Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

Pages: 208

Intended Audience: Teens and mature tweens
Genre: Graphic Novel / Horror stories
Notes for Parents: There is nothing overly graphic, but these stories aren’t meant for sensitive readers.

The Back Cover

Five mysterious, spine-tingling stories follow journeys into (and out of) the eerie abyss. Come, take a walk in the woods, and see what awaits you there.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This is a collection of short, graphic (illustrated) horror stories that have the common theme of “the woods.”

What’s good?

These are five beautifully written, hauntingly illustrated, and wondrously dark short graphic stories. The writing is simple, yet poetic, and the words flow with emotive grace (e.g. “…its piano key teeth and burnt-out eyes would peer up from the bottom of the step.”). Vivid imagery and mesmerizing drawings complement each story’s compelling mystery. The various plots are evocative and well-paced. My favorites were “A Lady’s Hands are Cold” and “The Nesting Place.”
Best Part: “I married my love in the springtime…”

What isn’t good?
I didn’t “get” a couple of the stories although I was still thoroughly creeped out by them. Each ended more or less with a cliffhanger not meant to be solved and were more like poems or scary fairy tales than actual stories with plot and character development.
Worst part: Spending $20 on a book that takes 15 minutes to read is wrong.

Recommendation þþþþo

The stories aren’t gory or graphic, they’re just plain creepy! But creepy in a strangely delightful way. The stories are imaginative, the writing is superb, and the illustrations set a wonderfully sinister atmosphere. I absolutely loved this collection of short graphic stories despite not being a “horror” fan. Definitely recommended, but don’t buy it, borrow it from the library.

Carroll, Emily. Through the Woods. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2014.