Grady Hendrix is one of the darlings of the horror world at the moment, and there are probably very few who would dispute this idea. Part of the appeal of his work is the clever way in which he approaches tired and worn horror tropes, and injects new life into an old premise.

Even the title of his forthcoming release screams of the playful nature of his work--How to Sell a Haunted House. It's a clever title, and the book's jacket copy only serves to tempt readers to explore Hendrix's ideas of a haunted house.

So, how does he do?

Overall, Hendrix's book is quite fun. The story centers on Louise, who flies home to deal with the funeral and legal issues that arise when her parents die in a car crash. What she finds is a house that doesn't want to be sold, because it is haunted.

The main strength of the book lies in Hendrix's ability to craft realistic familial relationships (I know. You thought I was going to say the campy horror fun. The gore. The laugh out loud jokes. But no, it's the realistic familial relationships that drive this one). While I didn't like Louise as a person, I understood her point of view at times, and often rooted for her to change. I can also say the same thing for her brother, Mark. But it's the family dynamic and conflict that moves this story beyond a campy horror story and helps Hendrix work his magic. Both characters were far from perfect, or even likeable, yet Hendrix manages to instill the reader with hope for positive change in his characters, and so you root for them. The family dynamics here were real and honest and many families have had similar scenarios occur after the death of a parent or loved one.

Yet these familial relationships weren't the only good points of the book. Yes, it's horrific and campy and bloody and funny. And those things work perfectly for this book, and gives it a tone quite unlike the dark violence of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, which was so much more gritty and dark. Hendrix knows how to put his characters through the ringer, and he does so here--at great entertainment to the reader. The conflict never stops and Hendrix drives the narrative superbly.

Still, it's not a perfect book, despite Hendrix's craftmanship. There are a few flaws, despite how campy, funny, and haunted this book is. First, Hendrix mashes together a couple of well known horror tropes in this one. Haunted Houses and possessed dolls/puppets (I wouldn't have named the two, but other people are outing it, so . . .). Though the blending of tropes didn't impact the enjoyment of the story, I did feel the bait and switch. I wanted this to be more of a haunted house story, and it's not. Not by far. And that ruined some of the clever and playful marketing of this book. For some it won't be an issue, but to be fair, I was looking forward to the haunted house trope more than a possessed doll/puppets trope and felt a bit let down at the recognition that it's not.

Another issue for me is that Hendrix (despite his skill at crafting excellent relationship dynamics), does feel a bit formulaic in his story beats. The beats and conflicts feel the same in many of his stories and it feels a small bit as if he's writing the same story but with new names and tropes tossed in. In the hands of a less skilled author, this wouldn't work, but Hendrix masks it well enough and provides enough of a great story in so many other ways that it's not too much of an issue, even if I am cognizant of it.

Last and not least--cover art. Come on publishers--it's like you don't know who your target audience is for any book any more. Give us something we can sink our teeth into and know that this is campy horror fun. And yes, I know this is a publisher issue and not Grady's fault.

All that said, I think the book is quite a bit of fun and the masses are going to love it. I did. It's an excellent book, even if it left me a bit haunted that this story is about a haunted puppet, and not a haunted house.

4 stars

Thanks to the NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC for review.

When Louise's parents die in a car crash, she comes home for two weeks to take care of everything, knowing her brother–the underachieving Golden Child–either won't do anything or will mess it all up. She's not thrilled to be cataloging a house full of meticulous tax records dating back fifty years, every toy they ever played with as children in the attic, and oh did I mention all the creepy dolls and puppets her mom had?

This book actually scared me, and had plenty of twists and turns to make it more than just atmosphere. Louise and her brother Mark are revealed layer by layer as the story goes on in what might be Hendrix's best character work to date. All in all, a satisfying read that will keep people up...for multiple reasons.

Love this writer and the way they bring entities and ghosts and evil that has been done and revamps it into something completely new! Puppets?! So scary!

Thank you so much, Berkley, for the ARC of How to Sell a Haunted House.

I have yet to read any of Grady Hendrix’s books but after reading this book, you can bet I will be reading rest of his books!

This is probably the creepiest, dark comedy story I have read by far. The scary puppets (remind me to NEVER buy one!), the attacking of squirrels, velveteen rabbit, and imaginary dog-spider, this was a fun read. I couldn’t get enough of it and I just had to keep reading till 2am to finish the book. It was that creepy but also that good!!

If you are into haunted puppet(s) and family drama, this is perfect halloween reads!

Grady Hendrix, author of “The Final Girl Support Group” and “The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires” is back with another twisted horror-filled novel. To read a Grady Hendrix novel, you must suspend all sort of disbelief and just go with it, because it’s quite a ride.

But this is much more than a horror novel – it’s also a story of loss. Cut through the blood, guts, horror and evil puppets and you’ll find a take on how the past shapes us. Louise and Mark have to let go of the childhood trauma that caused them to drift apart in order to take on the evil that faces them in the present. As they work through their differences, they also uncover generations of family secrets that have kept everyone trapped in a dangerous web of lies.

“How to Sell a Haunted House” starts off a little slow, but goes full throttle once Louise returns home to deal with the funeral arrangements and her parents’ estate. Content warning for a very graphic, bloody scene close to the end and a caution to people who don’t like clowns or puppets. Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Want a mix of Chucky, Haunting of Hill House and family feud? This is it. What a fun, old school haunted house story but also a fun twist on family issues and childhood trauma.

This is, so far, my favorite Grady Hendrix novel. It was so much more than a haunted house story (though it was a lot of that as well!) It is also a complicated family story, as played out by two estranged siblings and their very complicated relationship. A relationship made so much more complicated by the existence of a puppet that both of them were individually obsessed with and manipulated by at different points in their lives.

While it was an excellent family drama, it was also incredibly creepy! Even if you do not find dolls and puppets spooky, you may feel different after reading this. Without giving too much away, Hendrix combine to two together wonderfully for a very satisfying story.


Thank you to NetGalley for providing a e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book took a long time to het throigh. Too much description and not a lot of action until I was almost finished reading.

I am a big Grady Hendrix fan and this one did not disappoint. The beginning is a little hard to get through because the dysfunctional family is a little too real and you wonder where the horror is coming from, other than the horror of real life. But then about half way through the puppets come into play. It was both hilarious and terrifying at the same time. Some parts are a little gory but it is nothing more than his other books. I really enjoyed this one.

Thank you Net Galley for the advance copy. I loved this book, even more than The Southern Book Clubs Guide to Slaying Vampires. Grady Hendrix draws you into the story immediately and at first it seems like a relatable story of family dysfunction. But as the book progresses, things get crazier and more creepy, and what you thought you understood about this family gets spun around. I am not saying it was scary enough to give me bad dreams, but I will say I didn’t read this book right before I went to bed! It crept up on me like good horror stories do, while always maintaining the strong and believable family relationships. It was not predictable to me and it was also funny. Grady Hendrix is a must-read author.

I did not enjoy this book. If I had known the book was not about a spooky old haunted house but rather about a creepy puppet I would not have read this.
Anyway, so Louisa, who left home for college and never really came back, finds out that her parents have died in a car accident she is suitably shocked, devastated, etc. and comes home for the funeral. At home she finds her brother who she has never gotten along with eager to sell the house and pocket his inheritance. However, the house has strange vibes, things start moving, etc.
I really didn't like or enjoy any of the characters in this book (maybe some of the extended family are OK). Louisa's relationship with her daughter during the book was awful, her relationship with her brother was awful...I really just didn't like spending time with anything or anything in this book.

Never have I been more glad that I don't have a single puppet/doll in my house!!! Also, I may have made sure that my attic door was locked before going to bed at one point!

This was Grady Hendrix at his finest! I love the way the Hendrix writes. His books are just creepy enough to give me the heebie-jeebies at moments but there is enough humor thrown in there that I don't dwell on it. I am able to move on rather quickly which is good because the heebie-jeebies tend to arrive right when things really start getting interesting. I have to know what is going to happen next.

One thing I can definitely say about every Hendrix book that I have read is that I am never bored. He keeps me on the edge of my seat and fully invested in what is happening in the story. He has also been known to throw in a few twists or surprises that I didn't even see coming and I am always thrilled when that happens.

I flew through this book. It was the perfect read for the spooky season. My only complaint is now I have to wait even longer for the next Hendrix book (whatever it may be) to come out. Exorcisms, heavy metal, vampires, haunted Ikea, support groups, and now puppets...whatever will he come up with next?! I don't know but I can't wait!!

A big thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for granting me early access to the digital copy.

How to Sell a Haunted House is a hard book for me to officially rate for a couple of different reasons.

I don't really mind reading haunted house books and horror books though I really can't handle it if the same type of scenes are in movies instead. I'm okay with reading it but not watching it play out. So I thought I was going to be able to handle this book. But then the protagonist walked into the house of her recently deceased parents and I found out exactly what we were dealing with and why I think the description of the book is misleading.

The book synopsis does not mention that the items in the house that are haunted are dolls and puppets. I have a very intense dislike of dolls and puppets which is one of the reasons why I'm uncertain of my rating. Although it was very well written and creepy and I actually don't mind being slightly scared by a book, dolls are a bit much for me and I probably would NOT have requested this book if I had known. And I feel as though a lot of people also have the intense hatred/fear of dolls and would put it down once they discovered that's what they'd gotten themselves into.

Also, it was mostly just a creepy vibe type of horror (which is what I prefer) until a small portion in the middle/end where we had a bit of torture horror so if you're not expecting that or don't like that then maybe you should avoid the book or this section at the very least.

Overall I liked it but it really was not for me if that makes sense at all.

If you like horror, if you like a good Gothic tale, if you've ever read anything by Grady Hendrix and enjoyed it even a little bit - please read this book. Read it all. Read the dedication, the dear reader, every single word. Grady's books sometimes get hard for me, because they're unexpectedly dark; this one made me sob when I finished it, because I've had that dream and it hurts to wake up. A fantastically creepy haunted doll story, with an unexpectedly heartwarming finish.

I'm a fan of Grady Hendrix in general, and this was a light read from him set in the same universe as a couple of his other novels. The characters didn't grab me like some of his others did; in fact, I found both main characters to be extremely grating, which really detracted from my reading experience. There are some gruesome moments, but I wouldn't call any part of this book truly scary, unless you have an extreme phobia of dolls or puppets. An easy read, but I definitely wouldn't recommend this one first out of all of the rest of his books.

It's hard to properly describe this. There's family drama and intense, crazy shit with possessed dolls. This is also an incredibly sad story about family secrets and cathartic obsession. Anyone who's been through loss will find this hard to get through in some parts. Louise and Mark have a very difficult relationship but they have to work together to get through the death of their parents and the evil in their parent's house. Mark's description of his college experience was excruciating to get through--painfully boring and irritating. We all need someone like Barb in our lives-comic relief and no-nonsense faith.

It is amazing how gut-wrenching and painful the relationships of these characters are - they are flawed and funny and real in a way that I never expect in comedy/horror fiction - and it is more amazing that stress I felt felt for their drama perfectly matches that of the actual horror. Beautiful, growing elements of spook, creep, and a scratch of body horror. I really fell for the sibling dynamics, together as well as within the large family. it's a wonderfully crafted story. I've said it before but I mean it now: this is my favourite Grady Hendrix.

Hendrix knows how to use horror (and humor) to tell stories with serious themes. This one includes family secrets, generational trauma, sibling rivalry, creepy dolls, and more - all told in a rapid-fire, sometimes rollicking story. Some sour notes - the chapters covering Mark's time in Boston was necessary to the story, but clunky and somehow dull, despite what was being revealed.

Also - at least two instances where "discrete" was used when it should be "discreet".

Thank you for the early copy! I’ve been salivating over the description since the book announcement and Pupkin and all his creepy cohorts did not disappoint! I’ve already been raving about it at a bunch of book events!

This book didn't end up being what I expected at all, but because Grady is such a thoughtful writer and reverent horror fan, it was still a fun, campy nailbiter. I really appreciated how wildly Mark swung in my esteem over the course of the book, and I think the family dynamics were as interesting as the scary stuff.

And I'm just gonna say it: Grady writes women better than any man writing horror, full stop. It's not like he deserves a cookie for portraying women as people or anything, but I do think it's worth highlighting that I'm never stressed that something misogynistic is gonna happen, or that the story will hinge on gendered violence. It's one element he doesn't borrow from 80's pulp horror, for which I am grateful.

To me, this book spiritually has more in common with My Best Friend's Exorcism and, to a lesser extent, Grady's other earlier books. Fans of Southern Book Club or Final Girl Support Group are, I think, going to find some of the absurdist mega-80s aspects of this book a little silly. But that's kind of what I love about it.