The Girl Who Loved Stephen King

A Head Full of Ghosts -  Beware: Spoilers ahead. This is my first non-King related post, and I've chosen this particular book because it was one of the first I read as part of my New Year's Book Resolution (part 2). I had heard about this book countless times, and became even more intrigued after listening to Paul Tremblay speaking as a guest on the Books in the Freezer podcast (which is great for your reading list and terrible for your bank balance). A Head Full of Ghosts  is a modern take on the possession sub-genre. At first glance, the premise doesn't sound particularly original; Marjorie, a teenage girl from a comfortable, middle-class family, suddenly starts behaving strangely, frightening her little sister, swearing at her parents, vomiting in her dinner. The usual. Bring in the priests, right? The only difference is that Marjorie's exorcism will be filmed, edited, and played to the nation on prime time television. The story is told through a mix of flashba...

Carrie -  Beware: Spoilers ahead. King’s first published novel, Carrie , is a rare example of a story that has retained its power over forty years. It is the story of a high-school outcast with a religious zealot mother, who suffers the ultimate humiliation when she has her first period in the school showers after gym class. Due to her mother’s refusal to acknowledge a woman’s sinful reproductive system, Carrie does not understand what is happening to her, and her terror is compounded by the reaction of the girls around her, who pelt her with sanitary towels and tampons.This mix of fear and humiliation triggers a latent telekinetic power in Carrie, and the activation and growth of this power propels Carrie and her fellow students to a horrific, deadly fate. Carrie White is an iconic character, recognisable the world over. Most who haven’t read the book have seen one of the movies, and even those who haven’t won't show a completely blank face at the mention of her ...