Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

This is a Buddy Read for How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix starting on October 1, 2024.


Happy Reading!

Thank you!

This is a Spooktober Thread! See the planning and general thread here: [Link]

Audio: On Hoopla as "Flex" borrow, not on A+
Ebook: On Hoopla as "Flex" borrow, not on or KU or Open Library
If you find a universal subscription/library copy, let me know!

I’ll keep an eye out for this one over the next couple of weeks

Ooh I just read this one and loved it! Enjoy guys.

Started this yesterday and am really enjoying it. This is my third Hendrix book, and I'm really appreciating his ability to find the inherent horror in the normal. What is more normal than sibling rivalry? Through Chapter 21 now. (view spoiler)[And having to say goodbye to parents--and go through their belongings--is a horror that most people have to go through... and feel it more as tragedy than horror. But it is a horror... I don't have nightmares really, I honestly can't remember a single one in my life... I don't quite lucid dream, but close enough that if a dream starts going scary I can change it. I even remember psychoanalyzing my dreams while dreaming sometimes... But the closest I have gotten to a recurring nightmare is dreaming of going through my dad's house after he died, sorting through all of his stuff, and not being able to find the thing I am looking for (obviously my dad, right?). So all of the MC's emotions while dealing with her parents' house, and the connection of emotions to the things in their house--I feel that hard.

I don't have any siblings, but I do very clearly remember fearing getting a sibling--for all of the reasons the MC has to put up with. My personality is fairly close to the MC, and I just knew if I had a younger sibling that we would grow up hating each other. So I can empathize with her too, with her frustration with her brother... but this book so far is doing a good job of holding up the lens to both of their personality quirks--her need to have things her way is just as destructive as his lack of personal responsibility. The scene with her daughter and the books really disturbed me... She's willing to stoop to lying and gaslighting to get her own way, instead of listening to her daughter and accepting what her daughter wants won't be the same as what she wants... Then again, I don't have kids, so I'd be really curious to see how parents--and people with siblings--see the relationships in this book... (hide spoiler)]

Through Chapter 24--(view spoiler)[I initially wasn't enjoying the switch from death/house cleanout horror to Chucky... but now I'm enjoying the layers--Pumpkin is a metaphor for the secrets/history in a family, ones that everyone shares and lives through, but which they might not realize each of them has experienced--until a death brings it all out into the open. The scene in the diner also... when the sibs have an epiphany that the relationship of their parents wasn't at all what they thought it was... very real. And then afterwards, the hug in the parking lot--sharing a moment doesn't heal everything right away. (hide spoiler)]

Finished. I think this is my favorite Hendrix so far. (view spoiler)[I really enjoyed the second layer of the story--when Pumpkin jumped to Poppy, it made me think of generational trauma... And then the story came full circle back to death and dealing with it--especially as a child... The horrible epiphany when you really understand what it means when someone dies. I liked the tie-in with the Velveteen Rabbit--that it's because we are real that we have to end. Only things that live can die. Can't have one without the other. (hide spoiler)]

Finished yesterday! I really like your (Nirkatze's) analysis of the horror aspects as it relates to trauma, etc!

(view spoiler)[ I liked how the "full story" so to speak was given to us bit by bit. We are very much taken to dislike the brother because we only have Louise's perspective at first. And yeah he seems like a total shit! He's definitely not perfect, but I liked finding out there was more to the story there. Louise like everyone in her family ignores problems/pretends they don't exist...

Speaking of, how much would yall have to see of paranormal happenings to not explain it away via other mundane means? I think I would have to see a whole lot before I accepted anything was really happening lol (hide spoiler)]

Next year we need to try to coordinate better for these month long reads lol I have this on the list for this week :)

Yea... people have been so busy and overbooked, that nobody is reading anything at the same time really :(

I tried to read book 1 of 2 book BRs early month, and save book 2 for mid-month...

Then turned around and broke that rule with Lovecraft and Carter... but still haven't read Chapelwood...

There's also like 4 Grady Hendrix books on the plan for this month, and they're all standalone, so it's whatever people choose to read, when...

Timelord Iain wrote: "I tried to read book 1 of 2 book BRs early month, and save book 2 for mid-month...

Then turned around and broke that rule with Lovecraft and Carter... but still haven't read Chapelwood..."

I started Chapelwood this morning to be sure I get it done before it leaves Audible+! I forgot to post my IRL book club book and I am happy I did because it was terrible, the theme was zombies and there were hardly any, so dumb. I listened to Zombie Bake-Off as a palette cleanser and because I had faith the author would deliver and boy did he! Plus it was super short and available on Audible+ until the 30th lol

Another reason to move that up the list... so much is disappearing off Audible in the next few weeks... reading some UF in the Mystery thread that's being dropped on 11/4...

Gah! Good to know Chapelwood is one of the ones leaving this week. >.<

Really like your question, Ann-Marie... about how much we'd have to see to turn to the supernatural... since I've already had a poltergeist incident in my life, I don't think it'd take too much... but it would definitely take something abnormal. I think (view spoiler)[waking up and finding scratches still there from a dream would be a good frickin' start. (hide spoiler)]

Ann-Marie wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "I tried to read book 1 of 2 book BRs early month, and save book 2 for mid-month...

Then turned around and broke that rule with Lovecraft and Carter... but still haven't read ..."

Will need to see if I can get to that one.. 👀

I finished this a couple days ago and I loved it! Grady Hendrix is one of my favorite horror authors along with Chuck Wendig and Stephen Graham Jones. I don't know why I was once again surprised at the dark turn this one took, all of his books so far have had OTT and extreme violence but yet when it happens I am like OMG! (view spoiler)[This book took us on a journey! I also disliked Mark at first but then as the real story was revealed my opinion changed AND THEN when the further story was revealed about the uncle haunted puppet that was the real reason Louise tried to drown Mark I was not expecting that! (hide spoiler)]

@Nirkatze - I liked your thoughts on grief and how it was portrayed in the book, very well said! I have siblings and thankfully we have no (view spoiler)[creepy puppets or dolls in the family lol (hide spoiler)]

@Emily - I am not sure how many things would have to happen but I tend to be superstitious so maybe not that many?

Nirkatze wrote: "Started this yesterday and am really enjoying it. This is my third Hendrix book, and I'm really appreciating his ability to find the inherent horror in the normal. What is more normal than sibling ..."

In some ways, I feel like I've dodged the horror/trauma of familial death, and having to mire yourself in it by dealing with belongings... altho, that removes/removed some of the easy/forced processing of the event, since it was so distant...

(view spoiler)[When I was 10-ish my great-grandpa died, that I spent alot of time with from 0-5, but was on another continent so couldn't go back for funeral/anything...

When I was 22 I visited my mom the day she passed from cancer and went right back to college, and didn't process for like 5 years I'd say...

And I'm practically estranged from my stepdad at this point, and live 1000+ miles away, so I doubt I'll have to deal with that either...

Probably not the healthiest, but that's what I read traumatic books for, I feel like... (hide spoiler)]

Oh my god, the cleaners, lol... (view spoiler)[constantly changing tactics from Dump Cleanup, to Parental Moving Cleanup, to Dead Parents... (hide spoiler)]

Oh, no no no no, no No NO!!!... (view spoiler)[Living Creepy Dolls?... (hide spoiler)]

Unlike Nirkatze, I have nightmares sometimes, altho it's usually stuff that is silly when awake and thinking rationally... Infinite amounts of Putty Monsters from Power Rangers, people with no mouths/faces, perpetual college where I forgot to attent class all semester and it's exam time, etc... very rarely some horror book/movie/show will hit my dreams for a night or 3...

(view spoiler)[Creepy Dolls really hits one of those Goosebumps triggers, lol... (hide spoiler)]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Oh, no no no no, no No NO!!!... [spoilers removed]

Unlike Nirkatze, I have nightmares sometimes, altho it's usually stuff that is silly when awake and thinking rationally... Infinite amounts of Pu..."

lol Prepare yourself.....

The Will: (view spoiler)[this feels horrible... (hide spoiler)]

Nirkatze wrote: "Started this yesterday and am really enjoying it. This is my third Hendrix book, and I'm really appreciating his ability to find the inherent horror in the normal. What is more normal than sibling ..."

(view spoiler)[you make a good point about the storytime scene at the start of the book... unless this is referencing another book scene later in the book I haven't reached yet... that was definitely manipulative, and I just kinda glossed over it to get to the meat of the story... (hide spoiler)]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "Finished yesterday! I really like your (Nirkatze's) analysis of the horror aspects as it relates to trauma, etc! ..."

100% same... (view spoiler)[I can explain alot away in a house as house settling/unbalanced and unstable things falling later/eventually, etc... the dolls watching TV can be a break-in as she thought... later on, if I see them moving, maybe they're robotic and not the simple dolls made by mom... battery-operated, etc...

I'm extrapolating here since I'm actually still early/mid-way through the story and seeing which comments aren't too spoilery and responding... will say more when I finish and know what actually happens... (hide spoiler)]

Ann-Marie wrote: "I finished this a couple days ago and I loved it! Grady Hendrix is one of my favorite horror authors along with Chuck Wendig and Stephen Graham Jones. I don't know why I was once again surprised at..."

(view spoiler)[







Such a memorable episode... (hide spoiler)]

The Trashcan: (view spoiler)[doll is missing, possibly clawed free and returned inside, sister assumes brother Mark did it... (hide spoiler)]

This is giving me vibes of my childhood...

2 kids show episodes that really scarred me as a kid, I think, are the Rocko's Modern life episode with the possessed food processor that keeps showing back up after being throw away... aired in 1996...

And the Are You Afraid of the Dark episode with the possessed video camera gremlin... aired in 1994...

Combined, I think they spurred my recurring nightmare about a possessed toiler, lol...

My most vivid memories of the dream have it taking place in my 3rd/4th grade home, which would have been 1995/1996ish...

Hotel Conversation: (view spoiler)[almost getting along now, and working together on cleaning their parent's house... (hide spoiler)]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Ann-Marie wrote: "I finished this a couple days ago and I loved it! Grady Hendrix is one of my favorite horror authors along with Chuck Wendig and Stephen Graham Jones. I don't know why I was once ..."

Now I want to re-watch the show lol

Winter Flashback: (view spoiler)[this is so painful to listen to... whether it's Louise imagining the doll talking, or an actually possessed doll... both aren't great...

Makes me curious about the late night flashback from earlier, tho, where Louise saw her mom slumped in the kitchen with the Pumpkin doll/puppet...

Multiple personalities seems like another possibility... (hide spoiler)]

Ann-Marie wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Ann-Marie wrote: "I finished this a couple days ago and I loved it! Grady Hendrix is one of my favorite horror authors along with Chuck Wendig and Stephen Graham Jones. I don'..."

I started re-watching the Good Place... such a watchable show, even knowing the twists...

Timelord Iain wrote: "Ann-Marie wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Ann-Marie wrote: "I finished this a couple days ago and I loved it! Grady Hendrix is one of my favorite horror authors along with Chuck Wendig and Stephen Gr..."

Clips have been showing up on my FYP on social media too, Andre Braugher was such a great actor <3

Chapter 20/21: WTF... (view spoiler)[the first thing I did when I went to BU, was join a Radical Puppet Collective (hide spoiler)]

Did not see THAT sentence coming...

Ann-Marie wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Ann-Marie wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Ann-Marie wrote: "I finished this a couple days ago and I loved it! Grady Hendrix is one of my favorite horror authors along with Chuck..."

I've watched B99 two to three times... it's a perfect show... great cast, great episodic and seasonal stories, tons of laughs...

Chapter 22: WTF?... (view spoiler)[Feral Puppet Cult?... this is insane... (hide spoiler)]

End of the Boston University flashback...

Attic scene: (view spoiler)[oh no... first the doll habitat is reminding me of Peter Pan and the tent for some reason... then it's convincing Mark to wear it... and now the flashbacks are painting the mom as a bit crazier than previous flashbacks I think... her predilection to giving her puppets/dolls voices is reading super mental issues to me, all of a sudden... this family is all kinds of fucked up... (hide spoiler)]

End of chapter 26: that happened... (view spoiler)[Louise and Mark are a mangled mess now, between hammer and electric saw attacks... and the book is still a long way from over...

Are they gonna survive this haunting? (hide spoiler)]

lol Iain's thoughts are just like mine while reading - This has to be the worst thing, right???? Nope, it can get so much worse.....

Back home to the West Coast, and holy shit, yea... it's always worse... (view spoiler)[Hand chopped off, Pumpkin ritually burned in a trashcan, only to turn up as a new doll made by daughter... Louise pisses herself and attacks daughter/Pumpkin... and on and on we go...

I can't wait to be done with this horror show... (hide spoiler)]

2.5hrs remaining, and back to (view spoiler)[Mark (hide spoiler)] and I don't feel like we've learned anything to deal with this thing... (view spoiler)[if they destroy the 2nd doll, it doesn't feel like there's much stopping a 3rd doll from being created...

Is Aunt Honey supposed to exorcise it? (hide spoiler)]

How did I read so many horror stories this month, and manage to save the worst (as in creepiest/actual nightmare-inducing) for Halloween Eve?...

Nirkatze wrote: "Finished. I think this is my favorite Hendrix so far. [spoilers removed]"

I see what you're saying (view spoiler)[The chapters of the book are split into 5 parts, named after the 5 stages of Grief... and I've already seen in the past how other stories were meant to shine a light on other societal issues like with the Southern Book Club and social norms, and racism/sexism/patriarchy facilitating evil... so Hendrix having extra layers here makes complete sense...

But I find it hard to 100% separate from the creepy doll story going on on the top layer... (hide spoiler)]

Timelord Iain wrote: "How did I read so many horror stories this month, and manage to save the worst (as in creepiest/actual nightmare-inducing) for Halloween Eve?..."

Final hour, and those B99 gifs were horribly accurate, lol...

How did Grady Hendrix do this?!?... (view spoiler)[13hr horror story, then you get to the end, and it's just so sad/tragic to see Pumpkin/Freddy confronted with mortality... (hide spoiler)]

And finished... yea, I guess this is 5 stars for me, too... mostly because of the ending...

This was supposed to be my Siren Song to trying Grady Hendrix, after several alright books that weren't my favorite and I could take or leave... but this one means I need to keep trying them in the future, I guess...

Timelord Iain wrote: "And finished... yea, I guess this is 5 stars for me, too... mostly because of the ending...

This was supposed to be my Siren Song to trying Grady Hendrix, after several alright books that weren't ..."

See you next Spooktober!!!!

Ann-Marie wrote: "I finished this a couple days ago and I loved it! Grady Hendrix is one of my favorite horror authors along with Chuck Wendig and Stephen Graham Jones. I don't know why I was once again surprised at..."

Yes! Love a good twisty book when done right :)

Oh man, I'm sorry I missed out on this comment fest right around the end of October... loved reading Iain's comments getting more and more wild...

Definitely see you all next Spooktober.

Sometimes I get really into a Buddy Read, and it's really fun :D

Hear hear! Both for you and all of us lucky enough to join you.