Say the word “possession” and everyone thinks demons, priests, Ouija boards, holy water and young girls having a really bad time. Don’t get me wrong: I love a traditional demonic possession story. “The Exorcist” is a classic for a reason! But many of the best possession books expand upon, flip or reinvent these basic tropes to offer more than just scares.
The ceding of mental and bodily autonomy to unknown, often malevolent forces is an act ripe with metaphor, offering a gateway to deeper themes such as grief, power, intrusive thoughts and loss of control. The following books all feature inventive uses of possession, broadening and enriching the subgenre and providing emotional insight and social commentary — with plenty of thrills along the way.
This Thing Between Us
by Gus Moreno
A young couple, Thiago and Vera Alvarez, start having strange experiences in their condo, exacerbated by their new smart speaker, Itza. First come the cold spots and scratching noises; then, Itza begins waking them up at odd hours and ordering deliveries of weird stuff like lye. When tragedy strikes and Thiago is left alone to pick up the pieces, his attempts to move on are thwarted by this ever-present evil. Yes, this novel essentially co-stars a possessed Alexa — but to reduce it to that hook oversimplifies a profound, utterly terrifying examination of grief and how it follows us wherever we go.
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The post Not Your Average Demon: Unconventional Possession Novels appeared first on New York Times.
