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Brainchild
Everyone in town knew there was something different about Lois Wilson. But Lois didn't care. Lois cared only about Science. Behavioral Science. Even when the kids at school taunted her, Lois didn't care. Even though her parents were disturbed by her, and her little brother worshiped her--Lois didn't care. And when her father suffered a stroke and her mother began drinking, strong, implacable Lois was in complete control.Now her scientific curiosity could have full expression. If she could control the behavior of laboratory animals, imagine what she could do with...people.
261 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
8 people are currently reading
523 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Neiderman
74 books391 followersAndrew Neiderman is the author of over 44 thrillers, including six of which have been translated onto film, including the big hit, 'The Devil's Advocate', a story in which he also wrote a libretto for the music-stage adaptation. One of his novels, Tender Loving Care, has been adapted into a CD-Rom interactive movie.
Andrew Neiderman became the ghostwriter for V.C. Andrews following her death in 1986. He was the screenwriter for Rain, a film based on a series of books under Andrews name. Between the novels written under her name and his own, he has published over 100 novels.
Andrew Neiderman became the ghostwriter for V.C. Andrews following her death in 1986. He was the screenwriter for Rain, a film based on a series of books under Andrews name. Between the novels written under her name and his own, he has published over 100 novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
July 27, 2008
more cheesy horror i loved when i was about 8. this is the guy that continued the legacy of v.c. andrews after she died, so you know what kind of quality we are talking. its hilarious... this girl does not care for her family...
August 23, 2021
Was in the mood for something a little more.. Obscure. An I rememberd that my book app have books by Andrew Neiderman and they are usually weird. But wasn't prepared for enjoying tjis odd book. A very strange teenager scientist who does some "lab work" on her family. I enjoy creepy yet cheesy books from time to time
But they are a bit hard to find
But they are a bit hard to find
May 28, 2019
Another recommendation grabbed up from the excellent Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction. This is an odd, dark little book with a bone-chilling premise, a surprisingly complex mad scientist teenage girl, and a disappointingly lackluster resolution. The last factor isn't enough to make the book a thumbs-down, not when the rest is so weird and intriguing.
Lois is a high school senior and a cold-blooded genius. Her father, a pharmacist, makes some effort to understand the off-kilter turn of her mind and her little brother reveres her, but to her mother, she's the odd, unnatural girl who keeps bringing lab animals into the house. Lois has a particular interest in behavioral conditioning, and when she gets the opportunity to audit a college course on the subject, she acquires a fascinated audience in the form of a professor intrigued by her singular intensity. Unfortunately, without meaning to, he spurs her on in creepier and creepier directions as Lois begins using her family as unknowing test subjects in her very own studies in behavioral conditioning.
At first these efforts are simple, even if Neiderman makes them skin-crawling. For example, Lois starts encouraging her little brother to resent and fear their mother, thus increasing his dependence on her. All that's bad enough. But then her father has another stroke, leaving him effectively trapped in his own body... and Lois decides to take advantage of his condition to bring the family completely under her control. She subtly uses her psychological know-how to push her mother into becoming a recluse who avoids her husband; she works on devising a maniacal, seemingly sadistic plan to help her father's rehabilitation along by training his body to respond to her. The helplessness of the family--especially the father--caught in her web is really well-conveyed:
"I thought you'd press the bar and ring the gong. Aren’t you hungry?” He blinked once. “Well, you’re going to have to press the bar, Daddy. That’s the way it’s going to be now. I don’t have to go through the procedures to establish a conditioned reflex with you, do I? You want food, you press the bar; food, bar, that’s the association… You’ll get so you like the system, you’ll see. The more dependent you are on it, the more you’ll like it. It’s a common phenomenon, evidenced in the behavior of hostages who develop positive relationships with their captors."
Cool, Lois, thanks for all the nightmares.
The problem is that all this horror doesn't really go anywhere. Neiderman fails to bring it all to a satisfying dramatic climax, and instead it winds up feeling like it just fizzles out at a certain point. That it fails to stick the landing is a big disappointment, but I know I'm still going to remember Lois, one of horror literature's creepiest figures.
Lois is definitely the main selling point of the book, especially since Neiderman gives her an unexpected bit of complexity. For example, while Lois feels a lot like a budding supervillain, she's as unsentimental about herself as she is about her family; she's pretty low on ego. When she colossally fails her audition for the role of the only character she's ever really identified with, there's a moment where she considers reframing the experience as "everyone who laughed at me was wrong and I was actually great," but then she rejects it and accepts that she failed and she's just not meant to be an actress. And while her plan and its execution are obviously evil, her motivation does genuinely seem to be the advancement of scientific knowledge, and she argues sincerely and passionately that she's really trying to help her father. All of this contributes to making her a vivid, well-realized character, which makes her much scarier than a cardboard cut-out.
Lois is a high school senior and a cold-blooded genius. Her father, a pharmacist, makes some effort to understand the off-kilter turn of her mind and her little brother reveres her, but to her mother, she's the odd, unnatural girl who keeps bringing lab animals into the house. Lois has a particular interest in behavioral conditioning, and when she gets the opportunity to audit a college course on the subject, she acquires a fascinated audience in the form of a professor intrigued by her singular intensity. Unfortunately, without meaning to, he spurs her on in creepier and creepier directions as Lois begins using her family as unknowing test subjects in her very own studies in behavioral conditioning.
At first these efforts are simple, even if Neiderman makes them skin-crawling. For example, Lois starts encouraging her little brother to resent and fear their mother, thus increasing his dependence on her. All that's bad enough. But then her father has another stroke, leaving him effectively trapped in his own body... and Lois decides to take advantage of his condition to bring the family completely under her control. She subtly uses her psychological know-how to push her mother into becoming a recluse who avoids her husband; she works on devising a maniacal, seemingly sadistic plan to help her father's rehabilitation along by training his body to respond to her. The helplessness of the family--especially the father--caught in her web is really well-conveyed:
"I thought you'd press the bar and ring the gong. Aren’t you hungry?” He blinked once. “Well, you’re going to have to press the bar, Daddy. That’s the way it’s going to be now. I don’t have to go through the procedures to establish a conditioned reflex with you, do I? You want food, you press the bar; food, bar, that’s the association… You’ll get so you like the system, you’ll see. The more dependent you are on it, the more you’ll like it. It’s a common phenomenon, evidenced in the behavior of hostages who develop positive relationships with their captors."
Cool, Lois, thanks for all the nightmares.
The problem is that all this horror doesn't really go anywhere. Neiderman fails to bring it all to a satisfying dramatic climax, and instead it winds up feeling like it just fizzles out at a certain point. That it fails to stick the landing is a big disappointment, but I know I'm still going to remember Lois, one of horror literature's creepiest figures.
Lois is definitely the main selling point of the book, especially since Neiderman gives her an unexpected bit of complexity. For example, while Lois feels a lot like a budding supervillain, she's as unsentimental about herself as she is about her family; she's pretty low on ego. When she colossally fails her audition for the role of the only character she's ever really identified with, there's a moment where she considers reframing the experience as "everyone who laughed at me was wrong and I was actually great," but then she rejects it and accepts that she failed and she's just not meant to be an actress. And while her plan and its execution are obviously evil, her motivation does genuinely seem to be the advancement of scientific knowledge, and she argues sincerely and passionately that she's really trying to help her father. All of this contributes to making her a vivid, well-realized character, which makes her much scarier than a cardboard cut-out.
December 8, 2017
Academic achievement as the ultimate perversity. Everything is an experiment. We are all animals in a lab. Love is just pushing a button and hoping a food pellet comes instead of an electric shock.
January 20, 2021
4,5*
This book had such a good payoff despite the beginning being a bit slow. The story about a really smart girl whose interest in science and her lack of social skills will be a threat for those closer to her.
If you love stories about creepy or genious kids, this is a must read for you. The way we get to see her introduce herself and evolve as a character is just fantastic. Definitely a more character based book than a big story. However the book is so well written and edited that it makes the story extremely believable and makes you both fear and love Lois
This book had such a good payoff despite the beginning being a bit slow. The story about a really smart girl whose interest in science and her lack of social skills will be a threat for those closer to her.
If you love stories about creepy or genious kids, this is a must read for you. The way we get to see her introduce herself and evolve as a character is just fantastic. Definitely a more character based book than a big story. However the book is so well written and edited that it makes the story extremely believable and makes you both fear and love Lois
November 9, 2020
andrew neiderman is a talented writer, and maybe i should finally check out some of the books he’s penned under the v.c. andrews name.
brainchild (1981), neiderman’s second published work under his own name, is a suspenseful and mostly engrossing novel, though i feel it doesn’t quite live up to his debut, pin. that one contained a sense of menace this one doesn’t—a book about a brainy teenager carrying out behavioral scientific experiments on her helpless family somehow didn’t quite get under my skin or engross me the way i expected it to. maybe it’s because i couldn’t really connect to these characters?
still, neiderman doles out a page-turning tale of suspense, one operating on economic pacing and a sure grasp of language. i just couldn’t totally find my way in.
brainchild (1981), neiderman’s second published work under his own name, is a suspenseful and mostly engrossing novel, though i feel it doesn’t quite live up to his debut, pin. that one contained a sense of menace this one doesn’t—a book about a brainy teenager carrying out behavioral scientific experiments on her helpless family somehow didn’t quite get under my skin or engross me the way i expected it to. maybe it’s because i couldn’t really connect to these characters?
still, neiderman doles out a page-turning tale of suspense, one operating on economic pacing and a sure grasp of language. i just couldn’t totally find my way in.
April 30, 2021
Not quite horror, at least in a traditional sense, Brainchild is riveting suspense told mainly from the perspective of an emotionally bankrupt teenager. More Lifetime than anything, but dark and wicked all the same. Very well-written. Neiderman convinces the reader of Lois Wilson's terrifying intelligence. Will think on this one more and may report back with updates as my opinion gestates.
EDIT: 3.5
EDIT: 3.5
January 13, 2020
4.5/5⭐️
I came across this gem of a book while skimming through the horror section of my local used bookstore and when I read the synopsis, my immediate thought was, “teenage girl as mad scientist? YES PLEASE!” I spent my weekend finishing this book and I have to say I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it!
•
Brainchild is about Lois Wilson, a brilliant high school senior with a passion for behavioral science. When her father suffers a near-fatal stroke that changes the family’s sense of normal, Lois can’t help but use the unfortunate event as an opportunity for her biggest scientific study yet. Unbeknownst to her family, they are her new guinea pigs.
•
At first I couldn’t see how a brainy teenager could be so threatening in a horror novel. But as I discovered Lois’s talent for manipulation and deceit, I began to fear for the people around her! As a protagonist (or I guess antagonist?), I found Lois to be absolutely fascinating! While the people around her believed her to be snobby, arrogant, cold, and unfeeling, I personally couldn’t get enough of her. I hung on her every word. My only complaint was that the ending was a little anticlimactic.
•
I was also surprised to learn this book was featured in “Paperbacks From Hell”! If you haven’t read it yet, find yourself a copy and get to it!
I came across this gem of a book while skimming through the horror section of my local used bookstore and when I read the synopsis, my immediate thought was, “teenage girl as mad scientist? YES PLEASE!” I spent my weekend finishing this book and I have to say I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it!
•
Brainchild is about Lois Wilson, a brilliant high school senior with a passion for behavioral science. When her father suffers a near-fatal stroke that changes the family’s sense of normal, Lois can’t help but use the unfortunate event as an opportunity for her biggest scientific study yet. Unbeknownst to her family, they are her new guinea pigs.
•
At first I couldn’t see how a brainy teenager could be so threatening in a horror novel. But as I discovered Lois’s talent for manipulation and deceit, I began to fear for the people around her! As a protagonist (or I guess antagonist?), I found Lois to be absolutely fascinating! While the people around her believed her to be snobby, arrogant, cold, and unfeeling, I personally couldn’t get enough of her. I hung on her every word. My only complaint was that the ending was a little anticlimactic.
•
I was also surprised to learn this book was featured in “Paperbacks From Hell”! If you haven’t read it yet, find yourself a copy and get to it!
July 4, 2017
Brainchild's plot may sound far fetched and silly from the surface, but it’s fascinating and portrayed in an addictive light. I couldn’t put the book down from the first word. The beginning foreshadowed what was to come while establishing who was who, the middle kept climbing up and never sagged once, and the ending was powerful, particularly the resolution and final paragraphs.
In the past Neiderman has been guilty of not fleshing characters out enough, but this book is an improvement. The moral type lessons are in this story, the age-old Frankenstein theme, stand out so clearly they could be picked out by a fourth grader.
The pace of Brainchild was evenly distributed and effective. Although it wasn’t a novel full of action-paced suspense, it had interesting incidents that held my attention. I literally read this in two sittings, breaking the first time only because I had to go out to dinner with the family.
Neiderman’s style is easily comprehended and straight forward. He used various points of view throughout the novel, but avoided skipping around too much, primarily telling through the eyes of Lois. His use of dialogue was ideal, and his methods of writing was is to follow.
Brainchild left me stunned. It is most likely my favorite Neiderman novel. You won’t regret reading this one; even if it’s not completely unpredictable, it’s still entertaining.
In the past Neiderman has been guilty of not fleshing characters out enough, but this book is an improvement. The moral type lessons are in this story, the age-old Frankenstein theme, stand out so clearly they could be picked out by a fourth grader.
The pace of Brainchild was evenly distributed and effective. Although it wasn’t a novel full of action-paced suspense, it had interesting incidents that held my attention. I literally read this in two sittings, breaking the first time only because I had to go out to dinner with the family.
Neiderman’s style is easily comprehended and straight forward. He used various points of view throughout the novel, but avoided skipping around too much, primarily telling through the eyes of Lois. His use of dialogue was ideal, and his methods of writing was is to follow.
Brainchild left me stunned. It is most likely my favorite Neiderman novel. You won’t regret reading this one; even if it’s not completely unpredictable, it’s still entertaining.
February 28, 2024
Lois a brilliant student, totally absorbed in Behavioral Science, hardly any friends, didn't care about her appearance. She had a makeshift lab and was continously working in some kind of experiment. She would conduct psychoanalysis on her family. Particularly when they were stressed, she would observe, make assessments, make theories This gave her power and control which she thrived on. She named her 18th rat 18. I imagine the 19th would become like cujo (stephen king). She went from animals to people. After her father had a severe stroke she upped the experiments, controlling, putting fear in her dad and creating a drug addicted zombie out of the mother. Highly creepy and disturbing.
July 5, 2015
When V.C. Andrews (“Flowers in the Attic”) died in 1986, it didn’t slow down her output of new material. In fact, in the 29 years since her death, Andrews has released more than 60 novels… you gotta admire that kind of work ethic.
Okay, the books are written by another writer and released under Andrews’s name, bringing an eerily literal meaning to the term “ghostwriter.”
The man that was given that job is Andrew Neiderman, a writer who, by the mid-‘80s, had produced a notable body of horror/thriller novels that apparently caught Andrews’s eye.
One such was “Brainchild” (the paperback cover even sports a blurb from Andrews). Although opinions on this one seem to vary among horror fans, I found it to be quite enjoyable, a nasty little thriller with a brilliantly imagined premise.
Although Neiderman, even writing in the third-person, will switch character perspectives within a single passage (seemed clumsy to me, but, what do I know), it’s a minor complaint for a novel that keeps the pages turning like this one.
Okay, the books are written by another writer and released under Andrews’s name, bringing an eerily literal meaning to the term “ghostwriter.”
The man that was given that job is Andrew Neiderman, a writer who, by the mid-‘80s, had produced a notable body of horror/thriller novels that apparently caught Andrews’s eye.
One such was “Brainchild” (the paperback cover even sports a blurb from Andrews). Although opinions on this one seem to vary among horror fans, I found it to be quite enjoyable, a nasty little thriller with a brilliantly imagined premise.
Although Neiderman, even writing in the third-person, will switch character perspectives within a single passage (seemed clumsy to me, but, what do I know), it’s a minor complaint for a novel that keeps the pages turning like this one.
March 5, 2020
The moral of this story is :
Highly intelligent children are evil AF.
Good stuff!
Highly intelligent children are evil AF.
Good stuff!
June 6, 2023
Usually when a story is called a "psychological thriller" you automatically know it means someone's going to get stabby with a big butcher knife, just like Michael in "Halloween", only they'll start out acting friendly for a while before they start to chase the lead around. Not very psychological! Here Neiderman delivers a real psychological thriller that serves up mental carnage instead of gory murders, and still manages real frights even without any butcher knife action.
Because, as the characters explain at one point, what we get here is a horror version of "The Miracle Worker"!! For a summer research project, high school valedictorian and aspiring scientist Lois concocts an innovative treatment for her father's stroke-induced paralysis. The great part about this book is that Lois actually means well. She thinks she is just like Anne Sullivan and that there will be a big breakthrough that will validate her weird hypothesis and make her famous. Of course she is dead wrong but I really liked her because she reminded me of some of my brilliant high school friends. I appreciated Neiderman's decision to resist making her story a simple "outcast's revenge" plot. She never goes on a wild rampage against the popular kids in school after they prank and mock her. Instead her isolation combines with that cold and rebellious phase that most adolescents exhibit when it is almost time for them to leave the nest. Inspired by a new college course and an exciting scholarship, she turns her house into a giant behavior experiment, and Neiderman uses slowly mounting strangeness to create tension and fear.
While the story takes its time, it is always entertaining. Neiderman's enjoyable style is practical and similar to a screenplay. I was not surprised to learn that many of his novels were adapted into films. Here is an exchange between Lois and her father, from a great early scene where the family has discovered Lois keeping bats in the basement. She wants to discourage him from killing them with a broom:
"
He swung a little wildly, catching only the one on the far right. It crumpled to the floor. Lois followed it with the light and they could see it move its tiny legs. He slapped it again and it stopped all movement. (...)
"Thank God they're too stupid to know what's going on."
"It's not in their experience to know what it means to be attacked with a broom while sleeping," Lois said dryly.
"Just keep the light on them."
He lifted the broom, more confident now, and brought it down with a swift stroke, smearing the next-to-last nocturnal creature down the wall. It rolled into a ball and died quickly. When he looked up, Lois had moved the light off the last one.
"Get the light back on it."
"Can't you let me have this one?"
"What?"
"I want to study it. I'll keep it trapped down here. I can do it," she pleaded.
"
Because, as the characters explain at one point, what we get here is a horror version of "The Miracle Worker"!! For a summer research project, high school valedictorian and aspiring scientist Lois concocts an innovative treatment for her father's stroke-induced paralysis. The great part about this book is that Lois actually means well. She thinks she is just like Anne Sullivan and that there will be a big breakthrough that will validate her weird hypothesis and make her famous. Of course she is dead wrong but I really liked her because she reminded me of some of my brilliant high school friends. I appreciated Neiderman's decision to resist making her story a simple "outcast's revenge" plot. She never goes on a wild rampage against the popular kids in school after they prank and mock her. Instead her isolation combines with that cold and rebellious phase that most adolescents exhibit when it is almost time for them to leave the nest. Inspired by a new college course and an exciting scholarship, she turns her house into a giant behavior experiment, and Neiderman uses slowly mounting strangeness to create tension and fear.
While the story takes its time, it is always entertaining. Neiderman's enjoyable style is practical and similar to a screenplay. I was not surprised to learn that many of his novels were adapted into films. Here is an exchange between Lois and her father, from a great early scene where the family has discovered Lois keeping bats in the basement. She wants to discourage him from killing them with a broom:
"
He swung a little wildly, catching only the one on the far right. It crumpled to the floor. Lois followed it with the light and they could see it move its tiny legs. He slapped it again and it stopped all movement. (...)
"Thank God they're too stupid to know what's going on."
"It's not in their experience to know what it means to be attacked with a broom while sleeping," Lois said dryly.
"Just keep the light on them."
He lifted the broom, more confident now, and brought it down with a swift stroke, smearing the next-to-last nocturnal creature down the wall. It rolled into a ball and died quickly. When he looked up, Lois had moved the light off the last one.
"Get the light back on it."
"Can't you let me have this one?"
"What?"
"I want to study it. I'll keep it trapped down here. I can do it," she pleaded.
"
October 25, 2019
Read this after reading about it in Grady Hendrix's excellent Paperbacks From Hell - as I imagine a lot of contemporary readers do.
Reading the premise of this book instantly spoke to something within me.. I'm normally not a person who enjoys stories about psychopaths, but I couldn't stop thinking about this book.
It's a decent thriller, that doesn't fully deliver. I'm not a fan of cruelty in writing, but there are parts in this book where I feel punches were pulled. The latter third of the book, when we're really in horror/thriller-country, feels rushed, and I had a hard time swallowing the ending.
I'm not sure what the book is trying to say about science and scientists.. seems to be that scientists are just a few nagging morals away from turning the world into a Skinner box..? More to the point would probably be:
psychopaths be psychopathin'.
Reading the premise of this book instantly spoke to something within me.. I'm normally not a person who enjoys stories about psychopaths, but I couldn't stop thinking about this book.
It's a decent thriller, that doesn't fully deliver. I'm not a fan of cruelty in writing, but there are parts in this book where I feel punches were pulled. The latter third of the book, when we're really in horror/thriller-country, feels rushed, and I had a hard time swallowing the ending.
I'm not sure what the book is trying to say about science and scientists.. seems to be that scientists are just a few nagging morals away from turning the world into a Skinner box..? More to the point would probably be:
psychopaths be psychopathin'.
April 24, 2019
Read it in Dutch and was the first book I voluntary read until the end! Really thrilling and interesting. Has relateble Parts and some really horror/crazy like parts. Easy to read also. Perfect for every young girl that loves suspension, bonus if you're into science.
February 14, 2021
The few really interesting and never-read-before narrative promises should not distract the reader from the poor execution of ideas waiting to burst into the scene.
Where psychological analysis and occult/weird tale philosophy might have met if in different hands.
Wasted opportunities.
Where psychological analysis and occult/weird tale philosophy might have met if in different hands.
Wasted opportunities.
May 3, 2014
The cover is worth five stars.
March 30, 2023
“I think we’ve all got to realize that an idea can be just as dangerous as a weapon, maybe more so. We can’t teach in isolation.”
Lois Wilson is an exceptionally bright young woman, who is already taking advanced college courses about human behavior while still attending highschool. Deep into any kind of science books and experiments, she misses out on socialization that comes from adolescence as she's constantly engrossed in her studying. Finding friendships, proms, even family time less important than her research, it's enough to make others around her fear her. Quick to lash out in sarcastic and hurtful remarks, kids at school want little to do with her while at home her parents are fighting a losing battle to make their daughter behave more like an average teenager. For younger brother Billy however, his admiration to his older sibling goes deeper than a typical brotherly love. Nothing she does can ever be wrong in his eyes, and he'll do anything she asks. When their father, Gregory , the town pharmacist, collapses from a second stroke that leaves him paralyzed, Lois discovers she has the perfect guinea pig for new newest experiment. When her mother Dorothy brings him home after a week in the hospital, Lois dives into the chance to test and research on her own father. As he slowly grows fearful of the daughter he raised, she uses electroshock and a gong to stimulate responses to his muscles. As the days bleed together she advances into painting the bedroom in a total green color, all the whole heavily drugging her mother with narcotics to keep her subdued and constantly weakened with sleep. When Lois's college professor Kevin McShane first met her, he was shocked to discover a student who challenged and asked the questions that spiraled into lengthy conversations. Smitten almost, he can't stop thinking about her and how she grew to become so fascinated in human psychology and behaviors. Sharing her plans for research in multiple spectrums, he's horrified when she suddenly seems to drop the classes she was taking with him. When Dorothy can't take the lab animals loose in her house or the gong her husband sounds at all hours of the night, she flees into the darkness. Eager to escape her house of horrors and especially her daughter, she stumbled right into McShane who approaches the house with extreme worry now. Picked up by the police, Dorothy babbles about the nightmares she experienced and what her husband is suffering. Meanwhile, McShane is making his own discoveries before Lois covers his head with a sack and throws him into the basement. Feigning a terrified girl home alone with a urglar, it wasn't without a conversation with Gregory's doctor that the arrest would instead come for Lois. Now she sits in a mental institution, where she once again resumes the role of the master manipulator, something McShane tried desperately to warn her own doctors. Laughed at and sent away, he knows the day she's set free will start about her inhumane nightmare for her test subjects.
“What frightens and terrifies us the most? The threat of something terrible or something terrible?”
Lois Wilson is an exceptionally bright young woman, who is already taking advanced college courses about human behavior while still attending highschool. Deep into any kind of science books and experiments, she misses out on socialization that comes from adolescence as she's constantly engrossed in her studying. Finding friendships, proms, even family time less important than her research, it's enough to make others around her fear her. Quick to lash out in sarcastic and hurtful remarks, kids at school want little to do with her while at home her parents are fighting a losing battle to make their daughter behave more like an average teenager. For younger brother Billy however, his admiration to his older sibling goes deeper than a typical brotherly love. Nothing she does can ever be wrong in his eyes, and he'll do anything she asks. When their father, Gregory , the town pharmacist, collapses from a second stroke that leaves him paralyzed, Lois discovers she has the perfect guinea pig for new newest experiment. When her mother Dorothy brings him home after a week in the hospital, Lois dives into the chance to test and research on her own father. As he slowly grows fearful of the daughter he raised, she uses electroshock and a gong to stimulate responses to his muscles. As the days bleed together she advances into painting the bedroom in a total green color, all the whole heavily drugging her mother with narcotics to keep her subdued and constantly weakened with sleep. When Lois's college professor Kevin McShane first met her, he was shocked to discover a student who challenged and asked the questions that spiraled into lengthy conversations. Smitten almost, he can't stop thinking about her and how she grew to become so fascinated in human psychology and behaviors. Sharing her plans for research in multiple spectrums, he's horrified when she suddenly seems to drop the classes she was taking with him. When Dorothy can't take the lab animals loose in her house or the gong her husband sounds at all hours of the night, she flees into the darkness. Eager to escape her house of horrors and especially her daughter, she stumbled right into McShane who approaches the house with extreme worry now. Picked up by the police, Dorothy babbles about the nightmares she experienced and what her husband is suffering. Meanwhile, McShane is making his own discoveries before Lois covers his head with a sack and throws him into the basement. Feigning a terrified girl home alone with a urglar, it wasn't without a conversation with Gregory's doctor that the arrest would instead come for Lois. Now she sits in a mental institution, where she once again resumes the role of the master manipulator, something McShane tried desperately to warn her own doctors. Laughed at and sent away, he knows the day she's set free will start about her inhumane nightmare for her test subjects.
“What frightens and terrifies us the most? The threat of something terrible or something terrible?”
February 3, 2024
I think that I’m going to spend the next month and try to see what is in Andrew Neiderman’s mind- I mean seriously!! Who writes this stuff?
A senior student named Lois is smart beyond reason. She’s obsessed with learning about the human behavior, but who needs rats and rabbits to experiment on? Not her. What about friends and family to experiment with- BINGO!!!
Lois is by far one of the worst characters I have ever read. She is a narcissistic, pompous asshole who talks down to people. No one can talk to her about anything, because she will turn it around and tell them how dumb they are. I would consider her a psychopath with no genuine feelings about others.
Unfortunately, there was a lot of “fat shaming” in this book, which I knocked down a point for. Also, Greg, the father thought this when he was thinking about how smart his daughter is- “Sometimes he secretly longed for her to have less intelligence and more attractive physical physical feature”- WTF Greg?!
But the story line was fantastic, and there is actually good writing- here is a section I loved (this is regarding Lois’s mother Dorothy)-
“She had started talking to the walls, catching herself in the middle of monologues. The new, deeper, more permeating quiet caused every ordinary sound to take on a shriller, higher note. The banging of pots and pans, the clink of dishes, the hollow echo of footsteps on the wooden floors- all conspired to tear at her.”
🍿 Movie Pairing- 1985 horror film “Cat’s Eye”
A senior student named Lois is smart beyond reason. She’s obsessed with learning about the human behavior, but who needs rats and rabbits to experiment on? Not her. What about friends and family to experiment with- BINGO!!!
Lois is by far one of the worst characters I have ever read. She is a narcissistic, pompous asshole who talks down to people. No one can talk to her about anything, because she will turn it around and tell them how dumb they are. I would consider her a psychopath with no genuine feelings about others.
Unfortunately, there was a lot of “fat shaming” in this book, which I knocked down a point for. Also, Greg, the father thought this when he was thinking about how smart his daughter is- “Sometimes he secretly longed for her to have less intelligence and more attractive physical physical feature”- WTF Greg?!
But the story line was fantastic, and there is actually good writing- here is a section I loved (this is regarding Lois’s mother Dorothy)-
“She had started talking to the walls, catching herself in the middle of monologues. The new, deeper, more permeating quiet caused every ordinary sound to take on a shriller, higher note. The banging of pots and pans, the clink of dishes, the hollow echo of footsteps on the wooden floors- all conspired to tear at her.”
🍿 Movie Pairing- 1985 horror film “Cat’s Eye”
September 20, 2025
Lois Wilson is a genius. Her STEM inclined mind and scientific curiosity cause her to stand-out both at school and at home. This summer, her predilection for doing research has reached a new level with her mother, father and little brother becoming her new lab rats, and Lois their subjugator.
Brainchild is a chilling character study of a detached teenage girl with a lack of humanity. From the very beginning we see how Lois has a hard time relating to other people. Her matter of fact attitude, condescending nature and rational demeanor is off putting to those she encounters. Children, peers & adults fear her. As the story goes on, we witness just how warranted that fear is.
As Lois' misdeeds escalate and her family becomes the nucleus for her experiments, it becomes clear that boundaries insinuated by family ties and human decency will not deter her from her behavioural science endeavors.
Lois was such a fun antagonist to follow. She's manipulative, pedantic and analytical. What starts off at times as laughable comments and even relatable thoughts, quickly becomes unfathomable. You truly worry for the fate of Lois' family members. I felt especially for her younger brother and father who were particularly vulnerable under her control.
My one qualm with Brainchild was the ending. It tied up too quickly. I even went back a few pages just to make sure I hadn't accidentally skipped ahead somehow. Overall though, I really enjoyed my time reading this 80s horror novel. I'm looking forward to reading PIN next by this author!
I give Brainchild by Andrew Neiderman 4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Brainchild is a chilling character study of a detached teenage girl with a lack of humanity. From the very beginning we see how Lois has a hard time relating to other people. Her matter of fact attitude, condescending nature and rational demeanor is off putting to those she encounters. Children, peers & adults fear her. As the story goes on, we witness just how warranted that fear is.
As Lois' misdeeds escalate and her family becomes the nucleus for her experiments, it becomes clear that boundaries insinuated by family ties and human decency will not deter her from her behavioural science endeavors.
Lois was such a fun antagonist to follow. She's manipulative, pedantic and analytical. What starts off at times as laughable comments and even relatable thoughts, quickly becomes unfathomable. You truly worry for the fate of Lois' family members. I felt especially for her younger brother and father who were particularly vulnerable under her control.
My one qualm with Brainchild was the ending. It tied up too quickly. I even went back a few pages just to make sure I hadn't accidentally skipped ahead somehow. Overall though, I really enjoyed my time reading this 80s horror novel. I'm looking forward to reading PIN next by this author!
I give Brainchild by Andrew Neiderman 4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
May 7, 2025
I would say that over the course of reading 4 Andrew Neiderman novels (plus 7 so far he wrote under V C Andrews’ name) he’s become one of my favorite authors from the paperbacks from hell era. Nobody writes messed up families quite like him, but I find his books to be utterly addicting and hard to put down.
This one was a bit more unique than some of his others. With a healthy dosage of pseudoscience and a one of a kind protagonist, Brainchild hits all the marks of a sociopath horror novel from this era without ever succumbing to tropes in the way you would expect. Terror here creeps up slowly until it explodes off the page in the last quarter of the book. I was throughly creeped out and imagine the subject matter of this book will haunt me for days and weeks to come.
I think Neiderman is best known for writing Pin from this era (another great book that I read earlier this year) but I think this one is even stronger. If you have the chance to sweep up a copy, I urge you to pick it up and read it immediately. You certainly won’t regret it!
This one was a bit more unique than some of his others. With a healthy dosage of pseudoscience and a one of a kind protagonist, Brainchild hits all the marks of a sociopath horror novel from this era without ever succumbing to tropes in the way you would expect. Terror here creeps up slowly until it explodes off the page in the last quarter of the book. I was throughly creeped out and imagine the subject matter of this book will haunt me for days and weeks to come.
I think Neiderman is best known for writing Pin from this era (another great book that I read earlier this year) but I think this one is even stronger. If you have the chance to sweep up a copy, I urge you to pick it up and read it immediately. You certainly won’t regret it!
July 18, 2025
Unlike Pin this book feels like it never quite reaches its intended purpose or goal. It’s much more of a psychological drama than necessarily a horror book, which is fine but just now what I was in the mood for at the present time. There is a sequence near the middle that teeters on the edge of what I thought Neiderman mostly was, outside of ghost writing for V.C. But it’s not even the main plot and that side story ends quickly. Although this book does have fascinating commentary on science, and the idea of taking things too far in the name of intellectual stimulation which I appreciate. It’s ok.
August 20, 2025
This is a slow-burn ’80s mass-market paperback that was worth the read. If you’re into the psychology of humans or behavioural science, this’ll both scare you and make you think, and if you’re into family horror, this tale about a family member who uses science to command her family into whatever she wishes, you’ll be happily surprised. This book suffers the case of an '80s read blatantly written by a man. Both a cheesy read and a horrifying psychological tale. 3.75/5
More: https://jessicagrixtistanley.com/2020...
More: https://jessicagrixtistanley.com/2020...
January 11, 2018
Really neat twist on the whole "family gets trapped in their own house and tortured" trope, written even before that concept was a trope. Lois makes for a great villain, equal parts completely obnoxious and sympathetic at first, and even at her most sociopathic, her motives are still understandable. How the conflict gets resolved was a little too easy for my tastes, but other than that, it works as a good character study as well as a suspenseful thriller once the "experiment" begins.
March 10, 2019
I read this book back in high school when VC Andrews was a popular writer. I wouldn’t say this is a great book but it definitely stuck with me over the years. If you’re looking for a Flowers in the Attic type book, this is pretty good.
August 4, 2020
I have mixed emotions about this book. I wanted to like it, but it's like the set up goes on and on. I finally quit reading it before finishing it, while waiting for something to happen. Should be edited again and made into a great book.
April 20, 2019
The thin line between genius and insanity is always fun to tread.
May 13, 2019
Andrew Neiderman one of his best. Chilling at times !
August 22, 2020
Well, this was a lot of work for a meager payoff, but I still liked it.
July 21, 2022
I mean it should probably be 1-2 stars but. We all know what we’re in for here.
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