A Head Full of Ghosts

Content Warning: This Character Analysis section contains references to murder, death by suicide, and mental health conditions, which feature in the novel. 

Meredith Barrett or Merry, aged 23, is the narrator of the novel, and the only surviving member of her household following the deaths of her parents and sister when she was eight. A Head Full of Ghosts uses verisimilitude, a literary device which aims to add a sense of realism and credibility in fiction. It gives the appearance of authenticity by using posts from a horror blog that Merry writes under the pseudonym “Karen Brissette.”

Merry is a quintessential unreliable narrator: She was a child when the events she recounts took place, has rewatched her family’s “documentary” The Possession countless times, scoured the Internet and other resources to discover everything she can related to the case, marinates in her obsession with horror, and freely admits that her memory is clouded and confabulated. Her memory appears to be selective, and she curates how and what she shares with Rachel, frequently excusing herself from blame for any inconsistencies due to her memory. One of the central uncertainties of the novel is the question of whether, at any given time, Merry herself believes what she is claiming.