Welcome to Dead House

Throughout Welcome to Dead House, Stine uses seemingly innocuous events or actions to foreshadow later realizations or dangers that the characters often don’t understand until it’s too late. This technique builds suspense and allows Stine to refer back to these past moments to bolster the danger or uncertainty at critical moments. The letter from the obscure uncle is one of these innocuous events, as well as the backbone upon which the bulk of the story rests. When it’s first introduced, the letter is too good to be true, offering the family a new home and a way for them to get away from disliked jobs or acquire more space. In latter chapters, the Bensons learn that the obscure uncle doesn’t exist and that the letter is actually the town’s way of luring the family to Dark Falls. Looking back in later chapters, the family sees how they were tricked by the promise of such niceties and how their desire for these things kept them from seeing the truth. Stine also uses these innocuous events to comment on trusting both oneself and others, as explored in the book’s major theme of The Benefits of Teamwork and Trust.

This theme is further expanded upon through the character of Amanda. As the point-of-view character, Amanda is the lens through which the reader experiences the strange and unnerving events within Dead House and Dark Falls. Starting in Chapter 1, Amanda sees ghostly apparitions and experiences odd events, such as having clothes laid out for her, things she often dismisses as her imagination playing tricks on her. Amanda doesn’t trust herself in the early chapters, which again leads to her not realizing the truth until it’s too late. The blonde-haired boy Amanda sees in Chapter 1 is Ray Thurston, whom she later learns died during the industrial accident that turned the entire population of the town into the living dead. Thus, when Amanda meets Ray later, she initially suspects that there is something dangerous or suspicious about him, but because she wants to try fitting in, she is easily talked out of these feelings, showing how the desire to be accepted often wins out over a sense of self-preservation.

Though Amanda and Josh experience suspicious, supernatural events, the Benson family dog provides the clearest evidence that all is not well in Dark Falls. The animal also thematically supports Reality and the Supernatural and the idea that animals (dogs in particular) are more attuned to the supernatural than humans are. The dog acts out of character from the time the family arrives in the town, barking and snarling at strangers while also seeming to experience mood swings between fear and excitement. The dog is called to the cemetery in Chapter 3, which foreshadows how the dog later dies here, as well as the final confrontation between the Bensons and the townspeople.

The latter half of Chapter 3 is the only part of the book that doesn’t take place in Dark Falls, and it shows the transition Amanda’s family makes from their old life to their new one while foreshadowing and setting up many major events to come. The family being unable to sell their old house foreshadows that they will escape Dark Falls and go back to their former lives away from the danger and supernatural influence of the town. Amanda’s greatest struggle in leaving her old home is saying goodbye to her friends and the life she knows. The arguments among the Bensons show how stressful the move is and foreshadow the danger, uncertainty, and frustration that await them in Dark Falls. Amanda’s final meeting with her best friend explores grief through the lens of change and foreshadows how Amanda doesn’t immediately recognize the danger of the kids in the town. After losing her old friends, Amanda wants to make new friends and be accepted, which means she overlooks the strange behaviors of the kids in Dark Falls.