A review by morgob
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I think I'd like to give this a 4.5, if I may. Holy shit! This book scared the heck out of me! At first glance, it's a ghost story. Peeking under the hood, it's a traumatic horror story about mental illness and a dysfunctional family. Look a little further, and it... might be a ghost story??? This was kind of like Babadook but more messed up. Kind of predictable, but in unimportant ways. I don't know if I believe Merry or not!!

I'd like to believe she is innocent, but I also don't want this to be completely not a ghost story. Caught me on my biases on this one. I hoped the dad did it. I wanted the dad to be the villain! What does that say?

I personally appreciated all the pop culture references throughout. Goldbug made me so happy (at first). And I almost shit my pants when I saw the name Navidson. I'm glad he said something in the endnotes, otherwise I would've thought the House was haunting me. Very creepy read. I'm so glad I could do it in one day, otherwise it would've kept me up at night. It still might! Cheers to the nightmares!