I want you to know that this is not your typical haunted house story and I don’t want people to be disappointed that it’s not. This was a wild ride and I loved it. I just don’t think it’s what people are going to think it’s going to be about.

Grady Hendrix has become an instant read; I don't know how it's possible that he can instill so much creep into his stories but also make them incredibly enjoyable and funny at times. He oozes creativity and talent, I am in awe of his voice and style as a writer. A+. 11/10.

I received an ARC of this via the independent bookstore I work at as well as a digital copy from NetGalley :)

If you don't like puppets or dolls, this may not be the books for you. Though since it's horror, maybe it is if you want to spend 400 pages in abject terror. I didn't think it was possible to detail a journey of grief through puppet horror, but Grady Hendrix sure proved me wrong. I was uncomfortable. I was oddly amused, and in the end, my heart hurt. House to Sell a Haunted House was an odd and quirky book and delightfully unexpected.

WOW. This book was so personally relatable, and also completely terrifying. Louise seems like she has it all together- successful career in the San Fransisco tech world, an adorable (and adored) five-year-old daughter, and a solid relationship with her parents. When her parents are killed in a car accident, Louise must go home to Charleston bury them and settle their estate, not expecting any significant help from her loser little brother. Things get weird as soon as Louise lands in Charleston, and don't let up until the gripping end of this novel. Along the way Louise has to grapple with her relationship with her brother, her extended family, and the effects of generational trauma which coalesce into a nightmare scenario she'll be lucky to survive. A true exploration of the intimate ties that bind families together- for better and for worse.

Louise loves her family, but she likes to love them from several states away. When Louise finds out that her parents have died in a horrible accident, she dreads going back to Charleston. She doesn't want to deal with her parents house that's stuffed to the gills with her father's research and her mother's collection/hoard of handmade puppets and dolls. She also doesn't want to deal with her brother, Mark, who she's never been close to and resents. Louise especially doesn't want to step foot in her childhood home, it's REALLY not good for her mental health.
Grady Hendrix has a talent for somehow, dealing with emotional/mental health issues and also dealing with very VERY creepy supernatural things. I freaking love it! I began reading this novel on a Monday and had it finished by Tuesday evening....and by the end of it I remembered why I find puppets and porcelain dolls so shudder worthy. My good lord Mr. Hendrix, I have always found puppets creepy but after reading this book, I don't think I'm ever going to look one in the eye ever again! The imagry written in this book changes so effortlessly from nearly claustrophobic inside the home to so open outside that anything could be coming from anywhere! I will leave a warning for readers who may have issues with body horror, there is some mild to moderate body horror descriptions in the second half of the book. It really isn't too bad, but if you're not a fan of needles or power tools, maybe skip this one.
Great novel that successfully gave me chills and made me want to make everyone read it too!

**Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

I keep trying to write a detailed review, but really this is what sums up my feelings: This is great, funny, good, happy, has excellent horror, hard to put down. Read it!

Also, I really appreciate how Grady Hendrix writes people. Both Louise and Mark have many layers to them. They are solid, complete humans. Their families have secrets and those secrets affect how they interact with the world in real ways. While this is a really fun real, there is also depth, which is what takes this book from good to great.

If you haven't ready Grady Hendrix yet, you really should. This or My Best Friend's Exorcism are great places to start.

Annabelle meets Child’s Play concept blended in dysfunctional family drama and unresolved problems of siblings with perfect dark sense of humor!

I can honestly say this is the TENSEST, MOST NERVE BENDING, CREEPIEST horror/ dark comedy story I’ve lately read! I chuckled a lot and mostly gave my loudest hysterical laughs! Especially the last third of the book: things get out of control and escalate to a new level of bat shit craziness! You tell yourself “no freaking way it can happen” but eventually things happen beyond your imagination and so many jaw dropping, shocking moments later you let your screams so loud! ( I don’t recommend you to read this book at public places not getting too much unnecessary attention)

The squirrel nativity attacks, avenging scary dolls popping out their eyes and a very dangerous puppet trying to posses you! Yes! So many unbelievably scary things happening in this book and if you like haunted house theme, buckle up and enjoy the fun from front seat.

Louise, single mother, 39, living in San Francisco, focusing on her career and her little girl Poppy, estranged with her parents and her troublesome brother Mark. One night she gets a phone call from the same brother who informs her their parents died in a car accident and he waited for nearly 2 days to mention it!

Louise reluctantly flies to Charleston to go to her childhood house she’s left years ago. A house filled with weirdest Annabelle styled dolls, hundreds of puppets her mother made and literally gave life by attending Christian puppet ministry, giving performances with her puppets at churches for years. And let’s not forget lots of taxidermies shelved among the puppets.

Louise wants to get rid of everything, going back to her life in SF, hugging her daughter, forgetting everything else about her house. But her brother keeps pushing her buttons. If the house will be sold, she may get rid of financial problems and she finds herself fighting with her brother for the inheritance. Finally she gives up but even though she plans to run away again the house has no intention to let her go.

Louise and Mark realize there’s something truly threatening about the place and it’s more than a bad energy, a powerful curse, something scary, something very dangerous giving life to vengeful puppets, avenging squirrels! There’s something in their house is so angry and it has no intention to go anywhere without taking more lives!

This book is heart throbbing and so scary! In the middle of the book, I screamed so lot and hid into a closet, imagining to get chased by puppets! After I gathered my courage, I pushed myself wear big girl’s pants and adult diaper to read the rest of it!

I adored Louise and Mark’s sibling relationship dynamics and how their unreliable perspectives affected their lives. Both of their memories are so subjective. We realize nothing as it seems and both of them flawed characters who learn to give themselves second chances!

I think I’ll have Pupkin-full nightmares for months but it’s truly worth it!

If you are okay with family drama and scariest haunted doll house them: this book is perfect match for your needs!

Giving my 5 puppet masters! (It’s impossible to give a Grady Hendrix work less than five stars)

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

What did I just read? This is not your ordinary haunted house story - this is one wild, messed up ride! First of all, there are dolls and puppets involved - creepy weird dolls and puppets. Then there are lots of visuals involved which will make you shudder. There are some descriptions in this book which made me think, ok, too much - but I couldn't stop reading. All in all, this is a super creepy, super weird haunted house book that will give you the heebee jeebies and make you never want to see another puppet show again. Highly recommend. Now if I can only get the thought of Pupkin out of my head.... thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

Thanks to Berkley and Netgalley for the advanced copy of this one. Much appreciated! Below you'll find my honest review.

Grady Hendrix has done it again! Yet another Stephen King-type transformation of something ordinary into something scary, gross, terrifying, and pure horror.

This one takes a normal thing - the death of parents and the subsequent "what do we do with what they left behind" and gave us a much deeper unpacking of the "what they left behind." A lifetime of baggage isn't the only thing that the Joyner siblings are having to clean up.

I don't want to spoil anything, because Hendrix's books are always a trip. But I'll never look at puppets or dolls the same way... like they weren't creepy enough already!

Definitely highly recommended for horror fans.

My favorite so far of Hendrix's stories. I never thought I would thoroughly enjoy a book with creepy haunted dolls considering how much I avoid them in my media consumption. The book is well written with twists and turns you don't expect keeping the reader engaged for the entire book. I didn't even find the middle section slow although it was a little slow to start.

I have never read anything by Grady Hendrix, but do have a few other books by him. I wasn't sure what to expect while reading this, and even though the puppets were creepy, when I found out the real story behind Pupkin I felt sad.

Pupkin and Nancy have been together since Nancy was a young girl, and he was always part of Mark and Louise's life as well. But, when Nancy and her husband die in a car accident things change. Mark and Louise haven't gotten along in years, and as the story goes you find out that the reason for some of the animosity is Pupkin. Their Mom (Nancy) had him involved in almost every aspect of their lives, and now that she is dead it is time for someone else to help Pupkin.

A weirdly enjoyable book and I can't wait to read more by this author. It was so different from anything else that I have read.

Grady Hendrix has done it again with another terrifying tale that is so much more than a haunted house.

Louse and Mark are siblings whose parents have just died and who must now work together to get the family home ready to sell. However, there is more to the story and it unravels slowly but surely. Everyone is keeping a secret or has memories that differ. The mother was a puppeteer and the house is filled with dolls and puppets, one of whom seems to have a life and will of its own.

It comes across at first as just another dysfunctional family story but develops into so much morel Anyone who finds dolls and puppets creepy might want to stay away as this story will haunt you.

I've read every book of Grady's and loved them all, but this may be his best: it's as deep as it as creepy. Three years into a global pandemic and we are all basically walking haunted houses, but this novel's exploration of grief, family trauma, and secrets is cathartic and will leave you feeling less alone. As with all Grady Hendrix novels, there are great Southern characters (especially mothers and daughters) and campy, scary AF supernatural scenes, what I didn't expect to find was the mature and complex exploration of grief and family legacies. If all this sounds too heavy for a horror book, don't be deterred, it's still a wild ride that will have you side-eyeing every inanimate object in your house as soon as the sun goes down and turning the pages until you find out how the brother/sister protagonists survive!

Thoroughly enjoyed Grady Hendrix's latest book! Great mix of humor and horror. He took a fairly common childhood memory and turned it on its head.

Although a bit overlong, a very satisfying horror-hits-home tale. This is by far my favorite Grady Hendrix novel yet - it isn't too maudlin, doesn't rely at all on metatext or images (which always display horribly on e-readers), and is genuinely fun. Thank you for the ARC.

As a big Grady Hendrix fan, I was thrilled to get a copy of his latest. After being slightly let down by Final Girls, I was pleased that this book returned to more of a traditional narrative style. I enjoyed the turns from humor to terror to a combination of both.

As someone who recently went through selling a family home with siblings and the associated grief, I thought Hendrix did a good job of capturing the experience when the family dynamic is complicated. I did feel some of the minor characters where not developed quite enough, but they served their purpose in advancing the story.

I anticipate this will be made into a movie/series, with the gothic setting and exploration of family and grief.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

Spoilers ahead. I will not reveal anything big - most of the review vaguely alludes to plot, structure, and characters.

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I really struggled through the first third of this book. I found it to be pretty slow and almost too domestic for my liking. But then things went off the rails in true Grady Hendrix fashion. The second third was SO GOOD, SO CREEPY. I absolutely loved the reveal of the main antagonist and its nature and behavior were so unsettling and off-putting. The expounding of Mark's past was so insightful but I wish we got more of it. Now onto the reasons I'm giving this four stars instead of five: it felt like everything wrapped up pretty neatly after the grill, and that everything after Louise went back to California was almost part of a sequel book - it all felt a bit disjointed. The different parts could have used more connective tissue, in my opinion, to draw a line through the story - from California, to the House, to California, to the House. Overall, a solid book with a very unsettling and creepy antagonist that I keep thinking about.

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Again, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a true book of horror! It reminds me of Chucky, the famous evil doll of horror movies. but there is so much more here. Some of the descriptions of the horrible actions that take place in the house in question in Charleston, SC, had me checking that my doors were locked and that I was safe. The family from which Louise and Mark spring is more than a little strange. This is my first time reading a book written by Grady Hendrix, but I have already added his other two most recent publications to my TBR pile. I know I'm late to the party, but I love it when I discover a new, exciting, and talented writer! Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing an ARC.

A new Grady Hendrix? Yes, please! This DRC was delivered to my Kindle at the same time as a high profile author's newest (literary) title and I was like, oooh, which one do I read? The answer was obvious: the trashy horror, natch.

Ohh, and this was supremely trashy. THIS BOOK HAS EVERYTHING. Family dysfunction! Creepy dolls! Vengeful taxidermy! A Radical Puppet Troupe! Your requisite "the killer is dead//THE KILLER CAME BACK!" trope! A ~*puppet golem*~.

Unlike the unsettling slow ooze of Just Like Home, the characterization here seemed to swing on a pendulum in service to the plot. Which I kind of didn't mind? Again, campy horror is Hendrix's thing, so I'm not really seeking nuance.

Unless you are truly freaked out by animate toys, this isn't a keep-your-lights-on-all night kind of story. As long as you know that going in, readers will find a lot to enjoy here, even if they are occasionally biting their knuckles at the sheer cracky over-the-topness of it all. Hand this to horror fans who prefer their stories with a dash of tongue-in-cheek.

This book is so good. Creepily good. Spookily good. Terifyingly good. Made my skin crawl multiple times! I dont like to write spoilers or summarize books in reviews but know that this is another Grady Hendrix homerun. The characters were relatable and quirky like most families. I'm pretty sure I read some of the dialogue in the voices of my own family members! Highly recommend.