What I'm Reading: How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

 The November 2022 issue of Booklist I a double issue so I have 2 STAR reviews. Friday, I posted my All Hallows by Christopher Golden review and today I have my STAR review of the upcoming Grady Hendrix novel, How to Sell a Haunted House.

Before we settle in to talk specifics, in general, the book is terrifying, more so than most Hendrix novels. Obviously, for a Horror book this is a good thing, but seriously, be prepared for some of the most terrifying puppets [a clown puppet!] ever AND a heart-breakingly beautiful tale of generational trauma.

STAR

How to Sell a Haunted House
by Grady Hendrix
Jan. 2023. 432p. Berkley, $27 (9780593201268); e-book, $14.99 (9780593201282). 
First published November 1, 2022 (Booklist).

Perennial bestseller Hendrix is back, this time navigating the well worn haunted house trope, inserting fresh horrors into its pantheon, while also crafting an emotional and thought-provoking story about trauma and loss. Louise, a single mother, lives in California with her 5 year-old daughter Poppy, a continent away from her hometown, Charleston, SC. She has spent her life trying to keep as much distance, physically and emotionally, as possible from her family, especially her overly indulged brother, Mark. But when her parents die suddenly, Louise is forced to return home and reckon with the secrets that have been haunting their family for generations, secrets that not only may be responsible for her estrangement with Mark, but may also be actively trying to kill them. Organized into sections that refer to the stages of grief, readers follow Louise as she attempts to clean out her parents’ home, assessing hundreds of puppets and dolls that were her mom’s life’s work. The attic entrance is boarded up, the dolls appear to move on their own, and Pupkin**, the unsettling clown puppet, her mother’s favorite, seems to be at the center of it all. Hendrix wastes no time. By the end of Chapter 3, what started with unease begins to actively unearth the paralyzing terrors that will possess the reader, holding them captive for the duration. Closure will take more than Mark and Louise getting along long enough to sell the house, it will require them to truly understand one another before they can have any hope at making it through this ordeal alive.With strong connections to 21st Century classics such as A Head Full of Ghosts by Tremblay and Locke and Key by Hill and an appreciation for the Paperbacks From Hell he adores, Hendrix has set the high water mark for Horror in 2023.

Further Appeal: I cannot stress enough how good this book is. It may be Hendrix's best. Also, the people who say it has a slow start....I have no idea what they are talking about. Literally at the end of Chapter 3 things take a terrifying turn. 

Here are some of my notes: 

• It’s nice to read a book about Sibling relationships. 
• Strong warnings if you are freaked out by puppets, dolls, or even taxidermy.
• The signs are there that this is not a cut and dry situation
• this time he takes on the haunted house trope in original and terrifying fashion, but he also provides a thought provoking and emotional look at loss, 
• It’s going to be a haunted house story….how bad can it be….OMG I shouldn’t have thought that. Grady?!?!?!
• Another STRONG female protagonist.
• It’s not only a puppet– but a CLOWN puppet. And yet it is not over the top at all. Puppets are part of the family.
• Velveteen Rabbit as Horror novel- Grady, what did that book do to you? Imaginary friends/monsters come to life.
• This is the book where all his Paperback from Hell research pays off for all of us and I was there for it!
• It claims to be a haunted house story—- but it is so very much more. It’s about family secrets and trauma and siblings. Like My Best Friends Exorcism is a possession story but so much more Or Southern Book Club’s Guide is a Vampire story but so much more.
• Quote from the book: “A puppet is a possession that possesses the possessor.” This sums uo the entire book.
• When it all seems over THERE ARE STILL 100 PAGES!!!! And then it goes up ANOTHER NOTCH.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Terrifying, Family Trauma, Evil Puppets

Readalikes: The ones above taken together give you a sense the appeal. I also think The Grip of It by Jac Jemc or Nothing but Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw are both a good choice for those who want the same intense haunted house [with trauma background] feel. However, both have les action than Hendrix's title. For more haunted house options, click here. 
And of course, if you crave more creepy dolls, puppets, and/or clowns use the embedded links for more options. I for one and now good for a little while.