Chapter Text
I started this book 4 years ago, in my first year of university. I remember I was in the mood for a horror book and I didn’t want anything about Stephen King. I came across this book on the internet and I decided to buy it from Periplus. I think it took me 10-20 working days to actually get the book and by the time, though I was excited, I was super busy. I managed to read up to chapter 5 before I was in a huge reading slump and drowned in uni assignments.
Four years later I decided to pick this baby up again. I was reading another book (and have finals in a week) but all of the sudden I wanted to read horror. Apparently I had two horror TBRs on my list, one was Salem’s Lot by Stephen King and this book. I picked this book because it’s shorter (less than 300 pages) and it’s not by Stephen King (no hate to Mr. King. I wasn’t ready for heavy stuff). I read it all over again, from chapter 1, all the way to the ending in about 4 days.
The book starts with a writer and her source person entering the source’s childhood house. She is Meredith ‘Merry’ Barrett, the only survivor of the Barretts. The writer, Rachel Neville is writing about Merry’s side of what had happened with the Barretts–her older sister, Marjorie, to be exact. Merry was 8 years old when the event took place. In the following chapter we would see how Merry tells the story from the memories of her 8-year-old self. Her relationship with Marjorie is basically the center of the story. She tells us about how Marjorie used to make stories for her, with every main character called ‘Merry’ after her name. She also tells us the situation surrounding her family at the time, with her dad (John) being unemployed and her mom (Sarah) being the breadwinner of the family. How her dad was having the ‘spiritual awakening’ and her mom was just an ex-catholic and thinking as rationally as possible. How Marjorie is going to psychiatrist appointments, which at the time she didn’t quite understand.
Not only her recall to her story, but also a blog post about a TV show called The Possession , which used to be a reality TV show about the so-called possession of Marjorie Barrett. The writer, Karen Brissette (a pseudonym) is basically roasting the whole TV show. From her, we learn that John Barrett was not only religious but also an ideal example of a patriarchal head of the family. He was unemployed and he thought that what happened with Marjorie was a ‘work of evil’ so he turned to the church for help. Sarah Barrett on the other hand was more of the logical approach. She was the breadwinner of the family, unreligious (an ex-catholic), and she was the one who took Marjorie to appointments. Karen doesn’t tell us about Merry very much other than that she’s the little sister, an 8-year-old part of the family.
Now, the reason why the mom was taking Marjorie to a psychiatrist was because Marjorie was showing signs of mental issues, in this matter was schizophrenia. However, the dad had a different understanding about the issue. He thought Marjorie wasn’t religious enough and the appointments and the meds weren’t working so he took Marjorie to the church. Honestly, being a muslim (according to my ID card) living in Indonesia, the dad character isn’t something that is too shocking for me. I've heard a lot of cases where in a family where one of the members is showing signs of mental issues, instead of taking them to the professional they decide to take them to a spiritual or religious figure to be ‘cleansed’ or ‘healed’ from evil spirits. It’s crazy, even for me. On top of that, Indonesia has become the number one country with the highest case of schizophrenia. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
All while Marjorie was being taken care of both by the psychiatrist (which, thanks to Daddy Barrett, she skipped a lot of appointments) and the church, turbulence happened in the family. They didn’t have much money (duh, the dad is unemployed and I think the mom works in a bank) and they were being faced with tremendously high medical bills (they live in Massachusetts, you can guess). On top of that, Marjorie was getting worse and worse. And being in the USA, people like to turn the life of a poor, struggling family with a ‘possessed’ daughter into a controversial TV show. And with no money and too many problems, they said yes (that’s a fast and easy money, as you can guess).
Now, Marjorie told Merry that she was faking it all and was just trying to help their family. Merry wasn’t a hundred percent sure about that but she went with her statement anyway. Remember, Merry was just 8, she didn’t understand much about right or wrong and morals and stuff. At this point, in her eyes and memories, we don’t know for sure whether Marjorie was actually possessed, having mental issues, or just faking it all.
Now we get along with little Merry thinking that Marjorie was faking whatever she was doing. It could be possible, since the setting is in the early 2010’s (with the existence of the internet and YouTube) so everything that came out of Marjorie’s mouth could easily be found on the internet. Marjorie also claimed that she could hear voices inside her head, which could be a sign of schizophrenia (but again, we can’t be sure since Marjorie said she was faking everything). At this point, if you ask me, I think Marjorie was having mental issues. When I read this, I didn’t think she was actually possessed. I’m not a professional, thus I can’t be sure what her mental issue was but I think she wanted attention and she took it as far as she could get. Firstly with creepy stories she told to little Merry, then the bloody masturbation scene, the family dinner scene, and the scene in the basement. She was thirsty for attention, so whatever she was doing was for her own satisfaction. But again, things could change, so read the book.
So the TV people came, the church people came (Father Wanderly & Father Gavin), and the family was–well, doing everything they could in the house full of crews. We see less of Marjorie and more of Merry. She was adapting with the whole new set, complaining about her sunroom, playing with Ken, eventually skipping school. Also, towards the center of the book, we are shown that Karen Brissette is actually Merry Barrett. It’s interesting to me that Merry Barrett would take a step to pose as someone else, write a blog about her own TV show as if she was another person–a person who doesn’t know anything about the family. A person who doesn’t know the truth. And proceeds to make a handful of serious commentaries of that show regarding whether everything in the show was real or not. She proceeds to roast the Barrett family system, how John was a face of patriarch, unemployed and religious all of the sudden. How Sarah was shown as a stressful, gloomy mom, always behind the father. She mentions a lot of feminism and misogyny theme. She mentions a lot of references to horror classics such as The Exorcist , Evil Dead , H.P. Lovecraft, and many more. It was interesting to read how everything is written by Merry Barrett in the eyes of Karen Brissette, a seemingly random girl watching The Possession just for fun (and the roast).
The exorcism happened, and it was the turning point for everyone. Marjorie was spitting facts and things that could easily be found on the internet and books. At the exorcism scene, I was questioning myself about Marjorie’s condition, whether she was actually possessed, having mental issues, or, as she claimed to Merry, faking everything. I struggled to comprehend the situation, trying to find a crack in Merry’s story to see if Marjorie was actually possessed or just mentally fucked up. I didn’t find it. At this point, Marjorie really made it seem like she was actually possessed. For some reason something unseen could open and throw a drawer (which Marjorie said that it was a gimmick but again, I don’t know). Also, Karen Brissette points out that Sarah Barrett, who was supposed to tie Marjorie’s limbs up, was probably faking it. She probably didn’t tie her up, or maybe she did it loosely. We can’t be sure, since she said that the camera angle didn’t show her actually tying her up. For the parents’ sake, I don’t think they were faking everything. However, Sarah Barrett was a nonbeliever. She was mentioned as ‘hesitant to tie her up.’ It could be possible that she wasn’t actually tying Marjorie’s limbs–or at least she tied them loosely. Either way, Marjorie managed to get out of her hogtie as she ran to Merry, who was deeply scared. Little Merry pointed out in front of the cameras that Marjorie was faking everything (which later showed that the audio was cut from the final release). Marjorie jumped from the second floor, effectively breaking her leg and getting herself a concussion.
At this point, I still question Marjorie's actual condition. I still think she wasn’t possessed by any kind of evil spirits. That doesn’t explain how the drawer flew from its place in that exorcism scene (which honestly I think was a TV gimmick). However, I’m pissed with everyone. I’m pissed with the parents, especially John Barrett, for not considering medical professionals. I know they were short of money, but for God’s sake, get a fucking job, John! You couldn’t afford medical bills does not mean what happened with your daughter is a fucking evil spirits play. John Barrett is the kind of father that is so rooted with patriarchy–a type of man that refuses to acknowledge his own fault, and decides to blame others for the downward spiral of his family system. He failed to see the mole, he failed to think rationally, blamed evil spirits for his daughter’s condition, blamed his wife for the medical bills and for not believing in him. It was painful to read about his character, as I was trying not to throw my laptop to the wall the more I read that.
Towards the end, Karen shows us that John Barrett poisoned the whole family then himself, but Merry survived the ordeal. With that, I thought, okay, that’s the ending. I expected that. I was scared to read the ending because of that. Oh boy, how wrong was I.
When I read the ending, my initial reaction was, “HAH?!”
Yes, that literally slipped out of my mouth. The ending adds up more questions inside my head, also mixed up my feelings. Firstly, I deeply care for little Merry and after reading that, I pitied her even more. I was pissed with the parents, that’s obvious. But Marjorie Barrett. Marjorie Barrett–the lion, the witch, and the audacity of this bitch. What the actual fuck?!
Since this essay is full of spoilers, let me just tell you that John Barrett wasn’t the one who poisoned the family. Nope. He got the poison, yes, sent by a church in Kansas. He might have thought about that after exchanging emails with the pastor. But no. It’s more complicated and more heartbreaking than that. Marjorie told Merry that she was faking it, yes. Marjorie told her sister about her ‘growing things’ story many weeks ago, now she reminded her about that. She showed Merry old news about fathers, the patriarchal and misogynistic figures of so many families, who killed his family and sometimes killed himself as well for failing to hold up the system. For being divorced by their wives, for failing to fulfill his family, for failing to be a ‘great’ dad according to society. Marjorie told her that their dad is going to do the same to them and she wanted them to save themselves. So here comes the plan. Marjorie got a quarter of a bottle of KCN (potassium cyanide, I’m taking nuclear engineering [which sucks] that’s why I know the chemical term of that), Merry would pour that into a pot of spaghetti sauce and the sisters would eat dinner without the sauce. And Merry believed her sister because, well, she was a fucking 8-year-old. She had no idea how Marjorie Barrett’s mind works and because we read it from that point of view, we had no idea as well.
And here comes the emotional damaging part. At the dinner, the parents ate the spaghetti with the sauce, Merry didn’t (good, little Merry sticks with the plan), and–breathe in–Marjorie ate the spaghetti with the sauce. Yes. With the fucking sauce ! She straight up betrayed her little sister. Marjorie clearly knew that she was going to die by that. I was “HAH?!”-ing during the revelation that Merry put the poison into the sauce and I was “HAH?!”-ing even more when Marjorie Fucking Barrett had the audacity to betray her sister like that. If she was thinking that Merry was going to take the blame, she failed because the authorities somehow found that John Barrett was the perpetrator. But if she was thinking of emotionally damaging Merry for the rest of her life, she did it gracefully . Well, the family died except Merry, of course. Poor Merry she was just a child she didn’t understand the concept of death. I really can’t imagine someone so young having to watch her whole family die in front of her. And I really can’t imagine someone as young as Meredith Barrett being used by her sister like that. Now, who’s to blame for that truth? Marjorie? Merry? Aren’t we all confused? It’s the definition of emotional damage.
My conclusion on the whole situation, Marjorie clearly had a mental issue at the very least. What kind, I don’t know. Maybe she really had schizophrenia. BPD. Bipolar disorder. Or any kind of personality disorder. It’s hard to determine because we only know the information from the eyes and memories of an 8-year-old and we’re simply not her therapist. To me, Marjorie was clearly trying to get attention, for whatever reason, and for that she was willing to do anything , even if it could hurt herself terribly. She wanted attention, she got it, even made it to the national TV, and the reason for her to kill her family and kill herself and betray her sister? Who knows. That thing I don’t quite understand. So I have to assume she was having serious mental issues.
And to say that she killed the family–I don’t know. I really don’t know. I don’t like the idea of saying Merry Barrett killed her family because she was only 8, she was following her sister’s plans, thinking it could save them all, without knowing the consequences of her action. It’s really hard to say. In conclusion, Marjorie Barrett was the mastermind of the killing and Meredith Barrett was the one who took the act of killing. And all that happened without Merry actually understood the consequence of her act. She just simply believed her sister and her sister’s plan, and she was betrayed, and she was left alone to be responsible for the killing. It sucks. It really sucks.
I see some people assume that it was Merry who was possessed by demons on the internet. I don’t think so. I really don’t think there was actually a demonic possession in this book. The horror part of this book was not the ghosts, ghouls, demons and what not, but it was the creepy experience, the dysfunctionality of her family, the steps Marjorie Barrett had taken in order to get whatever she was trying to get, the fucked up truth–all that was told by the eyes of an 8-year-old. Not only that, Merry Barrett clearly is an unreliable narrator, seen with her truth and her blog as Karen Brissette (on top of that, Paul Tremblay himself said that the character is a nod to Merricat Blackwood from We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. If you know, you know). It’s chilling, mind-boggling, crazy, and emotionally damaging. This is the book I didn’t expect to be good, to be mind-fucking, to be creepy. I was reading this to get myself out of my reading slump and it did the work spectacularly and unexpectedly. I love this book for the mind-fucking truth. I regret not reading this sooner but, hey, alas I finished it with tons of inspiration stuck in my tiny, little brain.
4/5 worth to read.