| Title | : | We Sold Our Souls |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 337 |
| Publication | : | First published September 18, 2018 |
| Awards | : | Locus Award Horror Novel (2019), Shirley Jackson Award Novel (2018), Goodreads Choice Award Horror (2018), Dragon Award Best Horror Novel (2019) |
Two decades later, former guitarist Kris Pulaski works as the night manager of a Best Western - she's tired, broke, and unhappy. Everything changes when she discovers a shocking secret from her heavy metal past: Turns out that Terry's meteoric rise to success may have come at the price of Kris's very soul.
This revelation prompts Kris to hit the road, reunite with the rest of her bandmates, and confront the man who ruined her life. It's a journey that will take her from the Pennsylvania rust belt to a Satanic rehab center and finally to a Las Vegas music festival that's darker than any Mordor Tolkien could imagine. A furious power ballad about never giving up, even in the face of overwhelming odds, We Sold Our Souls is an epic journey into the heart of a conspiracy-crazed, paranoid country that seems to have lost its very soul...where only a girl with a guitar can save us all.
We Sold Our Souls Reviews
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oooh, goodreads choice awards semifinalist for best horror 2018! what will happen?
A girl with a guitar never has to apologize for anything.
i’ve read all three of grady hendrix’s novels, and while none of them have scared me, they’ve all entertained me.
this is the least fun of his books. there are occasional smiles, like when you notice that all the chapter titles are the names of metal albums, or when he sneaks something cheeky in, like citing nick sharman as a rock journalist from Kerrang! magazine when we all know that nick sharman is this guy:
and this guy.
it’s a loving power chord tribute to metal, full of utterly anthemic lines:
Metal never dies. Metal never retreats. Metal never surrenders.
and a deep appreciation for the music and culture of RAWK. actually, i take back what i said about this not being funny, because the concept is hilarious, it involves a concept album and it’s so SO inventive and clever in its use, it’s worth a giggle or two. but it’s much sadder overall; the regret of the “almost-was,” and the cost of fame and the answers to the question, “whatever happened to…”
i loved the residual affection between kris and her former bandmates (two of them, anyway), all of those scenes were really moving. and AAAAHHHH, scottie rocket!!!
dammit.
there are also two excellent scenes of horror perfection - one in a car and one underground. the underground one taught me that under certain circumstances, i would be claustrophobic. i read and reread all of those pages because that situation was completely harrowing. dammit2.
but this book is also what happens when grit lit meets horror. its focus is on the same segment of struggling, disenfranchised america; one of the characters lives in west virginia, having seen thirteen people from her graduating class die from opioid overdoses, while she waitresses at a place that encourages waitress-groping all to pay back her student loans and maybe someday get out of her dead end life. this sounds pulled right up out of any of my beloved grit lit novels:Every song was the same song. These were songs for people who were scared to open their mailboxes, whose phone call never brought good news. These were songs for people standing at the crossroads waiting for the bus. People who bounced between debt collectors and dollar stores, collection agencies and housing offices, family court and emergency rooms waiting for a check that never came, waiting for a court date, waiting for a call back, waiting for a break, crushed beneath the wheel.
but this one’s also got monsters, so WIN.
keep up the great work, grady hendrix!
ROCKTOBER IS SPOOKY!!
come to my blog! -
Loved the black stained edges and what looks like Viking runes on the front cover. What do I know!
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾 -
We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix is a 2018 Quirk Books publication.
It’s the 90s and heavy metal rules the rock and roll music machine.
Dürt Würk is right on the cusp of fame when suddenly their singer, Terry Hunt, pulls out, goes solo, changes his name and becomes a mega-superstar. He leaves his former bandmates in the dust, taking everything with him, including the rights to their music.
Decades pass, and Dürt Würk’s guitarist, Kris Pulaski, is barely scraping by, working as the night manager at a Best Western motel. Her dreary, miserable days suddenly explode into a fight for her very soul when she makes a shocking discovery about Terry’s meteoric rise to fame. It is imperative she reconnect with her former bandmates and get the band back together.
Meanwhile, Terry, aka, ‘Koffin’, is headlining a massive rock show in Las Vegas with record breaking crowds expected to attend. If Kris doesn’t get there in time, many more souls may be lost.
Full disclosure- I read Grady Hendrix’s ‘Paperbacks from Hell’ and loved it. The book highlighted pulp horror novels from an era I was familiar with, and it was done with humor, and intelligence. So, when I saw this book by Hendrix, I couldn’t resist. The thing is I don’t read horror novels a lot, except around Halloween, and I was never into the type of metal featured in this story, but…
I have a son who was just at the right age to appreciate pure metal and I heard my fair share of it bleeding through his bedroom walls. The 'nu-metal' was also in the house, which is, evidently, according to this novel- frowned upon by purists. Anyway, my point is, I am familiar enough with the culture to recognize the bands and understood most of the references.
At the end of the day, the story is one that has endured for ages- the classic myth of selling one’s soul for fame and fortune, with the devil getting the last laugh. Except in this case, souls were sold without their knowledge, and they are desperate to free themselves from the contract which has sealed their fate. This is a nice twist, and I loved that Kris is a kick-butt female guitarist in an overwhelmingly male dominated environment.
Of course, this is a cautionary tale and there is a moral to the story. I love that about this book. It’s a gory, supernatural, futuristic horror story, featuring hardcore metal music, but there is still message and a lesson to be learned from it. While the legend of ‘selling one’s soul’ conjures up woo-doo, a thing about chickens, and visions of crossroads, and is often taken in the literal sense, I think it’s allegorical and yes, many a musician has fallen into the trap.
There are other points the author zooms in on, that while not entirely original, will still make you think. The one downside was the ending. I was expecting a huge, epic showdown, but it ended up being a whimper instead of a roar. Other than that, this story is an homage to heavy metal, to rock and roll, and horror novels. It’s a little tense, has some gross out gore, but also a healthy dose of humor and satire. It will also give you nightmares about UPS trucks, but overall, this is rip-roaring, spine-tingling tale of horror, but was also a whole lot of fun to read! -
My mind is going a million miles an hour right now - I hope this review will make sense.
Loved this book. Loved everything about this book. It's as though Grady Hendrix asked me how I would like my horror served. And he delivered more than he promised.
Phew, let me take a breath and try to break this down into smaller chunks. I'm a rocker at heart, but some of my music taste moves into heavy metal. You could say I'm like a fringe player, knowing only enough to know what I like and what I don't.
Heavy metal has always been more than music. It's a feeling, a belief, a raw and valid frustration about life as it is, an honest statement of truth beyond the smoke, of reality without the make-up. It is a subculture which has its own beliefs and language - some of which I don't even understand or grasp because I'm not all the way inside. But the words in this book is that same language, so if Grady Hendrix isn't into it more than I am, he does a damn fine job of making me believe.
The first thing to note about this book is that each chapter - not numbered - starts with the name of an album. You will find Black Sabbath, Slayer, Venom, Twisted Sister, Metallica, Manowar, Dolly Parton, AC\DC, Ozzy...to name some of them. I'm pretty sure you can spot the odd one out - I actually looked up the albums I didn't know, so imagine my surprise when I Googled "Little sparrow album" and came up with the answer. Turns out it wasn't a mistake, you'll have to read for yourself if you want top make sense of it.
DID YOU KNOW:
On the Def Leppard album HYSTERIA - which sold more than 12 million copies - released in 1987, the song ROCKET was written when the band brought all their vinyl records together and wrote the lyrics from different album titles. Check it out on the Wikipedia page.
Anyway, like I said, I enjoy some metal and others not so much, so the extent of my knowledge basically ends with whether it is a metal song or not. For the die hard fans, however, there are so many different sub-genres in metal, I wouldn't even know where to begin.
You get: Speed-, Death-, Thrash-, Black-, Nu-, Dark-, Industrial-, Liquid-, Viking-, Operatic-, Plastic-, Celtic-, Doom-, Gothic-, Hair-, Punk-, Poodle-, Extreme- and Power-, to name but a few. And, yes, only the true fans will know which ones I made up - it will be fewer than you think.
So, taking the whole idea of "Selling your soul to the devil to be the best..." takes on a little different twist in this story. I can't elaborate much more than that, for fear of giving some nice surprises away.
I am one of those readers who does a thorough (and not always fast) read and can usually point out or spot some of the weaknesses in a story. Sometimes I can live with them and I won't mention anything in my review while others I will elaborate on.
However, this story grabbed me by the short and curlies (yes, I shaved my beard and it is growing back), and absolutely devoured me. For the life of me, I can't tell you about any mistakes or weaknesses in this book. I was into this story and whatever flaws there may or may not be, flew by my radar.
Grady Hendrix is a remarkable writer and his words has power, at least over this reader, so I will recommend it to any and all fans of horror! -
5 intense and glorious stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Damn, I loved this one. A book containing heavy metal music and horror? Uh, yes please!
Grady Hendrix, we’re not worthy!
We Sold Our Souls was a fun romp of a book from the rural setting of Pennsylvania, the depressed economy of West Virginia, to the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas.
Kris Pulaski is middle aged, broke and working at Best Western.
She’s wondering what the hell happened for the last 20 years and how did she get in this place?
She was the lead guitarist of a heavy metal band called Dürt Würk back in the day.
Dürt Würk played hard, heavy and took no prisoners. Now she's cleaning up piss from the floor at Best Western at 3am in the morning.
Kris hasn’t even touched her guitar in over 6 years. On a quest to find out what happened, Kris decides to finally visit all members of the band Dürt Würk. She wants to know why she feels despair and dead inside!
This quest of self-discovery takes her on a journey across America and finding out why she feels broken and can't create music anymore.
I’m not going to say anymore about the plot in this review.
It’s better to experience this bitchin’ of a book that involves heavy metal and finding the will to keep moving forward.
I loved Kris! She was a badass chick and I’m not sure I could have done what she did especially in one part in the book.
It caused me to gasp and say,
“No, no, no, hell no!!” I would have died. 🤣😂
Grady Hendrix has a way of writing that just pulls you into a story and cheer for the down trodden. His writing is engaging, entertaining and can be downright creepy at times.
I also think Hendrix is secretly into heavy metal.
He nailed this music genre down. I felt like I should have been listening to Black Sabbath while reading this. I wanted to rock hard, jump in a mosh pit and sweat like a demon.
It was great fun!
Definitely check out We Sold Our Souls if you love music, rocking hard and enjoying horror elements in a book.
I’m really looking forward to the next book Hendrix will put out. I’ve loved everything he’s written so far! -
I’d been meaning to read something by Grady Hendrix for ages, so I jumped at the chance to review We Sold Our Souls. I’d heard so many of my friends rave about his writing in general, but as a metalhead, I was especially sold on the idea of an entire horror story revolving around this washed-up former metal star and her old bandmate’s essential deal with the devil to gain his fame.
She had nothing. Except her music.
First, let’s talk about Kris Pulaski, our former guitarist protagonist who’s in her forties now, working the night shift at a hotel, miserable, empty, and alone. And let’s talk about how much I freaking love her. Kris is an absolute badass, full of flames and rage and a need for vengeance and justice; she’s tough, a total fighter, and frankly, she’s sick and tired of being held down by the men in her life. She’s incredibly aware of how warped the metal community’s treatment of women can be, much less how society at large treats powerful and self-confident women, but she refuses to let anyone get in her way for even a second. She’s constantly plotting her next move, and she’s just brilliant. If Kris Pulaski were a real person, I’d want to be her best friend.Kris had been alive long enough to know it was dangerous when men accused you of being better than them.
Kris isn’t the only enjoyable character, though—even some of the bad guys are pretty likable in their own way, and everyone, good or bad, feels flawed and authentic. I loved cycling through Kris’ former bandmates as she met up with each one, and learning about her memories of them, especially when she would couple in band-specific relations (things like, “like every guitar duo in metal, they were a little bit in love and a little bit in hate all at the same time”). It’s also incredibly fascinating to watch Kris piece together her broken memories as the story slowly reveals what drove apart the members of Dürt Würk, and why Kris has been an outsider ever since.She played for the losers.
While We Sold Our Souls absolutely has horror elements and a wonderful plot that kept me engaged from start to finish, what I loved most about it was the fact that, at its core, it reads like a love song to metalheads and music lovers everywhere. So much of what happens revolves around the music scene, the power of metal (and the darker sides of the community, too), and the ways that music can teach us and guide us to the light. There are loads of pop culture references (don’t be offended if a few of your faves get insulted—it happened to me twice, and all I could do was laugh), feminist undertones for days, and a few incredibly creepy (and/or disgusting) mental images that have followed me in the days since finishing this story.
Altogether, I adored every single page of this book, and see it as the kind of story I would happily read over and over again in the future. If you enjoy horror with a touch of weirdness to it, and especially if you’re a fellow metalhead, I can’t urge you strongly enough to pick up a copy of We Sold Our Souls right away. There’s not a single negative thing I have to say about it, and I can’t wait to read everything else Grady Hendrix has to offer.
Thank you so much to Quirk Books for providing me with a stunning finished copy in exchange for an honest review! -
" Hard rock, heavy metal, stoner rock, doom metal-it all dragged itself up out of the swamp called the blues. "
As a major fan of the blues, how could I not be aware of Robert Johnson's story? Legend says he sold his soul at the crossroads to play the guitar like that. Maybe he wasn't the only one doing the selling?
WE SOLD OUR SOULS is the story of a band in turmoil, maybe not a great band, but one that affected people. One that got people through the hard times...one that helped them celebrate the good. But when the lead singer decides that this isn't enough for him, he investigates...other avenues. Will the band survive his efforts and appeals to be something greater? Will they survive at all? You'll have to read this to find out!
I loved how the background of each band member was related, but I especially liked the lead character Kris, because she wasn't the stereotypical female protagonist that we so often see. (Well, let's face it-we don't see that many female leads of rock bands, in real life or especially as believable characters in books.) She was bad-ass but she didn't think so-maybe she didn't even realize it. But she was resilient and she kept on keeping on even when there was no chance of success. I think I have my first fictional girl crush.
As the tale progresses, several twists occurred that I didn't foresee at all. I will never look at a UPS truck in the same way again, (and I bet you won't either). I'm sure my mouth dropped a couple of times and it probably wasn't pretty, but hell, I don't care. (I won't even speak about how late last night my Kindle hit me in my face because I was so intent on finishing this story but I just couldn't say awake any longer.) The bruise was worth it!
At the end of each chapter you'll find little tidbits from radio or news broadcasts and some of them won't make sense until later on. I really liked them and they provided background at times, and foreshadowing at others.
Grady Hendrix blipped my radar with his beautiful book PAPERBACKS FROM HELL and since then I've been a big fan. This book, however, this one is truly something special. I rank it right up there with a few other books about bands that I've greatly enjoyed like Robert McCammon's THE FIVE.
At this point, if I haven't won you over I'm probably not going to. However, I will say, if you're a fan of well written, fast paced, dark fiction, and you love Rock & Roll, you will miss the boat by a wide, wide margin if you don't read this book.
My highest recommendation!
Available everywhere on Tuesday, September 18th, but you can pre-order here:
https://amzn.to/2xdfoR5
*Thanks to Quirk Books via NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.* -
In the 1990s, Kris Pulaski was the guitar player in a metal band called Dürt Würk. Now, she's broke and working the desk at Best Western. When one of her old bandmates announces the farewell tour of Koffin, his new band, Kris goes looking for some payback...
I'm a huge fan of Paperbacks from Hell and I liked My Best Friend's Exorcism so my interest was picqued. Fortunately, I won a Goodreads giveaway for this book a few weeks ago.
We Sold Our Souls is told in two parallel tracks: the wreckage of Kris' life and her days as a rocker. There's also the side story of Melanie Guttierez, a girl who wants to get to Vegas to see Koffin at any cost, but Kris is the star of the show.
Anyway, as Kris tracks down her old bandmates, she's forced to explore that fateful night, decades before, when Terry Hunt and his creepy new manager put some sinister contracts in front of the members of Dürt Würk.
We Sold Our Souls is part metal, part road book, and part horror. There were some frantic moments and one of the most claustrophobic scenes I've read. I had to stop for a few minutes and burden my wife with it. Lots of crazy, gruesome, unsettling shit happens.
For most of the book, I was planning on giving this five stars but I thought there were a few too many unanswered questions at the end. The ending was satisfying but felt like it was missing something just the same, like when you don't have any bay leaves and decide to make the soup anyway.
Not to hijack the review but I found myself comparing We Sold Our Souls to Todd Keisling's The Final Reconciliation quite a bit. For my money, The Final Reconciliation was the better music-themed horror novel.
At the end of the day, We Sold Our Souls was one hell of a great read. Four out of five stars. -
Grady Hendrix is all about the weird horror humor and that is no different with We Sold Our Souls. It is all that is cheesy about Hard Rock and Roll from the 1970s until now wrapped in a terrifyingly humorous package. If you have enjoyed previous Hendrix and/or are a fan of hard rock, metal, music culture, etc. I think you will find a lot to enjoy here.
The thing about Hendrix that I have found now having read three of his books is you just have to be ready for some silly, irreverent fun. It is pure escapism with a little gory horror and a lot of laughs – nothing to be taken too seriously. It reminds me a lot of Christopher Moore and since I like most everything I have read by Moore, I am having the experience of liking almost everything by Hendrix.
If you don’t like horror, might take offense if the sanctity of Metal is questioned, or prefer your books not have discussions about demons and the occult, this is not the book for you. But, if you need a humorous horror escape, it is time for you to go on tour with Koffin and Dürt Würk! -
Almost famous rock chick wants to get the band back together and fight for her wrongly sold soul. Lots of metal references 🤘
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"We Sold Our Souls" by Grady Hendrix is messy, crazy, and entertaining Horror!
Chris Pulaski is the night manager of a Best Western and she's madder than hell! Unfortunately, she's also broke as hell...
In the 1990's Chris was a guitarist in the heavy metal break-out band, "Dürt Würk", until lead singer Terry Hunt sold out for a solo career as "Koffin", taking the rights to all their music and leaving the band in the dust.
Now Chris is on a mission to reunite her fellow band members and confront "Koffin" for his devilish deeds!
"The 'Heavy Metal Music Culture' is definitely not for me. I like my music quieter, smoother, sweeter, and more relaxing. I will admit, however, to getting caught-up in the lyrics and I loving the rhyming cadence that the narrator rattled off so poetically in this story. Within those lyrics and the story there is definitely food-for-thought!
What a crazy-convoluted mess this is! But it's the good kind of messy, crazy, and entertaining Horror!
I can't help myself when it comes to this campy author. Leave it to Grady Hendrix to create a horrific story with a former female-guitarist from a washed up 1990's heavy metal band, a satanic rehab center, a sinister conspiracy, and...rogue UPS drivers that pose as the death squad!
This author's books do call to me and I'm a sucker for how his written words sound via the audiobook format. This is my third listening experience and although it's not the top, it's engaging and creative. The narrator, Carol Monda, did a fine job and I highly recommend the audiobook as the best format for this story.
Most importantly, this author puts a lot of thought into the delivery of his stories and the message he leaves with his readers are deep and complex. It's similar to 'Heavy Metal Music' and the messages hidden within the lyrics. I suppose that's the draw to the culture of this music and why readers are so loyal to this author.
As long as this author continues to write, I will continue to read or listen to his work! He's definitely not for everyone but I love his creativity and the simple fact that this man just makes me smile... :-D -
Everybody has been raving about this book. I haven’t read one negative thing and that’s rare in blogland. We like to complain and pick things apart. Or at least I know I do. I probably shouldn’t speak for everyone else. But I think that’s what makes us (or me) so fantastic, haha. Now that I’ve finally read it, (sorry Netgalley, I am late again but you really should know this about me by now) I totally understand why this book is being treated like horror gold. Author Grady Hendrix knows the horror scene and he’s created a modern day classic that gives the old “sold our soul to the devil” trope a fresh new spin. It’s firmly earned its place in a future Paperbacks From Hell volume.
This story is a lovingly written present to all heavy metal loving horror fans. If you grew up in the 80’s or 90’s listening to that stuff you need to buy yourself the beautiful physical copy of this book with the black binding. I’m going to do so as soon as I can. It’s seriously that good.
Kris is having a “what the hell happened to my life” moment. She’s 47 and works the front desk at a Best Western when a customer decides to piss all over the front desk. She was once a guitarist in an almost famous metal band when it all when to shit and she was forced into abandoning her dreams. When she sees a billboard with her nemesis’s face on it that declares he’s going back on tour, she decides to track down her old bandmates in order to stop the man who ruined them all.
Nothing goes as planned. And that’s what I enjoyed so much about this book. It takes turns and twists and I predicted none of them. Not a single one. It is filled with dark and disturbing surprises. I loved that the lead guitarist and main character is a strong, kick-butt kind of woman. I adored this character.
“Kris wasn’t a hugger. She had a body like a bag of knives.”
She’s also very sympathetic and determined.
“Kris wanted to press her fist to the planet and leave a mark.”
And she thinks some very funny thoughts:
“Men never know when to shut up.”
Sorry, guys, but sometimes it’s true (though the same can be said about me, I suppose!).
Music plays an enormous part in the story. It’s not a little set piece or an afterthought. This book would not exist without the music and the end is simply magical. I don’t know what else to say without giving too much away. I’m no good at writing 5 star reviews. I guess I’ll leave you with a drop everything and READ THIS BOOK RIGHT THIS MINUTE! If you hate it, you can always send your copy to me. -
In the first chapter of this gem, the protagonist, Kris, is picking up an old guitar and reliving her glory days in a metal band. In the second chapter, a naked man walks into a Best Western and pees all over everything.
And that’s when I knew this book was for me.
Friends, if there is one thing I love more than books it’s music. I’m not a fan of death metal (although I did go through a big nu metal phase in high school), but it doesn’t matter. This book grabbed me from the very beginning, and I can honestly say this is the most fun I’ve had reading a book in a long time. It’s horror, sure, but it’s so much more.
I loved all of the music industry stuff. The characters were great, and the writing is fantastic. The story is still resonating with me today, and I think it will stick around for a while. It’s different than any horror book I’ve read, and the horror is such a minimal part of the story. I feel like it has so much more to say about consumerism and idolatry, too. It’s a very unique, well-developed spin on the whole sell your soul to the devil thing.
The writing is so fresh, and I loved that Hendrix used real bands in the story. He poked fun at a lot of stereotypes and filled the book with humor and fun along the way. The ending was also extremely satisfying and had me plowing through pages deep into the night to finish it. Seriously, it’s not classic literature or a thought provoking literary novel, but boy howdy if it ain’t just a daggum blast to read.
Can’t recommend this one enough if you’re a fan of any type of music or if you want a fresh, creative horror story that bends the genre around a bit and puts a unique twist on a classic trope. I can’t wait to pick up this guy’s other works and see what else he has in store. Or should I say what he has in... Horrorstor. Heh. -
I love the heart that went into this. But the whole thing feels so...half-baked? First drafty?
Love the first half, all the way until after an "escape" scene. After that, it lost me. The plot is too allegorical for its own good. The climax is way too feel-good and family-friendly considering the dark horror elements that were in play the rest of the novel. The universe and its mythology are frustratingly underdeveloped. The social commentary jumbled into it never comes together. It never locks down a clear tone, featuring genuinely disturbing moments of horror mixed with goofy humor and schmaltzy sentimentality. And at its worst, its message of following your dreams and "fighting the man" comes off as downright preachy.
I feel awful for ragging on it though. This is a love letter to rock 'n' roll through and through, and if anything translates crystal clear, it's that. Like I said, I adore the first half, and the second half does have some awesome moments of catharsis (I loved Kris's character and it was great seeing where she wound up).
Maybe I'm just battle-hardened after the pitch-perfect metal storytelling in Mandy, but this didn't resonate with me on any really deep level. Love the ingredients, not so much the final dish.
-
I have a SERIOUS love going on for all these music novels. The more wild, the more music-mythological, the more gut-wrenchingly SWEET and SOUR taste of broken dreams and soaring to unattainable heights, the better. :)
And you know what? I don't care WHAT kind of genre we mix it with or whether it IS mixed. Music is a LIFE. And for me, I don't even care what style it is. I've been in my Metal phase. I've owned the breakaway. I've told the world to ****-off.
So what happens when Grady writes the ultimate Metal tribute, rocks it as an epic, over-the-top Robert Johnson tribute that goes the way of a Metalocalypse. You know that old Adult Swim show? The one that laughs at itself right before it goes swimming in oceans of blood and rips its own throat out in gravel-speech? Yeah. Grady does it. :)
YEEEEAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!
This book has some of the best concept-album ideas I've read and I fell right into it as if I was listening to Mindcrime or The Wall. No sweat. This is both a tribute and a soul-stomping realistic love-note to the downtrodden and the dreams of the fighters.
I sounds like a fanboy, don't I? :) Well this just tickled me to Deathmetal. -
3.5 stars rounded up to 4
That was weird. Even for Grady Hendrix. Good and fun weird, but still weird. Kris is a brilliant main character and I thought the concept of the story was exceptionally cool. Things got a bit confusing at points with some of the more terrifying elements needing a bit more airtime in my opinion. Still a great read! -
This is the book that Queen of the Damned should have been. We Sold Our Souls is engaging, exciting, bloody, romantic and musical all at once. I absolutely loved it and cannot wait for my husband (a big music fan and horror buff) to read it as I think he will also adore this story. For sure I will be purchasing a paperback copy to add to our library and strategically leave on his side table to read.
The only 'problem' I could really find with Grady Hendrix's story is that I want the fictional band(s) to exist so bad!
Music
It's rare that someone can write a story in which you can hear the music they are describing. I don't know if it's because the lyrics are prevalent throughout the story, or that our characters describe the feeling of being lost in the heavy metal music so well; either way it's like We Sold Our Souls is belting out a metal lyric from its static pages. I could see musical geniuses like Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour), Jonathan Davis (Korn) or Tobias Forge (Ghost) being perfect to write the music to go with the lyrics. It would also be ironic as both Taylor and Davis are in bands that are mocked in the book as not being 'metal enough'.
Music Snobbery
Which brings me to the one thing that might bug some readers, music snobbery. If you are not a big music fan you might not really understand the elitist attitude that our (primary) lead gal has (a member of the main fictional band). In the music industry, especially in metal and punk, there are things you just don't do or compromise on (generally with a record label). These are what will get you labelled a 'sell-out'. That said, as someone who knows a fair bit about the music industry, the reality is that generally well known and successful bands in these genres are mocked because everyone is jealous of their massive success. Like it or not when we are being snobby it's usually because we desire something someone else has that we wish we did or are trying to justify why we haven't made it big. I believe that is exactly what is happening to our lead gal here. So take the snobbery with a grain of salt and you'll coast past this issue.
Genre all it's own
If there was a genre that encompassed music, horror and fantasy all together then We Sold Our Souls would be at the forefront of it. It's so hard to say where this book should sit in a library or bookstore. It has magic, bloody killings, musical influence (including as many fictional bands as real ones mentioned) and an overall atmosphere that bleeds dread. It could be called a thriller. I could even see some calling it an inspirational story about doing what you know is right. Seriously it just has so much rolled into it.
Premise Seems Silly?
When you read the blurb to Hendrix's novel you might think to yourself that it sounds cheesy. It's true that at times it comes off that way. But I dare anyone not to get sucked into the reality presented in We Sold Our Souls. Once you accept things for what they are; I guarantee you will be unable to put this book down. It's one of the fastest reads I have had this year to date; and yet I wanted it to never end.
Characters, Plot, Symbolism, etc.
I could probably write a whole term paper or thesis about all the meanings and symbolism in We Sold Our Souls. It's got a depth you just wouldn't expect from a horror story about musicians. I love how the lyrics of the songs are intertwined with the events of the book and feelings of our characters. At times, especially in the lyrics of the songs, Hendrix really spoke to my Pagan soul. (side note: it amuses me that the author's last name is Hendrix and they wrote a book with a musician lead. I wish one of the characters was named Jimi, even if only a minor one, lol).
Overall
If you love metal music, read this. If you love horror, read this. If you love reading the personal journey of a character to 'find themselves', read this. Like a lot of music is, this is a look into the soul of selfish, snobby musicians and the ultimate price they (seemingly inevitably pay) to be successful.
But seriously, can someone please make this into a movie and create the fictional band's music?
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review. -
I had high hopes for this book and was deeply disappointed. Quoting a few titles and tracks from Metal's heyday in the 80's doesn't rock here. Kris quit playing in a metal band and meets her old band mates. Oh, one former band member has turned evil... after 30% that was it for my part. Tedious, confusing and boring, didn't come into that book, maybe didn't get the parody, satire or whatever the author intended with it. I also didn't like the characters not even the name of the band presented here. Well, this is only my personal opinion but if you want to bang your head listen to one of the great albums mentioned in this book. This saves you reading time for something else. If you want to sell your sell I would recommend try somewhere else. Sorry!
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Grady Hendrix Rocks!! Troglodyte Rocks!
What a roller coaster of a ride this was.
This was my third time reading Grady Hendrix and as predicted it didn't disappoint at all.
This book had it all. From the well-drawn characters to high-speed action and those more tender moments. Not to mention one moment of horrific gore that really stuck with me since.
I'd highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys horror or even enjoys a laugh or two at the same time. Grady Hendrix has his own unique voice and it cries out at its loudest from within this novel.
'You like drugs, you like brew, you won't believe what I can do'
Writing this was a right pain in the backside. I really cannot get my thoughts straight regarding this book. -
This book surprised me so so much. It has got its claws into me. I loved the celebration of music more than anything else, it felt so relatable. One of my fave books by Hendrix so far!
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audiobook review march 2019:
Carol Monda did a great job of narrating. Still love the story. it just sucks me right in and i can't stop listening to it.
12/31/18
this book is sticking with me and I've recommended it to several people so i bumped it up to 5 stars. i left the original rating & review below.
4.5
oh Grady Hendrix! I've read 2 books by this guy this month (dec 2018) and both have been great(the other is my best friend's exorcism)! Some of the people i read this with found it depressing but yeah, it's sad but it didn't bother me. I read this in 2 days and for me that's fast. i couldn't put it down. i had to know what was going to happen next. i liked Kris and JD. i liked most of the characters and settings (the witch house). The story was very good and kept me very interested. i can't wait to see what Mr. Hendrix comes up with next! -
“A girl with a guitar never has to apologize for anything.”
I have been seeing Grady Hendrix’s name around on Goodreads for ages, and I’ve been curious: tongue-in-cheek horror, how is that supposed to work? I usually like my horror cosmic and existentialist (I am a basket of giggles, I know!), but at the same time, how does one resist the hook of musicians selling their souls for success? It’s the oldest trope in the book since Robert Johnson (and winked at hilariously in “Jennifer’s Body”, if you can stand Megan Fox). And while I lean more towards punk, I like to think I know my metal well enough to appreciate how much geeking out about the genre Hendrix stuffed in this novel (you don’t have to listen to metal to read this, by the way, but if you do, the references and winks – not to mention the dressing down of nu metal – will make you snort incessantly).
Kris Pulaski once was the lead guitarist of a metal band called Durt Wurk. They might not have been a big deal, but they were the real deal, and it meant everything to her. Then one day, their lead singer Terry decided to go solo, screwing the rest of the band over through a nebulously worded contract and launched himself as an alt-metal mega-success à la Marilyn Manson. Now Kris works in a crappy hotel in her crappy Pennsylvania town, and she is completely aimless. After a particularly bad day, Kris notices the huge billboards for Terry’s farewell tour and she decides that she wants to find him, if only to give him a piece of her mind – but a violent and tragic incident leads her to believe there might be more going on with Terry than she could have imagined. In parallel with Kris’ journey, we follow Melanie, a die-hard fan of Terry’s solo project, Koffin, who wants to get the hell out of her dead-end job and dead-end relationship, and start a new chapter of her life by attending Terry’s final show.
This book was just so much fun. I think it has it’s flaws, but I enjoyed reading it so damn much that I am happy to forgive imperfections. I also don’t think Hendrix was going for very high-brow here, and for the kind of book this is, it’s a wonderful, weird ride. It pokes fun at all the stereotypes one can associate with metalheads, but in that loving way. I think it was Christopher Guest who said that you can only do satire about something you really love, and that’s what is going on here.
I really appreciate that Hendrix does such a good job of capturing the feeling of holding a guitar, and wrestling with it and trying to make not unpleasant noise come out of it ��� and the soothing, deeply satisfying feeling you get when that works out and music happens. The scenes of Kris playing guitar took me back to my own music days, and I loved it. He also really nails the less pleasant aspects of being a woman who enjoys so-called alternative music and wants to play it because it’s what speaks to her: the condescending attitude from men (“Are those your boyfriend’s drums? Do you know where to plug that cable? Metalcore is chick-metal!”), the unwanted sexual advances, the anxiety of being in a very heavily male-dominated environment where it can be really difficult to feel safe… The festival bits where Melanie doesn’t know who she can trust frightened me more than the supernatural elements.
I think he also does an amazing job of painting a picture of the ugly underbelly of America, the one where you are trapped in a dead-end even if you pinch every penny, where people live in small towns that are broken down to the point where they feel post-apocalyptic and how people cope (or don’t cope) with such circumstances. Demons are horrible, but the slow erosion of humanity via economic depression and increasingly unbridgeable social stratification is fucking terrifying too.
This was a very readable and very enjoyable little joyride into the weird world of metal and music geekery. It wasn’t especially horrifying or scary, but Kris is a wonderful character I rooted for until the last page, and I am glad she is out there, with her guitar, not apologizing.
"Metal never dies. Metal never retreats. Metal never surrenders." -
4.5*
WE SOLD OUR SOULS, by Grady Hendrix, is a psychologically intense novel involving a one-time metal band and the power inherent in their music and lyrics. Years ago, five people formed a band called "Durt Wurk"--a band that was good, and had the potential to be great. Then came the day that their lead singer, Terry Hunt, decided he wanted more . . .
Kris Pulaski--now nothing more than a motel clerk--clearly remembers her triumphant struggle to where she knew they had something special. Her memories of after Terry are more fuzzy.
". . . Once upon a time, Kris Pulaski had beaten entire rooms into submission . . ."
Her meaningful guitar riffs had a power she worked years to cultivate into that perfection. They were not entirely forgotten, but clearly pushed aside for a mundane job she had no passion for.
". . . the riff that said they all underestimated her, they didn't know what she had inside, they didn't know that she could destroy them all."
After a particularly depressing work night, Kris notices a billboard on her way home, proclaiming the farewell tour of Koffin--The Blind King.
The band Terry Hunt left them to start up on his own.
Suddenly, half-remembered images of their final night together start coming back to her. Although missing some crucial elements, Kris has an inexplicable feeling that something larger than all of them--and much worse--was about to happen.
". . . I don't believe in coincidence. The universe always has a plan. It's our job to perceive it . . . "
Grady Hendrix weaves this tale of a heavy metal group--before and after its heyday--with such accurate descriptions that you'll feel you were with them all along. His characters are real, complex individuals that make the story come alive. The urgency and pacing increase perfectly as the novel keeps going, bringing crucial revelations and scenes from the past to complete the picture in our minds.
". . . Nothing is ever really good or bad, it's all about your perspective."
As Kris rallies herself and sets off on a journey she never anticipated, the gaps in her memory take form as much for the reader as for her mission. Although completely from Hendrix's imagination, I couldn't help but get a "Lovecraftian" vibe from this novel--I mean that as the highest compliment.
". . . you fought with the weapons you had, not with the ones you wished for . . . "
The music--both tone and lyrics--play an integral role here. Anyone who's ever felt the "power" or "emotion" of a song can relate to this. The dynamics of the band, their roles and talents, made them seem more like a family in their early days.
"A girl with a guitar never has to apologize for anything."
This story worked so well on an emotional level, as well as the terror, fear, psychological, and physical horrors that are portrayed. The feelings evoked become real to us, and I think that many will be able to identify with some of the more "universal" themes brought up here.
". . . She'd found her best friend, and he was broken."
As the novel progressed further into "unknown territory", I still felt as though it was the "natural" way this story had to unfold.
". . . it is possible to be crazy and paranoid and totally insane and still be right . . . "
Overall, I loved Hendrix's style and the way he incorporated the band's beginning, end, and things that occurred in between, in such a manner that it all felt right--that this was the only way it could have happened. There was never a point where I felt that too much information was being thrown at me just to get it out there. Rather, the pacing was set so well that we are able to glean just as much information as we need, when we need it.
". . . Metal never dies. Metal never retreats. Metal never surrenders . . . "
Personally, I'd love to visit this world of Hendrix's again in the future.
Highly recommended! -
3.5 Stars
Once again, Grady Hendrix is back with another fantastic, self-aware horror novel.
Playing with the classics tropes of the genre, this novel was smart and well written. The narrative was very fast paced and action packed, bringing along the reader for an entertaining adventure.
This novel will particularly appeal to readers with a background in music, specifically heavy metal. This is book was still accessible to less musically-inclined people, like myself, but I know I was the perfect target audience for the book.
If you enjoy Grady Hendrix's novels, heavy metal or deals with the devil, I definitely recommend checking out this one!
I received a copy from Penguin Random House Canada. -
For eleven years Kris and Dürt Würk had fought the world, and she’d fought the world alone for another ten years after that. They’d survived the death of metal, and made it through the grunge years without ever once covering “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” and it felt like they were going somewhere. But now the music was over, the money was gone, and in six weeks she would be losing her house.
Grady Hendrix. We Sold Our Souls (Kindle Locations 217-220). Quirk Books. Kindle Edition.
Well, I've kinda developed a minor addiction to horror novels once again ! Lol. But this wasn't really scary, even though there were a couple of horrific scenes. Each chapter is also titled after selected heavy metal songs.
This novel was full of batshit craziness, but still managed to tell a meaningful story that even incorporated an important existentialist message, with a tinge of absurdism thrown in for good measure. This novel’s main message is that individualism ought to be celebrated and that we must fight to escape the encroaching bonds of dominant forces that seek to turn us into sheep who follow blindly where others lead. Grady Hendrix does this by using his storyline about a washed up heavy metal guitarist who is fighting against the forces that destroyed her 11 years ago. This story becomes an allegory of one's woman's lifelong journey to find her identity in an indifferent world.
Kris Pulaski is the female protagonist of this tale. She's a 47 year old musician who now works as the receptionist at a motel. As a teen in the '80's, all she'd ever wanted to do was to rock and roll; heavy metal music had been her escape from a dreary world of impoverishment and her Gibson guitar was her muse. Kris had dropped out of High School to form an Indie heavy metal band, with 3 guys, called Durt Wurk. Her band had never managed to make it to the big time but she'd been happy because she was a heavy metal purist who would never dilute her music by bending to the demands of a commercial record label.
Unfortunately, Terry Hunt, the lead singer of Durt Wurk didn't share her ideals. Terry was willing to do anything to make it big – even selling the souls of his bandmates to Black Iron Mountain aka the forces of evil ! Terry went on to achieve mega stardom after he ditched Kris and his other bandmates from Durt Wurk. He's created a new larger than life image for himself as the elusive Blind King, the leader of a new band called Koffin. In this new band, though, Terry ensures that the other members are only there as tools to help highlight his own greatness. It's all about him, his millions and his merchandise. He even goes so far as to costume himself with a crown that bleeds onto his face.
Terry has become a bullying megalomaniac with paid assassins ( camouflaged as UPS delivery guys ) at his beck and call. He's like an evil Messiah with his bands of clueless followers. Everyone who gets on his bad side is killed; early on in the novel, Terry orchestrates the suicide/murders of a former bandmate and his entire family. He did this simply because the guy had started to become suspicious of the eerie incidents that had occurred 11 years ago when Terry dumped them all to form a new band.
Kris Pulasky becomes the only person who's aware of what Terry's doing and she sets out on a one woman quest to find him and destroy everything that he and Black Iron Mountain have been working to build. Black Iron Mountain is described as the hidden evil core of nothingness that exists within the centre of the world:
...The whole world has a hole in it, and eventually you learn to love it.”
“And inside that hole,” Kris said, “is Black Iron Mountain.”
Grady Hendrix. We Sold Our Souls (Kindle Locations 1553-1554). Quirk Books. Kindle Edition.
The evil creatures that dwell within Black Iron Mountain want as many souls as they can get from hapless human beings. These grisly wraiths only come to the surface to suck the souls of humans after the deal has been made.
When Terry made the deal with Black Iron Mountain, he'd been smart enough not to barter his own soul because he wanted to keep his muse and hold on to his creativity. He'd sold his bandmates' souls, without their knowledge, and doomed them to a life of dreary routine and insignificance.
Kris is soon captured and imprisoned at a "wellness" centre called Well in the Woods where she's drugged continually with mood enhancers and other psychiatric pills in an intensive de-programming scheme. Her music saves her. This might sound cheesy but it's actually quite profound and the author's treatment of this part of the story was very interesting. It turned out that many years ago, Kris had composed an album called Troglodyte and all of the songs had been one continuing epic tale about the existence of the evil that is Black Iron Mountain. The evil forces of Black Iron Mountain wanted to keep this album out of the public hearing, because everyone knows that evil thrives best when it is hidden from the unsuspecting world; evil forces can do more harm when humans are unaware of its existence.
Terry Hunt agreed to destroy Troglodyte and keep all of Kris' songs hidden from the public. When Kris is imprisoned in Well in the Woods, she remembers all her music from that album and uses it to fight against the forces of evil:
Inside Kris’s head, all day, every day, she played the album that Terry had never wanted released, the one that scared him so bad he’d buried it down deep. Song by song, chord by chord, note by note, Kris silently reconstructed Troglodyte inside her mind. The first track on Troglodyte was not actually a song, because no self-respecting metal album ever begins with a song. They all begin with an intro.
Grady Hendrix. We Sold Our Souls (Kindle Locations 1698-1701). Quirk Books. Kindle Edition.
Kris undergoes a cathartic experience and finally gets the willpower to escape from the "wellness" centre. The most interesting part, for me, was this section because the author actually wrote out the lyrics from selected songs in the album and it was quite poetic. She's at her lowest point when she escaped, because she has no money and is covered in cuts and bruises. However, she rallies by walking, hitchhiking, eating from garbage bins etc. Her main aim is to get to Terry's big concert, Hellstock, on the outskirts of Las Vegas. Suffice it to say that Kris does succeed in getting to Hellstock, with the aid of an old bandmate called JD ( who dies gruesomely ! ) and she gets her revenge by forcing Terry to sing the entire Troglodyte album for the half a million live fans and the millions of televised viewers.
Terry gets his comeuppance and loses his creativity; in fact he becomes a mere shell of himself after he's punished severely, by Black Iron Moutain, for singing the songs they hate from that dangerous album Troglodyte. Kris' fate wasn't so clear though. She never got back her soul and it's implied that she got away from the evil forces of Black Iron Mountain but the author never states so definitely. I guess that's to be expected in a horror novel ! What I did enjoy was the fact that, in the end, Kris ended up becoming a legend after her epic performance at the Hellstock concert. And that's a nice enough ending for a gifted musician, whose only true love had been music for the sake of the music... -
I was going to give this two stars because there were parts of it I enjoyed, but honestly this is like a sketch of a novel. Even though the style is very easy to read, I didn't understand what was happening. The plot was not what i was expecting, this is mostly a woman running away and trying not to get killed, and the mythology is confusing and doesn't really make any sense. The characters are paper thin and I didn't understand the motivations or the relationships of anyone because they were barely developed. There's a cool novel in there somewhere, but this isn't it.
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A fast and fun frolic through the Heavy Metal scene, and the struggle for the independence of your soul (literally!). Grady Hendrix is a master of amusing pop culture references, and mixing an exciting and to the point story with deep emotional complexities, like the breakdown of friendships, sense of self, and shifting power dynamics on a personal, societal, and spiritual level. A great way to look at the idea of sacrificing everything for a shot at fame and fortune, relevant in todays highly consumerist society.
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I have no words that can accurately describe how freaking AMAZING and out of this world this book was but I’m going to give it a try. I knew it would be good because it’s basically my two favourite things smashed into one, horror and metal. But I had no idea just how good it would be and it absolutely blew my mind! This isn’t just one the best horror books I’ve read this year but one of the best horror books I’ve EVER read. It was dark and gritty and by the end of it I felt like I’d sell my soul to get more of this deliciously scary story!
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**3.5**
Reading Vlog:
https://youtu.be/BzGhJnkIsmc
This got me in the second half. The beginning/middle are pretty generic and lackluster for me. I do not connect with bands and albums in this way. If you do then this will relate to you in the way Grady Hendrix's books are always meant to connect with specific readers. Where it turned the tide for me was when you really get to know the main character.
Kris Pulaski is such a bad b*tch. She used to play guitar for a heavy metal band and is now in her 40/50s and pissed off. Her bandmate left in the 90s to go solo and basically sold their souls to the devil. Kris is not having it y'all. She is not HAVING IT. And I support her 1000%.
I love that Grady Hendrix wrote about this age group in a way that was empowering and hilarious.
This is his second goriest book in my opinion. Southern Book Club is the first but this book definitely had some horrifying scenes in it that had my face like 😲🤢
Over all a good time even though the beginning was just okay. -
I've had books by Grady Hendrix on my TBR list and cued up in my Kindle and Audible accounts for several months. I kept meaning to read them because they sounded amazing, but other books always came first. Until ...
My husband who loves his guitars and metal bands about as much as I love books asked me out of the blue one day, "have you heard of Grady Hendrix?"
Wow. A musician friend of his told him he had to check out We Sold Our Souls, a book about a female guitarist from a defunct metal band who is trying to confront an old bandmate who basically ruined her life. He asked if I'd read it and sadly, I had to say no but I really wanted to. He ended up listening to the audiobook before I did. He loved it! So, of course, I had to clear room in my book schedule to listen to it right away as well!
Personally, music feeds my soul. I listen to all types: classic rock, classic country, bluegrass, indie, 80s and 90s alternative, even some contemporary Christian. Like I said, music feeds my soul. You'll notice I didn't list metal, which this book is primarily about. But through my husband, I have an extensive knowledge of metal bands and have watched some rockumentaries. So I could follow along with this story and all the references quite easily! And I love, love, LOVE that there was a tribute to one of my favorite classic country artists, Dolly Parton, in the book as well.
This book was one wild ride, for sure! Just when I thought things couldn't get any stranger - they did! Things happened that I definitely didn't see coming. If you like strong female characters, you'll love Kris, the leading lady. Absolutely nothing in the book came easy for her but she persevered. She had some help along the way when things got too intense for her to handle alone. I enjoyed the supporting characters as much as I did Kris.
I try to never put spoilers in my reviews, but the one thing that bothered me most about this book is a spoiler, so I'll hide it here: I feel better now. ;-) At any rate, I ended up giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. It was a great book. But I'm actually hoping I might enjoy another of Grady Hendrix's offerings a bit more.
