Paul Tremblay begins his Exorcist/Linda Blair spookfest novel, A Head Full of Ghosts with this quote. A Head Full of Ghosts is not for the light-hearted, but its not just for the folks who want to see "Blood and gore and guts and veins in their teeth!" Some of that is there, but Tremblay's story digs deeper asking the reader to examine the psychological walls of sanity holding us inside a kind-of yellow wallpaper probing at the normalcy of all the characters in the story. This story examines other themes as well, such as feminism, good and evil and how they can often fade the thick black lines separating them by our own fears.
Tremblay does a phenomenal job with plot, twisting and turning the horror of what Marjorie, the possessed, will do next. The ending is not what you will expect and it further drowns you in the same questions you've asked all along. However, my questions felt answered after I decided who Marjorie, and Merry, the younger sister played in Gilman's yellow wallpaper. Because, yes, Head Full of Ghosts felt like it was plastered on every page with evil yellow wallpaper. And, both girls are trapped, either in the room or in the wallpaper. One will be free and the other will forever be locked inside her own mind. It is an interesting read, scary, yes but in a way that is based on the real demons located in us all and we can only pray we don't succumb to them. I recommend it.
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