KAKAWEWE!
This is my first Grady Hendrix and it will NOT BE MY LAST.
The IMAGERY. THE PUPPETS. THE PIZZA CHINESE FOOD. There's so much in this story, and I was here for every second of it. If you are a fan of sibling drama at the heart of a HAUNTED PUPPET STORY (haunted dolls/puppets/etc. ARE MY FAVORITE), then this book is for you.
I apologize for all-caps yelling at you. I just loved this book so much.
5 STARS!

Well, the thing is...I liked the idea for the story...but the execution was lacking. First of all, I hated all of the characters. None of them really felt fleshed out, but came across as caricatures. Because of that, the "humor" of the piece was lost on me and just made the characters seem even more insufferable. If the humor wasn't over-the-top, and the horror portion more grounded, this could have really been something. Alas, the horror was probably only 30 pages out of the over 400 and...that, a horror book does not make. But a lot of people seem to be loving it, so...don't take my word, I guess.

I read a few of Grady Hendrix's books and I must say that this is not my favorite. While I do appreciate the creativity, the last few releases have been falling a bit flat for me. As far as suspense goes, I never really felt on edge nor did I care much for the characters. I will say that I love this cover and I have been hearing good things from fellow reviewers!

Grady Hendrix ensures that I will have trouble sleeping for yet another year. How to Sell a Haunted House is one of his best ones yet. I had a big fear of clowns as a child, and I'm nervous even thinking about a creepy puppet haunting my parent's house. What I like about Grady is he takes issues like difficult families and wraps them within a horror situation. I'm normally too chicken to read horror, but Grady always sucks me in, and I'm always glad I finished. A little graphic, but thats typical of this author. Also love the Charleston setting, and the realistic portrayal of sibling dynamics. Thanks to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

For anyone who has been spooked by puppets this is the book that will make you feel like you are heard. When Louise finds out her parents died in a accident nearby their home. She is stunned and leaves her daughter with her ex to take care of wrapping up their lives including their house which contains the puppets from her mother's puppet ministry. When her brother comes on the scene he reveals he has inherited everything and that Lousie is not needed there anymore. However, soon things start happening and Lousie and her brother find common ground over the horrors that they didn't speak of and which isolated them from each other. Can the two of them figure out how to survive what their parents left? Truth is I don't know what I think of this book. It is well written with a great balance of descripiton and action that kept me interested. This is my book I've read from this author who I have heard so much about. There are times when I just wanted to laugh at the ridiculous scare scenes and not take this book too seriously. The blood and gore scenes made you cringe but at the same time were over the top. I think that is what the author is trying to do. Give you an entertaining horror story that also makes you chuckle or roll your eyes at the ridiculous stuff that is often in horror stories. I'm going to give this book a 3 for its quality of writing and times it made me chuckle. It seemed to go on a little too long for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced ebook for an honest review.

I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about Grady that gets me hooked!

This was another fantastic 5 star read for me. I got so into this book, and wanting to know what happens. I couldn’t put it down!

Highly recommend it!

Single mother Louise receives a call that her parents have both died, and she returns to her hometown of Charleston to go through their belongings and settle their estate. Louise now lives in San Francisco, and her relationship with her parents and brother is strained. Back in Charleston, she reunites with her brother Mark, and things are tense as they argue about how to handle their parent’s belongings. Things turn sinister when their mother’s beloved puppets seem to haunt Louise, and the story takes a turn as she tries to escape from either vivid hallucinations or a true haunting.

I was not prepared for the wild ride of <i>How to Sell a Haunted House</i>! This book was comedically creepy, and it was a weird story that I couldn’t put down. Grady Hendrix has a wild imagination, and made the dolls and puppets in Louise’s family home become nightmarish! I enjoyed the flashbacks to Louise and Mark’s childhood and they helped create a cohesive story around the evil puppet Pupkin’s existence. This book was terrifying but also so far out there; it was truly captivating. The ending went a bit off the rails, but I was absorbed in this book!

This is the second book I've read by this author and I did enjoy this one a little better. The creepy dolls storyline didn't scare me as I'm a horror fan and already been down this road. This book was heavy on the family drama and I wasn't' sure if I was going to continue on with the story, but I did. I appreciated how keeping things buried in the family can cause so many issues and the importance breaking generational trauma. I did like how the two main characters were able to grow and communicate and come together in the end.

"How to Sell a Haunted House" was a perfectly creepy, Chucky-esque horror novel. I could not put it down. Perfect for Grady Hendrix fans, and horror fans in general.

You will adore this book if you love the horror genre. Louise learned of their parents' passing through a phone call from her brother Mark.

Since they had never gotten along, Louise was furious to find that Mark would receive the entire estate, save for her mother's paintings and puppets.

Strange things started to happen when Louise tried to catalogue the possessions she had inherited. She initially believed she was seeing things or that her brother Mark was tricking her. What turns out to be an epic horror story.

This book was a trip from start to finish. It was just the right amount of deeper issues mixed in with the creepy aspect of dolls and puppets. The complexity of the characters and the depth at which the author explores their relationship (with each other & their mother) is so fascinating. At one point I had to put the book down because I knew something really freaky was going to happen with the puppets/doll and I wasn't sure if I could handle it. I will never look at them the same way.

As someone who’s not a thriller/horror reader, this book HOOKED me. I have an absolute fear of dolls and puppets and I have never felt more validated than this book made me. Grady can absolutely do no wrong

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is maybe one of the scariest books I've ever read. It had the perfect cocktail for me of things that make me shake -- puppets, motherhood, body horror, family dynamics, annoying men. All of it made my skin crawl. The two more intense episodes of body horror had me putting the book down and taking a lap. And how everyone was so unlikable! I think that the pacing was a little off and we took too long to get to the scary parts but otherwise it really packed a punch.

4 stars..

This book has controlled my entire brain for the past three weeks! At first I loved it. Then I hated it. Then I loved it again. Then I hated it again. And then it ended up being my favorite book I read in January. What a rollercoaster! Ultimately, this book really impressed me. It's utterly unhinged. A total fever dream...but in the best way. It's so creative and hilarious in its satirical nature, and yet it's still so emotionally grounded, detailed, and thoughtful. Aspects felt like a very well-constructed family drama. Other aspects felt like an acid trip. It was wild and I loved it. I haven't stopped talking about it. What a ride!

How To Sell A Haunted House was my most anticipated read of the year, and let me tell you, it lived up to all of my expectations. Hendrix does campy horror so well, and this book was no exception.

Louise and Mark are like most siblings. They don’t always get along, but when their parents unexpectedly die in an accident, Louise must return home to help Mark sell their house. When Louise arrives, the house is filled with all of her mothers’ dolls and puppets, with one puppet in particular, Pupkin, bringing up some bad memories for both her and Mark.

Creepy dolls, clowns, and puppets have always freaked me out so this story definitely had the fear factor I was looking for. There were some scenes that really scared me, and yet, I couldn’t put the book down. While I hated Pupkin, I needed to know what was going on in their parents house. I loved reading about Mark and Louise’s relationship which I felt was developed so well throughout the story.

If you’re looking for a good scare with some laughs thrown in, then this is the book for you. Thank you Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks bunches to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

From the time I was a wee girl into what will soon be my 31st year on this planet, I have always considered dolls and puppets to be perfect vessels for hauntings. In that I really hated dolls, and I currently have a problem with puppets. Worst thing about the movie Poltergeist? (The 80s and the 2010s versions?) The dolls.

The freaking dolls.

When I was eight, I had a close friend who I slept over with all the time, and she would come to my house on the regular as well. But I preferred it when we went to my house. We always had to shut her closet doors when it was time for bed, because she had rows of porcelain dolls from her grandmother and marionettes hanging in their among the horses and clothes hangers. All eyes on me, as they say. Not a great way to fall asleep.

Something Hendrix does really, REALLY well is tell the stories of the people caught in these horrible situations. His books really do read like old fashioned horror movies, and I am here for it. Some readers didn't like Final Girl Support Group, but I saw the nods to all the different 70s and 80s slashers, and I thought he handled it fantastically.

As I said earlier, I've seen Poltergeist and Poltergeist II. You know what? Hendrix knocked HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE right over the fence and out of the park. I want horror to surprise me, to make me gasp, and to crawl under my skin. He does that! How could you not want every book he's written?

Five freaking stars. 👍👍👍

Louise left her home in South Carolina a long time ago and has built a new life in San Francisco complete with a daughter she shares with her ex-boyfriend, but, when a drunken call from her estranged brother Mark informs her that their parents both died in a car accident, she must return to Charleston to face her family and something sinister lurking in the house her parents, grandparents, and a sickening number of puppets and dolls called home.

This book was a MASSIVE improvement on The Final Girls Support Group for me. Just when I was getting really frustrated with the antagonism between Louise and Mark and ready to dock the book for it, Hendrix makes a deft pivot, and I was so happy with how well everything flowed and fit together. I wasn't mad at the twists and turns the book took, and I wound up charmed overall by the characters. It does have a good amount of gore, but it wasn't excessive or anything. It is also a better story about the passing down of generational trauma than the recent Halloween trilogy, and I highly recommend it to horror fans or anyone wanting a really well put together story.

3.5/5 stars

Oh. My. Gosh. This one was so hard for me to read. Not necessarily because of the writing, as I enjoyed the book as a whole. The pacing in the beginning was a little slow for my liking, but it picked up about halfway.

There was no getting around my issue if I wanted to read this book. I. DON’T. MESS. WITH. DOLLS. This book was one of my worst nightmares..it gave me anxiety 😅

The main characters were pretty unlikeable, but I also wanted them to mend their relationships. And the twists were great, giving more insight into why things were the way they were and what led to the current events.

First Grady Hendrix book I’ve read and I want to read more. Just please. NO. MORE. DOLLS.

Thanks to Berkeley Pub for sending me a gifted review copy.

This was so so good. I talked about this book enough that I got a friend to read it (his first Hendrix novel!) and he also liked it. That turn at the end of the book was some Sixth Sense business and I loved it. I'm already eagerly awaiting the next one.

Truly the definition of horror from beginning to end. If a reader didn't think dolls and puppets were scary before reading this book, they will afterwards. Another great read from Grady Hendrix.