How to Sell a Haunted House
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3.8 • 392 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"Wildly entertaining."-The New York Times
"Ingenious."-The Washington Post
New York Times bestselling author 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…
Like his novels The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires and The Final Girl Support Group, How to Sell a Haunted House is classic Hendrix: equal parts heartfelt and terrifying—a gripping new read from “the horror master” (USA Today).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Grief, generational trauma, and some sinister puppets animate this wildly entertaining haunted house tale from bestseller Hendrix (Final Girl Support Group). Hyper-competent single mother Louise Joyner and her estranged layabout brother, Mark, come together in the wake of their parents' death, a reunion that consists largely of miscommunicating, airing simmering resentments, and bickering over their parents' estate. Their Charleston childhood home was left to Mark, but their mother's extensive puppet collection and whimsically creepy artworks went to Louise, meaning they'll have to work together to clear the house out before selling it. After chapters of weird vibes and possibly moving dolls, it's both refreshing and hilarious when the siblings get a realtor to the house and she frankly declares, "Your house is haunted and I'm not selling it until you deal with that." Mark accepts the haunting as fact immediately, while Louise refuses to believe in the supernatural, even when the evidence is right in front of her. Hendrix does a fantastic job shading the sibling relationship, making the love, pain, and fundamental misunderstandings between them clear even before their intense backstory is revealed. The blurring of the supernatural and the psychological, meanwhile, is an effective engine for both suspense and humor on the way to a bloody confrontation. This is a gem.
Customer Reviews
See AllTouching
3.5 rounding up, I don’t even know where to start with this one! Somehow this book was tender, funny, emotional and terrifying. A story of two siblings that couldn’t be more different coming together to sell their parents haunted house touching on grief and generational trauma. This novel brought total shock factor; I mean my jaw was on the floor with some of these chapters with audible gasps (chapters 25/26??? unreal). With all of that being said, I tend to be more critical of books that surpass 400 pages. There was a little bit of writing that felt like fluff and filler. I still loved this read and was super fun for the time of year when I picked it up (October)!
FAN FLIPPING TASTIC
I would give anything to experience this book the first time again!!! Well-developed characters, great twist before the ending, and good back story explanations to add to the plot.
Another great ramp up in spooky season.
Hendrix will be my October read for a while.
This one started on the slower side but then about 35% of the way in, it took a big turn and we were off on the crazy, dangerous brutal roller coaster that is a Grady Hendrix thriller. Thank goodness.