Review: A Head Full of Ghosts

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not gonna lie, I'm not entirely sure what the hell just happened.

I mean, I appreciate how much it messed with my head but mostly it's just kind of a really sad story? Not really horrific or scary. Just ... sad.

The story is about the Barrett family, with particular emphasis on the 'possession' experienced by 14yr old Marjorie, from the point of view of her 8yr old sister, Merry. Marjorie is showing signs of schizophrenia, and when doctors don't seem to help their religious father turns to a local priest for help in exorcising the demon possessing his daughter. Naturally capitalism sees the incident turned into a hit TV show, and 15 years later Merry is finally opening up about how it all went down.

The angle was definitely unique. It was fascinating to read about the horrors behind the camera vs in front of the camera. Bit of a cheeky dig at reality TV there for sure, and I really enjoyed it.

It was also really cleverly told from Merry's perspective - normally I hate stories told by kids, but because this is adult Merry reflecting on her childish thoughts and feelings, it just works a lot better. Eight-year-old Merry is so innocent and naive, but we don't have to live it with her. There was something about that that made it much more entertaining for me, and also garnered a lot more sympathy. I just felt so sad when things went awry. Everyone was just doing the best they could.

There are a lot of horror cultural references which many will enjoy - I found even if I didn't entirely get the reference, I still enjoyed it. Be warned, though - many of these references come with spoilers.

I never found it particularly creepy but I was fascinated by how disturbingly fast religion sunk its claws into this family. I feel like there was a lot of substance in the themes but it was neglected in favour of allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions.

I guess, overall, it just felt emotionally lacking. Like, all the emotion generated is just sadness over how things went for this family. But I don't know that I ever really knew the characters as well as I wanted to.

It was interesting, curious, and a novel concept, and I enjoyed how much it messed with my mind. But there was something missing that kept it from being a true knockout of a novel for me. I still recommend it, though. It's definitely different, and I don't think a summary of it could possibly do it justice.

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Review: The Haunted Forest Tour

The Haunted Forest Tour by Jeff Strand
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Excuse the pun, but this really kinda went off the rails.

The idea is this: A random forest sprouts in the desert, bringing with it a host of terrifying monsters. Four years later, it's basically Monster Jurassic Park, with tourists coming from all over the world to jump in a tram that travels through the forest, stopping regularly so that all the weird and murderous wonderful creatures can be seen. Naturally, things go horribly wrong.

I really love the premise. I'm a big fan of monsters, carnage, and Jurassic Park so I was really keen to get into this one, and the opening was a lot of fun and had me pretty excited.

Sadly, it was a little too much carnage and mayhem and not enough actual substance. The monsters were coming hard and fast so I never got a clear image of any of them, and all of the characters blended together for the longest time. Even when I finally figured out who was who, I still found it really hard to get a proper image of them. Example: Lee. He began as this snooty, sceptical author in my head but then kinda morphed into an action hero?

It also majorly bothered me how important it was to the author(s) that all of the women were drooled over by the men in the story. Every woman was the object of someone's leery affection, and it just left me with the impression that at least one of these authors is clearly in need of some loving. It would have been okay if it was just one gross, pervy dude and that was his personality but it was EVERY. SINGLE. MAN.

Then of course the overall plot was pretty thin and terrible so there was nothing really driving the story other than chaos and a lot of death. Characters were introduced and killed off in the same paragraph. The explanations followed no logic. The final showdown was absolutely pathetic. Bizarre choices were made. The characters had no growth. Also kind of no personalities. There was just so much of it that left me scratching my head.

I feel like, as an action movie, this would be in the realm of films like Sharknado. Like, it is just pointless and makes absolutely no sense at all but the gratuitous violence makes it hilariously worth it.

As a book, though, it just didn't work.

So many reasons it should have worked, and so many reasons why it didn't.

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Review: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What a ride!

It's a short story about a dude about to be hung from a bridge. That's it.

I enjoyed the picturesque details; the atmosphere is great and you really feel what this dude experiences.

I liked the ending, too. I don't know why. It seemed ... right.

I mean it was pretty short so I don't have a lot to say, but pretty fun for a freebie!

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Review: The Book Collectors of Daraya

The Book Collectors of Daraya by Delphine Minoui
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the story here, but I felt the journalistic approach left it feeling a little distant.

The author writes about the siege of Daraya, and the bond she develops from a distance with the men who resist. They have rescued books from their destroyed city and brought them together into an underground library, where the name of the original owner can be found in the front page of every book.

This book uses the library as a grounding point, but mostly it talks about the reluctant warriors these men have become, and how their situation becomes more and more desperate as bombs continue to rain down on Daraya.

One major issue I had was that there wasn't enough information for me to properly understand what exactly was happening and why. I willingly admit I am rather ignorant of the wars raging overseas (I deliberately avoid depressing news) so I couldn't quite understand who the opposing forces were here, why they were bombing the town, and what the town's inhabitants were protesting. It was hard to get a proper feel for the situation, and what was at stake, and what had caused things to become so dire for these men.

I loved the personal anecdotes and getting to know these men, but I feel first hand accounts would have made the impact greater. Instead, we get their stories through the filter of a journalist who seeks to create mood and atmosphere from a story that would pack more of a punch in its raw form.

Overall, I really enjoyed this glimpse into a world so foreign to my own, but I do feel the journalistic approach meant the story missed the mark in the long run. Instead of tension and high emotion, I felt very distant from these men and what they went through.

Which is a real shame, because their story is incredible.

It's worth a read so that you can see a little more of an insider view of a war zone, but ultimately this won't tug the heartstrings as much as it should.

With thanks to Macmillan for a copy

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