I've always wanted to read a book by Grady Hendrix, so I jumped at the chance to read his latest on NetGalley. However, I do now wish that I had read something else by him beforehand, as I think this would have better prepared me for what was to come!

How To Sell A Haunted House is bonkers. Just like the riot of a House of Horrors ride, it fills you with fear, dulls in places, and then you are hit with the most bizarre twists and turns, as you exit the building in complete bewilderment, manically laughing with nerves.

The story is as you would expect it to be for the first 40% with family confrontations, emotional memories, and strange goings-on in an already creepy house. And then things go really go off the rails.

I was expecting a haunted house, but I wasn't expecting what haunted it. It's creepy, it's adrenaline-pumping, and it's sure to give many readers heart palpitations. But while I like scary, I just found this far too crazy. I think it's supposed to make you laugh with how chaotic it is, but that's just left me not knowing what to think.

I don't know if I loved this or hated it. My mind is frazzled, but I think that's a good thing. To come away from a horror underwhelmed would be the worst outcome, so to come away from it absolutely gobsmacked, I think I have to appreciate it for that!

I really don't know if people are going to love this or hate it, but I can't wait to see others' reactions!

What did I just read?! This was one of the wildest rides I have ever experienced in the literary world! I am a big fan of Grady Hendrix anyway, but this time he really went all out.

This book is perfect for anyone who likes a traditional - but terrifying - horror trope. It's so very creepy, but the horror is expertly weaved with dark comedy. Some of the scenes were brilliantly bizarre, particularly the funeral, and I couldn't pull myself away from the 'show'. Where this book really shines, though, is in it's depiction of an estranged and tense brother-sister relationship: the bickering and oneupmanship between these siblings was so well brought to life. Their moments of grief were also really well-rendered, which is something I love about Hendrix's writing. He is so skilled at creating realistic and fully dimensional characters, and highlighting the humanness of them, even within the most chaotic of environments!

This book was fun, hilarious, terrifying, atmospheric and moving - all in equal measure. I enjoyed the experience of reading it completely.

Plot:
Siblings Louise and Mark are forced to return to their childhood home after the passing of their parents. Creepy Dolls, an attic nailed shut, the tv turning on by itself, a foreboding feeling, a painful childhood. Coming home is going to be one hell of a time for these siblings.

Thoughts:
From the very beginning Grady creates this uncomfortable atmosphere, the way he writes about grief and the uncomfortable situations that arise when a family members dies is truly so realistic.

I had an idea of what to expect of this novel (the title being How To Sell A Haunted House) but my expectations were not only met but exceeded what I was even hoping for.

The horror elements were done brilliantly and I felt this was Grady’s most horrifying work yet. From creepy puppets, to childhood trauma, horror takes many forms in this novel and I think Grady has gone for a different style of horror in this one then he normally does. I especially enjoyed exploring this troubled childhood the main characters had and having this uncomfortable feeling. However the main star of the show is Pumpkin. A creepy, terrifying puppet, something I didn’t think I was afraid of, but something I now am terrifying of seeing in real life.

I also felt his character work had improved a lot, as normally the characters in his other works felt a bit underdeveloped at times, but with How To Sell I feel he got us connected to these characters by exploring their childhood/trauma/past and it made them feel more real and relatable to the reader.

Overall this novel is Grady’s best in my opinion, I loved everything about it. The characters were relatable and fleshed out to make reading about them enjoyable. The horror was subtle and slow at first, that made for an uncomfortable read, but then goes all out by the final act in some truly horrifying moments.

Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for an early copy to review.

Grady Hendrix treats us to an incredible slice of modern horror.. A wild, horrific and touching read.

'Every childhood home is haunted, and each of us are possessed by our parents..'

I'm already a huge fan of Grady Hendrix and this new novel has exceeded all my expectations of his work. Hendrix has a knack of making the most mundane of day to day actions or observations into something sinister or amusing. I had moments where I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or be scared out of my skin.
Although many of the events in this book are utterly outrageous they still have a grounding in the real world and are relatable, especially when it comes to our childhoods. The writing, characters and the interactions between characters were so bold, rich, vivid and full of life that you could have believed that these characters and events actually existed.

I could not recommend this more, this book has something for everyone.

Move over Annabelle, move over Chucky, Pupkin is in town!

I am a child of the late 70's and early 80's which carries with it a legacy of truly disturbing and unforgettable puppetry and masked characters ranging from the late Keith Harris and Orville , a staple of the variety show circuit,to the bizarre Frank Sidebottom-
and the nightmare inducing Mr Noseybonk (Don't have nightmares kids!I showed this character to mine and they all looked at me with the 'that explains so much....' type of stare)

So from comforting singing emus (Rod Hull) and ducks and racing ostriches (Bernie Clifton) , teddy bears (Nookie Bear) and naughty dogs (Bob Carolgees and Spit the dog) to the ridiculous and 'how the hell did that ever get commisioned?! we were shown that puppets were firstly only understood by their maker/human companion and translated for us children, and that they also had an ability to act out in ways that were not allowed to us children. For example, spitting, biting, attacking others in the name of comedy laughs. Reassuring ones like Sooty and Bill and Ben made way for a more anarchic selection which reflected the society in which we lived-austere, ever under the threat of nuclear warfare and governed by rules. The flip side of this of course is what is designed for children to 'enjoy' is often downright terrifying.

So when I saw that Grady's new book featured two children growing up in a house full of puppets, not only is that potentially scarring by association, the notion of this being surrounded by inanimate objects that might occupy a larger part of your mother's heart than you do, as well as maybe moving, or inducing you to cause harm to your sibling is is genuinely scary. And that is before meeting the number one puppet, Pupkin, who will live rent free in your imagination for the rest of your life.

A synchronous and beautifully rendeted portrait at the way death can expose all the plot holes in your life, challenge what you perceive to have remembered from your childhood as well as making you face up to the reality of your actions, this novel is peppered with unforgettable set pieces, underpinned by the nuances of difficult family relationships.

The death of a parent is a difficult concept to begin with, but when both Mark and Louise's parents die in a car crash, the details of which are vague and suspicious, they are forced back into each other's orbits to deal with their parent's belongings. This includes a house which is a monument to the mother's puppet ministry, which includes stuffed squirrel nativities, cross stitch samplers and many other works of painting and craft that adorn every wall space as well as occupying a truly terrifying puppet making workshop. Floor to ceiling dolls and puppets is terrifying enough. But in a time of economic downturn, when neither really wants to follow in the actor/puppeteer mother's footsteps or economist father's, then everything must go.

Except...the unusual provisos in the will create uproar and demand the two work together. Mark cannot sell the house until Louise has sorted out her inherited mother's art collection. Which includes two puppets of themselves that randomly relocate themselves around the house. Taxidermy squirrels doing things squirrels should ever be doing, And the new kid on the slasher block, Pupkin, the most terrifying clown ever . No exceptions and definitely not taking that back.  Pennywise and that evil clown doll from Poltergeist have a new challenger in the bad clown sweepstakes.

Because of you accept that when you wear the puppet (or the mask) then it also wears you, then you begin to accept the truly horrifying notion of a symbiotic relationship which can be utilised for evil, In the absence of a meaningful relationship with either child, their mother has poured all her emotional life into this puppet, and he will not accept anything other than complete devotion.

Pupkin has been responsible for some truly awful childhood experiences which for one of the siblings defined theor relationship and for the other traumatised them to block it out entirely. But in  order to not only sell the house, which their cousin, a realtor, has warned them will be problematic as it is entirely haunted, they first need to sell themselves on the reality that the house is haunted.

And as Mark's solution to most of his problems is to burn them down, the level headedness of Louise might be in sore need to intervene before any one else dies.

What I loved about the book is the reality in which Louise and Mark are displayed, they fight like actual siblings do, even as grownups. Grady has so wonderfully captured their complex and stilted personal development that has left this underlying resentment of each other for most of their adult lives. The arguments over their parent's remains, Mark's plan to replicate Jim Henson's funeral for their parent's by filling it with puppeteers, the house removal team who just want to do the job they are paid for and witness the cat and dog fighting of brother and sister with a world weariness that made me laugh harder than is safe for a woman in her 40's maybe should, all of this accentuated the horror of how puppets and masks were used as a tool to abdicate responsibility whilst parsing this form of activism.

As a worthy method of 'educating' children, Mark's troop's final school performance is a car crash in what not to do in introducing the concept of terrorist related conspiracy theories  to pre-teen school kids. It's a superb scene which then intensifies the dark descent of Mark into a puppet cult where Pupkin really comes into his own. Are they conduits to allow us to speak freely or a convenient scapegoat if what is said is not well received? As in , 'it wasn't me it was..... (insert appropriate puppet name here)'

Dolls and puppets have never been more relatable or scary and if this novel doesn't keep you up late at night wondering if you did the right thing getting rid of your youngest's haunted nun doll, Sister Mary (a very long story) or make you think back to childhood triggers (such as the house of an aunt who collected both pigs and clowns that were stuffed in every corner so it was impossible to see which ones were moving ) or you ever sat through a community theatre workshop in school, with a numb bottom in hardwood floors being told to laugh at things which were actually deeply scary but you don't have the words for, then this is a book for you. But it is very scary so be prepared to stay up all night reading it, then up all night turning any dolls or puppets to face the walls. Because that will 100% happen.

4/5 stars! I've really enjoyed reading Grady's other works and was looking forward to this book. I appreciated that it takes place in the real world and handles real-world issues such as the coronavirus pandemic. That added to the authenticity of the piece before the haunted house aspect came onto the stage. I really liked but didn't love this book because it didn't seem to keep up with the author's other works. Would definitely read more by this author though and if this is anyone's first read by this author, I guarantee it will be an enjoyable one.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

This is a difficult review for me to write after finishing this, as I'm in two minds about how I feel about it.
First off, I have always liked Grady Hendrix's writing and I find it to be so accessible that I get into the story straight away and it always holds my attention throughout.
I did however find this book to be more a family drama about a possessed puppet, not about a haunted house so I do feel slightly mislead and in a way disappointed.
That was until 60% of the way through and then it all goes BANANAS.
I loved the Aunties and the humour in this and would have liked to have read more chapters with them in.
I did like the relationship between Louise and Mark and liked their characters.
As with all Grady Hendrix books you have to suspend your disbelief but having said that, I did find the final third of this book to be utterly ridiculous and absolutely crazy, so much so that after finishing it I had to think long and hard about how I felt about it.
Overall I did enjoy this and will read the next Grady Hendrix book.

Do not read if you are afraid of puppets!
A sister and and a brother inherit the family home when their parents die in a car crash, and have vastly different plans on what to do with the house. Both siblings blame the other for events in the past but it turns out to be a possessed puppet pulling the strings..
Slows down a little around the middle of the book but the last third is action packed.
Not the funniest Hendrix has written but there is still plenty of sarcasm thrown around.

Grady Hendrix has done it again.

Turning his focus back to family dynamics, Hendrix explores the complexities that come with inheritance - genetic, financial and trauma - to create something familiar to his readers, but also something that is equipped with a newfound sadness.

The writing expertly toes a line between comedy and horror, where one second you’re laughing out loud and the next you’re fighting the chills creeping up your neck. This book brought back a lot of memories of staying with my grandmother and her extensive collection of china dolls - memories I’d happily suppressed) - and really explored a lot of the childhood fears I’m sure a lot of us had.

How to Sell a Haunted House shows us the ugly truths of some families: does it help to keep our pain a secret from those we love?

“Mothering, manipulating — sometimes there wasn’t a difference.”

What a horrible book, I loved it.
So creepy and a total wild ride. Fans of campy horror will love this.
Grady Hendrix knows how to write a horror.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for this copy.

A Doll’s House ★★★☆☆

When Louise’s parents die in a car crash, she is forced to return to her home town and try and negotiate the sale of the house with her brother Mark. This also means dealing with her mother’s vast puppet collection, including her favourite – Pupkin.

However, there is a dark force in the house which does not want to leave and which stirs up disturbing memories for both Louise and Mark. Then the puppets start to move…

A creepy tale of things which go bump in the night which must be read with the light on. It succeeded in scaring me but there were a few scenes which moved away from believable horror and into incredulity.

For fans of The House of Small Shadows by Adam Nevill.

Wow.

I went into this not expecting much from it after not enjoying THE FINAL GIRL SUPPORT GROUP. However, this book, was so much better - creepy but more interesting.

I was completely enraptured yet completely freaked out. The whole concept was just plain weird. It actually stressed me out and gave me a headache with all the hauntedness and weird puppet ghosts/demons/paranormal. I wasn't really a puppet fan but i definitely don't like them now.

Overall, a solid book but not one i'd be rushing to reread!

Horror is not my genre at all. Not in books, not in films, though I'm familiar with a lot of the tropes and traditions. Grady Hendrix has an unmatched ability to bring fresh life and perspectives to these and to imbue them with humour, albeit extremely dark and sometimes violent. Unsurprisingly, this offering tackles the haunted house genre and does so with Hendrix's typical brio and sly wit.

Louise's parents die suddenly leaving her to travel across the country, leaving her young daughter with her ex, to reconnect with her estranged brother and deal with the aftermath of their loss. The Joyner's had their quirks, not least their mother's "puppet ministry". but Louise can't understand why people keep telling her, kindly enough, that her family is "odd". The house is full of her mother's dolls and odd art projects but there are signs that not all was well before the car accident that killed her parents. Why is the hatch to attic boarded up so hurriedly and so desperately? Her brother Mark has no answers and is more interested in getting rid of everything and reading the will that anything else. The siblings' fractious relationship is rekindled immediately as is their rivalry for their deceased parents' affections. Louise thinks Mark was allowed to get away with everything while she has had to work for her education and her success. Mark resents Louise's constant criticism. As they dig up old grievances and wallow in new ones it starts to become clear that there is something seriously wrong in their childhood home and perhaps there always was...

Grady raises all the spectres he can, childhood trauma, grief, unresolved business, complex family relationships and mixes them vigorously with plenty of jump-scares (it works even in a book!), gore and malign influences. It's not for the faint of heart but there are plenty of laughs along the way as well as a keen eye for character dynamics and motivations. It's another rip-roaring ride that pays tribute to the classics but also manages to be a surprisingly original take on the genre

This book was literally perfect. I say it every time I read the latest Hendrix so obvs I'll say it this time "Grady Hendrix has done it again".. this is so funny, it's so sad, it's really creepy and it's SO kitch. Grady Hendrix really vibes with my kind of fun horror that just works. So Louise and Mark have just lost their parents in a car crash and now they're left to sort everything out that they left behind...o and their mother was a creepy puppeteer and their childhood was filled with strange behaviour, secrets and denial (perfectly normal behaviour if you ask me) told from the perspective of Louise this book will drag you down with it into the spiral of weird, trippy, hallucinations, body horror (and a VERY weird tale from Mark) to the cold and dark world of the tikytoo woods, puppets and dolls. You'll never look at a puppeteer again without wondering what horrors they've seen....

When her parents die suddenly, Louise returns to her childhood home in Charleston. She and her brother, Mark, haven’t spoken in three years. Together they’re going to be confronted by the past, along with a house overflowing with their mother’s ‘art’.

““I don’t think we’re weirder than any other family,” she said.
“Trust me,” Constance said. “You guys definitely are.””

With family secrets, the power of belief, creepy dolls and a puppet with abandonment issues, this case would be right up Sam and Dean Winchester’s alley.

I’ve seen every Child’s Play movie and enjoyed watching Ed and Lorraine Warren deal with the carnage Annabelle left in her wake. I was just a tad obsessed with The Final Girl Support Group. With all of that in mind, I was ready to fall in love with this book and was looking forward to being creeped out by it, but unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me.

Despite wanting to believe, I never did, and that took a lot of the fun out of Pupkin’s antics for me. Instead, I found him and his sing songy delight at causing chaos irritating. I liked Mark some of the time but never warmed to Louise. Aunt Honey, who managed to snag most of the good lines early on, didn’t have as much page time as I’d hoped.

I loved the funeral scene. I’m still craving some Pizza Chinese. If I didn’t find Pupkin so annoying I probably would have been able to suspend my disbelief and get caught up in the mayhem, but I couldn’t escape him.

Because my love of The Final Girl Support Group is so big, I’m going to call my experience with this book an aberration and look forward to falling in love with my next Grady Hendrix read.

Favourite no context quote: “You’re like some kind of emotionally abusive octopus entangling everyone in your word tentacles.”

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this book.

Potentially my worst read of 2022. I can’t help but keep giving Grady Hendrix chances. I loved TSBGTSV and MBFE but TFGSG and this book were AWFUL. Honestly, a horror book where the plot twist is…. puppets 🙈 reminds me of a horror plot I would have written as a 12 year old. The characters were insufferable. Am I finally done with Grady Hendrix? Quite possibly!

Do not go into this thinking it’s your standard haunted house. No no! This is a Grady Hendrix haunted house. But this is also a story about grief, dysfunctional families and sibling rivalry with some obscurity sprinkled throughout. At times, things in this book feel relentless but that is so integral to the story resulting in you living everything with our characters. I was both exhausted and relieved at the end of this book - for the RIGHT reasons. If enjoy dry, tongue in cheek humour swirled through your horror stories then I think you will enjoy this book.

I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5.

I have sent this review to you now but will not post to social media/Goodreads/Amazon until publication month as requested.

How To Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
I give this book 4.5 stars

When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex.She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s and mothers life.
But mostly, she doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark.
But she’ll need his help to get the house ready for sale because it’ll take more than some new paint on the walls and clearing out a lifetime of memories to get this place on the market.
Some houses don’t want to be sold, and their home has other plans for both of them…

The authors descriptive writing style made this supernatural horror extremely creepy and sinister at the same time as exploring the relationship between two estranged siblings and dealing with the loss of your parents.The tension builds constantly there’s a strong sense of foreboding throughout and l literally shuddered in parts,what more could you want from a read like this.
A compelling dark tale that I devoured in two sittings….. l don’t want to say more and spoil the story BUT pupkin!!!!
With thanks to Netgalley,Grady Hendrix and Titan Books for my chance to read and review this book.

Hendrix shows why he is one of horror's must-read authors with this turbo-charged thrill fest about family secrets, hauntings and some seriously messed up puppets.
Ripe for adaptation for the big screen, Hendrix's latest is the kind of book you'll want to devour in a sitting, with a twist filled plot, two engaging but deeply flawed lead characters and a memorable villain - everything you could possibly want for a summer/winter read.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

》 MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS 《
How to Sell a Haunted House is a creepy read that gives you unease that crawls up your skin. We follow Louise who's parents have died and she's going home to sort the funeral and estate with her estraned brother Mark. The siblings have unresolved issues that come to light through the book and are at logger-heads at first sight upon meeting back at their parents house. Louise doesn't get good vibes from the house and neither does Mark but neither one will admit it at first. Their mum was a puppeteer and so the house is filled with creepy puppets, clowns and dolls galore. This part really creeper me out (I'm terrified of clowns and creepy puppets I.e. Punch and Judy). Louise just wants to get rid of everything, sell the house and split the money with Mark but nothings going to be that simple and the house isn't ready to let her go just yet! This book has the bones of a movie in the making and I shudder to think what the puppets would look like in movie graphics. Pupkin was one crazy puppet and creeper me out so much. I loved the dynamics between Louise and Marks relationship as siblings and even chuckled a few times through this book. I feel Grady nailed it and I loved how it all came together towards the end. There's a real comical element within this book and craziness with creepiness all the way through. If you're a fan of creepy dolls/puppets, chucky, Annabelle and spooky houses you're onto a winner with this book!