My Best Friend's Exorcism

By Marlow Tracy

       I picked up My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix in the library thinking it would be a pretty bad book but fun to read nonetheless. It turned out to be an awesome, eccentric horror novel full of detail and creepy descriptions. Bizarre things start to happen to the main character, Abigail Rivers, when her best friend Gretchen jumps into shallow water and disappears for a night. Abby already has her hands full managing her school, social, and family life, but when Gretchen starts acting strange, she knows she has to find a way to put a stop to her friend’s erratic and eventually dangerous behavior before it’s too late. My Best Friend’s Exorcism is the weirdest book I’ve picked up in a while, but it was totally worth the read.

       The story takes place in the 1980s town of Charleston, South Carolina, and it is jam-packed with detailed world building, well-written characters, and lots of references to 80s pop culture. The sheer amount of detail the author puts into the world that Abby lives in gives the reader a clear perspective into her world. For example, Hendrix’s portrayal of the high school the main characters attend seems spot-on: I haven’t been to high school in the 80’s, but it sure feels like I have after reading the book. The author includes a well-planned layout of the school, descriptions of unique teachers and classes, plenty of notable students, and a clear school dynamic shared between students and from students to teachers/principals. Unlike a lot of high school books that I have read, this one provided a unique insight into the world that Abby lives in instead of following a mainstream format high school like one might expect to find in most teen dramas.

       Another thing I liked about the book was that it was decidedly not a romance, or a drama. In fact, it probably corresponded best with realistic fiction mixed with sci-fi/horror, very similar to the dynamic in “stranger things”. I also liked that the book was not at all a cliché exorcism/demon story. It was much more of a slow burn and spent time establishing the setting and relationships between the characters before introducing the conflict. At first, I got quite bored of reading the book, but soon I couldn’t put it down. The story rapidly reaches a gripping climax, and finally gives the reader a satisfactory ending and epilogue to top it all off. Every page of the book is absolutely worth the read, and the end holds a moving message about the power of friendship (it’s not too corny I promise).

       To conclude, I give My Best Friend’s Exorcism a 10/10 for creativity, detail, worldbuilding, and just the right blend of realism and horror. If you like “Stranger Things,” horror movies, 80’s movies, 80’s horror movies, one-of-a-kind novels, or you’re just looking for an interesting new read, you would love this book.