How to Sell a Haunted House – Book Review

Grady Hendrix takes on the haunted house in a thrilling new novel that explores the way your past—and your family—can haunt you like nothing else.

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…

This is the second book I have read of Grady Hendrik. I have to say this book is slightly better than the book I read, The Final Girl Group Support, which is a horror/slasher book.

Louise and Mark had been estranged as siblings. Then all of a sudden, their parents died in a car accident. Louise flies in from San Francisco to Charlotte. All she wanted is to sell the house and share the funds with her brother and then get on with her life. But the house seem to be having other plans for both Louise and Marc. Their creepy puppet, Pupkin, a puppet that their mother adored does not want the siblings to sell the house and both Louise and Marc believe that Pupkin is possessed and that there is a dark entity hiding in the house.

Honestly if you have watched Child’s Play horror movie, or even Annabelle, then this book will definitely remind you of those movies. A possessed doll with an urge to kill people is the main theme of the story here. However, personally, I hate puppets (I find them creepy as well) and reading this book kind of gave me a whole horror movie vibes as well. The squirrel attack on Louise, sawing off Marc’s arms (which is gory in detail) and many futile attempts to get rid of Pupkin somewhat scared but at the same time, it was kind of funny as well. However, I found myself dwell deep into the story.

Initially I found Louise character annoying but soon she grew into me. I also like how the broken and estranged relationship between Louise and Marc was repaired as the siblings battle together to find answers to why Pupkin was haunted as well as Pupkin’s connection to their childhood house.

If you like watching horror movies Child’s Play, maybe you can try this book out. A perfect read for this spooky season! Worth 3.5 stars!