Louise and her brother find themselves as owners of their parents' Charleston, SC home after the couple are killed in a car crash. Louise flies in from California, but deadbeat brother Mark is local and feels he should get everything in the inheritance. Sibling rivalry has to take a back seat when it becomes evident that their mother's lifelong attachment to puppets still connects from the grave. Truly creepy scenes are laced with outrageous dark humor as Louise and Mark try to outwit the demonic main puppet Pupkin who is along the lines of Chucky of B-movie fame. There are some dragging moments of backstory about Louise's and Mark's childhood, but that is forgiven with the rousing climatic showdown of brother and sister vs. Pupkin.

If you are a fan of horror movies then this is the book for you! In this we follow Louise as she prepares her parents home to be sold after they die. She has to lean on her brother, who she doesn't really get along with, to help her get everything ready. But the house has other ideas.
I really enjoyed this book although it's not my favorite by Mr. Hendrix. But this was a very entertaining read and one I would definetely suggest that you check out!

How to Sell a Haunted House is a fun, spooky, and unique family drama / ghost story. The relationship between the main character, Louise, and her brother, Mark, is a main theme and makes the book deeper than your average ghost story. I recommend if you’re looking for something spooky with real themes and depth.

I love Grady Hendrix and this was a great book. If you are not a fan of dolls and puppets then you may want to steer clear of this title.

There is a particular scene involving a Waffle House that will live rent free in my brain FOREVER. I loved the book. It was twisted and weird in an approachable way, I felt compelled to not trust any character but invested in their journey with the house and everything inside of it. By the end I felt like I was put in a washing machine and ripped out as soon as the spin cycle was done.
5 stars. Thanks NetGalley for the early copy

I've struggled with the other Grady Hendrix books I've read in the past but this one was really, really good. Imaginative, strange, scary, funny, and moving. I cried at the end and felt so many emotions for its two main characters. Highly recommend.

Hendrix delivers a potent look at family trauma AND creepy puppets in his latest chiller. There are still some vestiges of 80s horror that I don't think Hendrix will ever shake off, and so there are some moments of tonal shakiness -- but his writing has decidedly matured from his (delightful) early work. An extended flashback to a character's education in the art of puppetry is some of the finest / most bravura work he has accomplished so far. Also, this book will really make you wish that parents would just talk to their children, damn it.

This was a slow build but I think very worth it. I have heard great things about Grady Hendrix but my first try was the Southern Book CLub's guide to killing vampires, which was a bit too graphic for me. This was a lot better, it still had some gore but was easier to skip over when it got too bad. I feel like the big reveal wasn't too surprising based on discussions earlier in the book but I still enjoyed the journey. It was a nice and creepy atmosphere and I loved the character development.

I was so excited for this book as I loved Southern Book Club, but this one was just not for me. I think it was the dolls perhaps? I'm not sure. I also just wasn't able to get into the characters - I just didn't like them! But, perhaps, that was the point?

This book scared a Librarian while she was in the Library, during broad daylight, and in the stacks looking for books to put on display while listening to this book on audio. Hi, I'm that Librarian! While I was terrified and enjoyed the book, this one seemed very dreary compared to Grady's other books. There is usually some humor to lighten things up and that was not the case in this one. Overall, terrifying and very strange concept, but I would recommend others pick this up.

Whoa! Strap yourself in and hold on because Grady Hendrix has another tightly strung, gut-wrenching horror novel that will keep you up at night.

Siblings Louise and Mark Joyner are absolutely devasted at the death of their parents at the end of the coronavirus pandemic. Mark and Louise haven't gotten along for years and would rather not be in each others' company but the circumstances have forced them to work together to clear the family home and put it on the market. But upon arriving they notice how strange their parents' final days must have been as mirrors are covered by newspapers and the attic door has been nailed shut. There isn't much up there other than some old family puppets.

But when worn, one particular puppet won't come off and it controls the movements of the wearer. Louise is forced to cut off her own brother's arm to save him. But she can't do the same when her daughter puts the puppet on her hand.

I am not generally a fan of horror stories featuring dolls or puppets - it seems like they've been done to death (pun intended) - so there was definitely a moment or two when I rolled my eyes. Fortunately this is a horror novel by Grady Hendrix, who fuses the horror with humor better than anyone else I've read, making this a delightful read.

There's a small cast of characters here and Louise and Mark are just a little bit bland, letting Punkin the Puppet take the leading role. This is just a bit odd because most of the book is about setting up the characters of Louise and Mark, giving us a reason to care about them so that we can want them to survive the horror about to befall. It's a lot of setup and I'm not entirely sure the payoff is there.

The payoff comes because of a minor character ... Barb, 'an expert on cursed dolls."

"Don't worry!" Barb laughed, seeing Louise's expression. "Dolls and puppets come under the same department as far as the Lord is concerned. I do dolls, I do puppets, I once even did a blow-up s-e-x doll. Now, that one was wild, let me tell you. Come on inside and let's pray together."

Barb plays a small role here, but she (along with Aunt Gail, who introduces us to Barb) steals the book - I laughed out loud a number of times with her.

The final quarter of the book is a fast-paced rollercoaster ride - not only exciting but fear-filled. It was an absolute page-turner and it makes up for the earlier, slower-moving set-up.

This isn't my favorite Grady Hendrix, but it's well worth reading.

Looking for a good book? How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix is an often funny, yet still dark horror novel that is worth reading, but fair warning it relies on the horror trope of possessed dolls/puppets.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Louise's parents have died; she's dreading going home. Her brother, Mark, has been no help and just wants to trash everything in the house and sell it off. Louise is determined to go through her parents' belongings because their mother was a fairly popular doll and puppet maker and their father was a great academic. Mark, who has never had a steady job and still lives in their hometown, is just looking for a quick buck. Louise tried to convince him that the house needs to be cleaned out and refreshed in order for it to sell.

Little do they know the house doesn't want to be sold.

Okay, Grady Hendrix is the master of emotional horror. The entire beginning of this book made me want to cry and had some pretty relatable scenes. If you are creeped out at all by puppets and/or dolls, I'd probably skip this one because there are some freaky dolls in here.

Grady Hendrix rarely disappoints.

This was the perfect amount of suspense, spookiness, and excitement for me.

This was a sweet book. It was freaky, creepy, and sometimes gross, but it was also very sweet.

Adult sibling relationships are tough. They're tough to live and tough to write. I think this is because siblings are often the people we go furthest back with--there's not a whole lot they don't know if you happened to share a room or a hallway with them growing up. All the people you've been, your siblings have likely met. Writing all that baggage, all those continuities of selves, without the novel turning into a multi-volume work is difficult. I think Grady Hendrix really pulled it off here. He was able to deftly incorporate both backstory and a realistic progression of Louise and Mark's relationship as they worked together and apart to face the challenges of executing their parents' will and selling a haunted house. What's more, I felt like my own outlook on my relationships with my siblings changed somewhat as I read this book. The character progression was that powerful to me. (But I might be biased since I, like Louise, seem to have older sibling syndrome even though I'm a middle child.)

So, characterization got high marks from me here, and the horror moments were often adrenaline-inducing or gross or both. For me, they felt escalated to a nearly cartoonish quality at certain points near the climax, but Grady Hendrix always had something in his back pocket ready to keep me invested and turning pages.

**spoilers below**

Biggest success of this book for me: I went from hoping the puppets kill Mark to sincerely cheering him on by the final chapters. This hands-down makes How to Sell a Haunted House my favorite Grady Hendrix novel I've read so far (even though I still haven't read the vampires one, the rock n roll one, nor the IKEA one...but I plan to).

It took me a bit to really gather my thoughts on this one, because I am a total mood reader, and found myself reading HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE during the Winter months when I typically crave other genres.

I've enjoyed so many of author Grady Hendrix's previous novels, and love the fact that each book feels like such a campy read with plenty of creep factor.

Overall I ended with 3.5 stars, and can't wait to see what's next in store from Hendrix!

*many thanks to Berkley/netgalley for the gifted copy for review

Grady Hendrix is one of those authors where you know exactly what you're getting into. A horror story with some moments of levity... I feel like this book defied that a little.

What spoke to me the most about this book was not the killer puppets (though, WOW, those were terrifying) but the incredible depiction of grief. Naming the chapters after the five stages of grief was an interesting choice for a horror novel, but it absolutely worked.

While this wasn't my favorite Grady Hendrix novel, I know that I will continue to pick up his books.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

This was actually my first Grady Hendrix book and now I am a fan!
It was frightening, funny, and heartbreaking. This made it definitely unforgettable.

“She checked underneath the sink but didn’t see anything that might destroy an evil puppet.” ― Grady Hendrix, How to Sell a Haunted House

“You’ve become such a grouch,” she said. “Having your arm sawed off will do that.” ― Grady Hendrix, How to Sell a Haunted House

“Mark was cleaner but he looked like exactly the type of guy who’d go to a Waffle House at three in the morning after shooting a haunted puppet.”
― Grady Hendrix, How to Sell a Haunted House

Pupkin for President! Absolutely bananas. I laughed until I cried. Feuding siblings versus evil killer puppet. This story starts slow, but then the fun begins. This was a mix of family drama, horror, and dark comedy. Even with all the creepy shenanigans going on, a solid story unfolds. Recommend if you're looking for something a little different.

I feel like demonic dolls/puppets have been done to death within the horror community but this book added so many elements that made it unique that I ended up staying up until 1AM on a work night just to finish the book. It's such an unsettling read and there were several scenes that made me not want to sleep with my lights off for a few nights. Pupkin > Chucky any day.
There were some aspects of the characters that I didn't love but overall, the suspense, mystery and horror were enough to make up for that and then some. I genuinely have not stopped thinking about this book since I finished it. I fear it has permanently altered my brain chemistry

Amazing. Hendrix once again manages to horrify me and also make me laugh while weaving in an excellent examination of family and sibling dynamics.