Fantastic. I loved it so much that I listed to a podcast with the author straight afterwards.

Because of this book, I will forever be haunted by the word nubbins 😆

Also, trigger warning for anyone that has chronic pain 😅 I literally have 24/7 back pain and the physical description of what the characters go through for literally this entire book somehow made me hurt even more.

**SLIGHT SPOILER**
Call me crazy, but a tiny part of me felt bad for Pupkin and started to think he was kind of sad and cute? But maybe that’s just because my cat is literally the adorable spawn of Satan so I’m used to loving a naughty little psychopath 😅

Thank you for my copy! I absolutely loved this one.

This book was a wild ride!! Like totally bananas!

Louise gets a call from her brother Mark who she barely speaks to, and he tells her their parents have died. She returns to their home, her childhood home, to sort everything out but then strange things start happening leading them to believe their house is haunted.

I absolutely loved this book! Even when I was feeling squeamish and could barely look at the page I STILL couldn't put this book down! Reading it at home on my own late at night definitely helped creep me out and I honestly think this is the scariest book I've ever read.

Having said that, I'm not sure other people will find it scary. I think you'd either think it was totally ridiculous and silly or become invested in the story and find yourself totally glued to it. I am obviously the latter!

This is the first Grady Hendrix book I've read but definitely won't be my last! All his books look really different so I'm excited to read a couple more!

I'm so sorry to say this was such a disappointment. Maybe it will work better for readers who enjoy puppets, haunted dolls and such but for me it was an incredibly boring plot with two main characters I couldn't care less about.

👻🏠How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix🏠👻

ɢʀᴀᴅʏ ʜᴇɴᴅʀɪx ᴛᴀᴋᴇꜱ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴀᴜɴᴛᴇᴅ ʜᴏᴜꜱᴇ ɪɴ ᴀ ᴛʜʀɪʟʟɪɴɢ ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴇxᴘʟᴏʀᴇꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀʏ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴘᴀꜱᴛ—ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜʀ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ—ᴄᴀɴ ʜᴀᴜɴᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴇʟꜱᴇ.

Firstly, big thanks to my buddy reading friends @mylifein.books and @everyones_mad_he.re who joined me on this adventure.

So I think Grady Hendrix set a high bar when he wrote The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, and some of his other books have managed to limbo pretty far underneath that bar. I'm happy to report that this is one of the better ones.

There's a lot of the things Grady Hendrix is good at. He has an obvious love, respect and knowledge of the horror genre, and that's what allows him to take a trope and play with it. There are a lot of genuine laugh out loud moments in the book and even a couple of scary parts. Creepy dolls that come to life isn't really something that does it for me, but I thought he did a good job of it. There are sections that drag a little, but ultimately I liked where this book ended up.

Thanks again @everyones_mad_he.re and @mylifein.books it was a lot of fun.

⭐⭐⭐💫

❓QOTD - What are your favourite and least favourite horror tropes?❓

#gradyhendrix #howtosellahauntedhouse #bookrecommendations #bookreview #bookstachallenge #buddyreads #buddyread #creepydoll #horror #horrorbooks #horrorbookstagram

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.

This book was amazing!! I was so terrified in parts I almost put it in the freezer. This was everything I wanted in a horror novel!

Following Louise and her brother Mark after the untimely death of their parents I wasn't really drawn to either of the characters. Then we meet Pupkin the puppet and the story takes off!

Some of the most genuinely terrifying scenes I've ever read I loved every second of it. With a couple of really tear jerking chapters I would recommend this book to any horror lover.

Grady Hendrix never misses; although I generally don't like haunted house things, this wasn't just 'hey let's make this scary and/or weird' but was actually emotional and mature in some parts. V good

I went into this with quite high expectations as I've heard great things about Hendrix's past work. I also hadn't actually read a haunted house story before, despite being a big horror film fan, so was excited to see how those kind of tropes would play out in novel form. My expectations were thwarted almost immediately, to say the least.

We are introduced to Louise returning to her childhood home following the sudden mysterious death of her parents. What ensues is, essentially, a dysfunctional family drama as Louise and her slacker brother squabble over their inheritance. Louise is a pretty unremarkable main character, whilst her brother is a flatout jerk and thus instantly unlikeable—although I must admit that I did end up growing fond of him later on. Whilst this is an interesting and authentic depiction of sibling rivalry, it's simply not the kind of introduction I expected, so was desperately waiting for the actual horror to materialise.

Thankfully, the story does eventually pick up once Louise begins observing strange occurrences in the house, but Hendrix veers off in another unexpected direction which, if I'd known about beforehand, would have probably dissuaded me from picking up this book in the first place. Basically, the main antagonist of this story is a haunted puppet, and because of that I just couldn't take the events that unfolded seriously. If you're a fan of Chucky or Annabelle, then this might be up your street, but I just found it difficult to suspend my disbelief and found it all a bit ridiculous.

[SPOILER WARNING FOR PARAGRAPH AHEAD]

With that said, I was much more receptive once one of the characters puts the puppet on and is 'taken over' by this malevolent force because, suddenly, it's not just a farcical anthropomorphised puppet, but an actual person that's lost control of their actions and capable of much more terrible things than some puppet you can kind of just, I don't know, kick away or dispose of in a fire. I just wish this aspect was the main focus rather than just part of the ultimate climax of the story.

[END OF SPOILER WARNING]

Overall, this was still a decent and, at times, fun read, but I have a feeling Hendrix is capable of better things. I look forward to catching up on his previous work (namely The Final Girl Support Group and My Best Friend's Exorcism which I think will be much more up my street!)

Many thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for providing me with a digital review copy in exchange for my honest feedback.

When you read a lot of horror, in particular a lot of haunted horror, you get to think you know the ghost story. There will be grief, there will be unearthed secrets, a wrong will be righted. What I love about Grady Hendrix is his ability to destabilise even the most jaded horror fan.

For me, the destabilisation in this book was stress! I was so stressed out for most of the book, I didn’t have time to be triggered by dead parents — normally a topic which gets me crying at least once per book. I was so stressed I had to read this book in segments. What got me so stressed? What gets any of us stressed? Family relationships and difficult siblings. I can only say, thank God I’m reading this book now I have a good relationship with my siblings, because ten years ago I might have thrown my Kindle across the room!

I want to stress (ha - stress!) that this is not a criticism. This is a massive stonking compliment. Because we all know a haunted house story, and we all think we know what we want and what we’re going to get. And don’t get me wrong, Hendrix delivers on some proper creepy, Poltergeist-level scares. But those scares were all the more effective because I was so distracted by the strong character work, I wasn’t watching to see them coming.

How to Sell a Haunted House is about Louise and her brother Mark, two thirty-somethings whose parents have just died. They will need to put aside their childhood differences and work together to organise clearing and selling their parents’ house. Except they can’t put aside those differences. And something in the house seriously doesn’t want to be sold. All delivered with Hendrix’s trademark inky-black humour, and a strong dose of grief denial.

This is the perfect book for horror fans who think they know how the story goes, who want to be shaken down to their boots. It’s also a great introduction for people still getting used to the genre, to see how far anything and everything can be pushed.

How to Sell a Haunted House
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had very high hopes for this one as I have loved every Grady Hendrix book I’ve read previously, and it did not disappoint!

I found this book genuinely scary, like I didn’t want to read it right before bed because I was so creeped out 😅 I can handle regular haunted houses with ghosts, but PUPPETS?! Christ, I was sweating throughout.

I really liked the story behind the haunted house, and the history with the house and Mark and Louise’s mum’s dolls, puppets, and taxidermied squirrel nativity scenes? 😂 it was a really great concept with some amazing twists thrown in! About 100 pages before the end, the story seemed to wrap itself up and I was left thinking this could lead to a very slow and disappointing ending. But then there was a huge plot twist and I jumped right back into the action!!

I didn’t particularly warm to Louise or Mark, but I did enjoy their change in sibling relationship throughout the book, based around uncovering their traumas together.

There was a great amount of gore in this one, for my taste anyway! If you have a weak stomach, this may not be the book for you! There were some bits that made me wince! The plot was packed in with so much horror, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt the need to hide behind a cushion but also the compelling need to keep reading at the same time before!

I love a good haunted house story and honestly it’s been so long since I’ve read one that has creeped me out. Now, I will say, this didn’t creep me out, unfortunately. It wasn’t what I expected. It wasn’t the standard haunted house story. What it was, was weird, strange, surprising, and really quite thought provoking. I didn’t connect 100% with the characters, but I did like the fact that the storyline was completely out there and it not like anything I have ever read before. I always think Grady Hendrix books are something you need to try for yourself, to appreciate the weird.

Thank you to #netgalley and @titanbooks for giving me the opportunity to read this 🖤

How to Sell a Haunted House is essentially a story about loss and forgiveness. Buckle up because this one will put a needle through your eye to get your attention!

How to Sell a Haunted House is a loaded title, it grabs your attention, doesn’t it? That was certainly one aspect of me reading this story but also the cover, the synopsis, and the fact it was written by Grady freaking Hendrix! So many different things aligned to make this a book that wouldn’t stop burrowing its tendrils into your mind. I just knew going into this book that it was going to be complex and atmospheric. I had high expectations and still, Hendrix broke through them like the cool aidman!

Bear with me whilst I try to get my thoughts and feelings into order. I find the more book reviews I write the more difficult it is to convey just how I feel, especially when the book is just so damn good. The story is set mainly in South Carolina where the parents of Louise and Mark have perished in a car accident and they have to organise the funeral, get probate in order, clear their house of all their worldly possessions (including creepy as-hell puppets and dolls that belonged to their mother) and sell the family home. The novel sets the tone immediately. Louise leaves her precious five-year-old daughter in San Francisco with her father, Ian, and makes the heart-breaking journey. Her grief is profound even if it is tinged with all the wrongs her mum left unmentioned whilst alive.

Louise knows this is going to be a difficult time, alongside dealing with her parent’s death she needs to do this beside her brother, Mark. They haven’t seen eye to eye for a long time. She’s felt that she has had to work for everything whilst Mark gets handed everything on a silver platter. He screws up his life at every turn – blows his savings on stupid business ideas, drops out of college that he harassed their father to send him to, and can’t seem to hold down a relationship. They are just different people, he lives for drama, just like their mom.

Reading How to Sell a Haunted House felt like standing in a barren field in the pitch black. The ground underneath my feet is dry but I can feel the moisture bead on my face. The story felt real, I felt there at that moment. It sent a chill down my spine, something just didn’t feel right (apart from the puppets and death, of course.) My mind wandered from disliking Mark’s adolescent behaviour to feeling sorry for him as his story emerged. I had lots of questions, but would Hendrix deliver them in a way that left me satisfied?

If you have read any of Hendrix’s novels, you will come to recognise that narrative voice. It’s full of honesty, sometimes brutally so, full of heart, and also weaves an intense sense of atmosphere. The more I read, the more anxious I became. I’ve watched a few horror movies where the antagonist is an evil doll and to say it left me with agonising palpations and a t-shirt soaked in sweat is an understatement. So, this story gave me similar vibes. I got on my paper suit and fastened my seatbelt for what would no doubt be a scary hellish ride.

This book was absolutely wild. Like, literally bananas! I really loved the atmosphere, I was so creeped out I had to stop reading it in the evenings. I enjoyed the relationship between Louise and Mark, and seeing them open up and put their differences aside because of the craziness in their parents house. Wild, just bloody wild!

Creepy and filled with dark humour but with underlying themes of family, grief and kinship. An excellent entry to the world of horror for an inexperienced horror reader.

Smart, snarky, spooky horror from stalwart of the genre Grady Hendrix. If Janet Evanovich was writing with Stephen King it might read a little like this. Another must read title.

My first horror story by this author. All you need. Who isn’t silently terrified of dolls and puppets. A parents death a house to sell a dysfunctional family who must face the past. A slow start soon ramps up the tension to a emotional and heart stopping finale.
"Thank you NetGalley and (publisher, Titan) for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own”.

Most of Grady Hendrix’s books have me reading into the early hours of the morning. Thankfully this book gave me exactly what I love about his work; horror, drama and a tinge of comedy.

This book reminded me of Goosebump’s episode with the spooky puppet, but also a little of Joe Hill’s NOS4A2 with its childhood nostalgia and action. I loved the gore and creepiness, albeit it was sometimes cringy but I like that it didn’t take itself overly seriously.

I’ve kept the description of this book vague as I don’t want to give too much away, but I’d recommend reading this if you’re into (or scared by) haunted houses or creepy dolls.

(OK, so the Latin is probably wrong...)

More Grady Hendrix is a Good Thing - these books always represent thoughtful horror, alive to the tropes and conventions, indeed often rather slyly commenting on them, but going A LOT further than that.

In How to Sell a Haunted House, we are back in Charleston, when Louise, a designer living and working in California, is called home after the horrific deaths of her parents. Her no-use brother Mark, who she's always rather pitied and despised, has appointed himself to manage all the arrangements but Louise just KNOWS he wan't be able to cope. And that's before strange things start happening at the old family house...

How to Sell a Haunted House is a book that works on several different levels, much of the fun being how those levels interact and contradict.

At the most basic, there are issues between Louise and Mark. A death in the family is apt to expose family fractures: it can't but, because by definition, things and situations are left unresolved forever - and grief and fear of the future can be articulated as anger and regret. We certainly get that here. The book, written from Louise's perspective, dwells on her resentment that while she is the good girl, the hard working and practical one who has sacrificed, Mark has coasted through life, taking advantage of his parents - and now wants to sell their house as soon as he can and enjoy the money. Rather cleverly, Hendrix waits to let Mark have his say and give his side of things - so by then what we hear comes as rather a shock.

It's even more of a shock because at that stage, strange and scary events in the empty house (a house filled with home made puppets!) are in full swing. Mark's and Louise's understanding, and interpretations of what is going are different, reflecting their by then well established character differences, and so the emerging supernatural threat does not bring them together in solidarity. Rather, it drives them further apart. Both family discord and gathering horrors are very well done - no spoilers though! - and Hendrix consistently wrongfooted me about what was going to happen next. It's a very particular mix of implied threat and full on, physical horror. (CW: readers may want to be aware that we do see some rather gory events - be careful if you're squeamish).

So - family issues, Something Nasty in the Empty House - but there's more besides. There is, of course, a mystery to be solved before Louise and Mark will have any chance of sorting the problems, indeed of surviving at all. It seems their family isn't quite what they thought, and the presence of a large number of cousins and aunts obscures that more than casting light on it. Again, everyone has different, and skewed, points of view but these need to be brought together to find the answer. That was rather skilfully reflected in the number of times that I thought, ah, they've spoken to X, X will know what's up and how to fix it - but X never did (even if some of the scenes of failure are rather hilarious).

It's that social, cooperative angle that always makes me enjoy Hendrix's books - there may be objective, supernatural horror here but it's entwined with real, believable family dynamics and psychology. Nothing's going to be solved by waving a cross around or drawing a circle of protection. You have to go back to the roots of the thing, but how can that work when the people who really know about it have just died?

This is the perfect horror! I found it so creepy and unlocked some new fears…Grady Hendrix is so good at what they do. This was a really fast paced read and had me record page turning. Was looking forward to reading this for a while and it did not disappoint!

I’m not right after reading this story! I think I am actually traumatised and definitely won’t be able to sleep properly ever again! As a person with a phobia of dolls and puppets, this story absolutely got under my skin. I was truly left in bits thinking about the sound of the little feet running in the hallway.

Grady in this novel masterfully brings forth truly terrifying imagery (some elements might be upsetting for squeamish readers!). As much as I was left traumatised after reading it, I loved this story! Fast-paced, packed full of tension and nail-biting moments, Grady knows how to get under your skin. There’s moments of humour scattered throughout that helps relieve some of the tension, but just when you think things have relaxed, another horrifying element rears its ugly head. The senses get assaulted throughout!

This is a story about tumultuous brother/sister and parent/child relationships, family trauma and drama, and most importantly of all, grief. Grady weaves all of these elements into the story of a haunted house and it was a delight to read. I might not be able to forgive Grady for traumatising me beyond belief with the house’s occupants, but it’s a novel that will hit the spot for horror and supernatural fans alike!

A smart, terrifying and creepy read, How to Sell a Haunted House is out now. Thanks to Titan Books and NetGalley for the arc.