FEBRUARY 2016 - AudioFile
Charlotte Parry and Christian Coulson’s narrations, coupled with eerie musical snippets, set an ominous tone that draws listeners into this horror story involving two teenage girls. The story includes police reports, psychiatric evaluations, “video footage,” and diary entries surrounding the mysterious fire that claimed the lives of several students at Elmbridge High. Though it was Carly Johnson who disappeared in the fire, it’s the diary of Kaitlyn, a girl who seemingly did not exist, that causes the case to be re-examined decades later. The narrators infuse their performances with qualities that exemplify their characters’ emotional states, making the two girls easily distinguishable. They do stellar jobs with the secondary characters, as well. A thoroughly entertaining and engrossing production. J.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2016 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
07/06/2015
Told through a retrospective collection of found evidence surrounding the deaths of several students in a boarding school fire, Kurtagich’s debut novel is deeply disturbing and fraught with emotion. Carly and Kaitlyn Johnson are two separate personalities sharing the same body and have done so for as long as either can remember. After the death of their parents, Carly and Kaitlyn’s time is split between treatment in a psychiatric hospital and studying at a British boarding school; it’s at school where their comfortable dissociative routine begins to unravel under mysterious and arcane circumstances. Their slowly expanding group of friends houses a traitor, and Kaitlyn is left to search for Carly after her alter ego’s persona disappears. Psychological self-indulgence wars with fascinating introspection as diary entries and transcripts of video footage and therapy sessions chronicle a teenager’s descent into and out of madness. Contrived tension and a haphazard time line ring a few discordant notes, but are balanced by insightful characterization and a detailed exploration of the importance of the emergent identity to the teenage self. Ages 15–up. Agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary Agency. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
Praise for THE DEAD HOUSE: "What an evil and original story. You can't stop reading Kaitlyn's diary. But is she real? It's a mystery inside a mystery--and the shocks keep coming. Scary stuff!"--R.L. Stine
"...a haunting new thriller..."--EW.com
"...Will keep many readers anxiously waiting to see what comes next."--School Library Connection
"Kurtagich maintains the creepy and dark tone through to the end, where readers are not given a neat, tidy ending - the ghosts still haunt, pieces of the story remain missing, and life goes on despite the terrible tragedy at the prestigious Elmbridge High School."--Voya
"All I could think when I finished THE DEAD HOUSE was that the author, Dawn Kurtagich, has an amazing mind. Creepy, but amazing. I loved it."--Christopher Pike, bestselling author of Thirst
"Full of twists, buried secrets, and enough disturbing corpses to please the most discerning horror lover, THE DEAD HOUSE is a thoroughly engrossing read. Diary entries, psychiatrist records, and transcripts from the investigation keep the pages turning late into the night. This is a harrowing tale, cleverly told." --Kendare Blake, author of Anna Dressed in Blood
"Kurtagich weaves a terrifying and mind-bending tale reminiscent of H.P. Lovecraft. This is one of the best horror debuts I've read in a long time!"--J.R. Johansson, author of Cut Me Free and The Night Walker series
"Not for the faint of heart, this is a gory and grimly compelling story, made more so by the novel's visual elements."--Booklist
"This creepy boarding school novel meshes real world issues with a paranormal mystery in a fun but scary debut... Fans of horror novels will appreciate the creepy photographs scattered throughout, and the multiple perspectives are smoothly integrated... A worth addition to high school horror collections."--School Library Journal
"Told through a retrospective collection of found evidence surrounding the deaths of several students in a boarding school fire, Kurtagich's debut novel is deeply disturbing and fraught with emotion."
--Publishers Weekly
"THE DEAD HOUSEis a seamless blend of the supernatural and the psychological. Creepy, compelling, and compulsively readable."--Victoria Schwab, author of The Archived and Vicious
School Library Journal
07/01/2015
Gr 8 Up—This creepy boarding school novel meshes real world issues with a paranormal mystery in a fun but scary debut. Carly Johnson might have dissociative identity disorder, where the trauma of her parents' fatal car accident resulted in the creation of a nocturnal alter personality named Kaitlyn. Or there might be something supernatural at work, since Kaitlyn claims she and Carly have shared the same body and life since birth and may have been responsible for their parents' deaths. A stint in a mental institution doesn't help, and soon Kaitlyn realizes that the Carly personality seems to have disappeared. Told as an official report investigating the mystery of a fatal fire, this novel includes diary entries, notes, interviews, and transcripts from a video camera. One friend uses a fictional kind of Scottish witchcraft to unravel the mystery of the girls' identity, there's a complicated romance, and the diary itself, named Dee, becomes a menacing, ghostly apparition. Is this a creative exploration of mental illness, or a straightforward horror story? The multiple unanswered questions feel intriguing rather than frustrating. Fans of horror novels will appreciate the creepy photographs scattered throughout, and the multiple perspectives are smoothly integrated. VERDICT A worthy addition to high school horror collections.—Kyle Lukoff, Corlears School, New York City
FEBRUARY 2016 - AudioFile
Charlotte Parry and Christian Coulson’s narrations, coupled with eerie musical snippets, set an ominous tone that draws listeners into this horror story involving two teenage girls. The story includes police reports, psychiatric evaluations, “video footage,” and diary entries surrounding the mysterious fire that claimed the lives of several students at Elmbridge High. Though it was Carly Johnson who disappeared in the fire, it’s the diary of Kaitlyn, a girl who seemingly did not exist, that causes the case to be re-examined decades later. The narrators infuse their performances with qualities that exemplify their characters’ emotional states, making the two girls easily distinguishable. They do stellar jobs with the secondary characters, as well. A thoroughly entertaining and engrossing production. J.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2016 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2015-06-23
A collection of diary entries, video footage, medical transcripts, and emails is examined to determine the mental health of Kaitlyn Johnson, who allegedly caused the deaths of several teens in a boarding school fire. Kaitlyn is a complicated character, claiming she harbors two souls in her body. By day, the body is inhabited by sweet, shy Carly, while destructive Kaitlyn controls the body at night. The "sisters" have somehow developed a friendship and communicate through notes to each other, keeping their two identities secret from all but their immediate family. When their parents die in a car accident, Kaitlyn/Carly are committed to a psychiatric hospital and diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder. Integration therapy upsets Kaitlyn, who feels it is designed to eliminate her personality entirely. But the story really takes a turn for the fantastical when Carly somehow gets involved in black magic, leading to her personality's disappearance. Kaitlyn's efforts to locate Carly are hindered by the menacing voice Kaitlyn hears and her nightmares of a haunted mansion. Soon, fellow boarding school students start dying violently, Kaitlyn falls in love with the wrong guy, and finally the novel reaches its fiery (though largely unsatisfying) end. This melodrama is communicated in a patchwork of formats that switches every few pages, a narrative contrivance whose "found" feel backfires. It's all just too much, and the varied narrative formats just compound the chaos. (Horror. 14-18)
