The Dead House

“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, award-winning and New York Times–bestselling author

"I know of no other writer on either side of the Atlantic who is better at exploring the human spirit under assault than Billy O'Callaghan."—Robert Olen Butler, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

"A moving work that builds to an elegiac climax and is a welcome voice to the pantheon of new Irish writing."—Edna O'Brien

"Billy O’Callaghan’s work is at once subtle and direct, warm and clear-eyed, and never less than beautifully written. He has a moving ability to express the hopes and fears of 'ordinary' people, and he knows intimately the ways of the world. This writer is the real thing." —John Banville

"A superb debut novel . . . O'Callaghan slowly unsettles the reader, line by line, as reality is questioned . . . skilfully conjures up a sense of dread, while at the same time creating a psychological internal terror for his characters."—Evening Echo
"The all-nighter read . . . From the very first chapter, there’s an eerily beautiful stillness to Billy O'Callaghan’s debut. . . An engrossing, striking debut."—Image Magazine

"A skilfull, entertaining piece of work: a traditional ghost story in the best possible sense . . . The Dead House fulfils its formal obligations with subtlety and grace. . . . In particular, Michaels' voice . . . affords considerable readerly pleasure. . . . O'Callaghan’s descriptive prose reaches impressive heights."—Sunday Business Post

:"The burdens of memory and the effects of isolation certainly run through O’Callaghan’s work to date and The Dead House gives them a space in which the haunting of the past finds its most literal expression: the ghost."—Irish Examiner

"A great tale, well-told . . . O'Callaghan conjures such believable characters that when you close your eyes it’s impossible to believe that they’ve never actually drawn a breath. He delivers a perfect ending to this ghost story ensuring the reader is left haunted, just enough, to have them looking over their shoulder as they climb the stairs to bed."—Susan Condon, writing.ie

"[A] striking debut. . . Billy O'Callaghan casts a fearful gaze into the world of supernatural occurrences."—RTÉ

"The Dead House, with a shiver-inducing final few pages, is a wonderfully mesmerising read, and I loved it."—Liz Robinson, www.lovereading.com

"Fills you with a psychological dread that is hard to shake . . . Billy O’Callaghan is one of those types of storytellers whose prowess is clearly on display with his impressive début novel."—writerfulbooks.com

"In a first-person voice unlike any other I’ve come across, O’Callaghan gifts us with a story that unfolds in just the way you’d want to hear it by the fireside . . best not read at night. And yet I’d be hard-pressed to label The Dead House a ghost story; though it is that, it is more. . . . All praise 'The Dead House. Do yourself a favor and get ahold of this book."—thewildgeese.irish