February 2023 Book Review

 

I read 3 books last month...one of which was actually a re-read.  I had read "The Guardians" years before but my sister recently read for the first time and pass the book along to me.  I couldn't remember for sure that I had read it so I started it and a few chapters in, I realized I HAD read it before.  But, I couldn't quite remember the entire story or how it ended so decided to finish it.

I also read "Sleeping Dogs Lie" - which was a short novella and "How to Sell A Haunted House"

"Sleeping Dogs Lie" was a short little murder mystery. 

I chose to review "How to Sell a Haunted House" this month.

First, I want to start off by saying that I have never even heard of this author before, but the title got my attention.  Had I known this was a "horror" book and not really a "ghost" book, I wouldn't have read it.  I do not like horror. 

The book started out really good.  A single woman living in California with her young daughter, who left Charleston, NC behind.  Her parents still lived in the family home and her brother is also still living in Charleston.  She got along ok with her parents but she always felt they favored her brother and she and her brother did not get along at all and barely spoke to each other.

She gets a call that her parent were both killed in a car accident.  Her mom had been taking her dad to the hospital because he had some kind of fall and they were in a crash along the way and both died.

She goes back to NC for the funeral and to help settle the estate.  Creepy things happen in the house.  Her mom was a doll collector and made puppets her entire life, which she used in Christian puppet shows.  She could feel the eyes of the dolls/puppets upon her.

When she arrives at the house, the TV is on, she finds her mom's purse and her dad's cane in the living room and thinks that is odd but thought...well, they rushed to the hospital, I guess they left in such a hurry they forgot to turn off the TV and left some things behind.

She goes upstairs and checks out her old room and hears the TV again. She knows she turned it off, she goes downstairs and unplugs it and notices that a couple of the dolls seem to have moved.  But she chalks it up to her imagination.

After the funeral a day later, she returns to the house and finds the TV on again.  She accuses her brother of turning it on but he swears he hadn't been in the house since before their parents died. The dolls, appear to have moved again.

So far...so good....

THEN, it gets really stupid, really fast....come to find out, her mom's favorite clown puppet named Pupkin, comes to life and long story short...it conjures up an imaginary blue 8-legged dog from their childhood, makes the dog real, has it attack her, possesses the brother (while saying "Mark gone, Pupkin now"), etc. etc.  There is a gruesome arm amputation with a circular saw involved and even after the puppet eventually seems to be destroyed for good..guess what?? 

Nope, her daughter had her other grandmother make her an exact replica even though she'd never seen the puppet before.  Now the daughter has the puppet on her hand and is possessed by the thing.  The puppet talks through the person that has it on their hand and talks in a baby voice and says sadistic poems and things like “Pupkin here! Pupkin here! Everybody laugh! Everybody cheer!” and "Ca Ca Wee Wee" 

At first we are to believe Pupkin, the clown puppet, is possessed, then we are told it isn't possessed, it is cursed, then we are told, it isn't cursed, it is haunted by a ghost.  I won't say who the ghost, so I don't spoil it, but it is reveled later and I saw it coming and knew it from almost the start.

I found myself rolling my eyes and groaning so much throughout this book.  The thing is, it started out so good and the story about the family relationships was good and I stuck with it because I ultimately wanted to see the dog-gone puppet destroyed for good.  I honestly thought it might have a little twist at the end with Pupkin resurfacing at the very end somehow, but thank goodness that didn't happen.

If you like movies like "Child's Play" and enjoy all the other Chucky movies, you will probably like this but if you are like me and find those kind of stories dumb, then stay away from this one.