Young Tabby Aykroyd has been brought to the dusty mansion of Seldom House to be nursemaid to a foundling boy. He is a savage little creature, but t...
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Feb 12, 2012
karen
rated it: 
no.
that should be the whole review right there, just "no."
this is supposed to be the story of heathcliff as a ten-year-old boy. so you have two central characters: the real-life housekeeper of the brontes and the-boy-who-would-be-heathcliff, who was fictional, correct?? and you have the housekeeper character ultimately telling this story to her charges, the four young bronte children, with dear emily listening raptly. how clumsy is that? you can't market this a More...
that should be the whole review right there, just "no."
this is supposed to be the story of heathcliff as a ten-year-old boy. so you have two central characters: the real-life housekeeper of the brontes and the-boy-who-would-be-heathcliff, who was fictional, correct?? and you have the housekeeper character ultimately telling this story to her charges, the four young bronte children, with dear emily listening raptly. how clumsy is that? you can't market this a More...
28 comments
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Aug 23, 2011
Cillian
rated it:
Rate and review later.
Let us skip the introductions and move on to...
Hate Hour!
Page 93:
"I became aware of a faint noise in the room, like the crackling fur of a cat during a thunderstorm."
WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?
Really, this book has exactly 148 pages, I stumbled upon this abomination on page 93, that left me 55 pages of traumatized reading.
I'm still in shock, because this is the most horrendous line I've read in my life.
I More...
Let us skip the introductions and move on to...
Hate Hour!
Page 93:
"I became aware of a faint noise in the room, like the crackling fur of a cat during a thunderstorm."
WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?
Really, this book has exactly 148 pages, I stumbled upon this abomination on page 93, that left me 55 pages of traumatized reading.
I'm still in shock, because this is the most horrendous line I've read in my life.
I More...
14 comments
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(8 people liked it)
Nov 04, 2010
Last night, I started and finished and ARC of The House of Dead Maids, by Clare Dunkle. And, um, WOW. The book releases on September 14th and is definitely something you want to read.
I wasn't sure what to expect. I read Wuthering Heights right before, to better acquaint myself with Heathcliff's story, and though I'm really glad I've finally read the book (Wuthering Heights is amazing and it shames me how long it took me to get around to reading it) it wasn't absolutely necessary to r More...
I wasn't sure what to expect. I read Wuthering Heights right before, to better acquaint myself with Heathcliff's story, and though I'm really glad I've finally read the book (Wuthering Heights is amazing and it shames me how long it took me to get around to reading it) it wasn't absolutely necessary to r More...
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(9 people liked it)
Jan 29, 2012
Claire
rated it: 
This book was way out of my comfort zone. I wouldn't classify it as scary but instead Dunkle has a knack with creepy. This book is very creepy.
I think the idea behind the book is creative. It seems that Dunkle has been exposed to everything Bronte from a young age. Honestly, Wuthering Heights isn't my favorite novel. However, I think that Dunkle, because of her mother's influence, really captured Heathcliff. What she did with the novel and the character Himself was amazing to me. I More...
I think the idea behind the book is creative. It seems that Dunkle has been exposed to everything Bronte from a young age. Honestly, Wuthering Heights isn't my favorite novel. However, I think that Dunkle, because of her mother's influence, really captured Heathcliff. What she did with the novel and the character Himself was amazing to me. I More...
Jan 18, 2011
Jan
rated it: 
Loosely based upon the character Heathcliff of Wuthering Heights, this book acts as a prequel to the Bronte novel.
Eleven-year-old Tabby Aykroyd, who would later serve as housekeeper for thirty years to the Brönte sisters, is taken from an orphanage to a ghost-filled house, where she and a wild young boy are needed for a pagan ritual.
This chilling ghost story has lots of atmosphere and echoes Shirley Jackson’s "The Lottery" in the climactic scenes where Tabby a More...
Eleven-year-old Tabby Aykroyd, who would later serve as housekeeper for thirty years to the Brönte sisters, is taken from an orphanage to a ghost-filled house, where she and a wild young boy are needed for a pagan ritual.
This chilling ghost story has lots of atmosphere and echoes Shirley Jackson’s "The Lottery" in the climactic scenes where Tabby a More...
Dec 01, 2010
Mundie Moms & Mundie Kids
rated it:
Have you ever wondered what Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff was like as a child? Pick up The House of Dead Maids and you'll find out. Clare B Dunkle does a great job at bringing an Emily Brontë like voice to The House of Dead Maids. It reads as though Clare came from the early Victorian/ Emily Brontë's time. The style and language is very similar to Emily's and can, in my opinion be read as a prequel to Wuthering Heights. You don't need to read Wuthering Heights to understand what's going on in th
More...
Nov 21, 2010
Chrystal
rated it:
To be honest I have never read Wuthering Heights nor had I any idea what it was about, but after reading The House of Dead Maids and doing a little research on it, I am now looking forward to reading it in the near future.
Ms. Dunkle has created a very creepy and chilling tale of Heathcliff and Tabby, his young nursemaid. I would say that it gave me shivers, but not nightmares. The idea of the ghosts of dead maids with "great round sockets of shadow" for eyes is what gave my t More...
Ms. Dunkle has created a very creepy and chilling tale of Heathcliff and Tabby, his young nursemaid. I would say that it gave me shivers, but not nightmares. The idea of the ghosts of dead maids with "great round sockets of shadow" for eyes is what gave my t More...
Nov 09, 2010
Marisa
rated it:
Orphan Tabby is selected as a nursemaid for a young boy about to return with the Master of Seldom House. But as soon as Tabby enters the home she knows something is not right. The help is unusual and improper, the halls are winding and dark. And there are ghosts. Lots of them.
While The House of Dead Maids tells the story Heathcliff prior to his arrival at Wuthering Heights -- it says so right on the cover! -- it's an understatement to say that plays a minor roll in the plot. The More...
While The House of Dead Maids tells the story Heathcliff prior to his arrival at Wuthering Heights -- it says so right on the cover! -- it's an understatement to say that plays a minor roll in the plot. The More...
Oct 26, 2010
This cover grabbed me. I walked past the girl with no eyes probably a dozen times before I decided I just had to have a copy of this book. That girl on the cover is so enthralling. And a little disturbing. And she doesn't disappoint. This book is enthralling. And a more than a little disturbing. Tabby's life at Seldom House is odd, creepy, and plagued by ghosts, some seemingly kind and some openly menacing.
The House of Dead Maids has a wonderfully creepy and complicated set-up. It is h More...
The House of Dead Maids has a wonderfully creepy and complicated set-up. It is h More...
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Sep 21, 2010
Robert
rated it:
Clare B. Dunkle, The House of Dead Maids (Holt, 2010)
The current craze for revising and updating classic works of literature rolls on with Clare Dunkle's The House of Dead Maids, a prequel to Wuthering Heights with an intriguing twist. In this one, Tabby (the real-life maid of the Bronte family, mentioned by biographers as the source of Emily's gothic leanings), formerly an orphan at a knitting school, is chosen by an old biddy named Miss Winter to be the new governess at a secluded ma More...
The current craze for revising and updating classic works of literature rolls on with Clare Dunkle's The House of Dead Maids, a prequel to Wuthering Heights with an intriguing twist. In this one, Tabby (the real-life maid of the Bronte family, mentioned by biographers as the source of Emily's gothic leanings), formerly an orphan at a knitting school, is chosen by an old biddy named Miss Winter to be the new governess at a secluded ma More...
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Aug 10, 2010
Meg
rated it:
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
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(1 person liked it)
Aug 05, 2011
Amanda
rated it:
This book wasn't quite what I thought it would be. I thought that it was a prequel to Wuthering Heights and it is...sort of. More accurately, House of Dead Maids is a fictional tale about what inspired Emile Bronte to write Wuthering Heights. I guess I was confusing Dunkle's narrator, the maid Tabby Aykroyd, with Bronte's character Nelly Dean. I've read Wuthering Heights twice, but years ago, and I can't remember many of the details.
So, Dunkle wrote a story inspired by Wuthering Heig More...
So, Dunkle wrote a story inspired by Wuthering Heig More...
Oct 27, 2010
Sarah
rated it:
This book was weird. I'm uncertain as to whether this book is appropriate for juvenile fiction collection or young adult ones. The characters are clearly children, but children of the 19th century before children were cared for and treated as they are today. Also the gruesome and horrific qualities of the story are pretty hard to take. So, it may be too mature for readers the age of the characters, but older readers may hesitate to read a book about younger characters. The pacing is extremely sl
More...
Oct 27, 2010
Amy L.
rated it:
This book gets two stars and a waffle. I just can't convince myself to give it a full extra star.
Strangely I found this to be somewhat reminiscent of both The Wicker Man movies and The Scarlet Letter. Himself/Heathen Git/Heathcliff have the same mischeveious spark and fey nature that Pearl had, whereas some of the more spoiler plot points are similar to Wicker Man. Add in some general ghost story/scary movie points and you have The House of Dead Maids. It was by no means a terrible More...
Strangely I found this to be somewhat reminiscent of both The Wicker Man movies and The Scarlet Letter. Himself/Heathen Git/Heathcliff have the same mischeveious spark and fey nature that Pearl had, whereas some of the more spoiler plot points are similar to Wicker Man. Add in some general ghost story/scary movie points and you have The House of Dead Maids. It was by no means a terrible More...
Dec 09, 2010
Small Review
rated it: 
Summary:
Young Tabby Aykroyd has just been employed as a maid in the spooky Seldom House. The house is empty, understaffed, and lacking a proper employer. Soon after her arrival, however, the master of the house returns with a boy for Tabby to care for. This boy, known to Tabby only as “Himself” is an immoral imp ruled by his own selfish whims. As Tabby and Himself form a shaky relationship, both children begin to notice ghostly occurrences in the forms of young maids and masters whose More...
Young Tabby Aykroyd has just been employed as a maid in the spooky Seldom House. The house is empty, understaffed, and lacking a proper employer. Soon after her arrival, however, the master of the house returns with a boy for Tabby to care for. This boy, known to Tabby only as “Himself” is an immoral imp ruled by his own selfish whims. As Tabby and Himself form a shaky relationship, both children begin to notice ghostly occurrences in the forms of young maids and masters whose More...
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Mar 13, 2011
Diane
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Nov 13, 2010
Leanna
rated it:
In Clare B. Dunkle’s young adult novel The House of Dead Maids, orphaned Tabby Aykroyd arrives at Seldom House to be a caretaker and playmate to the young “master.” She is immediately haunted by ghosts of her predecessors and tries to save herself and her young charge from a similar fate.
Dunkle’s novel is a fast, enjoyable read and maintains a consistently unsettling atmosphere throughout. The book cover is one of the creepiest I’ve seen, but it also claims the novel is “A Chilling Pre More...
Dunkle’s novel is a fast, enjoyable read and maintains a consistently unsettling atmosphere throughout. The book cover is one of the creepiest I’ve seen, but it also claims the novel is “A Chilling Pre More...
Nov 01, 2011
TheBookSmugglers
rated it:
Original review posted on The Book Smugglers
Warning: this review contains spoilers.
The House of the Dead Maids is described as a prelude to Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. I was curious about this connection to one of my favourite novels and since I have enjoyed other books by Clare B. Dunkle (The Hollow Kingdom and By These Ten Bones), I decided to give this one a go.
It tells the story of orphaned Tabby Aykroyd as she is taken to the old mansion called Seldom Hou More...
Warning: this review contains spoilers.
The House of the Dead Maids is described as a prelude to Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. I was curious about this connection to one of my favourite novels and since I have enjoyed other books by Clare B. Dunkle (The Hollow Kingdom and By These Ten Bones), I decided to give this one a go.
It tells the story of orphaned Tabby Aykroyd as she is taken to the old mansion called Seldom Hou More...
Oct 22, 2010
Stephanie
rated it:
How I coveted The House of Dead Maids by Clare B. Dunkle once I saw its ghoulish cover (It reminds me of one of my favorite childhood series - Scary Stories with Stephen Gammell's nightmarish illustrations). And upon finding out that it was a prequel of sorts to Wuthering Heights - well it was just all over for me. Had to read it.
At 146 pages, The House of Dead Maids is a slim volume that's full of gothic creepiness. Not a word is wasted. You don't need to have read Wuthering Height More...
At 146 pages, The House of Dead Maids is a slim volume that's full of gothic creepiness. Not a word is wasted. You don't need to have read Wuthering Height More...
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Dec 05, 2011
Erin
rated it: 
The House of Dead Maids
by Clare B. Dunkle
Sadly, the best part of this book is the cover—which is disappointing, because I really liked Dunkle's book The Sky Inside. The book is about a maid who is hired to work as a nanny in a haunted house. The boy she is brought to watch is supposedly the young version of a character named Heathcliff (a character who appeared in a classic novel, Wuthering Heights by Emile Bronte, which was published in 1847). After the two face numerous ghosts and More...
by Clare B. Dunkle
Sadly, the best part of this book is the cover—which is disappointing, because I really liked Dunkle's book The Sky Inside. The book is about a maid who is hired to work as a nanny in a haunted house. The boy she is brought to watch is supposedly the young version of a character named Heathcliff (a character who appeared in a classic novel, Wuthering Heights by Emile Bronte, which was published in 1847). After the two face numerous ghosts and More...
Mar 09, 2011
Ana
rated it:
House of Dead Maids / 978-0-805-09116-8
I picked this book up without realizing that it's meant to be a precursor to "Wuthering Heights", and I would like to review it as such. I enjoyed this short novel very much as a "period piece" slash horror story, and recommend it highly to people interested in the genre.
When Tabby is pulled from her orphanage to serve as a maid in a distant house, she is initially confused by the disrepair of the house and almost complete lack of inhabi More...
I picked this book up without realizing that it's meant to be a precursor to "Wuthering Heights", and I would like to review it as such. I enjoyed this short novel very much as a "period piece" slash horror story, and recommend it highly to people interested in the genre.
When Tabby is pulled from her orphanage to serve as a maid in a distant house, she is initially confused by the disrepair of the house and almost complete lack of inhabi More...
Nov 17, 2010
The Rusty Key
rated it:
Reviewed by Rusty Key Writer: Jordan B. Nielsen
Recommended for: Adult Bronte fans, and your strange niece who’s pretty advanced for her age and has read Wuthering Heights twelve times.
One Word Summary: Peripheral.
In a bizarre coincidence, my response to The House of Dead Maids is quite similar to what I expressed in my review of ‘The Book of the Maidservant’ (Is it something about Maids?). Dead Maids has strengths in its appropriation of the Victorian Gothic More...
Recommended for: Adult Bronte fans, and your strange niece who’s pretty advanced for her age and has read Wuthering Heights twelve times.
One Word Summary: Peripheral.
In a bizarre coincidence, my response to The House of Dead Maids is quite similar to what I expressed in my review of ‘The Book of the Maidservant’ (Is it something about Maids?). Dead Maids has strengths in its appropriation of the Victorian Gothic More...
Dec 06, 2010
Ilsa
rated it:
If you ever wondered what happened before Wuthering Heights, Dunkle proposes to answer that in this prequel to Emily Brontë's masterpiece. The Brontës' real-life servant, who supposedly told many a ghost story to her young charges, serves as the model for Tabby Akroyd, an 11-year-old girl hired out to the mysterious, brooding manor, Seldom House. There, she is nursemaid to a young and imperious charge--a savage little boy she calls "Himself"--and discovers an unsettling truth about
More...
Oct 25, 2010
Jim
rated it:
I received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway. Rather than open it at once when it arrived, I decided to set aside a time when I would be alone at night and could read it straight through. The book is intended for young readers and can be read in a couple of hours. Even so, the story is sure to be enjoyed by us older folks, too. House of Dead Maids is meant to be a prequel to Wuthering Heights, but holds its own as a stand alone chiller.
Tabitha Aykroyd is an eleven year old orphan w More...
Tabitha Aykroyd is an eleven year old orphan w More...
Jan 04, 2011
Abbie
rated it:
Tabby is a young orphan who is taken from the girl's home where she resides to live in Seldom House to work as a maid, but when she arrives, nothing is like it shoud be. She seems to have no responsibilities until the young master, another orphan, arrives. The only other inhabitants are the Old Master, the Old Maid, a cook, and a groudskeeper. The house is filled with dark and tristing passageways, and Tabby recieves ghostly visitations from the rotting corpses of other young maids. The youn
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Nov 23, 2010
Mary
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Nov 04, 2010
Shannon
rated it:
ARC free giveaway through Goodreads First Reads~
I have longed mourned the absence of good gothic ghost stories. Vampires and the like have served their time, and if the trends shift back, all the better.
House of Dead Maids is the story of Tabby Ackroyd, an 11 year-old orphan who arrives at Seldom House as a nursemaid. But there is something not right about Seldom House. Almost from the beginning, there are odd occurrences. And Tabby's young charge is odder still. Tabby tries to More...
I have longed mourned the absence of good gothic ghost stories. Vampires and the like have served their time, and if the trends shift back, all the better.
House of Dead Maids is the story of Tabby Ackroyd, an 11 year-old orphan who arrives at Seldom House as a nursemaid. But there is something not right about Seldom House. Almost from the beginning, there are odd occurrences. And Tabby's young charge is odder still. Tabby tries to More...
Oct 05, 2010
Katieb (MundieMoms)
rated it:
Have you ever wondered what Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff was like as a child? Pick up The House of Dead Maids and you'll find out. Clare B Dunkle does a great job at bringing an Emily Brontë like voice to The House of Dead Maids. It reads as though Clare came from the early Victorian/ Emily Brontë's time. The style and language is very similar to Emily's and can, in my opinion be read as a prequel to Wuthering Heights. You don't need to read Wuthering Heights to understand what's going on in th
More...
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Jun 30, 2011
Carter
rated it:
This book basically talks aboout :
Young Tabby Aykroyd has been brought to the dusty mansion of Seldom House to be nursemaid to a foundling boy. He is a savage little creature, but the Yorkshire moors harbor far worse, as Tabby soon discovers. Why do scores of dead maids and masters haunt Seldom House with a jealous devotion that extends beyond the grave? As Tabby struggles to escape the evil forces rising out of the land, she watches her young charge choose a different path. Long b More...
Young Tabby Aykroyd has been brought to the dusty mansion of Seldom House to be nursemaid to a foundling boy. He is a savage little creature, but the Yorkshire moors harbor far worse, as Tabby soon discovers. Why do scores of dead maids and masters haunt Seldom House with a jealous devotion that extends beyond the grave? As Tabby struggles to escape the evil forces rising out of the land, she watches her young charge choose a different path. Long b More...
Nov 02, 2010
Elizabeth
rated it:
The first time I heard about The House of Dead Maids, I was excited because it is a prelude to Wuthering Heights. I absolutely loved Wuthering Heights. In fact, it is one of my favorite books, so when I found out about The House of Dead Maids, I was curious to read a story about Heathcliff before he became THE Heathcliff.
If you want to get into the Halloween spirit and read a truly, creepy book, this is the book for you. The story will give you the chills. It is that good. I loved the More...
If you want to get into the Halloween spirit and read a truly, creepy book, this is the book for you. The story will give you the chills. It is that good. I loved the More...
