[5] The story is told from the point of view of Marjorie's eight-year-old sister, Meredith "Merry" Barrett. Happy Saturday, readers. 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). (p. 86). Meanwhile, John agrees to have Marjorie become the focus of a reality TV show called The Possession. How do stories metamorphose every time they're told, and why is that more true now, in the age of digital information, than ever? The Possession series ends with considerable ambiguity as to whether Marjorie was really demonically possessed. like. From H.P. Might, 2) Marjorie suggests a looming tragedy in a family dinner scene when Merry asks Marjorie if she can borrow her sisters hat. Some horror buffs here on Goodreads are of the opinion that. The reference to The Thing by John Carpenter was also great. Scan this QR code to download the app now. Any book is up for discussion as long as that discussion is respectful. So it took me a while to get to this one, despite the rave reviews. This is a place to discuss horror literature. Shes unsure of many things, vacillates on others, and acknowledges that she might be misremembering certain events. Throughout the novel, Merry Barrett experiences the increasingly strange, creepy, and even threatening behavior of her older sister. The other perspective is that of The Final Girl who writes about the tv show The Possession on her blog. And the point is worth emphasizing. The story itself is a great horror story about a so-called possession, a documentary film crew who wants to record it on film and surreal events, but it also refers to many other horror stories, books and films. 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. Blatty designed his narrative to support faith in God. Nevertheless highly recommended! As Friedkin never tires of telling audiences,The Exorcist is about the mystery of faith. Although Friedkin is not a Catholic, Blatty is. And beyond unsettling behavioral shifts, there are the more disturbing if not frightening forms of psychological disorder, for example, schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder. no one here can wear it because youre all going to die (p. 79). The whole notion strikes me assilly, somehow. Things continue to go downhill until Merry's father, who had recently become a born again Catholic, decides that Marjorie is possessed by a demon and enlists the help of his church's priest, Father Wanderly, who believes an exorcism is necessary. I didnt know what to do. Tremblays A Head Full of Ghostsstands is sharp contrast to Blattys Exorcist. . These references might take a little to get used to, given weve been conditioned by horror novels to pretend the characters have never read one, but they form a vital part of a conversation about the genre itself. 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. Tremblay has no interest in sending a religious message or reinforcing religious dogmas. After she begins seeing her therapist, her family becomes convinced that she is possessed, and she becomes the focus of a documentary series called "The Possession". This blog, which is written by a girl named Karen, is diving into a deconstruction of the reality TV show that Merry and her family starred in called The Possession. I think Tremblay dials in this very natural fear. The ending was very disturbing and cutting. Stephen King has often said that his greatest fear is of losing his mind. What did you guys think about the ending of A Head Full Ghosts by Paul Tremblay? [10], The novel was praised by Stephen King, who claimed that it "scared the living hell out of [him]". or ask your favorite author a question with The retrospective occurs in series of conversations between Merry and best-selling author Rachel Neville. 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. Her hands were between her long, skinny, pale legs. He wakes back up at the point where the film began, with a shadowy figure smoking a . Paul Tremblay has won the Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, and Massachusetts Book awards and is the author of The Pallbearers Club (coming 2022), Survivor Song, Growing Things, The Cabin at the End of the World, Disappearance at Devils Rock, A Head Full of Ghosts, and the crime novels The Little Sleep and No Sleep Till Wonderland. It was from Marjorie. These are real, but they must be overcome. 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. 6) Some other creepy descriptive moments stand out. New posts can be found in the Wellbeing Hub news. The book has a great ending, and it would be wise not to know anything about it. Karen Brissette, doesnt believe that Marjorie was really possessed and thinks it was all a hoax. Madness is really the unconstrained universe of all possibilities, and the inability to say which is yours. What an amazing fucking thought that is: your never-ending tongue shrunken and finally stilled. This blog has moved. John Barrett is the father of Merry and Marjorie. The relationship between Merry and Marjorie is in the least deranged, due to Marjories illness or possession, but it goes much further than that. Its just a bonus feature that makes it all the more entertaining. This ambiguity permeates the events that the TV show documents. Ive read some scary books too. A Head Full Of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay [SPOILERS] Just finished the audiobook version. The most terrifying movie Ive ever seen isthe Exorcist. It thereby dials in a form of terror that doesnt depend on belief in the existence of God or the devil. The story is told in a very smart way, manipulating you, entertaining you, making you wonder what really happened, almost turning the horror story into a mystery. Dont these go hand in hand? The Exorcist was an exercise in Catholic theology and apologetics, pure and simple. Theres nothing wrong with me, Merry. And it raises many provocative questions: How many selves do people have, and how has reality TV and social media affected that? A Head Full of Ghosts commits to being a modernization of the exorcism plot in a couple of really cool ways. He is represented by Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management. She speaks in different voices, engages in self-mutilation and animalistic behavior (e.g. On top of that, it's told by an eyewitness whose reliability is just as problematic. Shortly afterwards, Marjorie slithers under the kitchen table. 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. Although Karen might not be all too objective herself and interprets scenes with her own input. And why do archetypes still hold so much power over our psyches, even in this cynical, tech-savvy era? Brissettes comments about the, Knowing that there would be obvious similarities between his novel and. All rights reserved. I really don't think so, although she certainly allowed the trauma of the exorcism impact the way she manipulated Merry that last time - with the alleged cultesque cross shrine in the basement. A Head Full of Ghosts is the fourth [4] horror novel by American writer Paul G. Tremblay. When merry is discovered hiding under the table with her mothers thumb in her mouth after the entire family is murdered i believe that whatever possessed her sister projected itself into merry so merry became the new "host" and thats why she sees her breathe in the coffee shop because the worker said it was on the fritz. Remember, schizophrenia has a strong genetic component. Tremblays story, winner of a BramStoker award in the US, is told in layer upon layer. It is told to the reader in different ways, although mostly through just one perspective, that of Merry. So the devil is a real supernatural agent, and Blattys objective is to prove this. The true climax of the Barrett story actually occurs weeks after the TV show has ended, when a horrific tragedy hits the Barrett family. A Head Full of Ghosts is as heartbreaking as it is horrifying. Stephen King said of Tremblays book, it scared the hell out of me. Yeah. A small uprising is organizing in several areas of the world and it's up to the ghosts to take on covert missions to eliminate the final officials. We lose the fear that thrives on the unresolved, all those, PHIL 150: Philosophy Through Film and Literature, PHIL 105: Introduction to Philosophy and Religion, PHIL 525/RELS 300: Nature of Religious Experience, Posts on Eastern Philosophy and Spirituality, Posts on Postmortem Survival (Life after Death), Bruce Leiningers Definitive Proof of Reincarnation, The James Leininger Case Re-examined (JSE Paper), Conversation with Steinhart on Life after Death, Crash and Burn: James Leininger Story Debunked, Interview on Arguments for Life after Death. Brissettes comments about the The Possessions controversial levitation scene underscore this. Tremblays novel is intensely metatextualthe characters are aware of our own host of pop culture possession stories; in fact, the novel includes aseriesof blog posts analysing The Possessionas a cliche and stereotypical exorcism story fifteen years after it airs. But the novel also plays different natural explanations against each other. A Head Full of Ghosts is published by Titan (7.99). Nonetheless, the audio experience was just as disturbing as reading the book itself. Take the points above about opening up the space of possibilities, keeping the reader off balance by way of ambiguity, and raising the specter of uncertainty and doubt. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Perhaps because the alternative is more horrifying. As do other works in the possession genre, the novel contrasts supernatural and natural explanations. The mother, Sarah Barrett, believes Marjorie is just very sick and needs psychiatric treatment. But the novel also plays different natural explanations against each other. Sin entrar en detalle, solo voy a decir dos cosas: el final me dej totalmente devastada, y por otro lado, pronto le har una resea completa en mi canal. Merry - Meredith Barrett - is a 23-year-old woman telling an author about her childhood - how when she was eight, her 14-year-old sister Marjorie suffered a psychotic break, behaving as if she were. When 8-year-old Merry's older sister exhibits signs of an indeterminate and terrifying affliction, the Barrett family slowly tears itself ap. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. To the extent that we lose that fear, were not conscious of the human condition or ourselves. It also enabled the reader to pay more attention to the dynamics of what was wrong with the family and how they were all coping/facing everything instead of some kind of "Clear Solution". [Its up to your own interpretation, but for me.. i think that marjorie was possessed the entire time and when merry realized what she had done to her family she went into a fugue state. Tremblay not only keeps this tangle straight, he renders it progressively gripping and suspenseful and his ultimate, bloodcurdling revelation is as sickeningly satisfying as it is masterful. It is later revealed that Karen is actually a pseudonym. Below Ill return to the horror of ambiguity as an effective and important literary device. They must be overcome. That being said I loved the sisters and their relationship; the character of the little sister, Merry, was especially well done. Merry Barrett is the narrator and protagonist of the novel. Well, she, Can we even be sure about Merry herself? Due to money problems they also decided to bring in a film crew to record everything for the tv show The Possession.. Well, I should say, read and listened to. I experienced parts of Tremblays book also as an audiobook. . Having had their brains (and balls) twisted, they quickly run out of explanatory road. A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS is in development with Focus Features. I was pretty surprised by how forgettable this one was. I was so completely captivated from the start! Mr. Barrett enlists the assistance of a priest (Father Wanderly) to perform an exorcism on his daughter. Merry tells this story to a writer named Rachel Neville. A Head Full of Ghosts is a horror novel by American writer Paul G. Tremblay. - Cormac McCarthy, The muses are ghosts, and sometimes they come uninvited. Stephen King, We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect. Anas Nin, Philosophical and Contemplative Explorations, Ive read some scary books too. The playhouse with the branches and vines is a great example that was a very compelling scene. Can we even be sure about Merry herself? As ever, if you have any . I think we should say of it what Merry Barrett says of her sisters stories: It was terrible and would give me nightmares, and yet there was something wonderful in its terribleness., "I write only because there is a voice within me that will not be still." I'm lazy. Welcome back. It was one of those books that you read and you're kind of miserable the whole time, but it also kind of blows your mind and gets you thinking. It consists of 336 pages. A Head Full of Ghosts is a gift for the horror fan, for its compelling story with a well-crafted meta-perspective. Although this is the main focus of the book, which makes it an enthralling and intriguing read, the horror exist also in a very disturbing and surreal way. I had high expectations for this novel. As a philosopher, I appreciate how the story articulates and deploys uncertainty and ambiguity about the actual cause(s) of Marjories alterations in personality and behavior. The novel explicitly identifies schizophrenia as the suspect, though some of Marjories symptoms suggest the presence of a personality disorder, perhaps even dissociative pathology (specifically, dissociative identity disorder). This book had been on my TBR for what seemed like forever, and I kept meaning to read it (I even bought a copy last spring! A Head Full of Ghostsstarts a little slow, and the perspective of an eight-year-old may take a little bit to get used to, but if you pick up this book, stick with it. Titled "I Am Not Alone", Episode 8 saw Claire Fraser (played by . For months I imagined Regan MacNeil popping up at the foot of my bed with her disfigured face, eyes rolling back in her head, and her horrendous growling, croaking voice pounding my eardrums. Shes unsure of many things, vacillates on others, and acknowledges that she might be misremembering certain events. 4) Early in the novel Merry says she once woke up and found a note in green crayon left on her chest. She is a 23-year-old now and is telling her story to a writer named Rachel Neville. It is told in an unconventional way with an intriguing structure. Never quite knowing the truth amidst the space of possibilities keeps the reader off balance. Why? After turning to the Catholic Church for guidance, he becomes increasingly paranoid and is convinced that Marjorie is not mentally ill, but instead has been possessed. Is Marjorie really demon possessed? And the blog entries themselves? Is she suffering from an early manifestation of schizophrenia (or some other mental disorder)? Your guide to horror with movie, tv and book reviews and more. Unbeknownst to Merry, Marjorie has been seeing a therapist, something she only learns after Marjorie experiences a particularly bad episode. Who is the real obsessed here? and our A TV crew, including director/producer Barry Cotton and head writer Ken Fletcher, move into the Barrett's home and start documenting their every move. Click here to buy it for 6.55, Paul Tremblays horror tale of an apparent teenage possession is a thoroughly frightening take on classics of the genre, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Indeed, devils and demons potentially alleviate fear. 7 years ago. But theres a threshold beyond which the shift in behavior and personality becomes unsettling. #ghostsofwar #endingexplainedIn Ghosts of War, a group of WWII soldiers are assigned to protect a mysterious mansion, where they encounter a supernatural thr. I'm Phil Rosen. 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. Despite the skill with which Tremblay wields his demons, real or otherwise, whether or not Marjorie is actually possessed ends up not being the point of A Head Full of Ghosts. Prior to the start of the novel she begins seeing a therapist regarding her frequent violent outbursts and lack of motivation at school. The story is told in multiple threads, primarily by younger daughter, Merry, both as an eight-year-old observing her sister's downward trend and as a 23-year-old looking back on her experience. We never really know what the hell (no pun intended) is happening. Her online blog is dedicated to analyzing "The Possession". Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Tremblay ambitiously structures the story as a pingponging narrative that coalesces into an unsettling conversation about the truth, or what the various characters suspect is the truth. Im a little bit confused and would like to hear your guys theories! The story is all about the so-called possession of Marjorie. Is she (intentionally or unintentionally) spinning the Barrett story? For more information, please see our Marjorie repliesin a low and growly altered voice You cant wear my hat because youre going to die someday . Usually, I'm against thinking too hard. Its fun, but you might also learn something and maybe are able to add more titles to your to-read or to-watch list. As Blatty himself has said, Tremblay has no interest in sending a religious message or reinforcing religious dogmas. It needs no devils or demons to make it scary. An atmospheric and deeply meta possession-story that revels in horror and pop culture references. Antes pensaba que Hex haba sido mi mejor lectura de terror del ao. (p. 30). Let's talk about the dollar's role on the world stage and see what one of the leading currency economists has to say about it. So theres nothing supernatural there. This particularly comes to Merry's attention after her sister begins telling her strange and macabre stories instead of innocent ones based on characters from Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things That Go. AndMerrys recollection of events provides equally good grounds for skepticism. I will admit right now that I don't love possession stories, mainly because I believe they often waft into clear views of "Good vs Evil, but the Church always wins" (aka: They are sometimes too Church Propoganda-y for me.) Father Wanderly and John Barrett are religiously committed, but theres no attempt to force the reader to be. Well, she was only eight at that time. If the devil is real, then angels are real, and if angels are real, then God must existsomething like that. Now, 20 years later, Merry is confronted with her family's traumatic past when Rachel, a journalist with a similarly haunted past, delves into the case, causing Merry to relive and reconsider the . She chose to do this because the family was in danger of losing their home and the show's producers were paying their family a large enough amount of money for them to survive. However, the point of view also has another layer, as Merry's story is told in flashbacks. The facts simply underdetermine the nature of her condition. She has unpredictable mood swings, night terrors, and violent outbursts. Merry realizes that Marjorie is correct. But if we step outside The Possession and the Barrett family as components of the narrative, Tremblays novel is very different from William Blattys Exorcist. ), 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. Her breathing was shallow, but rapid, and she grunted, snarled, sighed; a sputtering engine, the dying fan in our bathroom. Paul Tremblays A Head Full of Ghosts is a first-rate contribution to literary horror and the psychological thriller genre. While skeptical of the demonic possession hypothesis, shes equally critical of less than impressive skeptical attempts to explain away the evidence suggestive of possession. She heavily admires her older sister, Marjorie, and would do anything to please her. We lose the fear that thrives on the unresolved, all those what-ifs, and the menacing realization of just how little we know. I was a big Poe fan in high school, and read some Lovecraft too. On one occasion I listened to it while having a root canal. I fell asleep on many nights with my head buried in my pillow and the covers tightly drawn over my head. Join now to access our Study Guides library, which offers chapter-by-chapter summaries and comprehensive analysis on more than 5,000 literary works from novels to nonfiction to poetry. Marjorie was very, very sick. 3) In another scene, Merry wakes up to find that someone has drawn vines and leaves all over her large cardboard playhouse.
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