I’ve read his narcoleptic detective books and enjoyed them but this was a cut above. Does exactly what the best horror books do, by exposing some of the darkness in the real world, while at the same time it was full of little Easter eggs for devoted horror fans. Well done… and more than a bit disturbing ( )

Wow. Gonna be hard to get a few of these scenes out of my head. Don't give up when you start thinking it's overcooked with all the classic horror references, it all kind of makes sense eventually. Good scary read. ( )

I can't recall how I came across this, but I'm glad I did. It's such a good take on the possession or mental illness trope of horror fiction. It's told from the point of view of the younger sister of the victim, about 15 years after the incident. What she remembers, and how it may have been affected by the family's participation in a TV show at the time is front and centre all the time. Did it really happen thus way or is she conflating the memory with something she's since read? It's definitely a page-turner and difficult to stick with in places,but so worth it when you get to the end. Highly recommended. ( )

I had to think about my rating for this book for a while cause although the ending has a twist I didn't see coming (which is something I always appreciate), it still wasn't enough for me to give this a higher rating. I know a lot of people love this book, but this one just wasn't for me. I didn't really care about any of the characters and the pacing was off, which made it seemed like it dragged for so long despite this book being pretty short (under 300 pages). I was interested in the beginning but then it completely loses me in the middle and it doesn't get exciting again until part 3.

I also think this book is trying to do too much and so it falls flat. What exactly is it trying to achieve? Is it supposed to make us think about mental health vs religious beliefs? Was Marjorie actually possessed or was it her mental illness (schizophrenia)? Is it supposed to be about the dysfunction within the family and the societal and life's pressures placed on them? It is a commentary about the age of the internet and not being able to believe "news" that's put out? Is it about reality TV shows? As I said, there are so many different directions you can go with this book, I don't know what it was trying to accomplish.

The last thing I'll say is this book was NOT scary at all. So if you're looking for a horror book to scare you and keep you up at night, this is not it. Is it disturbing? Yes. Is it a sad book? While I didn't shed any tears, I did feel bad for Merry at the end. But is it a scary book? That's a definite NO.
All in all, kind of disappointed.

Edited: Reread this one again this week, only because the horror bookclub at my library is discussing it next week as our Feb pick.

I did like it a tiny bit more upon rereading it and I think I have a better understanding for what Tremblay was trying to do. Still doesn’t really work for me, and my issues with the pacing—especially during part two of the book—still stand. I’m bumping it up to a 2.5 stars (rounded up to 3 on Goodreads). Still don’t love it, but it’s not terrible either. ( )

A Head Full of Ghosts deserves the positive press it has received over the past few years. A Head Full of Ghosts is a scary, sad, sweet, funny, and gross story about a young girl named Merry witnessing her family's spiral into madness. You see Merry's family is dealing with the possible demonic possession of her sister Marjorie and their choice to not only perform an exorcism but to film it for a reality show. Merry is our narrator and her accounts switch between adult Merry's interviews with a bestselling writer and her own blog posts deconstructing the TV show she was a part of. Merry's interviews morph into childlike remembrances of growing up allowing us to see the events of the book through a child's eye. Though these "flashbacks" (if you will) we get a glimpse into Merry's family's dysfunction, her sister's possible possession, and her own trauma.

Honestly, this is chilling entertainment at its finest but like the best horror (think Shirley Jackson or William Peter Blatty) this is ultimately a story about the human condition. It's entertaining, chilling, funny, and disturbing yes, but also revealing. This is psychological horror after all with a tinge of social criticism. As a tale of perception and possible possession, A Head Full of Ghosts asks a lot of different yet difficult questions regarding the nature of physiological manipulation, religious fanaticism and more. This novel also looks at the way mass media acts as a form of voyeurism - reality TV in particular is guilty of this. While you be wondering what's up with Merry's sister (is a demon really inside her? Or is she mental ill)...that's not really what this book is about. The book is really about the breakdown of a family, a scathing critique of reality TV culture, and an analysis of how desperation and greed can combine to create a horror far more terrifying than the supernatural. In that sense, this is more Shirley Jackson than William Peter Blatty.

A Head Full of Ghost is riveting, and Merry makes for a delightful narrator, therefore it's a quick read. The way religion is handled in the book is a little problematic and it's my only complaint (for instance, If I were Father Wanderly I would not be suggesting an exorcism for Merry's sister but rather medical treatment as there wasn't great evidence for an exorcism but ya know, a priest has got side hustle going and Tremblay has to deliver us, dear readers, an exorcism). An exorcism is delivered but it's not going to go as planned. And the ending is completely unexpected and sad. It's in fact, utterly heartbreaking. While this is an excellent book, I do not recommend reading this if you're depressed.

Overall, A Head Full of Ghosts is a wonderful novel that toys with the conventions of supernatural and psychological storytelling. For those brave enough, you're in for a treat. ( )