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Sunday, May 14, 2023

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

 "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."
 

The plot in brief:  Louise and her brother, Mark, don't get along. They haven't even spoken in years. But when their parents die, Louise flies back home to Charleston to help with the funeral. Only it's not just Mark she has to deal with, or getting their childhood home ready to sell, it's also the haunting memories from her past that she's been repressing. Oh, and all of her mother's dolls and puppets...the ones that always seem to be watching...and waiting. 

My thoughts:  I struggled with this one...partly because of my mood and mental state, and the fact that I've been running tired and stressed lately. It's been hard to enjoy any book that's not super light or fluffy. And this book is neither. But I thought the premise of this one sounded ghostly and fun...and I like the way Hendrix writes. Usually. 

Only I found it difficult to connect with the main characters in this one; Louise and Mark are both pretty unlikable at the beginning, though by the end I did like them a little more. And for a horror story, I thought the book's pacing was pretty slow. All the internal dialogue and flashbacks made it drag, especially at the start, although it does pick up about halfway through. And the ending does have some good moments of suspense. Then there's Pupkin, their mom's favorite puppet; he was truly creepy! So there are good things about this one. I just didn't love it as much as I hoped I would. But maybe you will.

Happy Reading!

The Hendrix novel I loved:













This one is fabulous!

45 comments:

  1. Sounds like maybe you might have enjoyed this one more at a different time. Right book, wrong time? It does sound super creepy, even with the slow pace.

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    1. It definitely wasn't the right book for me right now. But that's how reading goes sometimes. :D

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  2. This does sound fun, so I'm sorry you struggled with it. I'm glad you still found some things to like. Dolls and puppets can be very creepy!

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    1. Dolls and puppets always creep me out...especially in scary movies!

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  3. I don't like too spooky a book or movie so I can see how you could react to this book. Hope you find something light and fluffy for a good mood read.

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    1. Thanks. Fingers crossed my next reads are better. :D

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  4. I would probably try Support group, that one sounds more fun :)

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    1. I really liked The Final Girl Support Group! (Horrostor was pretty fun, too.)

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  5. I struggled with this one as well! Puppets scare the living daylights out of me, so that creeped me out, but not as much as I thought it would. The story was slow and didn't care for the flashbacks or the characters. Sorry to hear you're tired and stressed, Lark! That can definitely affect your reading enjoyment, but I don't think that was the major issue here. I hope you get some rest and read something that brings you joy! :)

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    1. I'm kind of glad to hear that you struggled with this one, and that you found it slow, too, means it's not just me! ;D

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  6. I think I recall you speaking highly of The Final Girl Support Group. Too bad this time Hendrix couldn't match up. I'm guessing you've already read all of Simone St. James's work, otherwise that might have been ghostly fun you wanted to read.

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    1. I do love Simone St. James's novels! They're a lot of fun. And I think I would have liked this one better if I'd been in a better reading frame of mind.

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  7. Hmm, sorry to hear this one didn't work as well I you'd hoped. I still need to read it! My favorite Hendrix remains Horrorstor, but I've enjoyed them all so far.

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    1. Horrorstor was a great book. I really liked that one, too. :D

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  8. Sorry to hear you weren't in the right frame of mind for this. I hope once school finishes you'll be able to relax a bit more. I don't think this book is for me, the title led me to think it must be lighter.

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    1. I would have liked it more if it had been funnier...a little more humor would have helped a lot.

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  9. One's mental condition affects one's reading experience, I believe. It happens to me quite often. Light and 'fluffy' books are my safety net at times like that. Hopefully you'll get better soon. Happy reading to you, too! ;)

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    1. Luckily there are plenty of light and fluffy reads around right now. If those don't work, I'll switch to nonfiction, because sometimes I can enjoy that when I can't seem to get into any novels.

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  10. Hi Lark, sorry you didn't like this one and I know what you mean. Our mood has to be in the right place for a book. Sometimes we want Gothic but other times we need something lighter. I read a bit of Grady Hendrix's The Southern Book Club's Guide to Vampire slaying to know he's very funny. There are some really talented people writing horror these days, Darcy Coates and Simone St James to name two.

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    1. I do like both Darcy Coates and Simone St. James. I've read and loved several of their ghost stories. I still need to read The Southern Book Club's Guide to Vampire Slaying...but I think I'm going to need to be in the right mood for that one, too. :D

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  11. Sorry to hear this one wasn't great for you.

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    1. I just think I wasn't in the right mood for this one. Although if it had read a little faster...

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  12. I think I'll skip this for now and give The Final Girls Support Group a try. I've had my eye on this one because the premise sounded really fun but I'll make sure I'm in the right mood for it. That can definitely impact reading experience. I hope you're feeling better and having happier reading!

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    1. I definitely think The Final Girls Support Group is the better book, but there were things I did like about this one, so you might like it a lot more than I did.

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  13. I've this book on my TBR pile. Looks like I won't be in a hurry to read it.

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    1. You might really like it. I just didn't love the characters, and the pacing felt slow to me...but I'm also really tired.

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  14. Have a beautiful day. Regine

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  15. I'm sorry this book didn't work for you. It's always a bummer when that happens.

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    1. It is a bummer. I usually love Grady Hendrix's novels.

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  16. Oh man! I sorry it did not work for you and it sounds like it would have been a good story.

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    1. Maybe if I wasn't so tired I would have enjoyed the slower pacing in this one more.

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  17. I liked this one but I listened to it which might have made a bit of a difference. I hope that your next read is better.

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    1. Fingers crossed! And it's not that I hated this one; I liked it. I just wanted to love it, and I didn't.

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  18. Creepy puppets sound scary. It would be hard to sell a haunted house I imagine. I'm glad to have sold our 110 year house in March!

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    1. And now you're in your lovely new house! Which hopefully isn't haunted. ;D

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  19. I've been hesitant to read this one because my reaction to Final Girls was very mixed. I loved the concept, but Hendrix seemed at a loss about where to take it.

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    1. I actually really liked that one, but I didn't enjoy this one. Mostly because of the pacing...and I wanted to like at least one of the characters more.

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  20. That's disappointing. I have this one on my TBR, but it sounds like maybe it isn't one that will work for me right now. I need light and fluffy and slow pacing is a sure killer for me at the moment.

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    1. I really struggled with the pacing of this one; the beginning especially dragged. So maybe wait until you're in the right mood for it...then you'll like it more than I did.

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  21. Connecting with main characters makes or breaks a book for me. It sucks these characters didn't work out like you hoped they would for a hendrix book.

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    1. I was disappointed by that. I liked them more at the end, but at the beginning I almost stopped reading because I didn't like either one of them.

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  22. Hi Lark - Both of these books on my TBR list so I was happy to see them on your blog as well. I finally did a blog post with an update and some summer picks; have a good summer.https://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com/2023/05/its-been-while-bit-of-life-and-books.html

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    1. Hi, Diane! Always good to hear from you. I hope you get a chance to check out both of these books. I'd love to know your thoughts on them. :D

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