Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

221 reviews

dr_aimz's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Grief

Minor: Animal death

lmcannon's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

this was pretty good but a little too silly to really scare me. i’ve never thought dolls were scary so this didn’t get to me that much, i also thought the ending was kind of out of nowhere?? idk. i do love Hendrix’s writing though. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

apoppyinthewind's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

The basic premise is that main character Louise gets the call no one wants to get and learns both of her parents have died in a car accident. She has to go back home to deal with the funeral, the estate, and the messed up family she's kept at a distance since moving away decades ago. Her younger and only sibling is the most difficult part as they continually bicker over the estate and past hurts/trauma but it gets a whole lot worse their mother's doll & puppet collection seem to be moving on their own.

So yeah, if horror series like Puppet Master and Chucky freaked you out you'll certainly find this story creepy. Be forewarned there is some eye stuff and body mutilation. And a fuck ton of grief and trauma over losing a parent/parents.

If you've ever had to go through an estate process you may relate hard to Louise's exhaustion and sorrow. At least I did and I think the author accurately captured the experience. My only complaints are: One, I felt like it dragged a bit near the end when Louise's daughter Poppy became a larger part of the story and two, while Mark's background reveal was interesting (and makes me want to know more about radical puppets) it felt disconnected from the story especially with the big reveal at the end. Like, what happened to Louise & Poppy makes sense with the reveal but Mark's made less sense once you know the real reason all these things happened.

Still, I'd recommend it especially if you already like Hendrix's other books.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Gun violence

kellymckn's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book is a slow start much like the author's other works. A bit repetitive and drawn out, and I was a bit annoyed at the characters bickering and squabbling for so much of the book.
However, the heart of the story and the ending were really good. Overall, I liked it, I didn't love it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent

maggieoc_x's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

i love a camp demonic puppet moment.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Self harm, Medical content, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Pregnancy and Alcohol

korikam's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol

carriepond's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.75

Shortly after How to Sell a Haunted House opens, Louise finds out that her parents have died and she has to leave her daughter Poppy with her ex to fly across the country to attend her parents' funeral and get their affairs in order. Unfortunately for Louise, this means forced proximity to her brother, Mark, with whom she has a strained relationship (which we get much more detail on as the novel progresses) and Pupkin, one of her mother's many creepy puppets occupying her childhood home as the embittered brother-sister duo attempt to clean it out to get it ready to sell. Well, as it turns out, the puppets and dolls are more than creepy and the house is haunted, so buckle up, Mark and Louise-- not only do you have to deal with years of family baggage, but you also need to watch your backs (really, watch all your body parts!) because Pupkin is about to play, play, play! Kakawewe!

I love haunted house books, and this one has many of the things I love-- the tension building, the creepy occurrences that characters shrug off while the reader gets increasingly freaked, and the deeper meaning. Here, Hendrix used the haunted house vehicle to explore inherited trauma, family dysfunction, and grief. The horror parts reminded me of an adult version of R.L. Stine's Night of the Living Dummy, which I was totally into as a kid. And it made me laugh so many times at the absurdity. The pacing was a bit off for me and there were a few things about the how of the haunting that didn't come together for me completely, but I really identified as I watched Mark and Louise's dynamic play out and the frustration of the characters as they dealt with family secrets and family members unwilling to face the past head-on.

I had fun reading How to Sell a Haunted House, bottom line.  It was stupid, but in a funny way that made me laugh fairly often. It was also a tense and sometimes gory haunted house story that explored themes that resonated with me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Self harm and Fire/Fire injury

sarahbuckley's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

perfect pacing! endless family secrets! terrifying haunted puppets! what more could you want

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

juliana18's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death