Grady Hendrix writes at the intersection of humor and horror. I recommend seeking out his earlier novels, especially “The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires” and “The Final Girl Support Group.” He takes a recurrent theme in horror fiction, then spins a story built around it with novel twists. In this novel, he takes the idea of a house haunted by spirits that use puppets to do their bidding to control and later torment the family. The humor is crucial to Hendrix’s novels, as hysterically funny observations are made in the midst of horrific action. You can’t put it down, you have to keep reading as you experience a bizarre combination of fear and laugh out loud antics.

Louise must leave her five year old daughter Poppy with her ex, flying from her home in San Francisco to her family’s home in Charleston, South Carolina, to deal with the shocking death of her parents in a car accident. Meeting her unreliable brother Mark, who has gone from job to job, living an unstable life and never leaving their hometown, Louise expects he won’t be much help and she hopes to deal with the house and the estate as quickly and efficiently as possible in spite of him. As she walks through the house, she finds clues that don’t add up, leaving her to believe that there is more to the story of her parents’ death.

Of particular interest, and Louise’s dread, is dealing with her mother’s puppet collection, hundreds of homemade puppets that made up her puppet ministry, where her mother Nancy would teach Sunday school at many churches using puppets. Particular puppets were part of Louise and Mark’s daily life, especially Pupkin, a puppet from their mother’s childhood, and a major part of the sibling’s upbringing. Bizarre happenings, at first subtle, then increasing strange and dangerous start happening as Louise and Mark contend with the family home, attempting to ready it for sale.

Their mother’s extended family tries to help Louise and Mark, and they make up a quirky group of southern women, Aunt Honey, Aunt Gail, and cousins Constance and Mercy. Constance is the top realtor in the town, and has sold a few haunted houses, so she immediately understands what has to happen. However, in the end Louise and Mark figure out what needs to be done, after some pretty extreme, frightening, and life-threatening events. Louise and Mark are forced to face their shared past, unearth unpleasant memories, take ownership of their trauma, and take decisive actions to break the chain of haunting in a family that refuses to deal with the past. Louise will not allow her daughter Poppy to be impacted by the ghosts of the past, so she must courageously face down, resolve, and put an end to this family history.

Hendrix does a great job of pacing, with the slow reveal and orchestrating outrageous and frightening action, while telling the story from a comic perspective. You won’t quite believe you’re laughing during such terrifying scenes. Hendrix has put his own personal brand on this type of novel. Highly recommend, for laughter and chill.