The Dead House

by Dawn Kurtagich

Twenty-five years ago, Elmbridge High School burned down. The blaze killed three and injured twenty, and one pupil, Carly Johnson, disappeared. For two decades, little was revealed about what became known as the Johnson Incident.

Until now.

A diary has been found in the ruins of the school. In this diary, Kaitlyn Johnson, Carly's twin, tells of the strange and disturbing sequence of events leading to the incident.

But Kaitlyn doesn't exist. She never has.

Chilling, creepy and compelling, THE DEAD HOUSE is one of those very special books that finds all the dark places in your imagination, and haunts you long after you've finished reading.

• ISBN10: 1780622341
• ISBN13: 9781780622347
• Publish Date: 6 August 2015
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 5 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Hachette Children's Group
• Imprint: Orion Children's Books
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[pamela]

Everything about The Dead House should have been good. The 'found footage' approach is always something different, the premise was fantastic and the atmosphere for most of the book was really spooky and immersive.

But when I got to the end, all I could think was 'what was the point'? I felt like Dawn Kurtagich bit off a little bit more than she could chew and was trying to write too many different novels all at once. The two (?) main characters were well developed, but with so many satellite characters introduced so early on it was far too difficult to really get a sense of them as characters, especially since the male characters were poorly characterised.

The plot itself was quite formulaic, which in and of itself was not a terrible thing as it did feel like Kurtagich was going somewhere with it, but all of the disparate plot elements simply didn't come together to form a cohesive whole. The mystery with the parents went nowhere, the two girls and their 'situation' didn't get enough attention, mysterious fires, asylums, disappearances, and don't even get me started on the rubbish that was the fictional Scottish voodoo cult which could have been left out completely and the strange characterisation of the diary as personified. It was just mystery piled on top of mystery, without any form of resolution and some poorly developed character arc's.

There is definitely a good book in here. I would go so far as to say there is definitely a great book in here. But in its current form it is completely unrealised. It's too complicated and ultimately collapses under its own weight.

http://iblamewizards.com/review-dead-house-dawn-kurtagich/

[kimbacaffeinate]

DNF. I wanted to love this but the audio is not working with all of the diary and video entries. I cannot slip in to the story. I may revisit this in book format at a later date.

[readingwithwrin]

" I don't blame Carly for being the one in the light. I love her more than anything. She's my opposite completely, and she'll say she's the weaker half of our equation, but the truth is she's my rock. She is everything I wish I were. "


The Dead House is a very interesting story, mainly because of how Kaitlyn is and who Carly is and trying to figure out which one is real and which one is in her mind. The story is told through Diary entries, written recordings, and notes. With the Diary entries you really get to see who Kaitlyn is and what she was feeling at all times. With the few Carly diary entries we had, we saw what her version of life was and how she was always trying to make things better for Kaitlyn and trying to protect her. The main chunk of written recordings were from therapy sessions that both Kaitlyn and Carly had. There were also some police reports/interviews more towards the middle/end of the story that were taken after the incident happened. The notes were between Carly and Kaitlyn and was how they would communicate since they couldn't ever remember what had happened when the other one was in control.
Now your probably wondering what I mean when I say the other one was in control. Well it appears that Kaitlyn/Carly have split personality disorder or have been possessed by an evil spirit.
Your never really sure which one it is throughout the story up until the end. Then, it became very obvious which one it was.
As for the side characters throughout the story I did find them interesting, but I never trusted any of them and always thought that most of them were going to end up hurting Kaitlyn/Carly or do something to make the other one lose it. I'm not going to say anymore about them or the rest of the story because I don't want to give anything away or make you think that this story wasn't a good one.

For me this book wasn't very scary sadly. It was more of a thriller/ mystery instead of a horror novel like I thought it would be. I still enjoyed it though and was always wanting to know what was going on with the girls.

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

See more reviews like this on my blog

[jeannamichel]

Twenty years after the fire, in the scorched remains of Elmbridge High school, a diary was recovered. The case has been reopened and readers will get a chance to read police interviews, video transcripts, diary entries and more to figure out what truly happened so many years ago.

This is one of the creepiest books I have ever read. It begins with a curse, inviting readers to continue at their own risk. The spine-chilling plot only delves deeper into the dark as it moves on. Dawn Kurtagich created a masterful debut novel that will surely give readers nightmares.

Especially with this kind of story, the protagonist, Carly and Kaitlyn, is the best type of narrator to have: unreliable. Reading their diary entries—mainly Kaitlyn’s—readers are able to understand everything but can believe nothing. As the story progresses, I wanted to believe Kaitlyn, to support her on this journey through the quest to find her sister and, also, her mind.

The diary entries are not the only thing readers are exposed to. Out of chronological order—which made for some flipping back between pages and date checking—the video transcripts and interviews tell the story in the best way possible. If this was written in a traditional format, the connection between Kaitlyn and other characters would not have been as strong. Kurtagich is a true genius to piece this paranormal mystery in the way she has.

Much like the protagonist, readers are unable to decipher what happened in the past. Kurtagich leaves clues as the characters themselves figure it out. The anticipation of knowing what truly happened built up, similar to the reality of what Kaitlyn’s house became. This story is not just about a girl who has an identity disorder, it is about a girl who will stop at nothing to find her missing sister. On this level, readers can easily relate to Kaitlyn.

Nadia was another character which readers will be able to identify with. She is the perfect best friend: kind, forgiving, and supportive. Her story was the most shocking, I didn’t see it coming. Kurtagich ran through the end scenes; it happened so fast and then it was over which is both realistic and terrifying at the same time.

As brilliant as The Dead House is, it is unbelievably gruesome and definitely for an older YA audience. This novel will have you reading up late at night, watching for shadows in the dark and huddling deeper into the cocoon of your blankets. The Dead House is certainly not a book for the faint of heart.