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A review by weathersreadsgarbage
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I think this is one of those books that is only going to stress you out under the right circumstances because... well. There’s a lot of holes.
The timeframe doesn’t make sense. The way a show airs with a two week delay on a major network instead of filming a season (???). It’s weird and you have to be able to suspend your disbelief for a minute - which seems to be exhaustingly difficult for people who read horror considering how often people seem to bitch about this.
I’ll also say the blog bits are... awful. They’re written like a cringe 38 year old who’d be like “*pouts* telling me not to write weecest is ageism *pulls out hair*” and I genuinely cannot explain that unless you’ve met one. I feel like there’s a lot of ways where using media or even forum posts could work and this was a bomb. Thankfully there’s not many of them.
But I enjoy this because there’s really no... set solution. Is there really a demon or is it mental illness? Do we have reliable narrators? What’s fake? You don’t know and I love that. I also love that it boils down to two sisters. I have a big sister that I idolized as a kid and the thought of her giving me that whole “I’ll rip out your tongue” speech is so chilling.
If you’re looking for over the top horror and explicitly possessed characters this isn’t it but if you like something that’s a bit more subtle? Totally might be for you.
The timeframe doesn’t make sense. The way a show airs with a two week delay on a major network instead of filming a season (???). It’s weird and you have to be able to suspend your disbelief for a minute - which seems to be exhaustingly difficult for people who read horror considering how often people seem to bitch about this.
I’ll also say the blog bits are... awful. They’re written like a cringe 38 year old who’d be like “*pouts* telling me not to write weecest is ageism *pulls out hair*” and I genuinely cannot explain that unless you’ve met one. I feel like there’s a lot of ways where using media or even forum posts could work and this was a bomb. Thankfully there’s not many of them.
But I enjoy this because there’s really no... set solution. Is there really a demon or is it mental illness? Do we have reliable narrators? What’s fake? You don’t know and I love that. I also love that it boils down to two sisters. I have a big sister that I idolized as a kid and the thought of her giving me that whole “I’ll rip out your tongue” speech is so chilling.
If you’re looking for over the top horror and explicitly possessed characters this isn’t it but if you like something that’s a bit more subtle? Totally might be for you.