This was my first book by Grady Hendrix, and I really didn’t know what to expect. Well, that’s not entirely true. Based on the title, I expected a haunted house. You know, ghosts, strange noises, maybe a few unexplained things happening around the house.
And when I first started reading, I thought I had a pretty good idea of where the story was going.
I was so wrong.
Puppets. Of all things, puppets!
Now, I’m not a fan of puppets to begin with, so this was definitely an interesting introduction to Grady Hendrix. But despite some moments that felt completely over the top, I really enjoyed his writing and the story he told.
About the Book
Amazon Summary:
When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world.
Most of all, she doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success. Unfortunately, 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.
But some houses don’t want to be sold, and their home has other plans for both of them…
My Thoughts
I have such mixed feelings about the puppets in this book.
Were they creepy? Absolutely.
Were they ridiculous? Also absolutely.
Pupkin, in particular, was something else. I couldn’t decide whether I was supposed to be terrified or wondering how on earth things had gotten so out of hand.
And honestly, sometimes I felt both.
I don’t particularly like puppets anyway, so that probably didn’t help. There were moments when the whole thing felt a little too over the top for me. But I didn’t hate it. I didn’t even dislike it.
In fact, I really enjoyed the book.
One of the things I appreciated most was the character development. At first, I just knew Mark was going to be trouble. He frustrated me, and I didn’t have a particularly good opinion of him.
But as the story progressed and I learned more about his experiences, I started to understand him better.
That doesn’t mean I agreed with everything he did, but he became a much more complicated character than I initially expected.
And really, the entire family was complicated.
Nobody wanted to talk about anything difficult. Death, family problems, painful memories. If something was uncomfortable, it seemed easier to hide it, avoid it, or pretend it wasn’t happening.
Of course, that doesn’t exactly make problems disappear.
I also really liked Louise, even though she had her own issues. Everything she did came from wanting to protect her daughter, Poppy, and I could appreciate that.
But Louise also needed to be in control. She wanted things handled her way, and she wasn’t always willing to consider that someone else might see things differently.
Her relationship with her mother was another part of the story I found interesting. I especially liked learning about the history between her mother and grandmother, and how the death of her uncle Freddy affected their family.
There were so many things that had been left unsaid for years.
And I think that’s what made the family side of the story just as interesting as the horror.
I also loved how wrong my original assumptions were.
I went into this expecting a fairly traditional haunted house story. Once Louise’s parents died, I even started wondering whether they might be the ones haunting the house.
Nope.
Puppets.
I really can’t get past the puppets!
But that’s also part of what made the book memorable. It went in a direction I never would have guessed, and I appreciate a story that can surprise me.
As for the ending, I loved it. After everything Louise and Mark went through, I was happy with how the story wrapped up.
Final Thoughts
How to Sell a Haunted House was definitely not the book I thought I was picking up.
It was creepy, strange, sometimes ridiculous, and filled with family drama. But it also had some great character development, complicated relationships, and a story that kept me interested.
I enjoyed the family drama just as much as the horror, which surprised me a little considering I originally picked it up for a haunted house story.
And even though the puppets were a bit much for me, I really enjoyed Grady Hendrix’s writing.
Would I read another one of his books?
Absolutely!
I’m curious to see what else he comes up with.
Although maybe next time, we could leave the puppets out of it.