Please answer the questions in the comments below. Please indicate which question you are answering in each of your comments. These questions were submitted by Elizabeth Barnes, Library Assistant.
1. What intrigued you the most about the cover of “The Dead House”? Did it give you a feeling of how the book would play out?
2. Dissociative
identity disorder is characterized by the presence of two or more
personality states. Which girl in your opinion is more real? Carly or
Kaitlyn? Explain why.
3. “Black Magic” is referred to the use of
supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes. Why would
Carly want to practice black magic to get rid of Kaitlyn?
4. What
are your thoughts about the communication between Carly and Kaitlyn in
the diary, and how they would leave notes for each other, real or fake?
5. How
did you feel about the format of “The Dead House?” Did you enjoy how it
was set up in diary form? Including police reports, interviews, and
psychiatric reports? Explain.
6. What do you think really happened to Juliet after Nadia’s Halloween party? Did Kaitlyn kill her?
7. What surprised you most about Kaitlyn's love interest, Ari? What surprised you about her “long lost brother” The Viking?
8. What do you believe is so symbolic about “the dead girl” that Kaitlyn kept on seeing throughout the novel?
9. The novel leads up to an incident of the entire school catching fire. Do
you believe Kaitlyn set this fire on accident? Or was it an intentional
suicide/self-immolation?
10. This novel had many different
characters and side characters. Who was your favorite character? Who was
your least favorite character? Explain why.
34 comments:
1. I really like the cover of the book but I honestly thought it would feature a haunted house -- a real physical house. I had no idea from the cover about what the dead house really was or what the book was about. I thought some type of horror with ghosts or spooky. Wasn't prepared for it.
1. While I felt that the cover of the book was well made and set a mood for the book, the image of the house doesn't make a lot of sense. The Dead House only becomes known around half way through the story, and in the end, it doesn't matter because nothing ends up happening with it anyways.
2. In my opinion, Kaitlyn seemed the most real out of the pair. Because the novel spends most of its times focusing on her we get more insight on her character. Carly just seems very generic and uninteresting.
3. I think that Carly tried to get rid of Kaitlyn via black magic because she simply didn't want Kaitlyn around anymore. Maybe she knew about the night of the accident and knew that it was Kaitlyn who caused it and decided she couldn't live with her any longer. Since the magic didn't work (at least not right away) maybe she decided to just forgive Kaitlyn not knowing what would eventually happen.
4. I think that the way Kaitlyn and Carly communicated was very clever, the message book specifically. I think it adds more to why Kaitlyn was so worried about Carly. If there were no messages between the two, Kaitlyns concern would seem odd, but as the notes decreased I found myself worrying about Carly too.
5. I think that the unorthodox format of The Dead House definitely made the story stronger. It added another perspective that you rarely see fiction works nowadays. Instead of the story being told to you by an omnipresent narrator, You instead get the from someone directly involved and an outside source. The stories format also has it's downsides. Because of the way interviews and video transcripts are placed, the timeline becomes a bit messy and hard to follow.
2. My disbelief regarding the DID in this book has to do with Kaitlyn claiming that she had always been there. Typically DID results after a trauma, as a defense mechanism. What was the trauma? Obviously it wasn't the accident. The author never clarifies IF there was really something that happened. We do not know the truth about the parents and the accident. Everything that we know is filtered through Kaitlyn as she is the main character whose point of view we experience. I don't believe there was a Carly or if there was, she was a sop and had no personality. But then again, this whole book confused me :)
3. Yeah, that "black magic" stuff in the book was another problem I had. Teens dabbling in black magic is never going to turn out well. Or anyone doing it for that matter. Perhaps some other force -- the demon -- was guiding Carly to try to get rid of the stronger, more dominant and forceful - strong Kaitlyn??? Doubt that Carly, passive as she came across, thought of it.
1. What intrigued me the most about the cover was the girl and her yellow/brown eyes. She seemed so haunted and I thought her illustration was done beautifully. I did not understand the "haunted house" in the background, and I would like to know why the Author (Dawn) chose to put a haunted house on the cover in the first place.
2. While researching DID, I found that Carly/Kaitlyn's condition was very rare. It is not common to meet someone with two totally different identities. In my opinion, I thought Kaitlyn was the most real. Carly seemed so distant from the reader and I did not get to know very much about her like I got to do with Kaitlyn. It would have been interesting to see both sides a little bit more in depth.
3. Just like Mrs. Crawford said, teens dabbling in "black magic" is a terrible idea. I think that Carly may have been SICK & TIRED of dealing with Kaitlyn. And you never know, Kaitlyn deep down could have been SICK & TIRED of dealing with Carly. These two girls (especially Carly) wanted space and their own personal lives. I mean, how would you feel if you shared your identity with someone else? I know I would have hated it. I do not think Carly wanted to physically or emotionally hurt Kaitlyn in anyway.
4. The communication between Carly and Kaitlyn confused me at first. It seemed like Kaitlyn was the one who always left the notes, and waited for Carly the next day to respond back to her. Sometimes Carly would respond, and sometimes she would not. While reading deeper and deeper in "The Dead House" the messages became clear to me when Kaitlyn stuck part of the messages in her diary. I thought it was interesting that their hand writing was completely different, and that they communicated in different ways. Question for Dawn: Where did you come up with the idea for both girls to communicate with each other? It is a very smart and clever idea.
5. I personally very much enjoyed the format of "The Dead House." For me, the story setup in that format seemed even more real and vivid. I enjoyed how the diary enteries were setup. Kaitlyns hand writing was very easy to read and not too sloppy. I also enjoyed how Kaitlyn really poured her heart out in all of her writings. The police reports, psychiatric reports, and the camera footage (Nadia's camera footage) were very well put together. (Nice job Dawn) :) The only thing that made me confused sometimes were the timeline of events. The events could go all over the book sometimes. But overall, I thought the format made the book 10x better.
6. First of all, Nadia's Halloween party was one big mistake on her part and on Kaitlyn/Carly's part. I don't know if I am just not a big rule breaker or what but I would have never agreed to show up to a party as Carly and hangout for awhile, go upstairs and change into my other identity Kaitlyn, get sloppy drunk, play with a "black magic" board, and then end up passing out and not remembering what the heck happened. After Juliet went missing, I honestly thought that someone else had hurt/killed her other than Kaitlyn. But, BAM Kaitlyn is the culprit because she was possessed by demons and the Shyan was taking control of her actions. And, they found Juliets remains in the school after the fire. Very tragic misfortunate events if you ask me.
6. Honestly, the Halloween party confused me. I wasn't sure what conclusion they wanted us to come to. They only hint we get is from Ari, but he's proven himself to be completely unreliable. I actually kept forgetting about Juliet. If the book didn't keep shoving it my face I would have completely forgot she even existed. It felt like the author threw this random character in there simply to be killed, which, in my opinion, is just poor writing.
7. When Kaitlyn first met Ari, I really liked his character. I thought he was going to be good to her, and that he would never hurt a hair on her head. Geez, was I wrong! I honestly thought that the Shyan was going to be someone else. I never thought that it could be innocent Ari. It really threw me off when I found out that Ari was the one tormenting and casting spells on Kaitlyn. (Good job Dawn, making me surprised and all. Even though I hate surprises.) ;) Also, when I first learned about "The Viking" I wanted to know more about him. So of course I was excited when he showed up. Towards the end of the book, I started to dislike him. Personally, I don't like when a person (especially a male) tells me what is wrong with myself. Neither does Kaitlyn, obviously. So the main male characters did not do much for me.
8. The thing that creeped me out the most was the "dead girl" that Kaitlyn kept on seeing and making contact with. Dead girls and I do not mix well. HA! The dead girl, I believe, symbolizes Carly. Carly was slowly vanishing out of Kaitlyns life, and I think the dead girl was a symbol that Carly was about to be completely erased from Kaitlyns life. Carly's spirit was dead and gone. And when Kaitlyn opened the door in the dead house it was almost like Carly was officially gone. That Kaitlyn could go on with her life, if it was possible.
9. I believe that Kaitlyn set the fire on purpose. I think she realized that she could not live without Carly or her so called "friends." So she committed suicide/ self immolation so she could live in eternity with Carly, just like she always wanted. Question for Dawn: What made you think of a fire to destroy the school and Kaitlyn?
10. My favorite character was actually a side character. Nadia was my favorite. She had a good side to her, but she was also very dark. Nadia seemed to not take crap from anyone. She relied a lot on herself. I was SO impressed when she saved Kaitlyns life in the dead house from that gigantic snake. Then, ended up literally cutting half of her tongue off. That was extreme. I would also really enjoy to know more about Nadia, and about what happened to her after the fire. Since she was the only one who survived. YAY NADIA! My least favorite character was Doctor Lansing. I wanted to shake her through the pages of the book. She irritated me, because she simply would not listen to what Carly and Kaitlyn were trying to tell her. In the end, she got her medical license taken away so I was happy.
7. I feel the same about Ari as I feel about Juliet. He was pretty forgettable, at least to me. I had a few problems with the Viking too. Why did this 18, 19 year old want to hang out with a 15/15 year old. Why did Kaitlyns parents allow this to happen? Borth Ari and the Viking were particularly interesting or necessary characters. In fact, if they hadn't add all the gobbledygook about demons at the end, Ari wouldn't have been necessary at all.
8. I think the dead girl was exactly what Kaitlyn said she was, a piece of herself that was never bad, just ignored for too long. Or maybe it was Carly, the other option she mentioned. It would make sense, Carly getting ragged from sharing a body with Kaitlyn that this is what she was like inside. While I didn't find her creepy (that could just be because read to many scary things), I think that those who haven't read much in the horror genre will find the dead girl as one of the more unnerving parts of the books.
9. I think Kaitlyn set the fire as a suicide. I think that knowing all that she knew was too much, and that she would never be able to get Carly back so she just decided to end it all instead of go on. Maybe it's her way of making it up to Carly, after all she did say she felt like she murdered her.
1. My favorite character would have to be Kaitlyn. Maybe it's because we spend the entire story with her, but I felt that he was the most interesting over all. She was sarcastic and bold, but also reckless and deep down she was scared. She came off as a well developed character with a believable personality. My least favorite character would have to be Dr. Lansing. She was just frustrating overall, never believing what Kaitlyn and Carly had to say. I also think she was overdosing Carly, which made me even more angry. It makes you wonder if the entire crisis could be averted if there was a different Doctor.
Hey lovely readers! SURPRISE! I was invited to pop onto here and say hello. I'm Dawn Kurtagich, author of THE DEAD HOUSE. I would be super happy yo answer any questions you guys might have, so fire away!
Dawn, HELLO!! :) my questions are in my responses! So glad you could stop by!
Why did the Dr lose her license?
Was Kaitlyn the one who was writing on the walls in the attic?
I love all of your theories and ideas, which was the purpose of the novel! I wanted readers to really think about what was true and what wasn't. Some of the questions you asked are already answered in the book, and others I can't answer.
I will give you one answer though: Kaitlyn WAS the one scribbling in the attic... but was she doing it herself, in a chaotic state, or was it the demon inside her?
These are questions you guys will have to answer. Like I said—all the answers are in the book! :)
I absolutely love that you guys have theories and questions about what happened in the book, which was precisely what I was aiming for when writing it. Many of the questions you guys have asked are already in the book. Other questions I can't answer, because you know the answer.
But I will answer this: Kaitlyn WAS the one scribbling on the walls in the attic... but did she do it in a chaotic state of mind, or did the thing within in her do it using her body?
I'm honoured you guys read the book, and like I said, the book has all the answers already :)
You guys are awesome!
Dawn
Ladies--sorry I am late with my responses. Regrading the cover, I feel the same as Mrs. Crawford. I was expecting some type of haunted house with ghosts or maybe the girl (on the cover) coming across an abandoned estate and something developing from there---two love birds sneaking off and coming across the estate :-)
Dawn, thanks for popping in! It is so cool to be able to talk with authors and it really gets the kids excited for these discussions.
I am curious on the challenge of writing in two perspectives simultaneously. Was it easier to write as Kaitlyn or Carly?
Barnes-I agree that I enjoyed how the book was written. One of my favorite parts was how it was broken up into parts and the quotes that were chosen for those pages. Great quotes to go with the story!
The choice of writing in different ways for both girls as well as including the "police reports" and therapy session allowed me to easily hear each character in a different way as well as begin to form my own image of each character.
Overall, the "split personality" simply made me consider how I have had "split" personalities in my past and still today. Not literally--but we go through so much in life and wear all these different masks depending on our mood, the audience or just our knowledge of the world at the time in our life. I had to consider who I am at this very moment and if there are times I pick and choose the Megan that comes out for others to meet, work with or hang with...good stuff!
"I am curious on the challenge of writing in two perspectives simultaneously. Was it easier to write as Kaitlyn or Carly?"
That was definitely interesting for me. When I was writing Kaitlyn, I completely believed her. When I was writing other parts of the book—the psychological parts of the book—then I had to believe that Kaitlyn was a very sick girl who needed help. I had to split myself into two separate mindsets in order to be authentic.
Kaitlyn was easiest for me to write, and she came from a dark place. I talk about why I wrote The Dead House and more on my Youtube channel in case you guys were wondering where it all came from. (WritaholicDK).
A member of my family has DID, so I know a lot about it, and I have always said that the DID in the book is not true to life, only accurate to some degree, and fictional. That being said, a lot of the DID aspects were heavily researched and checked for accuracy in places. Part of the reason Dr Lansing loses her licence in the end is because no medical therapist would treat a patient with DID the way that Lansing treated Kaitlyn.
Thank you for the responses Dawn! It was nice talking to you.
Xxx,
Elizabeth
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