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.
Happy, spine-tingling reading, friends!