3) In another scene, Merry wakes up to find that someone has drawn vines and leaves all over her large cardboard playhouse. Despite her age she is incredibly intelligent. How? However, the point of view also has another layer, as Merry's story is told in flashbacks. She acted and sounded like a little kid. What an awesome surprise! "Karen" also provided us another view to the story, so there were multiple angles to consider throughout the novel. It's one of the more popular horror novels this year, and the premise (about a young girl named Merry witnessing her family dealing with the possible demonic possession of their daughter and their choice to not only perform an exorcism but to film it for a reality show) is a set up for some chilling entertainment. Marjorie was very, very sick. I'd be interested in hearing how others interpreted this story and if anyone radically disagrees with me on any of this, especially regarding the actual "demonic possession" itself. In the story there are two girls (named Marjorie and Merry) who live in a house that resembles the large cardboard playhouse in the actual Merrys bedroom. Imagine a literary horror novel that riffs on one of the best and creepiest short stories out there, Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wall-Paper:It is so pleasant to be out in this great room and creep around as I please! Then throw in elements of every tale of possession youve read or seen, from Shirley Jacksons The Haunting of Hill Houseto William Peter Blattys The Exorcist, and youll end up with Paul Tremblays AHead Full of Ghosts, one of the mostfrightening books Ive read this,or any, year. Check out our sample guides: A SuperSummary Plot Summary provides a quick, full synopsis of a text. For Rachel to have a letter proving that, yes, their father did have cyanide to "do what he knows he has to do" led me to think that their father did plan to kill them but Marjorie beat him to the punch. It plays a key role in the commercialization of Marjorie and her illness, in her failed "treatment", in its abandonment of the family afterwards, and the skepticism and trauma that led to Merry being able to make the choices that she made. Merry then notices a green leaf with a curlicue stem had been carefully etched on the back of her hand. You get it. Theres nothing wrong with me, Merry. Marjories dad John Barrett, a devoutly religious man, is sure his daughter is possessed. And why do archetypes still hold so much power over our psyches, even in this cynical, tech-savvy era? But we also learn more about the events through the eyes of 8 year old Merry, the way she looks at the events from a childs perspective, which makes it different and scary at the same time. Marjorie repliesin a low and growly altered voice You cant wear my hat because youre going to die someday . It takes a brilliant piece of writing to have the reader naturally, even enthusiastically, embrace a character, and yet feel that its not entirely safe to do so. [12], In February of 2018, it was announced that Oz Perkins, the director of the horror 2016 film I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, would be rewriting and directing the film adaptation of A Head Full Of Ghosts.[13]. . Tremblay dedicated the novel to Jackson. Stephen King has often said that his greatest fear is of losing his mind. Fear is an essential part of the human story, and good horror lets us know it. or ask your favorite author a question with Nope. But mental disorders, whether one or many, dont exhaust the natural explanations. Paul Tremblay's new novel is, on the surface, a story about a book about a reality show about a real-life event, but reviewer Jason Heller says it becomes an "unsettling conversation about the truth." Didn't think the story would take such a twist. and our . The Story: A Synopsis Without (Major) Spoilers. Is this because she was possessed? It needs no devils or demons to make it scary. paul tremblay interviews me, or "me" here: This book blew me away. If you would like to make contact with a counsellor during business hours, please contact Counselling Support, and if you need after hours support, please call the University of Adelaide Crisis Support Line on 1300 167 654 or text 0488 884 197 (5pm to 9am weekdays; 24 hours weekends and public holidays). Unbeknownst to Merry, Marjorie has been seeing a therapist, something she only learns after Marjorie experiences a particularly bad episode. 7 years ago. But it does more. She has unpredictable mood swings, night terrors, and violent outbursts. A Head Full of Ghosts received an overwhelmingly positive reception upon publication for how it portrayed the nature of good and evil. Actually I'm not sure if I loved this book or hated it. Since Tremblays novel has no religious agenda, the story easily accommodates more than one viewpoint, religious and non-religious. These were disturbing and creepy, especially when I read them alone at night. While your are watching or reading for that matter, you are being manipulated, directed to a certain point of view about how the events unfolded. The mother, Sarah Barrett, believes Marjorie is just very sick and needs psychiatric treatment. Refresh and try again. A Head Full of Ghosts (Spoilers) Whole lotta spoilers below, they will be mostly tagged (except my final paragraphs) but if you are on mobile, the spoiler tags may or may not work - IDK why Reddit sometimes does that. The plot involves an American family from Massachusetts under financial and emotional strain when their fourteen-year-old daughter, Marjorie Barrett, exhibits signs of severe mental illness. A game taking the ghosts on missions to take out the remaining Federation leaders. Perhaps because the alternative is more horrifying. Merry, and not her father, had ultimately killed the family, albeit under false pretenses and manipulation. Sly and funny, Brissette unravels the strands of popular culture that are part of Marjories stereotypical possession, from The Blair Witch Project to Lovecraft, Nabokov, Gilman, and Jackson, again. But I was uninterested through most of this book. All rights reserved. Heather Scott Partington: This book certainly freaked me out. On several occasions I listened to it while falling asleep and had horrible nightmares. As ever, if you have any . And yet, for many of us, these scenes are no less disturbing and scary. Is Marjorie really demon possessed? On one occasion I listened to it while having a root canal. This becomes the catalyst for the final twist and disturbing ending of the novel. To her parents' despair, the doctors are unable to stop Marjorie's descent into madness. It transforms the possession motif, and it does so with literary grace and philosophical sophistication. Merry finds a note that says, Theres nothing wrong with me, Merry. A Head Full of Ghosts is written by Paul Tremblay and first published by William Morrow Paperbacks/HarperCollins Publishers in 2015. The story is all about the so-called possession of Marjorie. Call of Duty: Ghosts' Ending Explained The ending of Call of Duty: Ghosts took all of those elements and doubled down on it. A Head Full of Ghosts: 20 years after her family was publicly destroyed by her teenage sister's mysterious affliction, a young woman tells the story in her own words, revealing a far more terrifying version of what really happened in her childhood home. Knowing that there would be obvious similarities between his novel and the Exorcist, Tremblay meets this unavoidable feature of updating older literary themes head-on. I was a big Poe fan in high school, and read some Lovecraft too. A Head Full of Ghosts is a gift for the horror fan, for its compelling story with a well-crafted meta-perspective. Paul Tremblays A Head Full of Ghosts is a first-rate contribution to literary horror and the psychological thriller genre. They must be overcome. In both adulthood and childhood Merry is an unreliable narrator, openly admitting that she doesn't clearly remember her past and that she lies. I loved all the references too, and the more you have watched or read the more it will appeal to you and it will integrate into the story. GHOSTS (Thursday, May 11 at 8:30 pm) "The Heir" (Season 2 finale) - When a woman shows up claiming to be the rightful heir to Woodstone Mansion, Sam and Jay enlist the help of a lawyer . (I know I've been posting pretty frequently these last few days - I appreciate you all taking the time to read. Scan this QR code to download the app now. The most terrifying book Ive ever read, though, is Paul Tremblays A Head Full of Ghosts (William Morrow, 2015). Whats interesting is how many, if not most, of the more frightening scenes are illustrations of the abnormal, not the supernatural. The retrospective occurs in series of conversations between Merry and best-selling author Rachel Neville. ), but I just never got around to ituntil an afternoon recently in which I needed to make an hour commute home and wanted an audiobook, so I looked at the available now section on my librarys audiobook inventory, found this, and that was all it took. The ending disappointed me, but it was still a pretty darn scary read. Theres something unsettling and sometimes downright terrifying about family or friends beginning to act unlike themselves. Only my bones want to grow through my skin like the growing things and piece the world (p. 54). As a child, she has an overactive imagination, and enjoys playing in her room rather than with other kids. She has unpredictable mood swings, night terrors, and violent outbursts. I really need to talk about that ending. Several reviewers noted plot and thematic similarities to Shirley Jackson's "We Have Always Lived In The Castle"[6] as well as the same name of the protagonists. Co-written with Matthew Robbins, the film surprised audiences who were expecting a gory, gruesome house-of-horrors thrill ride and instead got a lavish, melodramatic and deeply horny Gothic ghost. There are also a few chapters containing posts from a blog called "The Last Final Girl." I have some fun reading goals for the year, and this last week - between being sick and staying in more frequently as a result - has given me a great opportunity to read a lot). Both are cause for a highly creative horror story that will speak to the imagination. She sat propped up against the headboard with pillows folded and stuffed behind her back. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Why? But its not mandatory to have watched or read all these horror stories to understand or follow the story. Inside the temple is a large garden full of fruit trees and vegetable patches, as well as a bamboo grove and a lotus pond. I'm lazy. This book can be regarded as kind of Exorcist 4.0. It is told in an unconventional way with an intriguing structure. Request a complete Study Guide for this title! It needs no devils or demons to make it scary. As Blatty himself has said, the Exorcist is really about Father Karrass crisis of faith. Who is the real obsessed here? I also read William BlattysThe Exorcist, which allowed me torevisit some of my childhood fears. Tensions get increasingly higher, leading up to the climactic exorcism of Marjorie. That is clear. A very interesting novel written in a modern but sometimes a bit confusing way. It thereby dials in a form of terror that doesnt depend on belief in the existence of God or the devil. Me too. Anyway, I'm not sure how to feel after having read this. Brissette ultimately points us to an important feature of our psychologythe needs and interests that influence our perception of the world. The looming crisis over the U.S. debt ceiling may soon require the House speaker to make a painful choice. In fact, arguably one of the storys most important strengths and contributions to the genre is how it enlists ambiguity as a literary device. A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS is in development with Focus Features. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Father Wanderly and John Barrett are religiously committed, but theres no attempt to force the reader to be. This month's release of the much-anticipated third entry into Marvel's Ant-Man series, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, has been a . A Head Full of Ghosts, by Paul Tremblay: Scared the living hell out of me, and Im pretty hard to scare Stephen King. This is a place to discuss horror literature. When 8-year-old Merry's older sister exhibits signs of an indeterminate and terrifying affliction, the Barrett family slowly tears itself apart. Prior to the start of the novel she begins seeing a therapist regarding her frequent violent outbursts and lack of motivation at school. Their father was also probably pretty "not right in the head", although we don't know if that was because of his recent circumstance or had always been somewhat the case (they did reference his anger). Bringing it more into the modern was the added layer of the reality show, which gave us yet another level from which we could view of the situation as well as its exacerbating factors. [5] The story is told from the point of view of Marjorie's eight-year-old sister, Meredith "Merry" Barrett. She confesses at the end of the story that shes not sure what really happened fifteen years earlier. This blog is written in a different style, its smart, witty and with a lot of insightful (cynical) commentary about them and horror and the supernatural. Uncertainty and doubt are precisely the problem. While everyone believes that Marjorie is possessed, 8 year old Merry is the only one who doubts her sister for other more sinister reasons. A Head Full of Ghosts is many things: an examination of the push-pull between religion and science and our need to be saved by one or both, a devastating family drama, a very scary horror novel . Or is she in some way a victim of a malevolent force purely human in origin? Fifteen years later, Merry is reliving the events, and their catastrophic conclusion, for a book the author is writing. she was possessed by a demon, and a stereotypical one at that. So it took me a while to get to this one, despite the rave reviews. Fatherly Wanderly attempts to marshal evidence of demonic possession as the events are unfolding.