A Head Full of Ghosts in What is Life without Books

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A Head Full of Ghosts

Paul Tremblay

Start date: January 1, 2019

Finish date: March 31, 2019

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What Members Thought

Jul 15, 2015 Emily Kestrel rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror, read-in-2015, mystery-and-suspense

If your family was having hard times--dad unemployed, older daughter Marjorie acting mentally ill, lots of money troubles--what do you think would be a good solution? Did you say assume your daughter is possessed and allow your lives to become a reality TV program of her exorcism-in-progress? No, me either, but that's what happens in this book, as told by Marjorie's younger sister Merry to a reporter as a young adult.

I give this one four stars because it's an absolute page-turner. We know from t ...more

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May 16, 2015 Celeste rated it really liked it

Shelves: liked-it-more-than-i-thought-i-woul, un-put-downable, not-particularly-scary, interesting-read, horror, thriller, religious-spiritual-backdrop, not-bad

Memory is a funny thing. You never know if what you remember actually happened or is your mind just telling you it happened. I鈥檝e read somewhere, that whenever you recall a past event, you鈥檙e actually remembering the last time you recalled the event and not the event itself. I don鈥檛 know how far this is true, what I do know is that my own memory can be a dirty liar. Either that or my mother would rather believe I was going to bite my little brother as a kid because she secretly wants to turn me Memory is a funny thing. You never know if what you remember actually happened or is your mind just telling you it happened. I鈥檝e read somewhere, that whenever you recall a past event, you鈥檙e actually remembering the last time you recalled the event and not the event itself. I don鈥檛 know how far this is true, what I do know is that my own memory can be a dirty liar. Either that or my mother would rather believe I was going to bite my little brother as a kid because she secretly wants to turn me into a cannibal. Plus I only pinched him once!

This book is centered around the alleged possession of Marjorie and is told from the point of view of her younger sister Merry. Or rather multiple points of Merrys , eight year old Merry, twenty three year old Merry, alternative personality Merry. My favorite aspect of the book was the relationship the sisters shared before it all went to hell, perhaps even while it was going to hell. I loved 8 year old Merry, I found her simply adorable, and perhaps this is because I have a younger sister I tended to relate to their relationship more.

The thing is, I don鈥檛 know that I would classify this as horror exactly. It didn鈥檛 scare me. It had its moments of subtle creepiness but it wasn鈥檛 nearly enough for me.That final twist was interesting but predictable. I didn鈥檛 catch the twist within the twist, but im not a morning person and I can鈥檛 be expected to notice anything the author doesn鈥檛 come out and tell me straight at 6 in the morning which is when I finished this book. (view spoiler) Was anyone in fact possessed? Personally I don鈥檛 think so, but what do I know.

Not a bad book but not what I expected at all. I enjoyed the writing and cared about the characters. However if you鈥檙e expecting gruesomeness and have a high tolerance for the creepy, then this book will fall short of your expectations. It was a 3.5 star rating for me which im rounding up to 4 because there really was very little wrong with this book (also I think the author reads these reviews (Hi ,author!) and I want answers!).
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Nov 06, 2022 Sean Carlin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

What is to teen-slasher movies like Halloween, A Head Full of Ghosts is to demonic-possession stories such as The Exorcist: both a terrifying specimen of the genre as well as a fascinating deconstruction of its tropes. It's a story about . One of the best novels, horror or otherwise, I've read in a decade. ...more

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Jun 23, 2022 Louise Worthington rated it it was amazing

This is the best horror novel I have read! It is well-written, thought-provoking and scary. It's both psychological horror and demonic possession horror and its impact comes from a family dynamic that feels very real and an unreliable narrator that leaves more questions than answers in your mind.
I loved all the horror book and movie references and the implication that they provided the material for Majorie's fake possession. Or was it real? A cry for help from a surly teenager? Or is she suffer ...more

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Jan 21, 2019 Sylvia Walker rated it really liked it

Shelves: supernatural-tales

WOW. Talk about your can't-put-it-down, compulsive reading kind of book. The author both played with the genre and kept up the tension, too. I did not see that ending coming. ...more

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