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Author | Paul G. Tremblay |
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Cover artist | Amanda Kain |
Language | English |
Genre | Horror |
Set in | Beverly, Massachusetts[1] |
Published | 2015 (HarperCollins) |
Pages | 304[2] |
Awards | Bram Stoker Award for Novel[3] |
ISBN | 978-0-06-236323-7 |
A Head Full of Ghosts is a 2015 horror novel by American writer Paul Tremblay.[4] The plot involves an Massachusetts family under financial and emotional strain while their fourteen-year-old daughter, Marjorie Barrett, exhibits signs of severe mental illness. The Barretts come to believe she is possessed by a demon, and her behavior is publicized when the family stars in a reality TV show.[5] Marjorie's younger sister, Merry Barrett, relays the experiences of her childhood fifteen years later. Themes include elements of Catholic exorcism and reality television exploitation.
Tremblay dedicated the novel to Shirley Jackson. A Head Full of Ghosts has been noted to have plot and thematic similarities to Jackson's We Have Always Lived In The Castle.[6] Merry Barrett's name is also similar to that of Merricat Blackwood.
The novel was published on June 2, 2015 by William Morrow[2] and won the Horror Writers Association's Bram Stoker Award for Novel in 2015.[3][7] Focus Features has acquired the rights to develop a movie adaptation.[8]