Beautiful yet terrifying artwork?
Chilling tales of murderers and monsters?
What else could someone possibly want from a horror graphic novel?
Through the Woods, a graphic novel written and illustrated by Emily Carroll, is a series of five short horror stories that takes “creepiness” to another level. The stories are as follows: A man with a big smile and a wide brimmed hat who kidnaps girls one by one. A wife who discovers the chopped up body parts of her husband’s ex buried throughout their house. A brotherly betrayal that leads to a murder. Two best friends who fake communication with the dead which backfires. A girl uncovering the truth behind her brother’s fiance and what lies beneath her skin. Five different short stories, five different horror tales. Each which leaves you with a sense of uneasiness.
There was one short story in particular that caught my attention. “The Nesting Place,” the last story in the book, is about a girl who visits her brother and his fiance in the countryside. His fiance is not exactly…human. She got lost in the woods years ago and was basically used as a vessel for a creature ever since. Now, the brother’s sister who is visiting experiences the same thing only this time is not possessed. However, she does find out the true nature of her brother’s fiance and this freaks her out. That’s the gist of that story. I would elaborate more on the ending but I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise…
As a horror fan, I was fairly surprised by how creepy this book was. Because it was a graphic novel, I wasn’t sure if there would be enough context to creep me out but I was wrong. The creepiest factor was the art. It was so beautifully done and fit with the stories perfectly. Another surprising factor was that this book is made up of short stories. I thought this book was one big story but it was a very pleasant surprise to discover that there were multiple.
The pacing of the stories were decent. The first four stories were about the same length and so it was fairly steady. However, the last story was unusually long so I didn’t really like the inconsistency there. The writing was very vague but in this situation, because it is a horror book, it worked out very well and added to the creepiness. One thing that I didn’t enjoy was the lack of diversity in the characters; they were mostly just white young girls. There was only one story that had male characters (the brothers and beast story) but in general there was little to no diversity.
I wouldn’t recommend this book to someone who is devoted to horror such as myself. Although it was quite creepy, the stories were not classic horror stories and therefore did not present the reader with true terror (in comparison to thriller novels and films). If you’re just getting into creepy books, I would highly recommend this read though. The artwork is magnificent and terrifying in its own way. Overall, Through the Woods is a great series of short and creepy stories that deliver just the right amount of “spook” for beginner horror fans.