Review: The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich

The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich

Published August 6th 2015

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’?

This book is so weird but I actually really enjoyed how strange it was. It was a really original and unique read and it was also really spooky and creepy. And just completely crazy. This had to be one of the craziest books that I’ve ever read. I’m still dumbfounded over this book.
This book was told through diary entries, video clips, and interviews so that was interesting but I honestly don’t really like that format. I find it hard to follow and I can’t really get invested in the characters. I love the concept of this book but the way it was written just didn’t work for me.
I still liked this book quite a bit but I would have loved it if it was written “normally”.