A review by roemsy
How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

We’re back in Charleston with haunted houses, creepy dolls/puppets, family drama, etc. Grady Hendrix knows how to do horror that can’t be denied. I do feel like the first half was a little too heavy on the family drama and wasn’t as action packed and spooky as I wanted it to be, but the last half really came through. Pupkin is the stuff of nightmares and I want nothing to do with him. I rebuke it lol.

I think this is a weird one though, that some people may find extremely creepy and horror-filled and others might be like “really?” In my opinion, it’ll rely heavily on your imagination and what you find scary. If movies like Dead Silence or Chucky are your jam, I have no doubt you will love this book. But since scary dolls are heavily used as the spook-factor I think if those don’t scare you or if the image you conjure of them isn’t scary, then you might just shrug at this one. This also might be why I think it would be more intriguing as a movie where your imagination is less heavily relied on. All in all though, this was a good read and while it’s not my *favorite* of his… I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Grady could write a phone book and I would read it.
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