Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

How to Sell a Haunted House, by Grady Hendrix

9 reviews

laurenvoice's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

Once again, Grady Hendrix has delivered a masterpiece.

How to Sell a Haunted House was not what I was expecting, I was expecting a creepy haunted house story, but I got a possessed doll story with an imaginary dog instead; I loved it! I don't know how Hendrix does it, but he balances creepiness with humour perfectly. And How to Sell a Haunted House was full of creepiness, fun, and a lot of family trauma.

At the start of the story, I was fully expecting to despise Mark; however, he turned out to be a decent person and brother. The big turnaround in character was due to the different perspectives Louise and Mark had experience growing up with a creepy doll. It was interesting to see how they saw their childhoods and certain events differently; if the family had a more open dialogue with each other, they might not have been so distant in the future. And it was perfect seeing Mark and Louise reunite and work together, finally building that sibling bond they needed.

Mark's backstory about his short-time at BU was an addition that shockiling brought this book together. At first, when I reached the BU backstory chapters, I was worried that it would drag the story; however, it added the layers we needed and developed Mark's character further.

Although Louise turned out to be a bit of an unreliable narrator at the start, she certainly was one resilient woman; despite all the physical trauma she went through, Louise still kept going. And like with Mark's BU backstory, Louise's early childhood backstory was necessary to help us understand why she was distant from her family; again, it added the layers that the main story needed.

The family dynamic in How to Sell a Haunted House was fascinating. It was nice to see Louise and Mark's extended family and how they fit into the Joyner family dynamic; Mercy added plenty of needed comic relief. Plus, the introduction of Barb was fun; we needed more Barb, even though, technically, she wasn't family.

The ending of How to Sell a Haunted House was faultless, and I am glad the main characters survived the events; okay, maybe someone lost an arm. I appreciated not having to experience the emotional trauma of losing a main character I liked. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Blood, Child death, Injury/injury detail, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

jayjm94's review

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I read this 415 page book in one sitting. It was everything I love about Grady Hendrix— there is plenty of reflection, but it is mainly scary messed up stuff happening and men being absolutely awful to women. This is as good as a scary puppet book gets; it’s full of camp, gore and family secrets. I don’t think it dragged a bit. So much fun!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gaslighting, Child death, Gore, and Death of parent

Moderate: Pregnancy, Murder, Excrement, Blood, Injury/injury detail, Grief, Addiction, Body horror, and Abandonment

Minor: Excrement and Animal death

torilynnwrites's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I love Grady Hendrix’s other books, but this one wasn’t for me. I can’t help but feel this book was a little unpolished, and when it comes to plot, would have been a good short story instead of the long-winded struggle it was. I couldn’t suspend my belief enough when it came to these characters and the choices they made. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Body horror, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Murder, Blood, and Death

rqdreads's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book is ridiculous from start to finish. It’s giving RL Stine but for adults. There’s definitely a lot of creepiness, especially if you don’t like puppets or dolls 🤮 it’s not terrifying to where I can’t sleep at night but it’s creepy enough to where I had to talk about it with my friends.

One thing I liked was how it kept twisting and turning. At one point I legitimately was rolling my eyes at where it was going because I just couldn’t understand what was happening and then it came together 😂

If you like campy horror, this is for you 👻

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Dementia, Injury/injury detail, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Gore

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Gaslighting, and Car accident

Minor: Gun violence, Fatphobia, and Excrement

jaedia's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow, I could not put this book down. How to Sell a Haunted House follows Louise as she returns home following the sudden death of her parents, only to find herself feeling frustrated by her brother Mark who has already taken control of all of the funeral arrangements and she's not happy. The entire book is about grief and family, and just happens to include a haunted house as its backdrop, although this one is not exactly as you would expect. And I will say no more because the way this story unwinds is so good. As I said, could not put it down. All this did was remind me that I need to pick up his other books because this is the second time I have fallen in love with his writing! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Car accident, Blood, Gore, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol, Self harm, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical content

Minor: Fatphobia, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Body shaming, Gun violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

justbkathleen's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

Moderate: Gaslighting

Minor: Animal death and Animal cruelty

ripxw's review

dark funny sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Injury/injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Car accident and Toxic relationship

imstephtacular's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, Medical content, and Car accident

Moderate: Gore, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Blood, Gaslighting, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Vomit, and Medical trauma

Minor: Sexual content, War, and Pregnancy

chessakat's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

*Screams forrrreeevvvvverrrrrrr* This book was so hysterically terrifying and stressful, I could not stop thinking about it whenever I had to put it down! Extreme CW for body horror, injury, violence, terror, harm to children, etc. I am not a huge horror reader, but this did not feel tame to me, in my limited experience. Extremely entertaining and will cause you to lose sleep. What was that noise??? Someone go check. If you have anxiety, tread with caution!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/injury detail, Medical trauma, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Medical content, Child death, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Animal death