Grady Hendrix

This ENHANCED DIGITAL EDITION features TONS of TOTALLY AWESOME ’80s bonus materials—including Satanic Panic educational pamphlets, a do-it-yourself exorcism cheat sheet, a Spotify playlist of awesome ’80s tunes, animated cover artwork, and much more! From the New York Times best-selling author of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires comes an unholy hybrid of Beaches and The Exorcist that blends teen angst, adolescent drama, unspeakable horrors, and a mix of ’80s pop songs into a pulse-pounding supernatural thriller. The year is 1988. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening of skinny-dipping goes disastrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act…different. She’s moody. She’s irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she’s nearby. Abby’s investigation leads her to some startling discoveries—and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusion, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined by a single question: Is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil?

A Novel

My Best Friend's Exorcism

After witnessing a series of strange incidents combined with her best friend's increasingly bizarre behavior, Abby comes to the conclusion that Gretchen has become possessed by a demon and embarks on a quest to save her.

Tabea

"He was a Dungeons and Dragons geek," Nikki said. “That's why he killed his mom. The game made him do it." You're insane," Dereck said. “A game can't make anyone do anything." "It's a satanic game," Nikki said, and she rolled her eyes. "You're so naive."

Bruno De Miranda

“They didn’t make it to Halley’s Comet, But they tried”

          I was born in the late 1970s, so my formative years existed primarily in the 80s ad 90s.  I fell in love early with Stephen King novels and the movies followed shortly behind.  Horror movies from the 1980s were a completely different type of movie than the high-budget, CGI generated flicks of today, but they were where I found my love of the genre.  80s slasher films are still some of my favorite movies.  This book, much to my delight, somehow channeled the overall feeling of those movies, and I absolutely loved it. 

            I love the contrast between the two best friends: Abby from the “poor” family and Gretchen from the well-to-do family.  Of course, it’s expected that Abby will be the bad influence, while Gretchen is the good girl that comes from the good family.  When it’s clear to Abby that some bad juju has befallen her friend, she tried her hardest to convince the adults that Gretchen needed help.  Instead of getting assistance, the blame for it all falls squarely on Abby’s shoulders.  She strengthened her resolve and decided to fix the  problem herself.  

            Spoiler alert: it worked.

            80s horror had a tendency to have a predominantly happy ending with the potential for a sequel…and this book followed the same course.  It was everything I loved about 80s horror, and everything I wanted this book to be.  Whether you’re a fan of the genre as a whole, or just want a brief reminder of the joy of old-school slasher flicks, this book is worth reading. 

Kristen Claiborn

          I was born in the late 1970s, so my formative years existed primarily in the 80s ad 90s.  I fell in love early with Stephen King novels and the movies followed shortly behind.  Horror movies from the 1980s were a completely different type of movie than the high-budget, CGI generated flicks of today, but they were where I found my love of the genre.  80s slasher films are still some of my favorite movies.  This book, much to my delight, somehow channeled the overall feeling of those movies, and I absolutely loved it. 

            I love the contrast between the two best friends: Abby from the “poor” family and Gretchen from the well-to-do family.  Of course, it’s expected that Abby will be the bad influence, while Gretchen is the good girl that comes from the good family.  When it’s clear to Abby that some bad juju has befallen her friend, she tried her hardest to convince the adults that Gretchen needed help.  Instead of getting assistance, the blame for it all falls squarely on Abby’s shoulders.  She strengthened her resolve and decided to fix the  problem herself.  

            Spoiler alert: it worked.

            80s horror had a tendency to have a predominantly happy ending with the potential for a sequel…and this book followed the same course.  It was everything I loved about 80s horror, and everything I wanted this book to be.  Whether you’re a fan of the genre as a whole, or just want a brief reminder of the joy of old-school slasher flicks, this book is worth reading. 

my feelings about this book changed about every 50 pages. the overall concept and characters were fine, but I feel like it was just missing a little more oomph

Megan Christensen

"A heartwarming story of friendship and demonic possession. The year is 1988. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening of skinny-dipping goes disastrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act different. She s moody. She s irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she s nearby. Abby s investigation leads her to some startling discoveries and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusion, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined by a single question: "Is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil?" Like an unholy hybrid of "Beaches" and "The Exorcist," "My Best Friend s Exorcism" blends teen angst, adolescent drama, unspeakable horrors, and a mix of 80s pop songs into a pulse-pounding supernatural thriller."--Provided by publisher.

Eva Ströberg

This book is refreshingly good, funny and contain all good and bad 80s things from my own teenage years. It feels like walking down a memory lane with the familiar songs, the clothing trends (that I’m not proud of) and the teenage friendship. Nevermind the exorcism, this book is good enough for all those things above by themselves

Princess Doe 

This was a really fun read, and really creative! I recommend it for anyone who is into the 80's aesthetic and wants to read something fun, and is into horrors

Ryan Mateyk

A perfect, spooky, heartwarming tale of possession and friendship!

Essence

tori 👻

This book has everything "Jennifer's body" has and way more. My god the Roman empire...

 (Not giving 5 because Chris was way too unserious). 

LIMEKI 

This book has everything "Jennifer's body" has and way more. My god the Roman empire...

 (Not giving 5 because Chris was way too unserious). 

ghost girl in satin

This book promised me an epic friendship, an exorcism and 80s vibes. I did get the 80s nostalgia but the characters felt flat, the execution wasn't what I wanted it to be, and I get bored when I was supposed to get scarred. It just wasn't for me.

As soon as I saw the retro 80s videotape cover staring out at me I knew I had to buy this book. I love scary, and specifically paranormal, movies, and have been keen to read more scary books to see if they can give me the same frights. This book didn’t disappoint!

It wasn’t at all what I expected, in a good way. I think the author is also a screenwriter, and throughout the whole book I found myself praying that it would be made into a movie. It was visceral, harrowing at times, but also hilarious at others. Unlike anything I have ever read.

Laura Hurst

As soon as I saw the retro 80s videotape cover staring out at me I knew I had to buy this book. I love scary, and specifically paranormal, movies, and have been keen to read more scary books to see if they can give me the same frights. This book didn’t disappoint!

It wasn’t at all what I expected, in a good way. I think the author is also a screenwriter, and throughout the whole book I found myself praying that it would be made into a movie. It was visceral, harrowing at times, but also hilarious at others. Unlike anything I have ever read.

britt

i greatly enjoyed this. finishing it made me tear up. i felt physically ill while reading it too. adolescence really is hell. 

(also oddly enough this book gave me more faith in christianity than any sermon i’ve heard)

chloe rae

Well, that was...interesting.
I totally don't know how to feel about this book. I mean, I enjoyed it-but only about the last 100 pages. I found the first 2/3 of this book INCREDIBLY boring. I just didn't care all that much. I was about to put the book down and move on to something else (which I hate doing) but I had a feeling it was about to get interesting. I was right!
The ending was probably the best part of the book. I thought it was a little abrupt after the climax of the story, and I felt like it was slightly missing something, but I'm satisfied. There were a lot of aspects of the story (especially towards the end) that I found really gross, but I appreciate the fact that he included them; it made the horror seem more real. I didn't like the fact that he wrote in third person; it had no purpose. I think maybe that's why I didn't care so much about the characters. And he definitely spent way too much time planting roots for the main friendship and I think that's why the beginning was a little dreadful. Also, this book is sorta funny but not nearly as funny as I hoped. I mean, one author who blurbed the book on the front linked it to Tina Fey humor and I definitely did not get that.
I did enjoy this, really. I just wanted to LOVE it and I was disappointed. It was fun to read around Halloween though; definitely added to the spooky factor. And it still has one of the coolest covers ever!

“By the power of Phil Collins, who knows that you coming back to me is against all odds, in his name I command you to leave this servant of Genesis alone.”
--
Take The Exorcist. Now make it *80s glamor*. Permed hair-dos. Rollerskating rings. Neon everything. Casually dropping acid in your backyard. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.
You know the drill.

This book was just pure spooky fun: dark, gruesome, cliché, and absolutely impossible to put down.
I laughed. I gasped. And I cringed hard. It is the type of book that gripped me as things got progressively worse and threw me down a spiral of self-doubt. (Is it a real demon possession? Or is she just an asshole? How messed up is that if she wasn't actually possessed? Ok, but what if she was?!!)
All in all, this is an awesome exorcism story wrapped in a soft and sweet story about true friendship.

It's really good. Didn't expect to cry. I felt things 🤣. I am still confused about how she ended up possessed. I know it's metaphorical but I so lost. It's good though. Highly recommend it.

Daisy Rox

80’s dark comedy vibes with a lot of detail added with images added and a yearbook style beginning and end. Very unique story - moments of a thriller, but overall a fun story about lasting high school friendship. 

Paige Paul

Denaiir

This was a lot of fun. The build up to the possession "diagnosis" was very long and I got antsy, but in a good way. I wish the scenes with animal harm were not in there, but ok. I didn't like the epilogue that much, didn't need it, but the book as a whole was good.

Lara Engle

I was thinking four stars through most of the book, but the end was so poignant and perfect and real that it must be five. I love the nostalgia and the sweetness of the best friend relationship. It makes me want to have a sleepover with my friends, hopefully without any exorcisms needed.

i recommend this book to literally EVERYONE who loves all things spooky. this read has all the charm of a campy 80s flick, while also managing to be thoroughly scary! probs in my top 3 reads of all time!

Caitlin Carino

If ^ had a baby, that would be this story. This books screams the 80’s and was a good story. If AHS made a Satanic Panic season, I imagine it would be something like this book. I read as a summer read. 

Leah Diaz 

Stranger things x Jenny’s Body x AHS

If ^ had a baby, that would be this story. This books screams the 80’s and was a good story. If AHS made a Satanic Panic season, I imagine it would be something like this book. I read as a summer read. 

rumbledethumps

Cute book. Perhaps too cute. But Hendrix can tell a story, and I'll definitely read more of his stuff.

It felt like a cheesy 80s horror movie. Nothing more, nothing less. It was very weird, but also very fun to read. #DBNQ 🤪

C. J. Daley 

I decided to give this one a go because it was free to listen on audible (although I own a copy). I just figured it would be a change of pace from the back-to-back fantasy on my plate at the moment. 

This story is definitely a love letter to the 80s. The description of hairstyles, phones they use, the characters, the chapter names, the music they listen to, all felt authentically 80s. The cover art can’t be ignored either! It’s not only an author choosing a time period and writing things so you understand they did the research, this novel lives and breathes as an actual timepiece. Then there are horrors thrown in…naturally. 

My favorite thing from this entire novel is the friend dynamic. The feeling of having a best friend that is solely yours, the feeling of them branching out and getting new friends, the feeling of possibly slipping away. I think almost everyone has experienced something like that. When you’ve always known everything about someone, and then someone tells you something contrary, perhaps something terrible…you may need to preform an exorcism. 

The exorcism itself and the climax for me were a little lackluster. I had recently read The Exorcist, so this was honestly competing with a lot for me. I will say though that the exorcist being a beefy gym Christian jock was absolutely hysterical though. The author did however follow the climax up with a very heartfelt ending that I really did enjoy.

Bethany 

** spoiler alert **
           A star off for poor Good Dog Max 😭

For this being my first thriller/spooky book I liked it! It gave stranger things in a great way & I fell in love with Abby & the sweet soul she is. Gretchen & Abby are the perfect representation on a friendship ♥️The ending caught me off guard in the best way honestly! After everything I was like okayyyy where are they going with this & was sure the ending was going to be a let down but it was honestly so perfect! I don’t want to spoil anything but give the ending a chance!

My Best Friend's Exorcism A Novel

Reviews

Highlights