A Head Full of Ghosts

“Karen Brissette’s” final blog entry featured in A Head Full of Ghosts describes episodes three and four of The Possession as devoid of visceral horror and excitement, consisting of mostly interviews and background in the absence of exciting footage. Consistent with the tone of previous posts, this entry features casual, dramatic, and often extreme language, as when she writes “where the monster dwells. Dwells, I say!!! SCARRRYYY! I mean, damn […] OUR HEADSSSS ARE EXPLODINGGGG” (238).

Amidst digressions, the post explores the way the Barrett house becomes a character in and of itself, the layout conflated by the way the space has been shot and the perception the viewer is given by the edits. “Karen” references Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” in which a young married woman with postpartum depression is sequestered in a room by her physician husband. This suggests that Marjorie is a young woman similarly trapped, punished by patriarchal authority figures for not meeting their expectations. It is clear to “Karen” that Marjorie escaped the restraints because Mom simply didn’t tie them tightly.

“Karen” compares Dad to the “wicked father,” who often appears as a character in horror and whose psychological devolution results in the emotional collapse of his entire family.