I’m about halfway through, and I’ve gotta say it—I hate Carter. What a useless idiot, completely ineffectual. Trust and listen to your wife you buffoon!
Edit: another chapter or two and I hate all the men in this story.
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires
SpoilerDiscussionHe is really good at writing hateable characters but also allowing you to see thimgs through their POV.
And flat ones too. Character did this and that after traumatic experience why because well just because that's why that's what they did.
Not sure why you were downvoted to oblivion. Southern Book Club is the reason why I won't pick up another Hendrix book. It was over 200 pages of filler that had no bearing on the story and it wasn't a very good story.
A funny title does not make it a horror comedy.
I’m nearly done with it and it isn’t his best. I liked How to Sell a Haunted House much more
Anytime Carter was in a scene I wanted to throw the book across the room. That fucker made me so angry everytime I saw him. That said, this is my second favorite of his novels right after My Best Friend's Exorcism.
I just picked that one up for my next read! I hate Carter so much, he’s ruining his family’s life because he won’t trust the mother of his children because he’s a sexist prick
I loved this book! But the husbands are the WORST
It makes me want to be a better husband, and I’m not even married
Great takeaway. Re-read if you ever do marry! You’re spouse will thank Grady Hendricks for it lol
The husband's, aside from the vampire, were the real villains to me.
Frustrating, isn’t it? It gets worse!
Carter is the worst husband. That condescending, gaslighting, smarmy little fuck. God I hate him
all the husbands suck tbh. but yeah carter is a huge dick and literally gives patricia no credit
This book freaked me out, but only because I assumed the title to mean it was sort of hokey and cheesy. So totally not either of those things. It was suspenseful and creepy and fantastic.
Carter made me want to throw the book constantly. All the men in this book suck. The horror in this book wasn't the blood sucking vampire it was how everyone treated each other.
Yup, have never felt so much anxiety reading a book. I kept thinking what it'd be like to be trapped in that sort of marriage ☠️
I wonder if Grady had a father like the husbands in this novel. In the beginning, he wanted to have Dracula fight his mom. Very good read, and what happens to Slick sucks :(
Oh my gosh I’ve never hated a character more! He was so infuriating. Mark in How to Sell a Haunted House gets me mad too but he’s not as bad so far
I really liked How to Sell a Haunted House. The brother is frustrating but for some reason it didn’t bother as much as other Hendrix books.
How far are you in How to Sell a Haunted House? 👀
Mark begins an incredibly frustrating character, but keep in mind Grady Hendrix's style of writing characters based on the protagonist's view of them. Louise isn't his biggest fan!
Yeah he very skillfully flips that around on you by the end.
To me reading this book felt like watching a horror movie, I loved it so much!
I read that book over a year ago and still think about him often. F Carter! Too bad there's plenty of actual husbands just like him.
He makes me want to be a better husband, and I’m not even married
😂😂 This book should be a required read for everyone then
this was my first GH book. i REALLY loved it for the first half, but then the pacing really had me struggling A LOT, but the way GH closed out the book left me saying this was a solid read.
GH's Satan Loves You is by far my favorite book by him. it's almost impossible to find (i've only found it on apple books) but i recommend everyone who loves his works to check this book out. it's absolutely hysterical and absurd.
I was gonna say, I’ve read all his books and never heard of Satan Loves You! I’ll have to hunt it down
Nobody writes an insufferable prick better than Grady. Until about three quarters of the way through the book the brother in How to Sell a Haunted House was in all time PEAK obnoxious form.
I love this book!
Very few books have made me quite as angry. Such a good book.
The book was alright. I kinda like Grady Hendrix but he has a problem with making the opposites of his main characters such abysmal caricatures. Like in Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires he writes all the husbands as completely one-dimensional jackasses and in My Best Friend’s Exorcism he writes the parents are brain dead morons. He’s a talented writer but this does get grating if you’re reading a bunch of his books in a row.
Honestly, the husband's felt realistic to me as someone who comes from the South. Patronizing? Check. Never believing women? Check. Saying everything is all in her head? Check. Doing all this in a sweetly sick way? Check.
It’s not that Carter isn’t realistic, it’s that literally all of the husbands are that makes them feel like caricatures. If it were just Carter or Carter and another, it’d be different but it’s all of them. And it’s intentional, Hendrix says as much in the authors note.
He does this in all the books of his that I’ve read (How to Sell a Haunted House, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires). It’s not particularly a bad thing, really it’s only bad if you’re reading a bunch of his books in a row which is what I normally do. When I find an author I like, I normally read/listen to their entire catalogue one right after the other. It’s fun but it also makes their styles and tendencies (both good and bad ones) really noticeable.
Overall, I still think he’s a very talented writer and I recommend him often.
I figured james Harris kind of glamours them. Notice how he always wants people to make sure contact and meet in person over the phone. Even Patricia became manipulated by him when he would look at her eyes even when she hated him.
I think GH tends to write any character who stands in the way of the lead as the lead would view them... which is generally not very kind. Carter's actions initially are described pretty neutrally with like, a hint of understanding that they are unfair and ungrateful, but Patricia still loves and respects her husband even if he frustrates her. As she gains more independence and more awareness of the hand she has been dealt, Carter gets increasingly unlikable because she does not like him anymore. I wouldn't say they're necessarily caricatures, but I do think they are not afforded a multifaceted depiction and rich internal life and motivations because none of those things are important to the leads. It's like, you don't really wonder about the traumas and hopes and dreams of someone you hate who makes your life harder. To you, that person is an obstacle. Ditto to GH characters.
Which isn't to say you can't dislike that! I think it's a fair critique to not like that style of writing. But I don't think they're one-dimensional for the sake of being hateable characters. We just have very unreliable narrators.
Also, re: noticing trends in an author's writing... why does someone always piss their pants in GH books? I am about to start either Final Girls Support Group or We Sold Our Souls, and I'm like, "Alright, who is gonna pee themselves during a climactic scene in this one?"
Hm, I haven’t noticed the peeing the pants thing in his books yet lol. That’s actually a recurring thing in Stephen King’s books and Hendrix is a King fan, so maybe it’s King’s influence coming through?
IIRC Gretchen pees herself while they are trying to exorcise the demon, Louise pees herself when she sees that Poppy has made a Pupkin doll, and one of the wives (I think Kitty?) pees herself when they attack James. The first two times I was like, "Hm! Gross!" and then the third time it was like, "Aight this is not a coincidence, Mr. Hendrix."
Influence from Stephen King makes sense though! My brother joked that maybe GH had a formative and embarrassing experience in his youth and now has to justify that people PEE when they are SCARED and it is TOTALLY NORMAL OK.
Oh yeah, I remember those now. Honestly, I read so much King that most of strange stuff he does a lot, like the peeing of pants, doesn’t really stick out to me in other authors’ works because I’m so used to it.
I don't think it happens in final girl support group. The only reference I can remember is saying they won't stop the car and to pee in a bottle if they have to.
I did notice in final girl support group, my best friends exorcism, and southern book club they all have SA involving young girls, which made me a bit hesitant to move on to other GH books. I'm not one to be super triggered but reading these 3 close together made the theme stand out more.
I figured james Harris kind of glamours them. Notice how he always wants people to make sure contact and meet in person over the phone. Even Patricia became manipulated by him when he would look at her eyes even when she hated him.
I loved this book so much
I loved it too, but man did I ever hate the husbands. I get that that’s part of the point but holy shit
It’s one of my biggest gripes about the book. I get that one of the themes is the conservative mindset of that time and how it impacts the wives, but it’s so hamfisted and in your face about it.
I loved this book too. Carter was such a gaslighting prick though, he drove me INSANE. All of the husbands are shitty. I knew I was reading a very well-written book because of how many feelings I felt, and a lot of those feelings resulted in wishing I could backhand Carter.
Is this comedy horror? Paranormal romance? I’ve never been able to get past the title.
Grady Hendrix writes “horror comedy” but honestly it’s mostly just horror with occasional jokes
I’m familiar with some of his short stories. I used to read slush for Pseudopod, and we ran a couple of his White Street Society stories while I was there. Great stuff, but the jokey titles of his novels always shut me down entirely, same as David Wong.
Im 30% through the audiobook and I agree. Awful🤯
I just finished this book and the RAGE I felt towards the husbands, my god. I was stomping around doing my own household management and just ranting about how much Carter SUCKS. Like, all the husbands suck, but the hospital scene made me hope beyond hope James would target Carter soon.
i’m reading it right now and i’m really enjoying it! but i got to the part where and i actually had to take a break bc it made me so mad lmao
edit: i just read the rest until and it just kept getting worse
(i’ve never used a spoiler tag before so hopefully this works)
I'm at this point right now and had to find other people to hate on the husbands cause OH THE RAGE
I'm not going to scroll through these comments just in case there are spoilers. But I just got the book and read 18 chapters the first day I had it. I'm a man and want to punch Carter in the face.
I love this book!! Yes, Carter suuuuuucks
This was part of the reason I disliked My Best Friend’s Exorcism. The parents were all just such awful people.
I think Hendrix balances out the frustrating characters better in How to Sell a Haunted House. I actually found the tension between the characters believable and funny.
My favorite GH book! I loved how the vampire was one literally and figuratively in the way he suckered the husbands into investing money. It was very clever.
The men are horrible!
I hated the men but I also ended up hating all the women, too. His representation of women felt honestly kind of sexist, it was bizarre.
Totally agree :/
I DNF that book.
I literally yelled into the air "I hope all the husbands die" while reading this book.
To be fair though, Ms. Greene was the only likeable character in the book. The only one. Even Patricia's kids were unlikeable.
I absolutely despised the way the characters are written as absolute idiots. The way they turned against the wife was pathetic and I mean that in the way that it was written, it was beyond unbelievable.
But I loved the bad guy in this book genuinely disturbing in parts especially towards the end.
i keep promising myself i won’t read any more hendrix books because that one and final girl support group were SO bad. and yet i’ve got we sold our souls checked out from the library.
I love it and I loved Horrorstor, so I’m looking forward to checking out My Best Friend’s Exorcism next
You'll love My Best Friend's Exorcism. It's my favorite of his.
i’m glad you’re enjoying it! i wish i got what everyone else seems to get out of it tbh. i just find his characters very bland and unlikable
What didn't you like about them? The only Grady Hendrix book I didn't like was How To Sell A Haunted House and I've read quite a few, We Sold Our Souls being the most recent.
Damn I just downloaded final girl support group last night. Hope it’s not too bad. This will be my first time reading this author. What aspects made it bad for you? (Spoiler free if possible lol)
no spoilers! i just found the characters all either extremely flat or generally unpleasant to the point of unlikableness. i wouldn’t say i necessarily wanted the main protagonist to fail, but i wasn’t exactly rooting for her either. i also found the story rather boring and not very scary for how supposedly complex it was and all the twists it got. i wouldn’t call it predictable, but i wasn’t on the edge of my seat, and i definitely wasn’t scared. i’ve found that’s my biggest issue with hendrix - i always want his stuff to be scarier, and it never delivers. somehow the stakes never feel quite as high as he’s trying to push them
eta: if you want to chat more in dms (i think my opinions might not be super popular & i don’t want to rain on anyone’s love of his writing) either now or while you’re reading i’m totally happy to! i’d love to understand other people’s perspectives on his writing, especially if they like his work
I plan to start it this week and I’d love to share my opinion. Feel free to shoot a message! I’ve just gotten into reading horror recently so I’d also love any recommendations from someone deeper in the genre.
I like We Sold Our Souls much better than Final Girl Support Group. It still had a Grady Hendrix feel but the plot felt less hobbled together and the characters made more sense.
I'm getting hit or miss with his stuff, it either clicks on the first 30 pages or I can't stand it. I bailed recently on How To Sell A Haunted House because I just couldn't get past Mark being such an asshole.
damn i saw How To Sell A Haunted House in a bookstore the other day and the cover very much pulled me in. i think i find his work frustrating because i LOVE his concepts. but i think maybe i feel like they should have an underpinning of levity or campy humor that they never do, and i am just not scared by his writing. i adore comedy horror that’s not quite scary, but if i’m reading just straight horror i want to have to sleep with the lights on after i close the book, and his never quite hit that mark for me.
i’ll be real i don’t believe in negative book reviews in that like, i don’t think because i didn’t like a book it’s a bad book. just not for me. i just wish i liked his execution as much as i like his ideas.
How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
Book description may contain spoilers!
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Loved this book. Cozy suburban horror at its best.
I hated Carter too, such an infuriating person
This is my favorite Grady Hendrix book! But Carter makes it hard to reread this book. Carter and all the men are so awful!!
Spot on but my GOD I loved this book so much. It's always my first recommendation when people want a soft entry into horror.
I've read two Grady Hendrix novels so far and I must say, if Carter is any indication of a pattern, he doesn't like putting males in a good light.
Eh I thought he made Basil reasonably sympathetic in Horrorstor
Haven't read it but one character out of many male ones is a small sample size.
Hey we’ve both only read two of his books. Horrorstor only had a small number of characters period, and the men were unremarkable except the villain and Basil. Frankly, it seems your sample size is just as small as mine, so I’m not sure why your point is any more valid
Mark is also a really interesting, multifaceted character in "How to Sell a Haunted House". Their dad was also a genuinely good dude, but he obviously doesn't get a lot of time dedicated to him.
I don't think it's unreasonable that a story centered around housewives in the Bible Belt in the 80s/90s may not have the most charitable depictions of the men in their lives. Like the parents in "My Best Friend's Exorcism" are kind of crappy because it's a story from the point of view of teenagers.
To be honest it was kinda funny him thinking she is bat shit crazy lol
YES! He absolutely kills it when writing hateable characters. I listened to the audiobook on a lot of my long runs and I think I was fueled by rage lol
I don't even know which male character I hate more, all of them are such pieces of shit. I love this book because few others have ever succeeded in making me so mad
They’re all detestable for sure. I really liked the book though.
I found most of the characters despicable. He threw everything at you: racism, sexism, ageism, spousal abuse, animal abuse, misogyny. All was going on while everyone played along and had barbecues. What I took away was there are worse vampires than the actual blood sucking kind and they live among us.
Omg he was the fucking worst
I’m sure it was the point, but I couldn’t stand any of them. They’re all horrible.
Tbh if you hate all the men in that story ( rightfully so) you're probably gonna hate the women in The Final Girls Support Group.
Oh it gets much worse lol 😂
Haha I’ve finished it! I was ultimately satisfied with how it turned out, I enjoyed the book very much. It’s up there with Dracula, ‘Salem’s Lot, and Midnight Mass for me
People claim he writes the most frustrating characters but he’s my favorite for this reason. I read TSBCfSV in 7 hours in one sitting, only taking breaks for food and the restroom. I was waiting for someone to have surgery, so I had nothing better to do, but I also loved the book so much that I wanted to finish it. I haven’t read his newest yet (I bought it in January and had it along with two other books signed - I have them all, but was only allowed 3 by the bookstore to have signed) or the rock horror one… eventually I’ll get to it.
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Grady Hendrix has a knack for writing infuriating characters.