Review: "A Head Full of Ghosts" by Paul Tremblay

When and if genre writer Paul Tremblay puts out a collection of stories, I will pick it up immediately, since I am sure it will be good and I am even surer that it will be better than his novels. They aren’t bad at all, far from it really, but in the two books of his I have read, his most recent novel (with one coming out later this year) Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, and this one, his breakout hit A Head Full of Ghosts, he seems to be unable to maintain a long lasting quality or grip on the reader’s attention that do exist in his books, but exists in parts: scenes, chapters or even something as slim as a mere paragraph. If you take any one scene from this book or Disappearance at Devil’s Rock it offers something profound and usually truly creepy, but together, there is just something rather rudimentary about his ongoing narratives, more so with this book than his last one. Told in flashback, it recounts the horrible story of the Barrett family and the possible possession of the oldest daughter Marjorie. It is told by Marjorie’s younger sister Merry, whom we learn as the story goes on knows more about what happened to her fractured family then what was shown to the public on the popular reality show they agreed to be on for financial gain. It really isn’t that scary of a book, I am disappointed to inform you, with many of the book’s turns being more sad and melancholic than frightening, even when we are not so sure that Marjorie’s behavior is a symptom of a demon, psychosis, or something brought on by her unemployed father’s headfirst dive into religion. But then those final thirty pages somehow change almost everything, and the book’s true heart and the true horror are shown in an immensely powerful way. Tremblay knows his stuff, and even though this book won’t shake you to your core, it is still a fun and exciting read with a few surprises.

Rating: 4/5