From the Bookshelf of Around the Year in 52 Books …
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
Thanks to the publisher for an advance readers copy (ages ago!)
I canNOT get over this book! I think about it all the time, and not just at night when I'm terrified under my covers. There are so many sources of pleasure that come from reading it: recognizing allusions to classic horror (hello, Shirley Jackson!), teasing apart the narrative through multiple frames, and watching your emotions move from fear to sadness to fear, all within the last 50 pages. I think it's best not to say anything more ...more
I canNOT get over this book! I think about it all the time, and not just at night when I'm terrified under my covers. There are so many sources of pleasure that come from reading it: recognizing allusions to classic horror (hello, Shirley Jackson!), teasing apart the narrative through multiple frames, and watching your emotions move from fear to sadness to fear, all within the last 50 pages. I think it's best not to say anything more ...more
I canNOT get over this book! I think about it all the time, and not just at night when I'm terrified under my covers. There are so many sources of pleasure that come from reading it: recognizing allusions to classic horror (hello, Shirley Jackson!), teasing apart the narrative through multiple frames, and watching your emotions move from fear to sadness to fear, all within the last 50 pages. I think it's best not to say anything more, lest I give too much away, but I've never had a book that I w
...more
3.5 stars. Kerry's sister Marjorie is possessed by a demon. Or maybe she's mentally ill. That's the primary mystery in this book, told in the form of an interview by grown up Merry to a writer who is writing a book about the case.
I'm not particularly easy to scare, but I have to say that this book wasn't particularly scary. Kerry's parents, particularly her father, are rather flat characters. When he decides to bring in a tv show in order to document his daughter's possession and exorcism, we ar ...more
I'm not particularly easy to scare, but I have to say that this book wasn't particularly scary. Kerry's parents, particularly her father, are rather flat characters. When he decides to bring in a tv show in order to document his daughter's possession and exorcism, we ar ...more
Jan 15, 2016
Cora
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
kindle,
thriller,
religion,
america,
mystery,
suspense,
paranormal,
horror,
mental-illness,
sisters
A Head Full of Ghosts is the story of a family dealing with a teenage daughter that is showing signs of mental illness. As they try to help the girl, they begin to suspect that there may be supernatural influences involved in her behavior. The story is told from the perspective of the younger (8 year old) sister witnessing her family falling apart. The family agrees to allow their struggle to become a reality show which further complicates the questions of what is real, what is fake, and what is
...more
This story is told through the eyes of Merry Barrett. Merry had a bit of a rough childhood. When she was 8, her older sister started acting strangely and dangerously, and in their quest to find a way to help her, her parents agree to not only an exorcism, but a reality show following their family at the same time. We get the story through both flashbacks and a present-day interview Merry is giving to a writer who is planning to write a book about what happened to Merry's family. We also get an a
...more
Did I really not rate this when I finished it?
Well, I thought it was very effective, but it's much more in the "disturbing quasi-reality" category of horror that isn't so much my thing. You know the part of The Exorcist I found most awful? All the horrible medical tests Regan had to have! Everything else is dismissable by this hardened materialist, but that shit is genuinely terrifying. This hits some of the same nerves - is this kid possessed, or is she severely mentally ill? The ambiguity inv ...more
Well, I thought it was very effective, but it's much more in the "disturbing quasi-reality" category of horror that isn't so much my thing. You know the part of The Exorcist I found most awful? All the horrible medical tests Regan had to have! Everything else is dismissable by this hardened materialist, but that shit is genuinely terrifying. This hits some of the same nerves - is this kid possessed, or is she severely mentally ill? The ambiguity inv ...more
3.5
Unfortunately, a killer ending can't completely save this one. Other than a couple flashes of brilliance in the third act, I thought this was tedious and felt a lot longer than 286 pages. Part of the problem is the three prong narration. The three POVs here aren't entirely effective (especially the blog posts) and dilute the impact. Thankfully, the perspectives are mainly whittled down to one in the second half. I had read rave reviews of this, but was pretty disappointed.
...more
Jun 08, 2015
Kathy
marked it as to-read
Jul 20, 2015
Melissa Seng
marked it as to-read
Aug 18, 2015
Nani O
marked it as to-read
Apr 16, 2016
Deedee
marked it as to-read
May 29, 2018
Ann
marked it as to-read
Oct 02, 2018
Hilary
marked it as to-read
Oct 02, 2018
Darcy
marked it as to-read
Oct 27, 2018
Sera
marked it as to-read
Oct 06, 2019
Jennifer Melnyk
marked it as to-read
Dec 19, 2019
Jenn
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
hallway-shelf-2020,
hallway-shelf-2021
Aug 11, 2025
Prashant
marked it as to-read
