A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul TremblayMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay, 2015
The Barret family from Massachusetts comes under financial and emotional strain when their fourteen-year-old daughter, Marjorie, exhibits signs of severe mental illness or demonic possession. They decide to allow a production company to film and air the events in their household as a reality tv show.
Roshomon in full effect! Without a doubt, the author intended for us never to know the truth of what happened the night of the central premise the novel is written around. We get three perspectives from the same narrator, all unreliable; when she was eight (8) years old, then as an adult after the trauma had been processed, and from her alter-ego blogger persona. I feel that the blogger persona "breaking the fourth wall" can be distracting, but in this case, it was not only necessary to achieve the Roshomon effect but was done pretty well. It was "Meta" just enough.
It took me a couple of false starts to get going with the book, but once I got about a quarter of the way in, I could not stop. I looked up, and several hours had passed, and it was past midnight when I reached the story's climax. While the book isn't much of a horror, I got goosebumps and frights at the climax and the final twist at the end.
Typically not the type of book I would read, but I was glued and enjoyed it very much. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.
#AHeadFullOfGhosts #PaulTremblay #RoshomonEffect #FourthWall
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