went from campy-creepy to horrific-creepy, and all throughout there was so much development of Louise's relationship with her brother as well as the whole family history. Amazingly well-done.

This is like the Hendrix-y Hendrix book ever. It's campy and weird and spooky and over the top and funny and maybe a little bit too long and ultimately completely enjoyable.

The haunted dolls are creepy AF and the family relationships are heartbreaking and realistic. I do think the second and third sections could have been combined and/or shortened a bit because a few things felt repetitive, but overall I loved this book. Highly recommend!

I will probably read anything Grady Hendrix writes, and I am not even a huge fan of horror stories. I think his works are always well-written and surprising. While this book lives up to those expectations, I did not love it as much as some of his others. For me, I think I just didn't become as invested in these characters as I did with his other books.
However, I will still be suggesting this one to people who enjoy spooky stories or are looking for something different. I will also continue to read everything he writes!

It’s cheeky and it’s creepy, just what you’d expect from Grady Hendrix. It’s not your typical haunted house story and after a rather slow start it will grab you and creep you out and stick with you for quite some time.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this e-ARC.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me, it was a bit slower than I would like and it just didn't hold my attention.

very creepy campy and fun but also spooky af!!!! found myself shaking my head and saying "uh uh" a lot during this one. Hereditary meets Child's Play meets Scream Queens with a satisfying ending (though maybe a little rushed?)

thank you Berkeley for the arc—I will definitely be recommending this to customers

This book was very gory! Definitely did not go in a direction I expected. If you like hauntings and Chucky, this one is definitely for you!

When Louise gets the call from her brother Mark that their parents have died in an accident, she knows she needs to head home and help deal with the aftermath. When they start to clean out the house and weird things start happening, both think their sibling is trying to mess with them. Little do they know things are much darker and deadly than just a sibling rivalry.

Oh man, Grady Hendrix knows how to write a super f’ed up story. Seriously every second of this book I just wondered what happens in his head to make him dream this stuff up. While this book was beyond weird and messed up, I could not put the dang thing down! Every time I thought things were resolved, I looked at the percentage left of the book and cursed in my head. The puppets were just so damn creepy, and I needed to know what the heck Mark and Louise would need to do to finally take down Pupkin. Oh and the part with the squirrels? So creepy! This was by far one of the weirdest and messed up books I have ever read….but I kind of loved it too?

Holy shit. Grady Hendrix really knows how to tell me a story that sucks me in, scares the shit out of me and then forces me to keep reading so I’ll feel better.

Creepy dolls and puppets have always been high on my list of NOPES and after reading How to Sell a Haunted House - they’re numero uno now.

Let me tell you, folks. This was a wild ride, and I loved every page of it. This novel was filled with knuckle-whitening tense and scary moments, heart-felt family times, and frustrating sibling rivalry. Unfortunately, I just finished reading so my mind is filled with the exciting end of the story and I don't have much more detail to go on about. I'll just say that if I never have to read "puppet hole" ever again, I can die happy.

When Louise's parents die in a car crash, she receives a call from her brother, Mark. He says she needs to come back home to Charleston. Louise doesn't believe it's real as her brother and her have never gotten along and he's always been unreliable. When she arrives in Charleston she finds out the house was left to her brother Mark who wants to empty it quickly and sell everything. Louise was only given all of her mother's art, including her puppet collection. Bad memories arise and strange things start to happen to both of them. They soon learn their most feared puppet growing up, Pupkin, is back!

HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE was the first book I have read by Grady Hendrix. I didn't really find this to be as scary as it was humorous. I was never a huge fan of dolls/puppets myself and this just makes it more clear to me that I don't want any in my house! This is an entertaining read for sure. If you have read his other novels, I am sure you will be a fan of this one as well.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will she shared to my Instagram (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

Another great Grady Hendrix read! Creepy dolls, dysfunctional siblings, and a haunted house make for a gripping, frightening, and funny read.

Mark and Louise have just lost their parents, and now the two estranged siblings must work together to rid their parents' house of the ghosts inside so they can sell it and never speak to each other again. But Grady Hendrix's books are always much more than the premise. A haunted house is never just about the ghosts, but about the relationships and battles of the people experiencing the haunting. It's about parental expectations and the way our childhoods can "haunt" us into adulthood. Another absolute winner from the author of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Vampire Hunting and My Best Friend's Exorcism.

WOW! My favorite book of the year! I absolutely adored this; it is heartwarming, and moving, and TERRIFYING all at once. I am very impressed with Hendrix's writing style and will definitely be seeking out more. 10/10!

This cemented my hatred and fear of puppets. If you're scared of puppets in any way shape or form and you're looking to be scared, pick this up. I had a lot of fun with this book once it started to pick up. My biggest gripe is the fact that the intro took forever to get through. I don't think this needed to be as long as it is. But that really is the only issue I had with it. I think this continues to do what Grady Hendrix does best and I'm glad I picked this one up even if it does mean I'm going to continue having nightmares about puppets.

How to Sell a Haunted House
by Grady Hendrix
Pub Date: January 17, 2023
Berkely
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I do have to say that there were many aspects of the book I enjoyed. It’s entertaining in a ridiculous way, and even sometimes funny. I loved the dynamics between Louise and Mark, which got more interesting as the story continued. I didn’t find it scary, but it’s definitely an amusing read.
When their parents die at the tail end of the coronavirus pandemic, Louise and Mark Joyner are devastated but nothing can prepare them for how bad things are about to get. The two siblings are almost totally estranged, and couldn’t be more different. Now, however, they don’t have a choice but to get along. The virus has passed, and both of them are facing bank accounts ravaged by the economic meltdown. Their one asset? Their childhood home. They need to get it on the market as soon as possible because they need the money. Yet before her parents died they taped newspaper over the mirrors and nailed shut the attic door. 3 stars