I was HIGHLY anticipating Hendrix's newest novel. As a huge fan of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. However, I kept waiting for the book to grab me, and it never did.

In the other books I've read from Hendrix, he absolutely focuses a lot on character development and character relationships, but never so much so that those things overshadow the plot itself. I can't say the same for How to Sell a Haunted House. Things felt more character driven than plot driven, and not in a good way. He writes the characters well, but at the price of the story itself.

I stuck through it thinking that it would be worth it in the end, but I was disappointed to say the least. The haunted components of the novel were clearly meant to be unsettling, but they didn't phase me whatsoever (and that's coming from someone who is terrified of exactly what Hendrix focuses on).

All around it wasn't for me. Writing style was good, but the story itself just wasn't it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I always love a Grady Hendrix book. They do a great job of teetering between creepy and funny while also hiding an emotional gut punch at times. I look forward to purchasing and recommending this one.

This was my first Grady Hendrix book. Reading the blurb, I expected a very very different story, but that does not mean that I was disappointed. Hendrix wrote a very unique story, one that will haunt for me a while. I was amazed at how Hendrix was able to bring different genres together, giving me all the feels. The characters were well set-up and the twists will keep you entertained and flipping through pages all the way to the end.

Dolls meets Puppet Master in a tale where you'll think twice before you bring a doll into your house.

Ed and Lorraine Warren would be so proud. "Kakawewe"

Whenever I see Haunted anywhere, I jump in head first. I never need to know any more than that because my entire life is a haunted mess. I lived in ghostly-filled houses my entire life and even had a few weird run-ins with magical beings in wide-open outside places. To say that my life has been oddly interesting is an understatement. Then I saw the master of horror from hell wrote this and I threw all my cash at him.

Grady does this thing where he instantly drags you into the story before you fully grasp what the hell is even going on. He's like a magic-filled horror wizard that'll make you cry blood and call for your Mom. Nothing and nowhere is safe if Grady is involved. He takes the safest place in your life and turns it into a nightmare. Not even your dreams are safe. Wait... maybe Grady is Freddy Krueger.

This book was bizarre and one of the craziest things I have ever witnessed and I loved every single page of this damn book. I couldn't get my mind and my eyes to work fast enough to read as fast as I wanted them to. There were times when I had to reread sentences, paragraphs, and even chapters because I couldn't believe what I was reading. It took me back to a time in the nineties when I was discovering eighties horror books for the first time. It was amazing.

How to Sell a Haunted House was fantastic. If you love weird horror with puppets that try to take over then this is for you. Grady is the only author who could handle this kind of crazy. He and Damien Leone (Terrifier) should get together and create some of the best horror movies/books. I know that would be a blood-puking good time!!

How To Sell A Haunted House is a paranormal thriller about a haunted house. Louise received a phone call from her brother, Mark, that her parents had been killed in a car accident, and she needed to go to California to help sort through their things. Once Louise and Mark started to sort things out, they realized that something was not right about what was happening in the house

Going into this book, I was excited to curl up and presumably read a haunted ghost story. This book screamed everything I wanted in a book around Halloween with a genre I love. The story kept my interest for the first half, and I was curious to find out why the house was haunted. The story got weird once a puppet tried to stab a person’s eye out, and that's when I lost a little interest in the book. The story was more creepy and a little weirder than expected, but it was still a solid book.

Thank you to NetGallery and to Berkley Publishing for giving me a copy of the book.

Grady Hendrix does it again -- love a good ol' fashioned haunted house novel, with a heaping dose of grief and family drama. And puppets! Hendrix truly knows how to take something cursed and make it even worse. There are scenes from this horror show that are absolutely burned into my retinas forever.

I am unable to post my review, as my full review of HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE will be featured in Rue Morgue Magazine.

After The Southern Book Club's Guide to Vampire to Slaying Vampires, Grady Hendrix is always a must buy. How to Sell a Haunted House was just an incredible read during a spooky month. Perfectly executed horror novel with incredibly heartfelt emotions. Loved it so much!

After reading the synopsis of Grady Hendrix's latest story, I knew there was no way I'd be able to read this a) in the dark or b) while I was home alone. A haunted house filled with creepy dolls? Sounds like my worst nightmare. Per usual, Hendrix delivers another great novel that is both incredibly creepy but explores an important topic; in this case, loss and grief.

It's always amazing to me that a horror story can be equally as heartfelt and scary, but Hendrix has done it again with How to Sell a Haunted House. I loved the ending too.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC!

Creepy, atmospheric and absolutely brilliant. I’ve read from Grady Hendrix previously and there’s no doubt in my mind that if there’s anybody that can make up the perfect creepy atmosphere it’s Hendrix. I had so much reading this, perfect for the spookier time of year!

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix is a delightfully campy horror story, with some truly cringeworthy scenes. While this isn’t a traditional ghost story, this novel is both terrifying and hilarious. This is a super wild and creepy family drama that will appeal to horror fans looking for something fun and fresh.

I was pleasantly surprised with this book. The beginning felt slow and I wasn’t sure if I liked the characters but I think that’s the point of the book. I enjoyed how it shows how family’s can be ruined when someone dies & the will is read and how money like that can ruin a family. How unpleasant when that happens & the struggle of trying to sell your parents house & not sure what to keep or throw away. I’m not one that enjoys puppets or dolls in a horror book, it just makes me kind of bored unlike when “ghosts or paranormal activity” things happen. But I did find some scenes creepy like when you can hear walking above you in the attic. That creeped me out so I was pleasantly surprised to find stuff that gave me goosebumps while reading this. This book felt different & unique then all the horror or spooky books out there and the best part is Grady Hendrix’s writing. He has the kind of writing where you end up being invested in the story even if the characters are unlikeable. Little side note I liked how we know the sister Louise & Mark the brother don’t get along, but we are reading through Louise’s eyes which are biased point of view, so at times you start feeling bad for Mark.
Great spooky book & can’t wait to recommend to customers looking for something spooky.
Thank you NetGalley & Grady Hendrix’s team for giving me the honor of reading this book. I recommend!

A fun read from, as I've recently learned, the king of 'fun-horror'. If you've read a Hendrix book you know what you'll be getting, traditional tropes with comedic undertones. Initially I was a little put off by the direction the story took, I don't want to spoil anything but perhaps the book doesn't have the best title? Once I got over the change up, I was fully invested. While I found the relationship between the siblings quite comedic, almost immediatly, btw, I also found it realistic. I don't have brothers or sisters myself, but I grew up with two cousins who were embroiled in a Tom and Jerry relationship from birth till today and though the two siblings in the book are fictional and their relationship comical, I found it still realistic. I loved how the horror meant something, for me, horror must mean something, it can't be for horrors sake, it needs to have purpose and weight. Dysfunctional relationships in a dysfunctional house with dysfunctional dolls, what's more haunted than navigating through all of that? Quite enjoyable,.

This book was completely not what I was expecting and totally different from the author’s other books. As far as the pacing is concerned, let’s just say that it took me like three weeks to read the first 35% of this book and one evening to finish the rest. Though it started off slow, it was well-written throughout and contained the author’s usual comedic relief. I never liked puppets to begin with, but this book has solidified their place on my ‘absolutely not’ list for the rest of forever.

Another entertaining title from the "King of Fun-Horror." I loved the first quarter of this book, then slowed down quite a bit. I hit a wall at around the 60% mark and really had to push through. Didn't care for Mark's life-story but understand that it was needed to flesh out the story. The constant bickering between Louise and... well, everybody in her life, began to get on my nerves. I'm glad I finished it as the last quarter of the book is well worth the wait.

I couldn't stop reading How to Sell a Haunted House! Grady Hendrix creates such a creepy vibe, and paints such a vivid picture that I could see the evil puppets and the siblings fighting evil. I hope this becomes a movie.

Louise does not get along with her brother. She feels like he is given everything despite not trying while she has had to work for everything. When he calls her to tell her that their parents have died in an automobile crash, she has to leave her 5 year old daughter and go back home to Charleston to help take care of things. When she arrives at her parents' home, she finds that the attic drop down door has been boarded up. While in the house, weird things start to happen: the TV turns itself back on again, dolls from her mother's collection change position, and strange noises begin. When her brother turns up after a man who claims he is there to clean out the house, she is very angry that he didn't wait for her to take care of anything before she got back. He also says he had their parents cremated and plans to scatter their ashes on the beach. Louise doesn't think this is right. She send the man who wants to clean out the house away and takes the papers about the arrangements he's made and takes off. She goes to see other family who live in the area who empathize with her. Eventually, the siblings wind up back at the house to find that everything is not quite right (or ready to go on the market). In the meantime, Louise's child Poppy is having mental health and health issues while she is staying with her father's family. In the end, everything comes to a crazy conclusion.

The book is set up with the Kubler-Ross Stages of Grief as section headings which frame the story appropriately to it's parts. I personally enjoyed the story. Grady Hendrix did an excellent job of framing everything well and gave a little humor to his horror as always. I know that it is not for everyone and if you have a fear of puppets or dolls, this is not the story for you.

This was one of the best books I've read in a while. It spooked me, creeped me out, and made me cringe and I loved every second of it. Grady Hendrix knows how to tell a story and he nailed it! Will definitely be recommending this to everyone!

I've been watching and reading horror for decades, and puppets never scared me. That all changed after reading "How to Sell a Haunted House."

Two siblings (Mark and Louise) are brought together after their parents die in an accident; one wants to sell the parents' house, and the other doesn't. They don't want anything to do with each other due to their differing perspectives on their traumatic childhoods, and Louise wants nothing more than to get home to her daughter. This sounds mundane, but it isn't. Their mother filled the house with her handmade puppets, and those puppets really don't want the house to be sold. Especially the one who their mother treated as if it were a person.

The puppets were relentless. It was as if they were puppet "Terminators" who were given their mission and would do anything to keep anyone from getting in their way. I actually felt worn out (but in a good way) by the end of the book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

It’s always a pleasure to pick up a Grady Hendrix novel. I know to expect some fun, southern horror, walking the fine line of campy and creepy, that I've come to love. It’s its own vibe.

How to Sell a Haunted House follows Mark and Louise, 30 something siblings as they reunite after years of not speaking to take care of their parent's estate following their tragic death. As the title suggests, creepy things start occurring in the family home and Pupkin, their dead mother's favourite puppet, appears to be at the center of it all.

This story is filled with iconic moments. The needle scene... the saw scene...the HAMMER scene... oh my god the PUPPET COLLECTIVE SCENE!

The book explores the theme of generational trauma and the different ways Mark and Louise (and arguably Louise's daughter) carry this trauma, and how it's affected their lives and them as people, both physically and mentally. Pupkin at times gives off third sibling energy, seemingly carrying this generational trauma as well. He has trouble accepting the loss of Nancy and doesn't understand the concept of death, as he himself is unable to die. Towards the end of the novel Louise slowly shifts into the role of the mother. She manipulates Pupkin by using similar tricks her mom used on her when she was a child. These lies and manipulations help Louise control Pupkin, even after admitting at the very beginning of the book that she would never lie to her children.

I was surprised to learn that this title is due to be released in January, and not October. This made for the perfect Halloween read.