Despite that William Friedkin’s The Exorcist and Paul Tremblay’s A Head Full of Ghosts are set over twenty-five years apart, much of the horror in each stems from the inability of technology and science to overcome the symptoms of the possessed. While we have not seen the Barretts approach doctors within the first five chapters of Tremblay’s novel, we know from the novel’s paratext that Marjorie is schizophrenia and that her family only approaches a Catholic priest after doctors “are unable to stop Marjorie’s bizarre outbursts and subsequent descent into madness.” Similarly, Regan remains possessed even after undergoing the gruesome medical procedures prescribed to her.
Within the first five chapters of A Head Full of Ghosts, we do learn of the tension religion has caused in the parents’ marriage, and despite Marjorie’s diagnosis as schizophrenic, her ailment remains to be treated in a spiritual way. The term “schizophrenic” was coined in 1908, but even Tremblay’s title implies that something supernatural is happening in Marjorie’s head, something that even early 21st century technology is unable to solve. While I’ll be interested to see where Tremblay’s novel goes from here, if it follows a similar trajectory to The Exorcist, then turning to religion will be the family’s only choice. I was raised Catholic myself, and while admittedly a CEO (Christmas-Easter only), I still understand religion as an attempt to explain beyond what science is able to. I am eager to see how Tremblay’s contemporary take on an exorcism story – the word “smartphone” is used by the end of the first chapter – will put the intersection between religion and technology into conversation. There is no doubt that technology has profound effects on our mental and physical health (and I’m not just talking about freaking yourself out while trying to self-diagnose on WebMD), but I will be interested to see if technology has an affect on a spiritual ailment such as possession, or if such a thing even has relevance in our society today.