Dawn Kurtagich: The dead house (2015)
401 pages
English language
Published Nov. 3, 2015
Told through journal entries, a psychotherapist's notes, court records, and more, relates the tale of Carly, a teen who was institutionalized after her parents' death but released to Elmbrige High School, where she is believed to have a second personality or soul named Kaitlyn, and/or be possessed by a demon.
A difficult read for someone that has experienced some similar symptoms, but very relatable, and it does a good job explaining the mental issues that occur, for people that have never experienced.
Told through Kaitlyn’s journal entries, transcripts, interviews and emails, The Dead House is genuinely creepy in the kind of way low budget horror films are. You don’t get to see the whole picture and often accounts just cut off. There are shadows just out of view and plenty of unanswered questions.
I liked how, initially, the lines are blurred between Carly’s mental illness and the possibility of supernatural elements. Is she having a psychotic break or is she being haunted? It’s just as terrifying to think that such real experiences can be triggered in our own minds. I was hoping it was going to explore more the idea of an alternate personality suffering from their own mental illness, separate to the dissociative identity disorder.
The story wavered for me once it started to focus on the Mala elements. From what I can gather, Mala is a fictional religion originating from …
Told through Kaitlyn’s journal entries, transcripts, interviews and emails, The Dead House is genuinely creepy in the kind of way low budget horror films are. You don’t get to see the whole picture and often accounts just cut off. There are shadows just out of view and plenty of unanswered questions.
I liked how, initially, the lines are blurred between Carly’s mental illness and the possibility of supernatural elements. Is she having a psychotic break or is she being haunted? It’s just as terrifying to think that such real experiences can be triggered in our own minds. I was hoping it was going to explore more the idea of an alternate personality suffering from their own mental illness, separate to the dissociative identity disorder.
The story wavered for me once it started to focus on the Mala elements. From what I can gather, Mala is a fictional religion originating from the Scottish Islands, with a basis in voodoo. Naida, a fellow student at Elmbridge who films much of the events via the camera in her top hat, practices Mala and believes some bad mojo is infecting Carly and Kaitlyn.
Naida befriends both Carly and Kaitlyn, believing they are two souls in one body. Her friendship leads them either deeper into their psychosis or into a scary world of possession, depending on if you believe Dr Lansing or Naida. As the story gets darker, Kaitlyn starts to dream of the Dead House where Carly is trapped.
The ending is suggestively open but I felt it was leaning much more towards one viewpoint than the other. I couldn’t really accept the group hysteria theory in relation the events near the end.
Review copy provided by publisher.
