The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall

by Katie Alender

Delia's new house isn't just a house. Long ago, it was the Piven Institute for the Care and Correction of Troubled Females -- an insane asylum nicknamed "Hysteria Hall." However, many of the inmates were not insane, just defiant and strong willed. Kind of like Delia herself.

• ISBN10: 1338032399
• ISBN13: 9781338032390
• Publish Date: 30 August 2016 (first published 25 August 2015)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Scholastic US
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall was delightfully weird and fun! Sixteen year old Delia has just inherited an old asylum from her great-great aunt whom she was named after. Of course, her parents don’t know it’s an asylum when they decide to head there for the summer to fix it up before selling. The first night at the house, Delia notices a lot of weird things and wants to leave. It gets so bad that she tries to sneak out, prompting her parents to lock her in, letting evil take hold. Next thing she knows, Delia is dead and bound to the house with the rest of the girls who died there over the years.

Ghost stories are generally not my thing, but The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall was great! It’s rare for an author to actually commit to killing their protagonist and not resurrecting them, but this one is all about Delia’s afterlife. There’s an evil presence in that house keeping the girls there, and she’s going to be the one to finally stop it and set them all free! Of course, not all of the girls there are innocents, so bad things do happen and Delia has to face them. Luckily, nothing scary happens. I’m such a baby when it comes to actual Horror things. The closest I came to being scared was meeting Maria, because she’s quite….well, she’s quite. You’ll just have to meet her!

Because it’s not scary, The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall takes on a more Paranormal Mystery tone. Delia is searching the house for clues as to what is binding them there. There are ghosts who aren’t who they say they are and lead her astray. She also has to learn how to interact with the world as a ghost to even stop the evil within the house. Lots of weird stuff is happening and it was fun watching Delia put everything together to save herself, the other ghosts, and her family.

The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall was just a lot of fun! I’m certainly glad that I gave it a try, and it left me with a huge smile on my face.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[cornerfolds]

As you may know, I am always on the hunt for my next favorite horror novel - I'm a horror junkie, after all. I'll admit I was a little bit skeptical of The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall, just because I didn't know quite what to expect from the description. Still, ghosts and asylums... yes, please! Know this: The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall is not really horror. At least, it isn't scary. It's a little creepy, yes, but I never found myself actually scared. That isn't to say it wasn't a good story, because it totally was!

The heroine of this story is Delia, the proud new owner of an insane asylum. She's pretty much your average teenager with her own little bit of angst, which is to be expected in a YA novel. I liked her character a lot because she seemed real. She wasn't one of those annoying protagonists who isn't afraid of anything and walks into danger just because she's such a total badass. Instead, Delia spends a lot of the book totally confused and occasionally terrified (as she should be). I also really enjoyed several of the other ghost girls! They each had distinct traits and were able to reveal information without being info dumpy.

One thing I feel is slightly misleading about the description is the inclusion of Theo. From the synopsis on the cover, I got the impression that there would be a romantic aspect to this story, but there really isn't. Theo is still an interesting character who adds another level of mystery, but he's certainly not the romantic interest I was anticipating.

The story itself was pretty interesting. Honesty, it's more mystery than horror. I liked the unique elements that Katie Alender added to the classic ghost descriptions. For example, the way time moves is different for the ghosts of Hysteria Hall. Ultimately, I felt like I was left with some unanswered questions and there were a few contradictions throughout the course of the book that I had a hard time overlooking.

The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall is a good, mysterious ghost story with some twists and turns that I didn't see coming. While I had a few problems with it, they weren't enough to detract from the fact that I did enjoy this book. I'd definitely recommend this one to those who are looking for a lighter horror novel!

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars