The Dead House: ... the past holds constant sway ...

By Billy O'Callaghan

Attempting to rebuild her life after a violent relationship, Maggie Turner, a successful young artist, moves from London to Allihies and buys an ancient abandoned cottage. Keen to concentrate on her art, she is captivated by the wild beauty of her surroundings.

After renovations, she hosts a house-warming weekend for friends. A drunken game with a Ouija board briefly descends into something more sinister, as Maggie apparently channels a spirit who refers to himself simply as 'The Master'. The others are visibly shaken, but the day after the whole thing is easily dismissed as the combination of suggestion and alcohol.

Maggie immerses herself in her painting, but the work devolves, day by day, until her style is no longer recognisable. She glimpses things, hears voices, finds herself drawn to certain areas: a stone circle in the nearby hills, the reefs at the west end of the beach behind her home ... A compelling modern ghost story from a supremely talented writer.

From the Costa Short Story Award Finalist, Billy O'Callaghan.

‘a welcome voice to the pantheon of new Irish writing’ - Edna O’Brien

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brandon
• Release date: May 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781847179340

Billy O'Callaghan

Billy O'Callaghan was born in Cork in 1974, and is the author of three short story collections: In Exile and In Too Deep(2008 and 2009 respectively, both published by Mercier Press), and The Things We Lose, The Things We Leave Behind'(2013, published by New Island Books), which was honoured with a Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Award and which has been selected as Cork's "One City, One Book" for 2017. His first novel, really a ghost story entitled The Dead House, was published by a small Irish press (Brandon Books/O'Brien Press) in May 2017, and will be published in the U.S. by Arcade in May 2018. A recipient of the 2013 Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Award for Short Story of the Year, and a 2010 Arts Council of Ireland Bursary Award for Literature, his story, "The Boatman" was recently shortlisted for the 2016 Costa Short Story Award. He has won and been shortlisted for numerous other honours, including the George A. Birmingham Award, the Lunch Hour Stories Prize, the Molly Keane Creative Writing Award, the Sean O'Faolain Award, the RTE Radio 1 Francis MacManus Award, the Faulkner/Wisdom Award, the Glimmer Train Prize and the Writing Spirit Award. He was also short-listed four times for the RTE Radio 1 P.J. O'Connor Award for Drama. He also served as the 2016 Writer-in-Residence for the Cork County Libraries. http://billyocallaghan.ie/en/

Reviews for The Dead House

[mookie86 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Chilling, eerie, beautifully written. A terrifying tale of ghosts, possession and the journey of close friends taken down a chilling rabbit hole after gathering for a weekend. This is my first from Billy O'Callaghan and was thoroughly impressed with his ability to write such a chilling, captivating story with such balance and eloquence. I found myself not wanting this story to end. 5 stars, well done.“Just breathing this air made you want to cry and laugh at the same time. Here the world had simplified itself down to rocks, ocean, sky, wind, and rain…”“Wildness lay in every direction, something equal parts fearful and sublime, the kind of raw that made my blood itch.”

[carole888fort · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thank you to Arcade Publishing and NetGalley for an advance e-copy of The Dead House by Billy O'Callaghan in exchange for an honest review. This is the kind of story that captivates you, however, at some points, you are almost afraid to turn the pages. Artist Maggie Turner has fled London to the West coast of Ireland in search of a peaceful life after an abusive relationship. She falls in love with a cottage dating back to the Great Famine. After extensive renovations. Maggie invites three friends from the city for a house-warming weekend. During the visit, a Ouija board is brought out and the four friends attempt to reach spirits in the house. To say that this does not end well would be an understatement. The prose in this short novel is lyrical and beautiful. Billy O'Callaghan has successfully managed to describe the West coast of Ireland so well that you can see it and feel it. This is an Irish ghost story that you will not forget.

[beamis12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I just love the way this author writes. Though this is my first by him it certainly won't be my last. Maggie is an artist, after a horrifying incident in her personal life, she leaves London to give herself time to mentally heal. She finds a ruin of s cottage on the rugged west coast of Ireland, falls in love with it and the isolation it provides and decides to buy this place in the hope it will get her painting again.Michael is our narrator but also Maggies art dealer and a very good friend. When she gets settled she invited him and two other women friends to come to the cottage and have a celebratory weekend. Something they do that weekend, obstendibky for fun, opens the door to something sinister.A literary ghost story, not so much terrifying as unsettling and eerie. The author uses descriptive prose to full effect, establishing an atmosphere that permeates the pages. Gorgeous language, so impressive. Well to me anyway. "The darkening fog gave Allihies an outwordly feel. The day was not yet gone but the windows of shops and houses were already lit and the few street lamps burned, triggered by an obvious need, their fiery orange glow holding like torches above the sloping street. There was nothing to see of the mountains, fields and ocean, no hint of them even, except in how they held to within the fabric of the place."A good cautionary tale about not messing with the outeordly, things one doesn't understand. May open the door to more than one expects.ARC from Netgalley.

[Abhilash Thummala · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Creepy and the feel of unknown dread through out the book. A good book in recent times.

[lemeritus-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Excellent. A story that takes its time, allows the dread to slowly build, avoids gimmicks and relies on solid tale telling.