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 a.
bookmarque
5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 starMore than a few reviews are down on this book, calling it derivative. On the surface it doesn’t add to the possession mythos and openly calls out “iconic” horror books and movies in the narrative. Most closely it probably resembles The Exorcist and We Have Always Lived in the Castle (and not just because of a character’ s name), but there are shades of others and if you watch and read enough in the genre you’ll spot them. However, I think it’s derivative on purpose and might be an homage rather than a blatant rip off. That’s the kind interpretation.It’s the context of how the things it derives from are picked out; in a blog. Specifically in a blog that dissects and analyzes the reality show about Marjorie and family. And even more specifically, a blog written by the surviving member of the family, little sister Merry. It’s an interesting device, but it is a device and reads like it was the initial idea and the rest of the story, Merry’s recounting the experience fifteen years later, is just there to flesh out the shorter blog pieces. I wish there was more info about exactly how the show got off the ground. I can understand why the parents would have been tempted, but that’s a long way from exploiting their mentally ill and violently psychotic daughter. Why she got to stay at home until the end is also mystifying. The things she does at home are truly chilling. Beyond the traditional gothic and into horror, at least of the psychological variety.The ending isn’t difficult to see coming as the author put in a few clues so you can make an educated guess. I had a feeling that dad wasn’t the poisoner and noted it soon after the fact of the poisoning was revealed. Marjorie’s overt manipulation and Merry’s falling for it though, that was a little too much like Merricat and Constance without that book being one of the things Marjorie shares with everyone from the bizarre voices in her head. There are no easy assumptions about the end and who is guilty of what. You can take it at face value or you can read into it. In that sense it’s a little frustrating, but overall it’s enjoyable.
jrthebutler
5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 starThe 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.
mstrust
5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 starThe Barretts are a New England family who have been struggling for a over a year, since John lost the job he'd held at a toy factory for nearly twenty years. While mom Sarah works, their finances place the family under such strain that the three older Barretts become volatile. The story is mostly narrated by the youngest Barrett, eight year old Merry, who is witness to her fourteen year old sister's transformation from playmate to screaming creature that crawls on the ceiling and terrifies the family. Through Merry's eyes, and she's put front and center to witness nearly everything, we see Marjorie's condition become so extreme that the family gets a reality show, with a director setting up shots and camera operators filming Marjorie's exorcism. Is Marjorie really possessed or is she suffering from mental illness? Is the family being taken advantage of, or have they done what they had to for the money? And is Dad's religious fervor going to save the family? The reader is kept on unsure footing as we're seeing the family through the eyes of a child, but the Merry we meet 15 years after the family's reality show aired is a blogger who is pretty obsessed with the show that made her family infamous. 4.2 stars
