How to Sell a Haunted House | 
pickSuper unsettling and actually difficult to listen to in parts (this was an audiobook with excellent narration). The characters behave in ways that are so reprehensible I actually yelled in anger, but nothing in the story is what it seems at first—it‘s not cheap tricks though, just layers being peeled back. I could guess the mystery but that didn‘t make the story any less engrossing.
pickThe kind of horror I can cope with! This was at times just a bit bonkers but I actually really enjoyed the story of the adult siblings regrouping to sell their parents house and unearthing generational trauma along the way. A blame it on Litsy from when it was first published I finally picked up on my indie bookshop crawl at the end of last year
pickTypical Hendrix weirdness. Horror, but not too scary. (Unless of course you have a puppet/doll phobia. If so, this one will do you in.) A wacky, entertaining, spooky book.
pick4 Stars • "How to Sell a Haunted House" by Grady Hendrix follows siblings Louise and Mark as they try to sell their late parents‘ home, only to face supernatural chaos from a sinister puppet, Pupkin, and their family‘s dark secrets. Released in January 2023, it‘s a horror-comedy mix of grief, rivalry, and spooky absurdity.
#HowToSellAHauntedHouse #GradyHendrix #Bookish
pickNumber 1: my top book of the year. As an adult with a teddy this was so much fun to read. Horrifying to its core, the scene with the masks lives with me. If you know, you know.
10/10 would have Pupkin in my house, even after all that.
#12booksof2024
Book Outlet had a sale recently and I maybe bought a few books 🤷 Which should I read first?
so-soThere‘s sensitivity to this story about siblings who deal with the death of their parents, but it is bogged down in crazy puppets playing havoc with their lives. For the first couple hundred pages Pupkin was terrifying. Then the book became more zany than scary. Not a bad Spooky Season read, but a book I would pass on at other times of the season.
What a great time I had playing #HauntedShelf with #BlackCatCrew and @BookwormAHN 🐈⬛ A big thanks to @PuddleJumper for hosting! 🎃 Totals 👇🏽
Recs 9
Scavenger hunts 7
Chain 1
Word search 3
Spooky TBR reads 5
General posts 3 + TBR post
Hours read audio 49
Hours read kindle at least 15.5 (didn't always time it 😞)
Total: 1403 pts 🎃🐈⬛
Another halloween read 🎃🎧📖
#howtosellahauntedhouse #garyhendrix #goodreads #goodreadsreadingchallenge
pickThis was scary! Funny and charming but possessed dolls, puppets, even a clown or two! Read and enjoy, but know the risks :) Perfect Halloween season read! #BookspinBingo #Doublespin @TheAromaofBooks
I was surprised by one of my Book Besties with my #AllHallowsReadSwap on our weekend Book Retreat. Just what the soul needed, I highly recommend 👻💛🎃. THANK YOU @ShelleyBooksie I can‘t FREAKIN wait!! @MaleficentBookDragon I appreciate all of your hard work on this swap! Happy Spooky Season to all💀#AHRS
pickB this one was way too close to home. When my grandpa died, Emily chased me down the driveway with a fucking puppet she found in his house.
so-soThe title felt like a bait and switch, which was a letdown. It wasn't so much of a haunted house story (Hill House/The Woman in Black) but more of a possessed doll story (Chucky/Annabelle/Robert the Doll), with a hint of generational trauma and healing themes.
The main characters bickered like children for a lot of the book which also irritated me. At first, I only found one of them insufferable but quickly the other joined into that category.
pickThis was such a fun ride, with thrills and twists that were both unexpected and WAY out there. Puppets have never been scarier 😳 A great Spooktober read!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew @BookwormAHN 46 pts for this spooky TBR read.
My #HauntedHollowSwap is hereeeeeee 😆👻 @BookishMadHatter I‘m vibrating 🫨 I have ZERO chill haha! I‘m so excited to see what you picked, thank you so much. HAPPY HALLOWEEN 🎃 #HHS24
@wanderinglynn THANK YOU for organizing 🕸️
Kiddo is napping... time for some seasonal #audiobaking. Pumpkin Banana Bread 🎃🍌🍞
Listening to tagged book from my #HauntedShelf TBR #BlackCatCrew @BookwormAHN 1 pt
What am I listening to?! This book is WILD. I'm hooked 😆😅
pickYeah I completely blew through this one! In order to sum up my feelings, I‘ll make a few points:
1) If I see a puppet in the near future, I will punch it.
2) The narrator‘s Pupkin voice made me want to turn inside out.
3) I actually LOL‘d at times, despite having a constant case of the shivers while listening.
4) IMO this is Hendrix at his best.
🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃
And with that, the Spooktober pile is done. Now I‘m gonna read a romance.
The last spooky book on my planned Spooktober pile! Doing this one on Audible.💀🎃👻
🍁 cooling down after a 🔥 summer.
🍁 Something creepy or scary. Last year's choice was How to Sell a Haunted House.
🍁 Homemade pumpkin pie.
#WonderousWednesday
@Eggs
#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew
@BookwormAHN
My Spooktober TBR 🎃👻🎃 25 pts
FYI, I'm reading The Haunting for my online book club next month. If anyone wants to join, here's the link 👇🏽
https://links.fable.co/gkB2cMxgDCb 🤗
My TBR for October and the #hauntedshelf team #flerken @PuddleJumper and #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks
My July #BookspinBingo list! Pictured with the first 2 days of my #ala24 conference #bookhaul Ingot to hear the author speak and he was so smart, funny, and thoughtful!
so-soMark and Louise‘s parents suddenly die and what‘s left behind is the epitomy of horror stories..puppets….lots of puppets and dolls. Once Louise returns home to help sell the house, strange things start to happen! This book was weird at points and one part I completely skimmed. This book was low pick for me. It was more about family dynamics with a little bit of horror thrown in that just didn‘t reel me in as I was hoping.
1. It‘s not springtime without amazing thunderstorms (and, unfortunately, STAAR testing 😫).
2. The tagged book is both spooky and funny!
3. My plans for May include boxing up my office and mentally preparing myself for whatever job I get next. My district cut over 50 librarians and I was among them. Two years was not long enough in my dream job! 😢
#Wondrous Wednesday
I‘m late but here I am!! 😁
1. I really enjoyed the tagged book—lots of creepy things but lots of humor, as well.
2. I‘m trying to decide between Fourth Wing and Demon Copperhead. 🤔
Thanks for the tag, @TheSpineView !
#Two4Tuesday
pickEstranged siblings Louise and Mark suddenly find themselves back at their childhood home after both of their parents die in a car accident after leaving in a hurry one rainy night. Almost suddenly after returning, Louise begins to have odd events happen to her. Being attacked by a squirrel nativity is one of them. After a fight with her brother, the pair call on their realtor cousin to help them sell the house…
Read more at: FictionLux
pickDespite this being a horror novel, this was quite wholesome. I‘d argue it‘s Hendrix‘s most accessible novel to horror-averse people yet. There‘s only a handful of scenes that are remotely “gory” (generous)…unless you‘re afraid of puppets. In that case, avoid this.😅 Overall, it‘s a well done commentary on family dysfunction and grief.
so-soI can describe this book in one word… CREEPY!! A house haunted by puppets and dolls? Hell, no!! I‘ve always been a huge horror buff. Parts of this book were very good, and parts seemed a little “hoakie”. I enjoy this author‘s witty writing style, but I definitely enjoyed “The southern book clubs guide to slaying vampires” more. I hear it‘s being made into a tv series, which I look forward to watching.
Requisite eclipse pic 🌙🌖🫣
pickFinally finished this audiobook!! It was spooky and creepy and intense and heartbreaking and overall the best Grady Hendrix I‘ve read yet!! Absolutely recommend!!!
My Library Card expired so went in person to get a new one…featuring Jay-Z‘s album art. Brooklyn Public Library did a huge installation with him a few months back. 🔥
pickHaunted. Dolls.
pickI mean, it‘s whackadoodle, sure, but I also had a lot of fun with this story of an estranged brother and sister who are tasked with cleaning out and selling their parents‘ house after their sudden deaths. It‘s often laugh-out-loud funny, squirm inducing and also surprisingly poignant, but the puppet-adverse should beware.
so-soThis was such a tough one. At times I struggled with “when does the horror kick in?” and even with some surprises, it still felt predictable. Not what I expected, rounding this up to 3 ⭐️
pickI haven‘t been active on here in a while but I‘m still around! It‘s been slow going lately but I‘m doing my best to keep my pace with my reading goal.
pickI think this might be my favorite Hendrix that I have read so far. It did start a bit slow, which was made worse because I mostly read this one at the gym. Then so much was happening. I can‘t imagine the faces I made while reading on the treadmill. Today I sat in the parking lot to finish it before I went to the grocery store. Definite pick! #Bookspin #OneGiftedToMe
pickA young mom confronts her grief over the loss of her parents, family secrets, & creepy AF dolls & puppets. Seriously scary with interesting thoughts on grief & family sprinkled in between battles with the Puppet From Hell! 5 stars. #horror #familysynamics
I truly can‘t decide if I should read The Velveteen Rabbit now or run in fear. I‘m pretty sure I read it and/or saw the cartoon as a child and don‘t remember feeling like this.
The tagged is my #Bookspin for January, one gifted to me. 🙂
Just finished this one. As a doll collector I thought this would be my jam but the campy nature didn‘t do it for me. Amazingly talented writer and I‘ll definitely try his other work. #horrorlit #horror
My husband nailed it with the books he gave me for Christmas this year! Especially grateful for “How to sell…” and excited to start reading it tomorrow! #bookishgifts #tbr
pickIt was a bit slow in the set up, which was about the first half of the book, but it really picked up over that night Louise spent in the house. Then, there was a twist! What would Louise do now!? I really liked it. Be warned, there are gruesome parts, though. There was a bit of humour, but not as much as I was expecting
