Book Review | How To Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

When Louise hears that her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to deal with her estranged brother, Mark, or the family home that’s stuffed with her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. But she needs Mark’s help to get the house ready for sale. The only problem is, some houses don’t want to be sold.

“I’ll come right out and say it,” Mercy told them. “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.”

How To Sell A Haunted House had me spinning! I spent pretty much the first half of the book annoyed at Louise and Mark’s childish behaviour, their inability to communicate, and the way they only think about themselves. But then something happens midway through. The dam breaks, everything’s out in the open, and we get to the heart of the problem. The family has secrets, yet no one talks about them. But just like with grief, no matter how you try to sweep it away, eventually it will catch up with you.

Making the antagonist in the form of a puppet could have easily gone wrong, but I thought the book executed it well. I loved it when the demented puppet Pupkin started going after the family and how his tiny body managed to turn their world upside down. There’s of course a reveal as to his origins, though his motivation isn’t entirely clear.

I’ve always found the humour in the author’s books can be a bit jarring. It’s no different here, where sometimes it feels out of place. Like something terrible happens to one of the characters and people still make jokes? It was hard for me to reconcile the tonal whiplash. In some ways, the book reminds me of Goosebumps – Slappy, anyone? – and that type of 90s horror that was cheesy, entertaining and neatly solved. This is why despite my issues with the story, the family-oriented resolution still feels cathartic and satisfying.

How To Sell A Haunted House is a horror-comedy that shows a depth between the humour. If you’re scared of dolls and puppets though, you might want to stay away!

About the author: Grady Hendrix

Photo by J Yeo