Genre: YA Paranormal
Published: August 25, 2015 by Point
Length: 336 pages
Source: Point (ARC)
“Asylum meets Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, in this riveting tale of ghosts, secrets, and family, from master of suspense Katie Alender.
Delia’s new house isn’t just a house. It used to be an insane asylum, a place to lock up “troubled” young women long ago. And a restless, wicked spirit is still at play–and it doesn’t want defiant girls like Delia to go anywhere.
So the house kills her.
Now Delia is a ghost, trapped in her creepy home forever. As she meets the other ghost girls who haunt the narrow hallways, as well as the handsome ghost boy on the grounds, she learns shocking truths about the house’s history. Delia also realizes that her alive and grieving sister might be the house’s next target. Can Delia unlock the mystery of the old asylum, save her sister, and free herself?”
Funny story. Not really. But when I read this book, my family, some friends, and I were staying at a beach house at Lake Arrowhead and it was CREEPY as heck! It was a 3 story house with a basement and a creepy attic so this book was a perfect read for me during that time. Anyways, Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall was more than creepy, it was DEPRESSING. Now you ask, why would a horror book be depressing, Leigh? I’ll tell you in a sec.
Delia is given this mansion a.k.a. Hysteria Hall by her aunt who just passed away. Turns out this mansion used to be an asylum! Dun dun dunnnn… Like it says on the summary, our main character becomes a ghost after being killed by the house. What makes this book depressing is that through the MC, we get to see what happens after you’re dead. You realize three things: your family is hurt, they’ll eventually forget you, and you have to let go of them.
Just read the book, guys! I think this is the first time a horror book made me feel so sad. It was so relatable especially the characters. Delia has a little sister and they often fought and pulled horrible pranks at each other. I can relate to this because I have 2 younger brothers and we fight all the time like the characters in this book. I could also relate to how Delia dealt with her parents because I used to (maybe still am) like that with my parents lol.
Although a standalone, there is definitely a character development with all the characters! Side characters, main character, villain characters…YOU NAME IT! Character development EVERYWHERE *throws confetti*. There’s also a teeny bit of romance which was cute. Overall I totally recommend this book if you are up for a sad yet scary read.
