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THE SUMMER OF HORROR CONTINUES!!

This time with THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD, a reimagining of Stephen King’s CARRIE! I think has to be some kind of first for me. I certainly can’t think of any reimaginings of relatively modern horror novels (CARRIE was published just five years before I was born, so I refuse to think of the book as a “classic”) that I’ve read, though I could be missing something. 

And as I mentioned in a recent review, I haven’t really gravitated towards YA all that much recently, but I was a big fan of Tiffany D. Jackson’s WHITE SMOKE (a book that features one of the most legitimately terrifying scenes I’ve ever read), and wanted to read another of her books. 

It has been north of 20 years since I’ve read CARRIE, so there are probably plenty of nods to the original here that may have escaped me. But I’ve seen the original movie plenty of times & am actually inordinately fond of the 2013 version, with Chloë Grace Moretz. So I’m certainly familiar with the source material, is what I’m saying. 

Madison Washington is a biracial teenager who has been passing for white her entire life. This is because her father, who is white, is a religious fanatic & a racist. 

But in the very beginning of the book, Maddy’s secret is revealed. It’s her “responsibility” to check the weather each day & anticipate any rain. And she does so, meticulously. But an unexpected pop-up rainstorm during an outdoor run for gym class causes Maddy’s hair (which is painfully straightened with a hot comb, by her father), to return to its natural, curly state. And just like that, her classmates know she’s Black. 

So the bullying she’s endured her whole life now takes on plenty of racist undertones. 

The book is set in Georgia, in a town called Springville. The town has deeply racist roots, and harmful traditions that carry on to this day. Most notably to our story, the segregated proms. I think what Jackson does with the town of Springville is incredibly subtle & genius. The racism is so baked in to the town’s DNA that people almost don’t realize it’s happening. It’s just so insidious. 

I think in a lot of ways, a character named Kenny is at the center of things in this story where race plays a part. Kenny is Black, and he’s the star quarterback for the football team. So it’s almost like…the town uses Kenny as some kind of figurehead. People lionize him & prop him up, so I mean…it can’t be a racist town, right? If our star QB is Black? 

It’s almost like the Obama effect in a way. Like, surely the United States can’t be a racist country because we had that one Black president that time, right? 

And Kenny kind of loses a bit of himself in all of this. He kind of falls into the trap of not “seeing color.” All of his friends are white. Kenny’s sister Kali started the Black Student Union at their high school and Kenny thinks it’s all just…a bit unnecessary. 

So Kenny is this incredibly complex character in the book & he for sure goes on a journey. And if you’re familiar with CARRIE, you probably figured out that he is the one who winds up asking Maddy to prom, where a handful of students plan their twisted “revenge” against her. 

And then all manner of telekinetic hell breaks loose. 

That’s the plot in a nutshell, but this book is incredibly complex. It’s upsetting, too. Maddy’s life is pretty much a living hell. She has this sheltered, abusive home life. And then at school she’s had a target on her back her whole life. But she’s also curious about the world (and getting curiouser, much to her father’s dismay) & has a funny sense of humor. 

With THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD, Jackson  manages to address serious issues like racism & parental abuse, while also still delivering a really enjoyable high school horror novel. She peppers the book with some famous last names from horror movies (Lecter & Krueger are a couple that jumped out at me), and obviously wears her Stephen King influence on her sleeve. There’s also a mixed media aspect to the book that makes it a really fun, brisk read! There’s podcast transcripts, news articles, testimonials, book excerpts, and more! I love stuff like that & it gives the CARRIE story a really modern twist.

This was excellent! Definitely looking forward to checking out more of Tiffany D. Jackson’s horror novels!