Grady Hendrix joins SBIC to discuss How to Sell a Haunted House Recap

  

You know you are talking to Grady Hendrix when questions like ‘how long would it take to die by broom stomping?’ or ‘could I really win in scarecrow combat?’ come up. Note: there is neither in Grady Hendrix’s newest book, How to Sell a Haunted House, but why not ask Grady the big questions when you can? 

 

This review is going to spoil the book, because there is just too much to talk about and I'm not great at subtlety, so if you haven’t read the book yet, wait until you can get your claws on it, read it while listening to some spooky music, and come back!

 

Right off the bat, we wanted to discuss Pupkin, the homicidal puppet featured in the book. Pupkin was inspired by Grady’s wife’s childhood doll, who is absolutely terrifying. He's been living with this doll all this time, and it explains so much. Grady has some Valentine’s cards with a conception of Pupkin, and I’m pretty bummed I don’t have a set of those cards to hand out next Valentine’s Day. Although if I did, I’m pretty sure that would be the end of Valentine’s Day being celebrated at my work. Hmmm...I really need to get my hands on those cards.

 

Really, inspiration struck for Grady when he was at his mother’s home looking around her garage. “We get so attached to inanimate things,” he says, “and we are surrounded by dolls everywhere, from ceramic dolls to Yoda tchotchkes on a coworker’s desk.” Grady and his sisters will have boxes of fabric scraps that were never used to make a quilt to both to wrestle with throwing out or holding onto trash that reminds them of their mother, while our own Brittany will have a terrifying collection of cheerful, most definitely haunted, scarecrows. Makes me thankful that my own mother just collects books. Good luck Grady and Brittany.

 

“A ghost story is about putting up with what’s left behind; stuff, memories…,” Grady continues. “And haunted house stories are stories about families.” Family dynamics haunt us indeed, and anyone with siblings will feel that in this book. Louise and Mark are not close, and their resentment towards one another started arguably before they were even born. This is as much a book about the generational trauma of family secrets as it is about a homicidal ghost puppet. We reflected on how we will never know just how our siblings really see us, and how events can be remembered completely differently and with very different contexts by two people in the same home. Sibling relationships are hard, and they can hopefully change into tolerance as we get older, but that doesn’t mean reading about Louise chopping off Mark’s arm wasn’t at least a little cathartic for me. Grady knew someone was going to have to lose their arm in the book, and I think Mark was a great choice. Poor Mark.

 

Grady used details from his own life, like having once been in a radical puppet collective (and yes, they put on a play similar to the one in the book, and no, the school didn’t pay them for their efforts either). The house in the book is one of particular fondness to Grady, modeled brick by brick after his aunt’s home. He assures us that there is no homicidal puppet hiding in the attic, but I think I’ll refrain from visiting his aunt anytime soon just the same. I had to ask about the squirrel nativity in the book; how could I not? He took inspiration from a writer friend who has intricate taxidermy displays, and he wondered what kind display his aunt would make, and thus the squirrel nativity idea was born. Part of me wants to see this idea come together, and part of me hopes it never, ever does. 

These details make this book the rich story that it is; we may never see the multiple versions, or the backstory and timeline he created for the characters in this book, but we can sure feel it.

 

We discussed Grady’s next book, but I’m not going to spoil any of the details, so you’ll have to wait for when we review it, because how can we not keep Grady Hendrix in our ‘must read’ list? I do hope that somehow he fits in a lawn goose statue into the story; I can only imagine what outfit he would put on that goose.

And for everyone else, be sure to check it out when you can January 17th. It's one you certainly won't want to miss! 

Posted by book lover: Jessie T.