How to Sell a Haunted House
Ratings276
Average rating3.7
In How to Sell a Haunted House, Grady Hendrix has turned the banal and the ordinary into something existentially terrifying. This is Hendrix's modus operandi. Often, the most mundane things: an IKEA shopping store, book clubs, one's best friend, or the idea of a family home in his hands, turn twisted, greasy, full of spikes and tendrils, patiently waiting to dig its way into the mind of his helpless readers. Grady Hendrix writes the best horrors.
“wishing harder than she'd ever wished before that for just sixty seconds someone would hold her, but no one holds moms.”
One of the overarching features of Hendrix's stories is the flawed characters. People are imperfect, gray in emotions and deeds, sometimes heroic, and other times cowardly. Unless you seek a novel where the good is always good, and the evil is easy to spot, stories and characters are complex three-dimensional creations. As a reader, horror is more effective when I can empathize or am repulsed by characters past their inherent “goodness” or “badness.” Hendrix capitalizes on the grayness of characters to effectively tell his stories.
The premise of How to Sell a Haunted House is that Louise's parents have died. Louise, a mom, has had to leave her child with her ex to travel to Charleston to tie up familial loose ends. One of the loose ends is her childhood home, her father, an academic, and her mother, a woman obsessed with dolls and puppetry. They both loved and knew her best, and the raw pain and emotional deadness from losing a parent are shown well. It feels like Louise has been scooped out emotionally, but she still has to go on living, making decisions, and dealing with what is left of her family, her brother Mark. Mark has his own battles to fight. While Louise left, he stayed, and there is contempt there.
“But she didn't have a choice. She would have to handle whatever happened. There was no such thing as too much. There was just more and more, and her limits didn't matter. Life didn't care. She could only hang on.”
As it turns out, selling the house and dealing with their crumbled relationship will be much more complicated and terrifying than either thought.
There is something unnerving about dolls. It could be because they represent us and who we think we are or the uncanny valley effect, which is the reaction to how human an object looks while not being quite right. Often, it involves revulsion and unease. Some stories capitalize on this trait, Like Annabelle and Chucky. On the one hand, they are toys, harmless objects of play and joy; on the other hand, there is something not quite right about Annabelle. Hendrix took this idea and turned it up to 11. Puppetry is creepy, generally. But obsession and puppetry are so much worse. Think puppets in every room, hanging from the ceiling, their strings lightly brushing your face as you walk under them, their glass eyes staring at you but not seeing. Eyes, everywhere. Hendrix probably sat back in smug satisfaction at the horror practically dripping off the pages.
“This is where we grew up. It's not The Shining.” “It's Shining-adjacent,” Mark said in the gloom.”
Now take those puppets, eyes everywhere, and give them life. Stick them in a house and put two broken people in there with them. The puppets are unhappy with Louise and Mark's choices; they have access to tools, their teeth, knives, and a propensity for mischief. Voila, How to Sell a Haunted House.
It is shocking how scary How to Sell a Haunted House is. It isn't one thing, but the combination of writing, characters, dolls, and atmospheric worldbuilding that creates a sense of malice and revulsion on every page. And it only builds as the book nears the last third. Is this my favorite Hendrix book? It's hard to say; they are all different and well done, but this one is the most atmospheric.
“Louise tried to think of how to explain death to a puppet.”
Read this novel if you are looking for a frightening time, hate puppets, or want to immerse yourself in a Hendrix world. It is worth the scare and the time to read it. God, I hate puppets.
How to Sell a Haunted House is another great novel from Grady Hendrix. Exploring grief, loss, guilt, family, sibling rivalry, and generational trauma...with a house haunted by dolls and puppets. There are tons of images and scenes that are really horrifying in the best possible way. The book is also often very funny. Hendrix returns to Charleston for this one, and it also effectively blends horror and humor much like his prior South Carolina stories My Best Friend's Exorcism and The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires. There was also one section that, which to reveal a minor spoiler, included a radical puppet collective...and I thought it was one of the greatest things I've ever read in a horror novel. Granted as someone who trained in more than a little bit of devised and experimental theatre, I'm probably biased. The book wasn't necessarily a perfect home run though. Despite the introduction of several dolls and puppets in this book, only one* really seemed particularly meaningful. In fact, I might even say that the involvement of the other puppets came perilously close to not being adequately explained and was certainly underutilized. Still, the way Hendrix explored challenging subjects concerning family and loss was really moving. In some ways I think this might be his most mature work, despite being so funny. The audiobook was read by Jay Aaseng and Mikhaila Aaseng, and they did a great job! Overall ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
*Except for an early scene that was really spectacularly horrifying, and reminiscent of another scene in Southern Book Club's Guide.
Grady Hendrix has the enviable knack of writing some really nasty unsettling horror that also has strong and believable emotional underpinnings, and this one is perhaps the most fully realised version of that he's produced so far. The sister and brother at the core of the story have, like all the best families, a complicated relationship, and Hendrix nails it, expertly swinging your sympathy between one or the other. It's moving and very satisfying. However, for all the excellent character work, it's also important to point out that this is one creepy book. The antagonist is horribly malevolent, and plenty of bad and nasty stuff goes down, including one graphic scene that left me wincing. Hendrix does a great job of balancing outright horror and suggestion. I have to say it took me a little while to get into, but when it clicks, around the 15% mark, it really clicks. Very possibly Hendrix' best book yet.
It's fun. I like the foreshadowing. Every weird family behavior is there for a reason. It's creepy but also funny. I burst out laughing a few times when Louise and Mark were at the waffle house and the waitress was reluctant but obligated to check whether two duo were doing alright. The family story and the complicated relationship between Louise and Mark all make sense as the story builds. Mark's personality makes a lot of sense as his dark college history is revealed. I'm happy for Mark when he feels the excitement and fulfillment renovating their house in the last chapter. The last a few pages are heart-warming. I can almost smell the cookies, cheese, and love in the warm kitchen.
Overall, a wonderful reading journey. Creepy and satisfying.
Two words...Pupper Master. If anyone is as old as me and remembers that franchise...you know....
I was not expecting this to be so dang creepy but dolls and puppets...enough said
4.5 - i loved this oneeee! So fun and creepy and I loved the family drama and history. Grady Hendrix honestly can do no wrong
Wow, I could not put this book down. How to Sell a Haunted House follows Louise as she returns home following the sudden death of her parents, only to find herself feeling frustrated by her brother Mark who has already taken control of all of the funeral arrangements and she's not happy. The entire book is about grief and family, and just happens to include a haunted house as its backdrop, although this one is not exactly as you would expect. And I will say no more because the way this story unwinds is so good. As I said, could not put it down. All this did was remind me that I need to pick up his other books because this is the second time I have fallen in love with his writing!
I've loved everything I've read by Grady Hendrix and this one is no exception! Complex and imperfect characters that don't fit into standard archetypes, explorations of generational trauma and its manifestations, and artfully written with a ton of heart and empathy. Not to mention it is SO creepy and scary and eerie and I read it in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. I will not be forgetting certain scenes for a while. Really excellent visceral imagery and a creative storyline, which is not easy to do with a haunted house plot. Definitely recommend it!
Following the unfortunate deaths of their parents, estranged siblings Louise and Mark reunite in order to plan the funeral and figure out what to do with their childhood home. Their strained relationship becomes the least of their problems as they unearth long-buried memories associated with their mother's enormous collection of puppets and dolls and try to figure out why, exactly, the attic is boarded up...I have to hand it to Grady Hendrix, his stories rarely play out the way I expect them to; though there are some “well, obviously” moments in this book, so much of it was a surprise to me. And a pleasant surprise at that! I've never disliked any of the books of his I've read, but I often find myself feeling like they're missing something and while this one wasn't perfect, it was quite good and probably my favorite after [b:We Sold Our Souls 37715859 We Sold Our Souls Grady Hendrix https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1527975643l/37715859.SY75.jpg 59355324]. I found the journey through the grieving process and mending family ties to be the most effective part of this story, but there are plenty of spooky-fun or downright creepy moments as well. I laughed out loud at a couple bits and highlighted a few passages only to comment “Grady why” or “no thank you” which is a good sign for a horror novel when you're a horror superfan like myself. At any rate, I'm giving this a solid 4 out of 5 creepy puppets. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!
Grady Hendrix can write a strange and entertaining book.
After Louise's parents die in a car accident she comes home to her childhood house to make arrangements. On top of having to bury her parents she has to navigate her strained relationship with her brother, Mark. Worse of all, though, she has to handle the house that is filled to the brim with dolls and puppets her mom made that always gave both Louise and Mark a bad feeling.
First, I want to say that I love Grady Hendrix's writing. His stories are always incredibly entertaining and filled with comedic moments within the horror. My favorite aspect of this book is the terrible family dynamic and how it centers around Louise and Mark, but you slowly get to see how the rest of the family fits into it. It's heartbreaking and maddening at the same time.
This book was a rollercoaster of not wanting to put it down to then not wanting to pick it up and, sadly, it fell flat for me. The biggest thing that I disliked was that I felt like there were too many moments in the book that I felt like gave too much detail that just wasn't needed. I was keeping an open mind thinking that it would come around and tie-in throughout the book but it never did. It was just setting up the characters which could have been done with less in my opinion. I also just didn't vibe with horror parts of the story until the very end which redeemed a lot of it for me. Though that is definitely more of a personal view and I can see how many people would find this book terrifying.
Overall, it has a good backbone to the story and ended well but the pacing and good chunk of the basis of the story didn't do it for me.
