The lives of the Barretts, a normal suburban New England family, are torn apart when fourteen-year-old Marjorie begins to display signs of acute schizophrenia.
To her parents’ despair, the doctors are unable to stop Marjorie’s descent into madness. As their stable home devolves into a house of horrors, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest for help. Father Wanderly suggests an exorcism; he believes the vulnerable teenager is the victim of demonic possession. He also contacts a production company that is eager to document the Barretts’ plight. With John, Marjorie’s father, out of work for more than a year and the medical bills looming, the family agrees to be filmed, and soon find themselves the unwitting stars of The Possession, a hit reality television show. When events in the Barrett household explode in tragedy, the show and the shocking incidents it captures become the stuff of urban legend.
Fifteen years later, a bestselling writer interviews Marjorie’s younger sister, Merry. As she recalls those long ago events that took place when she was just eight years old, long-buried secrets and painful memories that clash with what was broadcast on television begin to surface—and a mind-bending tale of psychological horror is unleashed, raising vexing questions about memory and reality, science and religion, and the very nature of evil.
A Head Full of Ghosts: Horror Novel Review Blog
Paul Tremblay blipped on my radar with The Cabin at the End of the World. While I was impressed with his writing, Cabin did not do it for me. For some reason, I found that the movie adaptation worked better for me. The biggest thing that I was not a fan of with Cabin was the ambiguity. I am a big fan of ambiguity and leaving a finality up to interpretation but, for some reason, and maybe I completely missed it with Cabin, I felt like its conclusion was left wide open with a FILL IN THE BLANK. In other words, it was a little too ambiguous to my liking. A Head Full of Ghosts was not too far behind. Upon my finishing the book my immediate reaction was, “Wow!” But, in a good way – a very good way!
My previous thoughts on Tremblay, and my dissatisfaction with Cabin, have been completely eradicated as I now see the author in a new light. Usually, when I am put off by my first read of an author I give them another chance. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” And so, there is never a third chance. I did this with author Darcy Coates as I just could not get into her work. A Head Full of Ghosts is my second foray into Paul Tremblay, thus, the final strike in my warped baseball comparison.
The story follows the lives of the Barretts, a seemingly normal suburban family when their 14-year-old daughter, Majory, starts to display erratic, and inexplicable behavior. After a series of tests from different sorts of doctors, the Barretts now struggle financially and, with their options running low, the patriarch, John Barrett who is the sole religious figure in the family attributes Marjorie’s strange behavior to that of a demon and so he puts his last hope onto the catholic church when he requests that an exorcism be performed on his daughter to expel the demon from within her. But, the stakes are even higher when a production company is also contacted to document the progress of the family and of the exorcism in order to gain some recognition and make some money at the same time. As one might expect, chaos ensues and fifteen years later, Merry sits down with Rachel, a best-selling author, to relive her past to be put into book format.
What I’ve come to learn about author Paul Tremblay is that he has a knack for misdirection, ambiguity, as mentioned prior, and for writing compelling characters that you tend to root for or understand their plight. Every single one of the Barretts, John and Sarah, mother and father, as well as Marjorie and Merideth (Merry), the two sisters at the core of the story all have pivotal roles as the narrative progresses and I cared for every single one of them. Usually, as in the case of many Stephen King novels, there is a character or two that you grow to really despise and King tends to do that well so much so that it has become a trope of his or a “King-ism.” In a way, some characters tend to stand out far too much, and they become apparent in their actions and inevitability. I like that Tremblay does not give up his hand early in his work and he kept me guessing right up to the very end, literally.
“In a way, my personal history not being my own, being literally and figuratively haunted by outside forces, is almost as horrible as what actually happened. Almost.”
– Paul Tremblay
A Head Full of Ghosts had a little bit of everything and I likened it to a modern-day take, or reimagining, of the 1973 classic horror film, The Exorcist which is also referenced in the book itself which made it self-aware. Ihave a feeling that Tremblay knew all too well that anything remotely broaching the subject of an exorcism will, in all likelihood, be compared to the famed novel and film. Kudos to Tremblay for getting ahead of that and pointing it out himself. It is also remisicent of what happened to the Lutz family with the whole Amityvill Horror fiasco and how George Lutz too was in dire straits financially and, hence, the story of a gateway to hell in the basement, a talking pig and walls that bled blood came to fruition. In other words, the story and claims of demonic possession and a haunted house was a cash grab in order to capitalize on a sensational story in order to make money. And here we are, in 2023, still talking about it. John Barrett, the father in A Head Full of Ghosts, seemed to have had the same idea. Or did he?
A Head Full of Ghosts went in a completely different direction than The Exorcist and went further into the question of whether or not the young girl was indeed possessed by a demon while keeping its readers guessing through the entirety of the novel. Tremblay played tons of tricks where one minute I thought I caught on to what was happening only to be questioning it again after finishing the next chapter. I have to say that his ability to keep me on my toes is as masterful as his ability to elicit a plethora of emotions from heart-warming to downright terrifying moments. Just when you think all is over he slaps you with another reveal or truth and boy did he get me good with this one on more than one occasion. The book deals with psychological trauma, memory discrepancies, things remembered a certain way as opposed to what really happened, manipulation and tickery which gives us an unreliable character putting us, the readers, on the same playing field as the narrator.
A Head Full of Ghosts hit all the right marks and, if I’m being honest, it has been a while since a book’s ending has simmered in my mind for hours after I finished reading. To say this book is incredible would not do it justice as I am completely enamored with A Head Full of ghosts as it was brilliantly penned by Tremblay. While there is some obscurity, in my opinion, by the book’s conclusion I knew exactly what happened with our main protagonist… I think. One of the great things about this book is that you can talk to numerous people and they will have a completely different take or interpretation on the book. And that is testament to a great piece of fiction.