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    The House of Dead Maids: A Chilling Prelude to "Wuthering Heights"
    The House of Dead Maids: A Chilling Prelude to "Wuthering Heights"
    The House of Dead Maids: A Chilling Prelude to "Wuthering Heights"
    Audiobook3 hours

    The House of Dead Maids: A Chilling Prelude to "Wuthering Heights"

    Written by Clare B. Dunkle

    Narrated by Emily Gray

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Clare B. Dunkle's works have received numerous honors, including the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and a Publishers Weekly Flying Start. The House of Dead Maids, a prelude to the classic Wuthering Heights, features Heathcliff, his newly arrived nursemaid Tabby Akroyd, and the restless ghost of the last maid. "Clare Dunkle creates a world filled with intense excitement, terror, beauty, and love-a world as persuasive as it is remarkable."-Lloyd Alexander
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateNov 5, 2010
    ISBN9781449840037
    The House of Dead Maids: A Chilling Prelude to "Wuthering Heights"
    Author

    Clare B. Dunkle

    Clare B. Dunkle is the author of the well-received Hollow Kingdom trilogy as well as the first volume in this story, The Sky Inside. She studied Russian and Latin at Trinity University, and also holds a a master's degree in library science from Indiana University. She was a member of the American Library Association and served on committees in ALCTS, ACRL, and LITA. She lives with her family in Texas.

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    Reviews for The House of Dead Maids

    3.5/5

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    • 5/5
      What I told the editor: “DEAD MAIDS is dark and beautiful, literary and lovely. In it, Dunkle has crafted a tale worthy of sitting on a shelf next to Wuthering Heights—which is no minor feat.”
    • 3/5
      Entertaining and well done victorian gothic horror. I enjoyed this quite alot. I admire that the author didn't try to overwrite the story, keeping it a brief 149 pages. That worked very well. As for it being a precursor to Wurthering Heights... while the mood and atmosphere are right, I'm not convinced the young boy in the story would grow into the moody Heathcliff. I suggest reading the book for what it is - an entertaining homage to the genre without looking too deep.
    • 3/5
      What a neat little creepy read. I havent yet read Wuthering Heights so I might go out and get that so I can read some more about Heathcliff.
    • 3/5
      The House of Dead Maids by Clare B. Dunkle was, I'm sorry to say, a bit of a disappointment. First of all, my expectations were high, because I love Dunkle's Hollow Kingdom trilogy. I surmised from the cover and description that this would be a bit darker (and it was), but it lacked all of the things I liked about the Hollow Kingdom books. I am, admittedly, not a fan of horror, so perhaps that's part of the problem. However, aside from the shivery, shuddery bits, I thought that the characters were not very well-developed and the whole book was too short. It lacked detail. Also, the ending (spoilers, I guess) tied in with Wuthering Heights, but I was not impressed with how it was done.I supposed I would recommend this if you really love books like Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney (it has about the same level of creepiness, and similar woodcut illustrations at the beginning of each chapter), but otherwise give it a miss.
    • 3/5
      This book is supposed to be a prequel to Wuthering Heights. I didn't see it that way at all! I really liked the Gothic style of writing and the way the author captured the atmosphere of the writing style of Wuthering Heights but I felt the story was weak. It seemed in the last page and the epilogue the author attempted to tie it all together but pretty much failed.
    • 4/5
      Confession time - I've never actually read Wuthering Heights. I think I started reading it or maybe even had to read it for school but I know I've never read the entire book. So! I wasn't really sure what to expect from a book toted as it's prequel. Seriously though, I've wanted to read this book from the moment I saw that cover. Creepy! I love it!The House of Dead Maids is a short book - I finished it up in about an hour - but even if it was longer, reading it would be time well spent. The creep factor starts with the cover and travels through the entire book - to the very end and through to the epilogue. It's mysterious and disturbing. It was full of questions - only some of which were answered and all these elements combined to make an excellent story.Having only a small amount of knowledge regarding Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights, it's hard to say if his actions as a small child are on par with the man he became. If I had to venture a guess, I would say that Clare did a very good job showing Heathcliff's dark side. If the facts of his childhood, as Clare portrays them, are seen as 'true', it might explain some of his future actions. Again - all in a very creepy kind of way!I was captivated by the cover and I'm happy to say that I was not disappointed. Whether you're a fan of Wuthering Heights or not, if you enjoy creepy, gets under your skin tales, I would highly recommend The House of Dead Maids.
    • 4/5
      Young maid Tabby Aykroyd is recruited by the imposing elder maid Miss Winter to come serve at Seldom House as nursemaid to a young, wild self-proclaimed "heathen git" who is nameless, unchristened. She finds herself in a household of taciturn servants and in charge of a rebellious child who proclaims himself master of all he surveys. Very quickly, she realizes that the house is haunted by the ghosts of ghoulish dead maids, gray, horrid things with dark holes where their eyes and mouths should be. Why are these terrifying specters appearing before her? What are they trying to communicate? And what are the ghosts that her nameless charge-- whom she has named Himself-- claims to see?The atmosphere of Dunkle's novel is brooding and atmospheric throughout. A darkness prevades every page, and rich description is abundant. It is eerily provacative in the way of a good ghost story, shot through with descriptions of the creepy old house, wild moors, and the mysterious village. There are no spots of light, no safe places of retreat for Tabby or for the reader: all is darkness, and the reader feels Tabby's claustrophobia and isolation acutely. Psychologically, Dunkle has created quite the ideal setting for a ghost/suspense story.In terms of readership, Dunkle does not "dumb down" the text for her juvenile readers. The vocabulary is advanced but not overwhelmingly challenging, and there is a suitable amount of period colloquialism. Indeed, Tabby's frequent references to her faith (which she uses to justify why the ghosts should not hurt her, to counteract superstition) recall an earlier era and lend to the novel's historicity. All of this makes the novel more engaging for the interested adult reader as well. The connections to Wuthering Heights will also endear this to an adult reader, particularly a Bronte fan (though purists will no doubt devote themselves to fault-finding; I, however, say that this is spoiling a perfectly good text).Overall, a very fast-paced ghost story that is appropriately chilly and atmospheric, with a memorable cast of brooding characters in the servants and a very memorable young "heathen git" Heathcliff. Tabby, our narrator, is a very sympathetic character who is reasonable and sensible without losing her youthfulness (seen in the simplicity of her belief and her unquestioning acceptance of the social caste system). The novel is sure to keep young readers flipping the pages under the covers with a flashlight, and will keep adult readers turning pages too, for it is hard not to be engaged in this "prequel" to Wuthering Heights.
    • 4/5
      Recently I read Clare B. Dunkle‘s, THE HOUSE OF DEAD MAIDS, a prequel to Emily Brontë’s classic, WUTHERING HEIGHTS. I was skeptical, because I’m not always into the concept of prequels and sequels to classic literature. But the concept was so spooky that I just had to check it out. And it was riveting. I couldn’t put it down — partially because I was reading it at night in the dark and I had to get to the end or else all the creepy ghosts in the illustrations were going to jump off the page and get me. But also because Clare‘s writing is so elegantly economical, and because the story had so much momentum.
    • 3/5
      This book was really good. It was a quick and spooky story about a young maid who goes to work in a house only to find out that the previous maids are ghosts. The details of these encountrs with the ghosts are down right creepy. I liked Tabby the young maid. She thinks her job is going to be cleaning the house but quickly learns she is going to wach after a young boy who is supposedly the new Master of the house. Why only three stars? Although the book was richly written and again a great scary read, it was far too short. I can't believe the list price is $16.99 for this, even in hardcover. Its not even 150 pages. Besides being disappointingly short in legnth the story felt rushed. There surely was much more to learn about these spirits and the house. Even the big scene at the end was too quickly over and done. I needed to know more about the why of it all? How did all this come to be? I am glad to have read it but if I had paid more than $7 dollars or so for it, I would have felt ripped off. This had potential to be much more than it was. The cover is stunning though. One of my favorites of the past year in YA literature.
    • 3/5
      Tammy Aykroyd is only a young girl when she is brought to Seldom House to be maid to the young boy who grows up to be the famous Heathcliff. Seldom House has some chilling secrets, however, Tammy realizes, when she is haunted by the ghost of the maid before her. As Tammy and her young charge explore the house, they uncover some truly gruesome discoveries and realize that they may be in mortal danger.Gothic and gruesome, THE HOUSE OF DEAD MAIDS is not exactly my usual type of book, but is an excellent example of what “creepy Gothic literature” should be like.Dunkle certainly knows her Victorian—or more particularly, Brontean—language. THE HOUSE OF DEAD MAIDS reads like it was written by someone who lived during that time and wanted to tell children a scary bedtime story. The historical fiction aspect is authentic and believable.Accordingly, there is little character development—Victorian lit was never that big on character growth—but in keeping with the tone of the book, that’s okay. The ghost element is creepy enough if you like the gothic. The illustrations at the beginning of each chapter are indispensable to the creep factor.THE HOUSE OF DEAD MAIDS ends on a slightly far-fetched note that segues interestingly into the book that it is a mini-prequel for, Wuthering Heights. That being said, one does not need to know Emily Bronte’s romance in order to enjoy this book. THE HOUSE OF DEAD MAIDS stands on its own as a creepy, albeit a bit slow, portrayal of the Victorian gothic. Don’t read this on a dark night with the wind rattling tree branches right outside your window.