How to Sell a Haunted House
- Downloads：2257
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2023-01-21 21:21:37
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Grady Hendrix
- ISBN：B09JVY9QZ3
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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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。
Mostly， 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。 But 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。
Some houses don’t want to be sold， and their home has other plans for both of them…
Mostly， 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。 But 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。
Some houses don’t want to be sold， and their home has other plans for both of them…
Reviews
Jenna
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4。5what a grand old time that was！ this is my first Grady Hendrix book。 （I know， Im behind）。 I was just SO creeped out the whole time; a sure fire way to give me the heeby jeebies is to include dolls/puppet/marionettes。
Vivienne
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“I’ll come right out and say it，… Strange noises， bad vibes， your mom and dad recently passed - Your house is haunted and I’m not selling it until you deal with that。” My thanks to Titan Books for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘How to Sell a Haunted House’ by Grady Hendrix。The title is pretty descriptive of this novel’s premise as he combines family drama and supernatural horror with dark comedy。 Louise receives a call from Mark， her estranged brother， matter of factly advising her that their parents “I’ll come right out and say it，… Strange noises， bad vibes， your mom and dad recently passed - Your house is haunted and I’m not selling it until you deal with that。” My thanks to Titan Books for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘How to Sell a Haunted House’ by Grady Hendrix。The title is pretty descriptive of this novel’s premise as he combines family drama and supernatural horror with dark comedy。 Louise receives a call from Mark， her estranged brother， matter of factly advising her that their parents have died in a car accident。 While she is not keen on dealing with the funeral arrangements and estate， she leaves her five-year-old daughter， Poppy， with her ex and flies to Charleston。 It’s clear that the siblings have a lot of history and as soon as Louise arrives at the family home she and Mark are fighting。 Add to this the house is stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls。 They need to cooperate to clear it out in order to place it on the market。 Yet the house isn’t keen on being sold and has other plans for them。 No further details to avoid spoilers。While dysfunctional relationships are standard for family dramas and psychological thrillers， when you add in a sinister house filled with creepy dolls and even creepier puppets， we quickly enter horror territory。This novel is quite a slow burn with an emphasis upon character development over excessive jump scares。 Still there’s plenty of frights as the story progresses to quite a fever pitch。 I will admit that I found elements of the story very frightening。 While I can cope fine with haunted houses and ghosts， I find old dolls and puppets especially chilling just on their own。 That Pupkin， the lead puppet， has a clown face - well that had me in a quivering puddle。 Overall， ‘How to Sell a Haunted House’ proved an effective horror novel infused with just enough humour that allowed some respite from the scary bits。 I always feel that it’s quite difficult to balance humour and horror though Grady Hendrix has clearly mastered it。 。。。more
Amanda Bales
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I loved this book。 In general， I think what appeals to me about any of GH's books， is that they're comfortably familiar with the chosen horror tropes， but have just enough humor （and sometimes a little plot twist） to keep it a little unpredictable。 This story had notes of Chucky mixed with Poltergeist and I didn't see the twist coming （but maybe I'm just stupid）。 I rank this as my third favorite GH book， tied with The Final Girl Support Group: I enjoyed them equally， but they're totally differen I loved this book。 In general， I think what appeals to me about any of GH's books， is that they're comfortably familiar with the chosen horror tropes， but have just enough humor （and sometimes a little plot twist） to keep it a little unpredictable。 This story had notes of Chucky mixed with Poltergeist and I didn't see the twist coming （but maybe I'm just stupid）。 I rank this as my third favorite GH book， tied with The Final Girl Support Group: I enjoyed them equally， but they're totally different tropes， so sometimes they vie for the top spot。 。。。more
Joy Barton
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I love this author and pre-ordered this new release。 I would recommend it。 It's ridiculous， entertaining and just a wild break from reality。 I love this author and pre-ordered this new release。 I would recommend it。 It's ridiculous， entertaining and just a wild break from reality。 。。。more
Krista Hajjar-Nejad
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Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Pub for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review！Ok， so this is my very first book by Grady Hendrix and I’m not sure what I just read！！I was impressed with the sarcasm and humor throughout this horror book。 The family dynamic between Louise and her parents and her non-existent relationship with her brother， Mark was strange and surprisingly made me love the book even more。 I did enjoy how Louise and Mark’s relationship developed over the course of the book。 Ther Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Pub for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review！Ok， so this is my very first book by Grady Hendrix and I’m not sure what I just read！！I was impressed with the sarcasm and humor throughout this horror book。 The family dynamic between Louise and her parents and her non-existent relationship with her brother， Mark was strange and surprisingly made me love the book even more。 I did enjoy how Louise and Mark’s relationship developed over the course of the book。 There’s definitely some *weird* gory parts in the second half of the book。Some of my favorite quotes…“This is where we grew up。 It’s not The Shining。” “It’s Shining-adjacent，” Mark said in the gloom。”“Louise started to giggle。 She couldn’t help it。 This nice， clean restaurant， everyone acting normal， Mark acting normal， but a puppet had tried to kill her and she wasn’t normal anymore。 She laughed harder。”Highly suggest reading if you enjoy books about:• Haunted Houses• Creepy dolls and/or puppets• Creepy humor• Horror with some gore 。。。more
Rebecca White
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Holy Kakawewe。This book was absolutely batshit crazy。 Dolls， puppets， anything of the like have always freaked me out ever since I was little。 Growing up with movies like Puppet Master and Child's Play will do that to you。 Hendrix played into every single childhood fear surrounding these inanimate objects。 Anyone who grew up questioning if their toys came to life after watching Toy Story will love and devour this book like I did。 Or perhaps you have your own dysfunctional family and can relate t Holy Kakawewe。This book was absolutely batshit crazy。 Dolls， puppets， anything of the like have always freaked me out ever since I was little。 Growing up with movies like Puppet Master and Child's Play will do that to you。 Hendrix played into every single childhood fear surrounding these inanimate objects。 Anyone who grew up questioning if their toys came to life after watching Toy Story will love and devour this book like I did。 Or perhaps you have your own dysfunctional family and can relate to the book from that aspect。 I thought what was "going on" was easy to figure out but it didn't take away from the creepiness of the story line。 I laughed a lot， I was horrified and tense， I even cried towards the end。 Get your hands on this one！ 。。。more
sarah ღ
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DNF for me。I don't know if it was just the audiobook narrators， but there was far too much "she said"， "he said" at the ends of sentences。 It took me out of the story entirely。 I feel like it's written for a 12-year-old with the complete lack of anything other than said， asked， responded at the ends of sentences instead of any other word。Maybe if I had read the physical book I may have liked it more， but after looking at spoilers for the trope， this wouldn't have been my thing anyway。 DNF for me。I don't know if it was just the audiobook narrators， but there was far too much "she said"， "he said" at the ends of sentences。 It took me out of the story entirely。 I feel like it's written for a 12-year-old with the complete lack of anything other than said， asked， responded at the ends of sentences instead of any other word。Maybe if I had read the physical book I may have liked it more， but after looking at spoilers for the trope， this wouldn't have been my thing anyway。 。。。more
Madeleine
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This is his best book yet。 The story was amazing and the characters were so well written。 I felt genuine fear while reading all the way up to the end。
Jordyn
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3。5
Jennifer Upright
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This book will definitely take a minute to read if you’re like me and have an over-reacting imagination。 With that being said， this books was excellent。 Great character development and handling death， even in the most scary way。 As a fan of Grady Hendrix， his books always has a small since of humor， and this was one of his best。 Can’t wait to see what he comes up with next！
Sarah
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Trigger Warning - child harm。I stayed up late to finish cause I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep anyways。 Just wow Trigger Warning - child harm。I stayed up late to finish cause I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep anyways。 Just wow 。。。more
Sara
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Creepy AF。 Couldn't put it down。 Twisty and turny。 I actually felt like some of the "action" scenes got a little long and some of the backstory was a bit too drawn out， probably could have been 50 less pages and even better。 Creepy AF。 Couldn't put it down。 Twisty and turny。 I actually felt like some of the "action" scenes got a little long and some of the backstory was a bit too drawn out， probably could have been 50 less pages and even better。 。。。more
Kim
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DNF。 I just couldn’t do it。 I hated every person， and this isn’t a haunted house story。 It is a doll nightmare that could be resolved by burning the house。
Rachel Dalton
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4-4。5⭐️， review pending
Anyone & Nobody
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2，5Too long for a story like this。
Aurélie
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DNF 30%
Sarah Hoov
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Is there anything better then a good Grady Hendrix book？ This book was a blast for me。 Im not giving anything away。 I liked that I didnt know anything about the story at all before I read it not even the summary。 Just obviously its about selling a haunted house。 I liked the surprise， mystery and layers that come with this story even though some of the layers were down right weird and bizarre。 Even made me wonder if it was gonna get good in the first part， but once the creepiness starts it just g Is there anything better then a good Grady Hendrix book？ This book was a blast for me。 Im not giving anything away。 I liked that I didnt know anything about the story at all before I read it not even the summary。 Just obviously its about selling a haunted house。 I liked the surprise， mystery and layers that come with this story even though some of the layers were down right weird and bizarre。 Even made me wonder if it was gonna get good in the first part， but once the creepiness starts it just gets better and better。 read it but 🤫 dont give anything away。 。。。more
Bridget
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it was interesting but more crazy and ridiculous than actually scary， like spoof horror， the scary movie version of chucky
Shweta
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An estranged sibling duo traumatized by a past each remembers differently。 Grief from the loss of loved ones。 Family secrets that surface with vengeance。 A haunted house full of malevolent entities。 This book packs it all and how！I have a thing for dysfunctional families （ maybe because I come from one ）。 Add to that a dysfunctional family have to deal with paranormal forces WHILE grieving？ It was too much for me to resist。 But obviously I was going to read Hendrix's How to Sell a Haunted House， An estranged sibling duo traumatized by a past each remembers differently。 Grief from the loss of loved ones。 Family secrets that surface with vengeance。 A haunted house full of malevolent entities。 This book packs it all and how！I have a thing for dysfunctional families （ maybe because I come from one ）。 Add to that a dysfunctional family have to deal with paranormal forces WHILE grieving？ It was too much for me to resist。 But obviously I was going to read Hendrix's How to Sell a Haunted House， despite being disappointed by Horrorstor and The Final Girl Support Group。 I am happy to say that the book delivered on all counts and then some。 The blurb more or less tells you what the book is about without giving much away， so I won't get into the story。 What I will talk about， however， is what worked for me。 Which is characterisation and slow build-up of suspense which descends into utter chaos in the final act。 If you are going in this book expecting page-turning action and jump scares， you might be a little disappointed。 Hendrix takes his time laying bare just how f*cked up some families are and that not all siblings are bonded till death do them part。 And this， in my opinion， is why the book shines。 Louise and Mark （ les siblings ） did not have a good childhood。 They had different equations with their parents and each grew up resenting the other （ or thinking the other hated them ） 。 When we first meet them， they are unlikeable。 They are not the kind of people you root for in a horror story。 But Hendrix has a couple of tricks up his sleeve and you are surprised at how soon annoyance turns to empathy。 I was very invested in their stories and wanted to know why they were such messed up adults。 If you're familiar as with movies like Child's Play， Dead Silence， and the Annabelle series as I am， you will see the final reveal coming more than a mile away （ like I did ）。 Yet， there's something very satisfying about being proven right。 Hendrix's writing is smooth。 The book is sometimes funny oft times thought-provoking。 The characters are well-sketched and to be honest， relatable。 The horror， campy and very Goosebumps but for adults type。 Given all of this， I can now， officially， say that this book is my second favourite of all the books Hendrix has written （ the first place will always， always belong to My Best Friend's Exorcism。 Periodt ） Mr Hendrix， if you are reading this review， please know that you have an ardent fan in me and would you please write about killer mermaids next？ Thank you muchly。 。。。more
Michaela
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Crazy， spooky， fantastic
JohnMichael
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Right amount of CreepyI'm not often creeped out by books， but once the room full of dolls made an appearance， I knew this was going to unsettle me。 It was the perfect amount of creepy， and an engaging story as well。 I knocked it out in three days because I couldn't put it down。 As much as I loved The Final Girls Support Group， I enjoyed this even more。 Right amount of CreepyI'm not often creeped out by books， but once the room full of dolls made an appearance， I knew this was going to unsettle me。 It was the perfect amount of creepy， and an engaging story as well。 I knocked it out in three days because I couldn't put it down。 As much as I loved The Final Girls Support Group， I enjoyed this even more。 。。。more
Penelope
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Something in Louise and Mark's childhood home is not what it seems。 Is it the strange noises in the attic？ The mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of their parents？ Or is it the creepy puppets who seem to have minds of their own？ A presence is standing in the way of the estranged siblings selling the house -- a presence with seemingly evil intentions。The title "How to Sell a Haunted House" feels misleading for this newest release from Grady Hendrix。 There are many interconnected story Something in Louise and Mark's childhood home is not what it seems。 Is it the strange noises in the attic？ The mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of their parents？ Or is it the creepy puppets who seem to have minds of their own？ A presence is standing in the way of the estranged siblings selling the house -- a presence with seemingly evil intentions。The title "How to Sell a Haunted House" feels misleading for this newest release from Grady Hendrix。 There are many interconnected storylines about grief， dysfunctional families， sibling rivalry， lost childhoods， and the power of repressed emotions and regrets。 "How to Sell a Haunted House" is a slow burn， and my one complaint is that sometimes the different plot lines pulled so far away from each other that it was somewhat jarring to return to a previous place in the story。 Long flashback passages helped with context and exposition but seemed almost too separate from the main narrative。 I appreciated the authentic exploration of the generational damage family secrets can cause and the evolving sibling dynamics built through dialogue。 It has a campy， creepy feel from start to finish - and Hendrix proves he is a master of paranormal storytelling。Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group， Peguin Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC。 。。。more
StarMarie2529
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Grady Hendrix is my favorite horror author。 I love everything he has written。 This book was no different。 However it was lacking in a couple spots。 I enjoyed it but I wish the haunting had been longer and we had gotten to enjoy being scared more。 Despite this I definitely recommend this book！
John Klasen
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What an absolute ride！ The death of her parents in an auto accident forces Louise， a thirty-something divorced mother， to return to her childhood home after more than a 20 year absence。 Soon embroiled in family drama with her estranged brother and emptying the house in preparation for the sale， Louise soon realizes that the old homestead isn't nearly as empty as she first suspects。 What an absolute ride！ The death of her parents in an auto accident forces Louise， a thirty-something divorced mother， to return to her childhood home after more than a 20 year absence。 Soon embroiled in family drama with her estranged brother and emptying the house in preparation for the sale， Louise soon realizes that the old homestead isn't nearly as empty as she first suspects。 。。。more
Sydney
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Way too long and cyclical。 I audibly sighed when I got to page 306 and realized what I was about to have to endure as a reader。 It was filled， I mean chocked full， of senseless and irrelevant fat-phobia。 Why？ Gets a 2 for atmosphere alone。 This is a novella masquerading as a 400-page book。
Alexandra chandanais
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4。5 stars！ I loved this so much。 Definitely creeped me out， and had a beautiful theme/message。
Caitlin
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After a very slow start this definitely gets weird and then absolutely insane。 It was quite the ride once things started to pick up。 I had absolutely zero clue this book was going to go the direction it did。 Whoa。
Dilvy Santamaría
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I couldn't start this book fast enough and I really enjoyed it。 Grady Hendrix hasn't disappointed me so far。 I couldn't start this book fast enough and I really enjoyed it。 Grady Hendrix hasn't disappointed me so far。 。。。more
Christa
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Perfect。 Just perfect。
Anita
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