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Welcome to The Dead House.
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 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.
Debut author Dawn Kurtagich masterfully weaves together a thrilling and terrifying story using psychiatric reports, witness testimonials, video footage, and the discovered diary - and as the mystery grows, the horrifying truth about what happened that night unfolds.
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 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.
Debut author Dawn Kurtagich masterfully weaves together a thrilling and terrifying story using psychiatric reports, witness testimonials, video footage, and the discovered diary - and as the mystery grows, the horrifying truth about what happened that night unfolds.
- GenresHorror
180 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 11, 2015
3 people are currently reading
187 people want to read
About the author
Dawn Kurtagich
11 books1,643 followersDAWN KURTAGICH IS AN AWARD-WINNING HORROR AUTHOR.
Her debut novel, THE DEAD HOUSE, was a YALSA Top 10 Pick, An Audie Award Nominee and an Earphone Award Winner. It has been optioned for TV by Lime Productions. She is also the author of THE CREEPER MAN / AND THE TREES CREPT IN, NAIDA and TEETH IN THE MIST, and BLOOD ON THE WIND. Her adult debut novel, THE MADNESS, was pre-empted in a two book, six-figure deal and was published in August 2024. Her next adult novel, DEVIL’S THORN, was announced in 2024, another two-book, six-figure deal, forthcoming in 2025.
By the time she was eighteen, she had been to fifteen schools across two continents. The daughter of a British globe-trotter and single mother, she grew up all over the place, but her formative years were spent in Africa—on a mission, in the bush, in the city and in the desert.
She has been lucky enough to see an elephant stampede at close range, a giraffe tongue at very close range, and she once witnessed the stealing of her (and her friends’) underwear by very large, angry baboons. (This will most definitely end up in a book . . . ) While she has quite a few tales to tell about the jumping African baboon spider, she tends to save these for Halloween!
When she was sixteen, she thought she'd be an astronomer and writer at the same time, and did a month-long internship at Cambridge's prestigious Cavendish Laboratories. At the age of 25, she received a life-saving liver transplant. Her doctor’s still have no idea why her original liver (Leonard) failed. She is enjoying life with her new liver, Lucy.
She leaves her North Wales crypt after midnight during blood moons. The rest of the time she exists somewhere between mushrooms, maggots and mould.
Her debut novel, THE DEAD HOUSE, was a YALSA Top 10 Pick, An Audie Award Nominee and an Earphone Award Winner. It has been optioned for TV by Lime Productions. She is also the author of THE CREEPER MAN / AND THE TREES CREPT IN, NAIDA and TEETH IN THE MIST, and BLOOD ON THE WIND. Her adult debut novel, THE MADNESS, was pre-empted in a two book, six-figure deal and was published in August 2024. Her next adult novel, DEVIL’S THORN, was announced in 2024, another two-book, six-figure deal, forthcoming in 2025.
By the time she was eighteen, she had been to fifteen schools across two continents. The daughter of a British globe-trotter and single mother, she grew up all over the place, but her formative years were spent in Africa—on a mission, in the bush, in the city and in the desert.
She has been lucky enough to see an elephant stampede at close range, a giraffe tongue at very close range, and she once witnessed the stealing of her (and her friends’) underwear by very large, angry baboons. (This will most definitely end up in a book . . . ) While she has quite a few tales to tell about the jumping African baboon spider, she tends to save these for Halloween!
When she was sixteen, she thought she'd be an astronomer and writer at the same time, and did a month-long internship at Cambridge's prestigious Cavendish Laboratories. At the age of 25, she received a life-saving liver transplant. Her doctor’s still have no idea why her original liver (Leonard) failed. She is enjoying life with her new liver, Lucy.
She leaves her North Wales crypt after midnight during blood moons. The rest of the time she exists somewhere between mushrooms, maggots and mould.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 31, 2020
I enjoyed it. It kept me turning the pages and had a good amount of twists.
September 23, 2019
Wait. What ??? Pick a lane! This one drove be crazy but it did hang on to me until the end.
February 12, 2021
Today's post is on The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich. It is 400 pages long and is published by Little, Brown, and Company. The cover is amber with a girl with half her face in dark and an old. Broken house under it. The intended reader is someone who likes horror and young adult literature. There in mild foul language, implied sex, and violence in this book. The story is told from different characters both in third and first person perspectives. There Be Spoilers Ahead.
From the dust jacket- Three students: dead.
Carly Johnson: vanished without a trace.
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.
Debut author Dawn Kurtagich masterfully weaves together a thrilling and terrifying story using psychiatric reports, witness testimonials, video footage, and the discovered diary - and as the mystery grows, the horrifying truth about what happened that night unfolds.
Review- This is an engaging horror story from Kurtagich and in this story she tackles some interesting topics. The main bulk of the story is two sisters who share one body. Carly is the day sister and Kaitlin is the night sister. It has been this way for as long as they can both remember and until their parents died was never a real problem. But after their parents died people began to think that Carly was suffering from dissociative identity disorder and refused to believe either her or Kaitlin when they said they have always existed. This follows the months and days up to the disappearance of both girls and the murders of the people around them. You have a lot going on in this novel. You have discussion of mental illness, pre-christian religions and those who follow them, and good old demonic possession. You can tell that this is Kurtagich’s first novel but she handles it with great care and she does extremely well. If you have read any of her other works I do recommend going back and reading her earlier stuff, it is just as good as stuff that she will produce later.
I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this with my own money.
From the dust jacket- Three students: dead.
Carly Johnson: vanished without a trace.
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.
Debut author Dawn Kurtagich masterfully weaves together a thrilling and terrifying story using psychiatric reports, witness testimonials, video footage, and the discovered diary - and as the mystery grows, the horrifying truth about what happened that night unfolds.
Review- This is an engaging horror story from Kurtagich and in this story she tackles some interesting topics. The main bulk of the story is two sisters who share one body. Carly is the day sister and Kaitlin is the night sister. It has been this way for as long as they can both remember and until their parents died was never a real problem. But after their parents died people began to think that Carly was suffering from dissociative identity disorder and refused to believe either her or Kaitlin when they said they have always existed. This follows the months and days up to the disappearance of both girls and the murders of the people around them. You have a lot going on in this novel. You have discussion of mental illness, pre-christian religions and those who follow them, and good old demonic possession. You can tell that this is Kurtagich’s first novel but she handles it with great care and she does extremely well. If you have read any of her other works I do recommend going back and reading her earlier stuff, it is just as good as stuff that she will produce later.
I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this with my own money.
August 30, 2025
This book was absolutely fascinating! I loved the DID aspect of it and could not predict where the story was going to go. I usually don't like non-linear timelines, but this was done so well. The audiobook version is especially engaging and totally gave me the creeps. This is the second book I have read by this author and both have been so well written and really depicted a descent into "madness" quite well, in my opinion.
September 29, 2022
Not sure what I thought this book was but its not what I was expecting.
It kinda went from 1 to 100 really fast (like in a "wait... what's happening?" kind of way) but other than that it still held my attention and I enjoyed it immensely. Would be a 5 star if it hadn't gotten a tad confusing at about the 50% mark for a bit.
It kinda went from 1 to 100 really fast (like in a "wait... what's happening?" kind of way) but other than that it still held my attention and I enjoyed it immensely. Would be a 5 star if it hadn't gotten a tad confusing at about the 50% mark for a bit.
October 7, 2020
What a creepy and perfect book for Halloween!!!! What really happened, I don't even know! Was it psychosis? Was it possession? Gaaa! Just endless questions and not enough answers! I really enjoyed this book and it was definitely scary and creepy and kept me reading say past my bed time!
June 10, 2019
Holy crap I remember binge reading this book. I loved it!
October 18, 2020
Such a good read and very neat as it was written in journal format! I enjoyed this. Something new!poor Kaitlyn and Carly though. DID is no joke.
December 14, 2020
This was such a unique way of story telling. The entire story was told through journal entries, police reports, tape recordings. The plot was creepy and kept me on the edge for the entire story!!
February 21, 2023
Wow, what a wild fast ride. I think I have whiplash. My head was going back-and-forth so fast with trying to figure this whodunit out. I love this, I was not expecting to end for sure.
March 22, 2022
Enjoyed the creepy psychological distraught the book brought me, had me questioning if I was wrong a couple times !
February 20, 2016
Review of "The Dead House" by Dawn Kurtagich. February 2, 2016
From the book cover, to the description, to my peek inside to see in the middle of the book to see if the writing was worth reading, (yes that's a terrible habit I have. Especially when I get back to said peeked at place and say "Well I'll just skip this because I read it 6 months ago in the bookstore when I bought it because I didn't have Indie books to review," and then realize, was this the one that had the snuffalupagus in roller skates or the mad hatter serving everyone arsenic??? Maybe I should stop that. Yet, as always, I digress.) I will say I have been beyond excited to read this book and it absolutely did not disappoint me!
This book is a delightfully creepy novel that is told in the fashion of diary entries, post it notes, psychiatric records, and police investigation notes from the view point of "Kaitlyn," or is it "Carly" whose haunted voice I still hear ringing in my head a few days after being finished. In the telling of the story the character "Carly is who gets the daytime. The warmth and comfort of the sun and what we all proceive as the "normal" part of the day, while Kaitlyn gets the night with all its back alleys and shady people. The part of our society and our own lives that we awe afraid of. The night is the boogie man's time, the night is for Satan and evil, the night is where we all walk just a little faster, while looking behind us for "what was that noise?" The night is for Kaitlyn. The author, Dawn Kurtagich," pulled an amazing plot twist which I never saw coming and that's very unusual for me.
There is the background of an accident, and accident that claims the lives of her parents, but leaves Kaitlyn and her little sister Jaime alive, but broken. The story is set in a school meant for recovering, troubled kids that are just coming out of institutions before going home. I just can't give away spoilers as I HATE when I have that happen, so what I will say is there is murder and mayhem, people disappearing, the body count is almost as high as the characters we are introduced to, and there is love and psychosis. Those are always a GREAT combination as well as black magic and the peril of many souls are at stake.
The uniqueness of this book is that once you start it you are reading newspaper articles, then journal entries. The pages appear burned and as if something horrible has happened. The more you turn those fabulous pages the deeper you delve into the world of Kaitlyn, and her world of madness. This alone causes people to shudder. Are we all afraid that madness might be catching?
This book for me was creepy, compelling and I definitely felt compulsed to continue reading the book. (So I will admit being up almost 48 hours because I didn't want to put it down!) What a dark and twisted story telling world lives within the author, Dawn Kurtagich, and I am in love with it! I hope to find more wonderful books by this author! So without ado....
"The Dead House" by Dawn Kurtagich was such a fantastic read that I will break my own rule on reviews and give it 5 parachutes out of 5 parachutes from this humble book reviewer. (And Dawn, should you ever read one of my reviews, especially this one, I would love to swap stories with you. This humble emergency nurse and tender to broken souls and those in need of rescue felt amazing that you tackled mot only psychosis and our growing mental health population, you did it with class and in a horror story. In my book you are one amazing author! I wish you best journeys in your career! ~~ J, the Emergency RN.)
You can also find my reviews posted on Instagram (@boots_n_books_wild_ride); Twitter (@PnJbookreview), Tumblr (imagination-aspiration), The Literary Guild (Emergency RN), Goodreads (PNJbookreview), Google Plus, and Amazon.
***This book I read on my own and chose to give this opinion as I think EVERYONE would have a great time reading it!***
August 19, 2015
Good creepy story but the format made character development and depth to the story difficult. I wanted more detail about their lives and relationships, about their back stories and inner torments. I like that at the end we still aren't quite sure what really happened, who the good guys were and who were the victims.
March 27, 2017
2.5 stars it was different the format was part diary part interviews etc, haven't quite made up my mind and feel a little confused with the ending but enough interest to finish the book.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews