on Paul Tremblay’s "Head Full of Ghost"

Rubric: Paul Tremblay’s A Head Full of Ghosts

You do not have to answer these questions in order or necessarily cover all of them (except the last, summative question). Your writing should offer me a personal but sophisticated response to the work, how it fits into the history of panic over exorcism, and how you respond to this horror story set very much in the context of social media and streaming reality shows. Some of the questions are for fun and you can use them to prompt your writing…others are deadly serious. Can’t wait to read your responses.

The paper should by typed, use 12-point font, and be no more than 1500 words.

1.) Would you watch a show like The Possession? Why or why not?

2.) The novel builds itself around the notion of “exorcism gone viral.” We have looked at the idea of possession and the demoniac in other contexts but does the era of social media add something new, maybe more frightening, maybe less, to the history of evil?

3.) There’s some strong evidence, that I’d like you to cite, that this story ultimately involves a psychotic break rather than an actual supernatural phenomenon (though it can be read as a supernatural story as well). We have encountered this idea of “demon possession was/is really psychosis before. Is there a more sophisticated explanation? Can one “believe” they are possessed while not suffering a diagnosable mental illness?

4.) The Last Final Girl blog notes that occurrences in the Barrett household reflect a lot of the plots and tropes of horror films. What did you notice about this and what does it tell us about how popular culture gives us a kind of vocabulary for evil (think aback to our Exorcist discussion)?

5.) Did you have a character you identified with the most? Why?

6.) Women and their relationships are central to this story to such a degree that men’s roles become secondary. Why is this important? Is it? And is it at least unusual for an exorcism tale? Why?

7.) We’ve talked just a bit about “reality show culture” and how it affects ethics of compassion and empathy. What did you find in this novel that connected with this discussion?

8.) What primary idea are you taking away from the novel in your effort to “historicize evil?” [Remember everyone answers this one in some form]