Review : The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich
The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich
Pages : 400
Genre : YA, Horror
Stand alone
My Rating : 4.5/5
About the Book :
Two decades have passed since an inferno swept through Elmbridge High, claiming the lives of three teenagers and causing one student, Carly Johnson, to disappear. The main suspect: Kaitlyn, “the girl of nowhere.”
Kaitlyn’s diary, discovered in the ruins of Elmbridge High, reveals the thoughts of a disturbed mind. Its charred pages tell a sinister version of events that took place that tragic night, and the girl of nowhere is caught in the center of it all. But many claim Kaitlyn doesn’t exist, and in a way, she doesn’t – because she is the alter ego of Carly Johnson.
Carly gets the day. Kaitlyn has the night. It’s during the night that a mystery surrounding the Dead House unravels and a dark, twisted magic ruins the lives of each student that dares touch it.
My Thoughts :
I read The Dead House last year just after Halloween and let me tell you, it was a perfect read for the season. It’s a novel with a fast pace, ominous and creepy, with a mystery that blends thriller and paranormal horror in the best of ways.
One of the biggest strengths of the book is its inside, which is filled with journals, articles, pictures and the like. I’ve made no secret about enjoying books with a playful formatting, and this one in no exception. I appreciated that all these things were mostly ornamental: it helped creating an atmosphere without distracting from the story too much.
The story itself was really good. It wasn’t long before I had a small idea where this was going, but the pace in action and revelations was just right. It allowed us to get to know Carly and Kaitlyn. It was surprisingly easy to relate to Kaitlyn’s fear when Carly goes missing, and to understand the horror she felt at this sudden disappearance, even as she gets less and less stable.
The Dead House surprised me in a very good way. I enjoyed every aspect of it, from its original format to its ambiguous nature. It doesn’t reinvent the tropes of horror : rather it embraces them, and delivers a story that honors the genre. It is exactly what I would expect from this type of book, and it was so much fun!
Dawn Kurtagich certainly knows how to create a gripping story that will have you flipping through the pages in a hurry, needing to know more. I’ve already made plans to read her most recent novel, And the Trees Crept In. For now, I’ll leave you on this small video from last year, where you’ll get a glimpse of The Dead House’s intriguing format!
Sounds worth checking out!
I definitely plan on reading t his one. I love books with multiple formats, and the storyline sounds fantastic!