The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Katie Alender

Reviewed by Lori

The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall

Title: The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall

Author: Katie Alender

Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 128177

Description: Sixteen-year-old Cordelia and her family move into the house they just inherited in Pennsylvania, a former insane asylum the locals call Hysteria Hall, unfortunately, the house does not want defiant girls like Delia, so it kills her, and as she wanders the house, meeting the other ghosts and learning the dark secrets of the Hall, she realizes that she has to find a way to save her sister, parents, and perhaps herself.

Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It

Why I Read It:  The title.

Notes:  I chose this book based strictly on the title.  I love ghost and horror stories and this book did not disappoint.  Delia and her family are off to spend the summer in the home she has inherited from her namesake – Cordelia Piven.  What they don’t realize is that the home is actually a former asylum for troubled women known locally as hysteria hall.  As soon as Delia enters the institute she knows she shouldn’t be there.  Unfortunately, she can’t convince her parents or sister Janie to leave.  But something is haunting hysteria hall and it’s after troubled women.   Unfortunately for Delia and her family, the entity gets what it wants and Delia awakes to find herself one of the dead girls haunting hysteria hall.  I really enjoyed this read and finished the book in one day.  It’s not an onerous read just a fun one and if you like ghost stories about mental institutions this one fits the bill.  I could very much imagine this story as a movie as I was reading it.  I was intrigued with each of the ghosts’ back stories and what the evil entity might actually be.  I wasn’t surprised by any of the twists in the plot but I did like how the progression of time was acknowledged and the resolution of the novel.  If you’re looking for a fun supernatural read this is the one for you.

 Recommended Readers: Grade 9+  

 Cross-Genre Links: 
Movie: 13 Ghosts
Movie: The House on Haunted Hill
Movie: The Others
Music: I always feel like Somebody's Watching Me performed by Rockwell
Websearch: Hauntings
Websearch: Asylums for Women

 Inquiries and Activities: 

  • Why does Cordelia leave Hysteria Hall to Delia? What does she want her to do?
  • Would you want to spend the night in a haunted house or asylum?
  • What are some of the reasons that a woman may have been committed to an asylum?
  • Write your own back story for a ghost that might live at Hysteria Hall.  Who is she? What time period did she live in? What did she do (if anything) to get committed to Hysteria Hall?
  • How does Delia spend her time?  How might your perception of time change if you don't change with time?
  • How do the ghosts interact with the living?
  • Were you surprised by any of the characters?  
  • Why is it important for Delia to communicate with her family after her passing?
 

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