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natashavand 's review for:
A Head Full of Ghosts
by Paul Tremblay
Oh my God. This book is such an incredible work of horror fiction. Wow. Like really, really wow.
Let me start off by saying that I HATE any notion or concept of exorcism. I stand by the fact that "The Exorcist" (the one from the '70s) is the scariest film of all time, and I watch a LOT of horror movies. So I was really hesitant to read this book because the movie traumatized me so much as a teenager. But, when Stephen King's seal of approval is on the cover and Reddit and Goodreads are filled with rave reviews and I'm trapped inside due to the COVID-19 Quarantine, I'm finally saying "F it!" and reading the book on exorcisms that I have avoided for way too long. And boy oh boy am I glad I read this.
This novel is a complete and utter love letter to horror as a genre, in both film, literature, pop culture, everything. And every time I felt like Tremblay was ripping something off from someone, he suddenly used his Karen blog to call out how much he was influenced by said original work. The house and family dynamic in "A Head Full of Ghosts" is so reminiscent of the house in "House of Leaves" (one of my favorite books ever) and the ending is so perfectly inspired (and a little stolen) from Shirley Jackson's "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" that I was annoyed at myself for not realizing Merry was based on Jackson's character Merricat who pulls a similar stunt revealed at the very end of WHALITC. Just wow! Mind blown.
I really thought I was going to hate a book that used blogging to explain crucial facts of the story, but instead I ended up craving it just to learn more about what inspired Tremblay's story. And I think that's why there are some unfavorable reviews about this book. Overall, I didn't find "A Head Full of Ghosts" scary. I'm not sure if Marjorie was possessed or just seriously mentally disturbed, but I also don't really care because I became so invested in figuring out the full story and seeing how Tremblay would connect it all to his favorite works of horror.
I read this book within a 30 hour time frame, and I will 100% recommend this to any diehard fan of horror any day. It's probably not the cup of tea for someone who is not a fan of this scary genre, but anyone who dabbles in the creepiness of pop culture will hopefully devour this book as much as I did.
Let me start off by saying that I HATE any notion or concept of exorcism. I stand by the fact that "The Exorcist" (the one from the '70s) is the scariest film of all time, and I watch a LOT of horror movies. So I was really hesitant to read this book because the movie traumatized me so much as a teenager. But, when Stephen King's seal of approval is on the cover and Reddit and Goodreads are filled with rave reviews and I'm trapped inside due to the COVID-19 Quarantine, I'm finally saying "F it!" and reading the book on exorcisms that I have avoided for way too long. And boy oh boy am I glad I read this.
This novel is a complete and utter love letter to horror as a genre, in both film, literature, pop culture, everything. And every time I felt like Tremblay was ripping something off from someone, he suddenly used his Karen blog to call out how much he was influenced by said original work. The house and family dynamic in "A Head Full of Ghosts" is so reminiscent of the house in "House of Leaves" (one of my favorite books ever) and the ending is so perfectly inspired (and a little stolen) from Shirley Jackson's "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" that I was annoyed at myself for not realizing Merry was based on Jackson's character Merricat who pulls a similar stunt revealed at the very end of WHALITC. Just wow! Mind blown.
I really thought I was going to hate a book that used blogging to explain crucial facts of the story, but instead I ended up craving it just to learn more about what inspired Tremblay's story. And I think that's why there are some unfavorable reviews about this book. Overall, I didn't find "A Head Full of Ghosts" scary. I'm not sure if Marjorie was possessed or just seriously mentally disturbed, but I also don't really care because I became so invested in figuring out the full story and seeing how Tremblay would connect it all to his favorite works of horror.
I read this book within a 30 hour time frame, and I will 100% recommend this to any diehard fan of horror any day. It's probably not the cup of tea for someone who is not a fan of this scary genre, but anyone who dabbles in the creepiness of pop culture will hopefully devour this book as much as I did.