Through the Woods (2014)
Written by: Emily Carroll
Genre: Horror
Pages: 208 (paperback)
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Why I Chose It: I bought this book ages ago and when looking for a spooky read, it finally made it out of the To-Be-Read pile.
The premise:
Discover a terrifying world in the woods in this collection of five hauntingly beautiful graphic stories that includes the online webcomic sensation “His Face All Red,” in print for the first time.
Journey through the woods in this sinister, compellingly spooky collection that features four brand-new stories and one phenomenally popular tale in print for the first time. These are fairy tales gone seriously wrong, where you can travel to “Our Neighbor’s House”—though coming back might be a problem. Or find yourself a young bride in a house that holds a terrible secret in “A Lady’s Hands Are Cold.” You might try to figure out what is haunting “My Friend Janna,” or discover that your brother’s fiancée may not be what she seems in “The Nesting Place.” And of course you must revisit the horror of “His Face All Red,” the breakout webcomic hit that has been gorgeously translated to the printed page.
Already revered for her work online, award-winning comic creator Emily Carroll’s stunning visual style and impeccable pacing is on grand display in this entrancing anthology, her print debut.
No Spoilers Below
Discussion:
I loved this book. I read it three times in the span of one night because I both love and hate myself and enjoy giving my brain nightmare fodder right before bed time.
This is a collection of comics from Emily Carroll and they are all gorgeous. Her style is crisp and clean with black, white and sharp pops of color that draw the eye along the story. The words themselves are a part of the images in many places, telling a story in a linguistically fascinating way.
The images are ghastly and beautiful all at once. The blood and gore of the horror is presented in the spotlight but stylized so much that it crosses over to being awe-inspiring. This book is the definition of grotesque beauty. A beauty so terrible and awesome that you can’t look away no matter how horrible things may be going.
I loved the turns of phrase that she uses, something very much like a fairy tale but much darker than anything Disney would touch. Each tale has twists and turns that build towards endings that frequently surprised, delighted, and horrified me.
The woods are very much a living thing that watches and reacts to the stories and many of them take unexpected directions from cliches. The endings of most of the stories are ambiguous, not giving neat, tied-up-with-a-bow, happy ever afters where good has overcome the wicked and terrible monsters of the night. The monsters are still there, waiting for one more time.
My favorite piece of the collection was “The Nesting Place,” which was also the only one that had me gasp and flip through again and again with horror and wonder. The monster shows itself in all its toothy detail and it is mesmerizing in its horribleness. It’s also one of the fears I think everyone has: would anyone notice if I wasn’t me anymore? And more importantly, would you notice if your loved ones weren’t themselves anymore?
In Conclusion:I cannot highly recommend this collection enough. If you love the Gothic, the beautiful, and the frightening, then you need to add this book to your collection immediately. It only needs one chance to bite you and then it will never let go.
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