Happy Halloween! It’s been a busy month friends. October is always my most hectic month at work, but on top of that I went on vacation and got a puppy. So, it has been a super busy month to say the least! But I still read 4.5 books this month! I also decided to aim for 32–36 books for the year since I already surpassed my goal of 24. And, I have now read 30 books so far this year. To celebrate spooky season, I chose a horror novel this October. Specifically, I’m reviewing Grady Hendrix’s latest novel, How to Sell a Haunted House. And to accompany this month’s review, I made a Holland House, but I’m calling it a Haunted House for the pun.
Holland House/Haunted House Recipe
1.75oz Genever
0.75oz Dry Vermouth
0.25oz Maraschino Liqueur
0.5oz Lemon Juice
~2 sprinkles Pumpkin Spice*
1 twist Lemon
*This is an optional ingredient.
In a shaker with ice, add all liquid ingredients and shake. Strain into a martini glass. Next, sprinkle pumpkin spice and add garnish. And finally, enjoy!
Yet again, I’ve made an absolutely delicious cocktail. The Holland House was fantastic on its own. But the pumpkin spice made it next level for me. I chose pumpkin spice as the special ingredient this month because of the puppet Punkin in the story. Plus, pumpkin spice is an extra perfect ingredient for this cocktail since it is an Autumn staple. I was a bit worried about the pumpkin spice with the maraschino liqueur, but everything in this drink is balanced perfectly. And just like last month, I have another cocktail to add to my favourites list, so definitely check this one out!
How to Sell a Haunted House Synopsis
(from book cover)
When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world.
Most of all, she doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success. Unfortunately, she’ll need his help to get the house ready for sale because it’ll take more than some new paint on the walls and clearing out a lifetime of memories to get this place on the market.
But some houses don’t want to be sold, and their home has other plans for both of them…
Review
“Time only moves in one direction no matter how hard we wish it wasn’t so.”
Well, How to Sell a Haunted House definitely brought the creepy, spooky vibes I was looking for this Halloween. But it brought a lot more than that too. And I actually liked this one quite a bit! It was everything you expect from a horror, but it also had elements of family drama and humour that I didn’t expect. But, as is often seen in the horror genre, it was also a little cheesy at times. So, let’s get into it.
To start things off, I want to mention that I don’t typically read much horror. It’s not that I don’t like horror books, I just genuinely get freaked out. I also don’t really watch horror movies for the same reason (and because I hate jump scares). But I liked that How to Sell a Haunted House wasn’t just a horror. It had a lot more depth to it than I expected, and it wasn’t so scary or gory that I couldn’t handle it. Although I did have to close the book and take a breath at the scene with the needle in the eye.
Even though I don’t read or watch much horror, I found that How to Sell a Haunted House gave me some nostalgic feelings for classic horrors, like Chucky and Pet Sematary. This novel definitely ticked boxes for all sorts of horror genres, like haunted house, creepy puppets/dolls, and things that are dead not really being dead. So, I liked that Hendrix knows his target audience and what they want in horrors and plays right into that.
Beyond the horror, I enjoyed the dark humour in the novel and found the dialogue for those moments believable. I also liked the introspection into family after death, grief, and sibling love that this novel offered. However, the family dynamic did feel a little clunky sometimes and Louise frustrated me deeply with her lack of self-awareness. I agreed with her that she is definitely a better sibling than her brother, but the constant statements that she didn’t think her family was weird? Sweetie, your mom handmade hundreds of dolls/puppets, used those puppets to teach the Bible, and taxidermied squirrels into scenes from the Bible? That’s weird.
On a similar note, I did find parts of the book to be a little outlandish. This plays into the horror theme, but I couldn’t take a lot of things seriously because of how silly it seemed. That being said, my mom did own some creepy gnome dolls growing up that scarred me for life, so I get it. Also, I am openly a weirdo who deeply loves their childhood stuffy, so again I get it but still.
Anyway, on top of not being able to take some things seriously I found it hard to be really invested in the characters. They weren’t bad, but they were just OK. I think both Louise and Mark could’ve been more fleshed out and unique. They just seemed like pretty run-of-the-mill, typical horror protagonists to me. And unfortunately, because I didn’t feel emotionally connected to them and they weren’t overly remarkable or memorable it was a little hard to be deeply invested in the story and what happened.
Beyond that, I also found the story quite predictable. I didn’t predict everything, but I figured out all major plot points within the first quarter of the novel. I’m not docking this one too many points on that because I feel like it’s hard to make a non-predictable horror, but I would’ve liked a little more surprise.
Overall, I thought How to Sell a Haunted House was fun and interesting. It wasn’t wholly unique, but it worked well for the genre. The writing was great and is perfect for this style of novel, but there were a few editorial errors in my copy that bothered me. But I will for sure be reading the other Grady Hendrix novels I’ve had on my list! So finally, if you want a spooky Halloween read, I’m going to definitely recommend this one. It wasn’t perfect, but it was creepy and just want you want from a Halloween novel. And I am absolutely recommending this month’s cocktail, the Holland/Haunted House!
My Rating:
Thanks for reading! And, if you read the book or try the cocktail let me know in a comment or on Instagram. Also, if you haven’t yet read my previous reviews, I recommend reading Mexican Gothic, The Devil and the Dark Water, and The Shadows if you liked this one!
Teghann
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