Will I love My Best Friend's Exorcism?

I'm the perfect age for this book that is steeped in 1980s nostalgia. I listened to much of the same music on my Walkman and even worked in a VHS movie rental store—the cover design of the paperback mimics VHS packaging, including the "Be Kind Please Rewind" sticker. If you were in your teens or early twenties in the '80s you'll love all the references. If you weren't, you're getting a great glimpse into the time. And it's also truly creepy and scary!

I’m listing this novel first because who’s worse than the devil? He’s the embodiment of a woman’s fears, there when we walk into a parking lot after dark, our keys clenched between our fingers in a makeshift weapon. And in a myriad of other forms. The devil is hard to get away from, especially as a woman.

In this novel, two childhood friends have to face off with the literal devil. And what they do to him—with him—is an anthem of female friendship, a love letter to our girlhood friends, and a book whose final line is as lasting as… show more.

This was my first Grady Hendrix book, and it had everything that makes his work an instant buy for me now: the characters are well-realized and imperfect, with their relationship at the forefront of the horror; it’s incredibly funny; the scary scenes are burned into my brain to this day. I love the ‘80s vibes of this novel (it has a certain Heathers flair)—from the outfits to the TV evangelist exorcist.

I really enjoy feeling grounded in place and time, especially with horror and speculative fiction, where you need to suspend your disbelief. This book manages to walk the perfect… show more.

If you want to take the 80s vibes up a few notches and don’t mind getting a bit grossed out, My Best Friend’s Exorcism is your book.

Every chapter title is a classic 80s banger, and the story is wild (imagine that The Exorcist and your favorite 80s teen movie had a baby… that turned into a tapeworm… that took some acid.) Seriously though, at its heart, this book is really about a ride-or-die friendship between two young women who refuse to let a literal demon get in their way.

Abby remains loyal to Gretchen in the face of all… show more.

True horror scares and unsettles us because of how it reflects the real world. And is there anything more terrifying than coping with adolescence in a conservative world? 

When Abby’s best friend, Gretchen, is possessed by a demon, her biggest obstacle isn’t the powers of hell or the terrible thing Gretchen does, but her conservative parents desperate to hide anything that might shatter their perfect Reaganite world, even if that means harming their child and those around her.

Remember your high school years? You probably do, but not accurately.

Grady Hendrix is an incredible writer of the human condition. In My Best Friend’s Exorcism, he revisits adolescence, a time “when the word ‘friend’ could draw blood”.

Abby Rivers is just starting high school and notices that her former BFF, Gretchen, is acting strangely. Is this the normal drifting apart of friends or is something else going on? When Abby delves deeper, she discovers sinister forces at work. She enlists the help of an exorcist and well...

I’m sure you know what happens next. It is a book… show more.

This fun tale of friendship is rife with 80’s inspired horror elements. The satanic panic, skinny dipping, big hair, and some chilling moments make this a solid pick for fans of the genre and era. I grew up on movies like The Lost Boys, Fright Night, and, of course, The Exorcist, and this scratched an itch that I have every day for these types of stories. There are also some awesome Spotify playlists to help set the mood while reading.