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A review by carriepond
How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Shortly after How to Sell a Haunted House opens, Louise finds out that her parents have died and she has to leave her daughter Poppy with her ex to fly across the country to attend her parents' funeral and get their affairs in order. Unfortunately for Louise, this means forced proximity to her brother, Mark, with whom she has a strained relationship (which we get much more detail on as the novel progresses) and Pupkin, one of her mother's many creepy puppets occupying her childhood home as the embittered brother-sister duo attempt to clean it out to get it ready to sell. Well, as it turns out, the puppets and dolls are more than creepy and the house is haunted, so buckle up, Mark and Louise-- not only do you have to deal with years of family baggage, but you also need to watch your backs (really, watch all your body parts!) because Pupkin is about to play, play, play! Kakawewe!
I love haunted house books, and this one has many of the things I love-- the tension building, the creepy occurrences that characters shrug off while the reader gets increasingly freaked, and the deeper meaning. Here, Hendrix used the haunted house vehicle to explore inherited trauma, family dysfunction, and grief. The horror parts reminded me of an adult version of R.L. Stine's Night of the Living Dummy, which I was totally into as a kid. And it made me laugh so many times at the absurdity. The pacing was a bit off for me and there were a few things about the how of the haunting that didn't come together for me completely, but I really identified as I watched Mark and Louise's dynamic play out and the frustration of the characters as they dealt with family secrets and family members unwilling to face the past head-on.
I had fun reading How to Sell a Haunted House, bottom line. It was stupid, but in a funny way that made me laugh fairly often. It was also a tense and sometimes gory haunted house story that explored themes that resonated with me.
I love haunted house books, and this one has many of the things I love-- the tension building, the creepy occurrences that characters shrug off while the reader gets increasingly freaked, and the deeper meaning. Here, Hendrix used the haunted house vehicle to explore inherited trauma, family dysfunction, and grief. The horror parts reminded me of an adult version of R.L. Stine's Night of the Living Dummy, which I was totally into as a kid. And it made me laugh so many times at the absurdity. The pacing was a bit off for me and there were a few things about the how of the haunting that didn't come together for me completely, but I really identified as I watched Mark and Louise's dynamic play out and the frustration of the characters as they dealt with family secrets and family members unwilling to face the past head-on.
I had fun reading How to Sell a Haunted House, bottom line. It was stupid, but in a funny way that made me laugh fairly often. It was also a tense and sometimes gory haunted house story that explored themes that resonated with me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Self harm and Fire/Fire injury