Book number 58 for 2024; 5/5 stars
I’m a fan of Grady Hendrix, after reading two of his other books before this one. And, while I gave this five stars, it almost didn’t make it. It was the ending that pulled it through for me.
The family drama in this book was almost so “cringe” that I threatened to put it down. I mean, it was bloody awful. The relationship between Louise and her brother Mark was so difficult to read. And I have to confess that Hendrix was quite masterful at making it awkward. Makes me wonder if he writes from experience.
At first, it seems as though it’s not actually the house that is haunted, and I’m still not sure that that’s the case. And, while there have been plenty of horror stories about “haunted” or possessed dolls, in this case, while there are a couple of dolls involved, the majority of the culprits are puppets. And the master of the puppets was one called Pupkin. You see, Louise’s and Mark’s mother had a church puppet ministry. And when their mom and dad died in a horrible traffic accident, Louise and Mark had to clean out the house. This is where the awkward drama starts, and it never stops. And when I say it was “cringe,” I do not think I am exaggerating.
But, and I have found this to be the case multiple times, the last third or quarter of the book launches it into five-star-land. At some point, it becomes almost unputdownable. I definitely enjoy this in a book, too. I want to be eager to finish it because I want to find out what happens, not because I can’t wait to get on to the next book in my stack.
I can’t say a lot more about the content without spoiling. But I will say that there was a definite plot turning point on page 252 when someone says, “Why do you think they boarded up the attic? It’s not squirrels up there.”
Were the characters lovable? Absolutely not! Not any of them. Mark was probably the most annoying, but there were times when Louise was just as annoying as Mark. The rest of the family was right up there, as well.
Also, there is some pretty serious gore in the story, as well, particularly one scene late in the book. I almost couldn’t read it, because Mr. Hendrix did such a “good” job of describing what was happening.
I have to throw this in, as well. Whenever Pupkin was described, I simply could not help envisioning puppet Angel. If you know you know.
TTFN, y’all
The Constant Reader 