Today’s book review is a “twofer” – a pair of slender volumes that will prickle the hairs on the back of your neck.
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Trembly is a scary, yet funny marriage of The Exorcist and reality TV. I’m old enough to remember the Loud family, who allowed a TV crew into their home to follow them around and film their dramas and crises (including the son’s coming out as gay). In Tremblay’s story, the Barrett family – Mom, Dad (out of work) and daughters Marjorie, 14, and Merry, 8, have a more sensational problem to attract their live-in television crew: Marjorie appears to be possessed.
Told from the point-of-view of Merry, the story alternates between her account of the events leading to Marjorie’s exorcism (yes, there’s one of those) and her adult interviews with a reporter writing a book about them. Some blog posts are thrown into the mix, adding to the fun. I’ve read that Stephen King said this book scared him. I believe it.
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Trembly is a scary, yet funny marriage of The Exorcist and reality TV. I’m old enough to remember the Loud family, who allowed a TV crew into their home to follow them around and film their dramas and crises (including the son’s coming out as gay). In Tremblay’s story, the Barrett family – Mom, Dad (out of work) and daughters Marjorie, 14, and Merry, 8, have a more sensational problem to attract their live-in television crew: Marjorie appears to be possessed.
Told from the point-of-view of Merry, the story alternates between her account of the events leading to Marjorie’s exorcism (yes, there’s one of those) and her adult interviews with a reporter writing a book about them. Some blog posts are thrown into the mix, adding to the fun. I’ve read that Stephen King said this book scared him. I believe it.
The Cellar by Minette Walters, an author I’ve long enjoyed, brings us another dysfunctional family (hmmm, I’ve got a theme going here!). The Songolis have emigrated to London from West Africa with two sons and a 14-year-old, well, slave, named Muna, whom they wangled from an orphanage there. Forced to live in the titular cellar, malnourished and abused in every way you can imagine, Muna rises to the occasion when the Songoli’s youngest son disappears, taking a wicked revenge on her captors. Walters relates this macabre story with a detached voice, to surreal effect. Although the ending fell a bit flat, the portrait of Muna, literally trained to become a psychopath, is chilling and unforgettable.
Happy, spine-tingling reading, friends!
Happy, spine-tingling reading, friends!
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