The Woman by Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee

This book could be renamed Jack Ketchum Likes Ruining My Life. And I'm not lying, almost every Jack Ketchum book I've ever read has been deeply disturbing. There are no happy ending in this world. There are no supernatural things to blame all of the horrors of life on. Humanity is the cause of everything.

So, a basic summary. There is a feral woman living off a coast. A lawyer spots her (nekkid in a stream), realizes that she is wild and decides to drag her home and tame her. Or civilize her. In a typical Jack Ketchum twist, (and believe me when I say, in his books, there are no good guys) the lawyer and most of his family turn out to be bad news.

I read on a feminist website somewhere that there is a line in the book and movie where the lawyer/father picks up his daughter by the throat (she's pregnant, by the way) and says something like "You are disgusting! You are no different than that THING in the cellar." This is creepy and trust me, way creepier when you've read the book. I've heard the movie implies, but the book definitely lets you know all the creepy intricacies of this family. Expect to be horrified. However, that line definitely summarizes lawyer/father from hell's basic attitude toward every woman. If you are a feminist, expect to be horrified and then elated (kind of).  If you don't consider yourself a feminist, the same holds, except it may surprise you to realize that every day when I walk down the street and men in cars leer, catcall and say obscene things, this is what they are telling me. They are saying "You are nothing. You are less than human and your body is mine."

I realize that the paragraph above goes a bit off topic, but honestly, that struck a huge cord with me. I love the character of The Woman (I also have not read the apparently two other books.....crap....) and watching someone(s) rape and torture her was extremely brutal. She is not a monster, but feral, to be sure.

I cannot say this loudly enough, HUGE TRIGGER WARNINGS.

5 stars (for the ending)

The Exorcist

The Exorcist (40th Anniversary Edition) by William Peter Blatty

This book is one of the most controversial books ever written. It is based off of an apparent true child possession case in the 40's. I say apparent because I'm still extremely Catholic, regardless of my lapsed whatnots, and I have trouble believing in possessions. I'm not really sure why, because I've seen some pretty scary supernatural phenomena, all of which would point at the very least to there being some sort of spiritual existence.

Moving on from my obvious issues, this book is utterly terrifying. I've read it twice and the first time I read it, I didn't sleep for around three days. Regan, a eleven year old girl, is possessed by a demon. I think it is one demon. It is implied that there are multiples, but demons lie, so WHO KNOWS. It begins with an imaginary friend named Captain Howdy and quickly becomes a downward spiral. The reader doesn't know what caused Regan to become possessed. It could be the ouija board she is playing with but most likely it is just that she was there, a thought which lends itself to the overall dread of the book. The priests in this book are fantastic. There is some beautiful sentiments spoken by these priests about the nature of God's love.

Obviously, the main theme of this book is possession and horror. It definitely encapsulates these perfectly. The book is extremely frightening. It allows the imagination to take what you are reading and turns it into something so twisted, it is hard to imagine that they adequately captured this in a movie. I've seen the movie, which was fantastically horrifying, but it misses some of the finer parts. Both are beautifully profane.

Incidentally, I was pretty disturbed by the crucifix masturbation and the licking of someone's ankles.


Five Stars.