The Weight of Blood

Trigger Warnings: Racism, bullying, white privilege, child abuse, micro-aggressions

Maddy Washington has always been an outcast in her small Georgia town of Springville. She’s always kept her head down and dealt with it, as that’s what her Father has taught her. That all works well enough until a surprise morning rainstorm during PE reveals her most closely kept secret: Maddy is biracial. She has been passing for white her entire life due to her fanatical white father, Thomas Washington.

After a video of Maddy being bullied goes viral and showcases Springville High’s racist roots, a few students come up with a plan to change their image: host the school’s first integrated prom! Wendy, the popular white class president, even show more convinces her Black superstar quarterback boyfriend, Kenny, to ask Maddy to the prom.

But, just because there is an integrated prom, doesn’t mean everyone is happy about it and they think it’s all Maddy’s fault. What they don’t know is that Maddy has another secret… one that will cost them their lives.

This is the first novel where Jackson is addressing racism directly within the story as well as unpacking light-skin privilege. And boy, does she unpack a lot - on top of such is also child abuse, violence, and bullying. Within the novel, you see quite a few degrees of racism and white privilege throughout members of the high school and I felt like Jackson handled all of them well. Throughout the explosive horror and suspenseful read, the topics are sure to spark conversations.

As always, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the newest Tiffany D. Jackson book, especially in time for Halloween. And, this one is a Carrie retelling at that! I very much enjoyed it and see myself recommending this to horror lovers everywhere - even those that don’t necessarily read YA, because I didn’t find this one as campy as a lot of YA horror novels do, and because of that, I think readers outside of the YA genre could enjoy it too. show less

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson may seem like a Carrie knock-off, but trust me when I say it makes Carrie look like a children’s story. Not only is Maddy’s story bloody and brutal, but how Ms. Jackson reveals her story is brilliant. Throughout the reveal, we get a first-hand glimpse of not just the everyday, overt racism non-whites face but also the millions of microaggressions they also must overcome. Ms. Jackson does this with no apology or filter, forcing you to review your words and behaviors and cringe. This aspect of the story can be a brutal reminder that even the most well-intentioned white person is guilty of some form of racism. But everything Maddy faces when her classmates discover her true heritage is nothing show more compared to the everyday abuse she meets at the hands of loved ones. It is this, alongside the cruelty of teenagers, where the horror resides. By the time you get the whole picture and understand exactly what went down on prom night and why Ms. Jackson blows your mind at not just the depth of Maddy’s story but the nuances of it as well. It is a brilliant story that is perfect for horror lovers working to become anti-racist. show less

This may be a long one, folks, because there's a lot to unpack.

Here's the thing: Right back at the beginning of 2023, I'd heard about this novel, and how it was a "modern retelling" or a "fresh, original adaptation" of Stephen King's CARRIE. And I went on a tear about it.

In case you're wondering, here's my post from back then:

Seriously?

Why did no one tell me I could get an agent, be a popular author, and get accolades for days by just rewriting a Stephen King book and adding a topical twist?

Original ideas need not apply?

And this… this right here…is EXACTLY why I chose to self publish.

I'm seething right now.

I mean, what's to stop me from rewriting King's THE DEAD ZONE but with Johnny Smith revisioned to a person who faces persecution show more for being trans while also struggling with trying to save the world from a Trump-like presidential candidate who may destroy the world? I mean, are all authors works up for grabs now? Does plagiarism only apply if you're copying it word-for-word? If you add some social commentary, it's okay to steal a novel, beat for beat?

Apparently, that's a yes.

Anyway, having seethed about this for quite some time, all I kept reading were glowing reviews of the novel, including the inevitable "better than the original!" ones. And I realized, I really can't talk much about this unless I actually read it. After all, I'm that guy that always says, "if you choose not to vote, that's fine, but you can't bitch about the government." Same applies here.

So, that's what I did.

Some quick impressions, right off the top...in Jackson's attempt to take all the major events and try and do something different with them, I found most of them really watered down.

Instead of the harrowing "plug it up" scene that opens CARRIE, we get...rain frizzing hair. Yes, it reveals Maddy's secret, but it's weak, in comparison.

And what happens in the classroom right after that? That felt like something written for the inevitable movie deal, and it gives away far too much, far too soon.

Let's skip right to the end. Everyone has seen the image of Sissy Spacek from the original 1976 CARRIE movie, blood splashed on her, the trigger for the violent end of all who'd bullied her. Without spoiling the ending of WEIGHT OF BLOOD, I'll just say that the adjustment made, while symbolic, took away much of the power.

And I think this is where I realized the central problem with THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD lies, in relation to its inevitable comparison with the source material.

Jackson took on two major tasks, one she chose, one she had no choice with. The first was the social commentary on how, despite our supposedly enlightened society, racism still exists and, more than that, it still flourishes in some parts of the world. And quite frankly, I applaud the author taking this on. Fiction—especially horror fiction—is a really good venue to tell a compelling story while getting an important point across. Just look at Matt Ruff's LOVECRAFT COUNTRY as one example.

The second task, as mentioned above is to not give us a scene-by-scene retelling of CARRIE, but change it enough that at least there's a few surprises along the way. And in a lot of cases, those changes were far weaker than the original.

For example, changing Carrie White's fanatically religious mother into Maddy Washington's father who's fanatical about old movies and hiding his daughter's true colours (literally) took a lot of the crazy away. When he locks her in the closet to pray, I literally thought, wouldn't it be such a freaking cliché if, instead of religious iconography in there, he'd covered it in white women? Imagine my surprise when that's exactly what was in there.

Having said that, when Jackson chooses to completely break away and create her own scenes...the blackface incident with Jules, and the meeting of Jules and her father with the school admins afterward, Kenny's soulbearing conversations with his sister...all of those scenes simply sparkled with life. They were very good, and illuminating.

But as soon as we got back into Carrie country, it just didn't seem to (pardon the pun) carry the same weight.

My point here is this...Tiffany D. Jackson obviously wanted to shine a light on America's racism issue, both casual and explicit, through a horror novel setting. Fantastic. I'm the first one to line up to read that novel. But taking a well-known, well-loved novel by the bestselling and best known horror author on the planet? Taking a book where the main character is so well known that if you mention "high school" and "Carrie" in the same sentence, everyone knows what you're talking about? Nope.

King, I don't believe, had much of an agenda with CARRIE. He's very open about modeling Carrie White on two different girls he knew back in school who were mercilessly bullied by everyone. He was able to tap into that teenage rage and frustration every one of us who were never cool enough to be popular, and mold it into a powerful novel of revenge.

Jackson wanted (I'm guessing) a powerful novel of revenge as well, and wanted it to be in reaction to the hate-filled racism. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. I just firmly believe that, had Jackson taken a different path, written an original novel that did not draw from CARRIE, I truly believe she would have produced a masterpiece.

If this book had come out and there WAS no CARRIE fifty years before it, I think she could have made some different story choices and I would have said it was a great story. But when the original is a novel that knocked it out of the park, this one pales in comparison.

Now, obviously I'm in the minority here, because this book is getting rave reviews from everywhere (though I can't seem to find anything on how Stephen King feels about it, so if anyone has a link, please post it below), but having read both books, and seeing how closely this one followed the original, I just couldn't help comparing the two.

I remember, way back in 1983, Mötley Crüe released an album called Shout At The Devil. And one of the songs on that album was a cover version of the Beatles' Helter Skelter. And I remember reading a review of that album that said something along the lines of, "Mötley Crüe's version of Helter Skelter shows exactly how great a heavy metal band the Beatles were."

I think the same sentiment applies here. Tiffany D. Jackson's version of CARRIE shows exactly how great a horror author Stephen King is. show less

Maddy is biracial but she straightens her natural hair and everyone thinks she is white. One day, the rain ruins her hair and everyone finds out. I really admire the way the author put so many facets of small town racism into this book. From the way the white bullies excuse their behaviour and blame everyone but themselves for the consequences of their actions, to the black Kali who still sees Maddy as person with light skin privileges, to Wendy, who walks a fine line between wanting to do the right thing and not wanting to lose anything herself, the book is filled with characters who represent a facet of a very complex town. I also appreciate the way Maddy’s father was written. The original Carrie’s mom was very clearly a religious show more fanatic, but Maddy’s father is an eerie copy of the men that very much exist today.
That is also the main issue I have with the book. Because the entire cast is so well developed, Maddy doesn’t feel like the main character, but more like one person in the mosaic that is this story. show less

In this excellent retelling of Stephen King's "Carrie," Maddie is the only biracial person in a Georgia town that still in 2014 has two proms. From the moment she was born Maddie has been told by her father that she must appear as white no matter what. One rainy day at school reveals her secret and worsens already horrible bullying by her classmates leading to the heightening of her telekinetic powers. The racial aspect of the story adds another layer to the familiar narrative and the horror of what Maddie and other Black students at the school endure. This is a page-turner with deeply real characters, riveting from the beginning, I could not stop until I found out how prom night ended!

As the author notes in the back of the book, this is a homage to Stephen King, and it's a dandy. Reminiscent of Carrie, only transported to a small, racist town in Georgia, this has a perfect blend of creepiness, gore, and empathy for the main character. Add in an ending that's ambiguous (allowing and encouraging readers to create their own) and you have a pure treat for horror fans of any age.

The Weight of Blood is Tiffany D. Jackson’s homage to Stephen King’s Carrie. As such, I thought it was masterfully written. Our main character is Maddy, a biracial girl whose father is forcing her to pass as white. He diligently straightens her hair with a hot comb to keep up the ruse. Maddy is careful to avoid water, because getting her hair wet would expose her. One day, she is outside during PE class and it suddenly starts raining. Her secret is out.

Maddy has always been the weird girl, and this just adds fuel to the fire. Her classmates immediately start bullying her. A video of the bullying goes viral online. Maddy’s classmate Wendy, a popular white girl, convinces her friends to help her organize an integrated prom to make show more the school look better. Yes, this school, in 2014 has separate prom’s for Black and white students. Wendy convinces her Black football star boyfriend to invite Maddy to the “everyone prom” in an attempt to atone for her part in how Maddy has been treated. Not everyone is happy to have an integrated prom, and this is where the trouble really starts.

I was impressed with how Jackson was able to tell an insightful story about racism, both overt and systemic, while still keeping the fundamental essence of Carrie. Her creativity is amazing. Halfway through reading this book, I learned that it’s a YA novel. I never would have guessed although it is a book that teenagers absolutely should read. It’s highly entertaining while also making important points.

Highly, highly recommended. show less