The bestselling debut from the award-winning author of Life Sentences. “A contemporary ghost story that will chill you to your bones.” —Bustle
Both an eerie contemporary ghost story and a dread-inducing psychological thriller, The Dead House features Maggie Turner, a successful young artist who has had bad luck with men. Her last put her in the hospital and, after she’s healed physically, left her needing to get out of London to find a place of quiet that will restore her creative spirit. On the rugged west coast of Ireland, perched on a wild cliff side, she spies the shell of a cottage that dates back to Great Famine and decides to buy it. When work on the house is done, she invites her dealer to come for the weekend to celebrate along with a couple of women friends, one of whom will become his wife. On the boozy last night, the other friend pulls out an Ouija board. What sinister thing they summon, once invited, will never go.
Ireland is a country haunted by its past. In Billy O’Callaghan’s hands, its terrible beauty becomes a force of inescapable horror that reaches far back in time, before the Famine, before Christianity, to a pagan place where nature and superstition are bound in an endless knot.
“A solid addition to the treasury of campfire ghost stories.” —The Wall Street Journal
“Atmospheric and unsettling, The Dead House takes the traditions of classic ghost stories and builds on them with a contemporary twist. A terrific read.” —John Boyne, New York Times–bestselling author
“Chilling, beautifully written.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
