A Head Full of Ghosts: A Novel

WINNER OF THE 2015 BRAM STOKER AWARD FOR SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A NOVEL

A chilling thriller that brilliantly blends psychological suspense and supernatural horror, reminiscent of Stephen King's The Shining, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, and William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist.

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.

To her parents’ despair, the doctors are unable to stop Marjorie’s descent into madness. As their stable home devolves into a house of horrors, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest for help. Father Wanderly suggests an exorcism; he believes the vulnerable teenager is the victim of demonic possession. He also contacts a production company that is eager to document the Barretts’ plight. With John, Marjorie’s father, out of work for more than a year and the medical bills looming, the family agrees to be filmed, and soon find themselves the unwitting stars of The Possession, a hit reality television show. When events in the Barrett household explode in tragedy, the show and the shocking incidents it captures become the stuff of urban legend.

Fifteen years later, a bestselling writer interviews Marjorie’s younger sister, Merry. As she recalls those long ago events that took place when she was just eight years old, long-buried secrets and painful memories that clash with what was broadcast on television begin to surface—and a mind-bending tale of psychological horror is unleashed, raising vexing questions about memory and reality, science and religion, and the very nature of evil.

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Published Jun 2, 2015

318 pages

Average rating: 7.01

156 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

raeallic
Oct 09, 2025
6/10 stars
Complicated review. In the begining there was this sense of a gothic horror, girl descending into madness... Like Haunting of Hill House or The Yellow Wallpaper (both amazing)... But after a while the blog posts, interview and cinematic outline of the "possession" ruins it. Its repetative and takes away from Merry's story, which is genuinely horrifying! Had he reformatted this story it could have been amazing.

(Otherwise I'm seriously curious about the short story called the Growing Things, and if its in his short story collection of the same name...hmm.)
kwhitter
Jan 22, 2025
10/10 stars
I love when books start out one way but then veer into a different direction. 90% of the time I wasn’t sure where things were going, and if the cause was supernatural or man made. Generally I don’t like when men try to write in the voice of young girls, but this turned out to be an exception.
Summer1108
Jan 22, 2025
6/10 stars
This was a very easy read and kept me interested throughout. I think overall the story was really great. I could absolutely see them turning this into a movie. I wouldn't say this was scary but creepy for sure.
gigireadshorror
Nov 26, 2024
8/10 stars
Not gonna lie, I was feeling kinda "meh" about this book, but the ending really brought it home.
deebags
Oct 13, 2023
9/10 stars
This book was so good. It kept me on the edge of my seat. It touches on very true psychological issues though it's fiction. This book is very disturbing yet not at the same time. It was written well and stayed pretty consistent.

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