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The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich


Part-psychological thriller, part-urban legend, this is an unsettling narrative made up of diary entries, interview transcripts, film footage transcripts and medical notes. Twenty-five years ago, Elmbridge High burned down. Three people were killed and one pupil, Carly Johnson, disappeared. Now a diary has been found in the ruins of the school. The diary belongs to Kaitlyn Johnson, Carly’s identical twin sister. But Carly didn’t have a twin . . .

Re-opened police records, psychiatric reports, transcripts of video footage and fragments of diary reveal a web of deceit and intrigue, violence and murder, raising a whole lot more questions than it answers.

Who was Kaitlyn and why did she only appear at night? Did she really exist or was she a figment of a disturbed mind? What were the illicit rituals taking place at the school? And just what did happen at Elmbridge in the events leading up to ‘the Johnson Incident’?

Chilling, creepy and utterly 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.


My thoughts
This book is messed up.

Dead creepy and completely unputdownable. I loved how it was told via a variety of mediums including diary extracts, interviews and reports. The whole idea of one body hosting two different people was a really weird one to get your head around. You just can't quite work out what is going on and as a consequence the entire book is dead creepy.

I can't do the book justice in words just go out and buy it read it and be totally freaked out.

Comments

This has been on my TBR pile for a long time - I might just have to move it to the top. It sounds really intriguing! Great Review :)
Unknown said…
Hi there, I love your review. The book's sounds one for my list. I read a review recently of a book with a similar title called, 'The death house'. Here's the review:https://mudandstars.wordpress.com/2015/08/16/finding-light-in-the-darkness-my-review-of-the-death-house-by-sarah-pinborough/

Look forward to reading more.

Aura.
Unknown said…
Sorry, that should have been 'The book sounds like one for my list'. Grrr autocorrect!
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.