A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay REVIEW

A Head Full of Ghosts

by Paul Tremblay

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Synopsis

The lives of the Barretts, a normal suburban New England family, are torn apart when fourteen-year-old Marjorie begins to display signs of acute schizophrenia.

To her parents' despair, the doctors are unable to stop Marjorie's descent into madness. As their stable home devolves into a house of horrors, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest for help. Father Wanderly suggests an exorcism; he believes the vulnerable teenager is the victim of demonic possession. He also contacts a production company that is eager to document the Barretts' plight. With John, Marjorie's father, out of work for more than a year and the medical bills looming, the family agrees to be filmed, and soon find themselves the unwitting stars of The Possession, a hit reality television show. When events in the Barrett household explode in tragedy, the show and the shocking incidents it captures become the stuff of urban legend.

Fifteen years later, a bestselling writer interviews Marjorie's younger sister, Merry. As she recalls those long ago events that took place when she was just eight years old, long-buried secrets and painful memories that clash with what was broadcast on television begin to surface--and a mind-bending tale of psychological horror is unleashed, raising vexing questions about memory and reality, science and religion, and the very nature of evil.

Review

I had such high hopes for this one! Based on what I heard, I had expected to be scared to death while reading it. Unfortunately, that was far from the case. While I admit there were a couple pages where I thought we were about to get creepy it just never hit that fear factor for me. In real life, I am genuinely freaked out by the paranormal so I thought this would really scare me. Instead I just ended up bored and ready to DNF about halfway through. I ended up switching to the audiobook. That was a little easier to get through. By the end I was just like "okay cool" and ready for it to be over.

This is the second book I've read by Paul Tremblay. Both have been 3 star reads for me. There's nothing else by him that I'm actually excited to read so unless that changes I won't be back for more.