... a contemporary ghost story that will chill you to your bones.
-- Bustle
Still you keep reading, half-believing that dark forces are stirring, the way you might feel a planchette sliding across a Ouija board. Is it really happening? Or are you convincing yourself there's more going on here than there really is? Either way, you enjoy the creepy thrill.
-- New York Times Book Review
a solid addition to the treasury of campfire ghost stories ... charged and eerie
-- Wall Street Journal
a subdued chiller ... there will be more than a few goosebumps raised before the reader finishes this one
-- NY Journal of Books
chilling, beautifully written first novel ... Fans of psychological thrillers with a ghostly undercurrent will be richly rewarded
-- Publishers Weekly
A moving work that builds to an elegiac climax and is a welcome voice to the pantheon of new Irish writing.
-- Edna O'Brien
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 debut 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
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 ... a superb debut novel from an extremely skilled Irish writer
* 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 from an Irish talent
* Image Magazine *
beautifully eerie tale, a feast for your eyes, a torment for your mind. The exquisite cover immediately called to me, I found myself bewitched and reaching out to touch it. A house sits at the centre of this tale, a house bought as a means to escape, to reconnect, to exist at one with the surroundings. Michael invites us to listen to a story, and he paints a picture for you to taste, to feel. The descriptions are striking, particularly of the people, filling my eye and mind with their essence. Yet a trickle of unease hovers over the pages, encouraging thoughts to flicker, leaving you teetering on the edge of fear. Billy O'Callaghan writes with a skilfully light touch, this isn't a terrifying, afraid to sit in the dark tale, it's more subtle than that, instead it will creep inside minds, slice a little space for itself, and take up residence. 'The Dead House', with a shiver-inducing final few pages, is a wonderfully mesmerising read, and I loved it
* Lovereading *
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 *
Busy week for book delivery but this one wins best cover @OBrienPress
-- RTE's Arts correspondent Sinead Crowley
I know of no writer on either side of the Atlantic who is better at exploring the human spirit under assault ... O'Callaghan is a treasure of the English language.
* Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author *
The Things We Lose, The Things We Leave Behind [is a] masterclass in understatement
* Dermot Bolger, Irish Independent *
moments of insight and profundity which could only come from the mind of one who has known intimately the heartache and loss experienced by the characters he writes about ... superlative writing
* Writerful Books, Australia *
