What do you think?
Rate this book
Dead Trees Give No Shelter
Dead Trees Give No Shelter is about Jay Turner, a broken and lonely man who has been adrift since his brother’s murder when they were children. Now, after twenty years away, Jay has come back to his hometown of Garron, Ohio, to uncover the truth about his brother’s death.
35 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 2, 2017
82 people are currently reading
4131 people want to read
About the author
Wil Wheaton
104 books234k followersWil Wheaton loves to tell stories. He’s been doing it his whole life.
By age ten, he had already been acting for three years. In 1986, at age 12, he earned critical acclaim as Gordie Lachance in Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me; at 14, he began his four-year turn as Wesley Crusher on the hit TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Since then, Wil has appeared in dozens of films and TV series, with recurring roles on TNT’s Leverage, SyFy’s Eureka, and the hit webseries The Guild. He is the creator, producer, and host of the wildly successful webseries Tabletop, credited with reigniting national interest in tabletop gaming. Most recently, he played a fictionalized version of himself on CBS’s The Big Bang Theory, one of the most highly rated and watched sitcoms of the last decade.
An accomplished voice actor, Wil has lent his talents to animated series including Family Guy, Teen Titans, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. His video game credits include four installments each of the Grand Theft Auto and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon series, as well as Fallout: New Vegas, DC Universe Online, and Broken Age.
His audiobook narration of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list, and was one of Goodreads’ 10 Best Narrator and Audiobook Pairings of All Time. He has also lent his voice to titles by John Scalzi, Randall Monroe, and Joe Hill.
When he isn’t acting, narrating, or podcasting, Wil Wheaton is writing.
A lot.
He is the author of Just A Geek, Dancing Barefoot, The Happiest Days of Our Lives, Hunter, and Dead Trees Give No Shelter, plus a forthcoming novel, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything. He has contributed columns to Salon.com, The A.V. Club, LA Weekly, Playboy, The Washington Post, and the Suicide Girls Newswire.
In recent years, Wil has earned recognition as an outspoken mental health advocate, chronicling his own journey in his blog and as a public speaker for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. His powerful, candid essay about his struggle with chronic depression and anxiety garnered national attention.
Wil lives in Los Angeles with his badass, irrepressible wife Anne, two rescued dogs, one cat, and two vintage arcade cabinets. If you’re not a robot, you can reach him at: wil at wilwheaton dot net.
By age ten, he had already been acting for three years. In 1986, at age 12, he earned critical acclaim as Gordie Lachance in Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me; at 14, he began his four-year turn as Wesley Crusher on the hit TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Since then, Wil has appeared in dozens of films and TV series, with recurring roles on TNT’s Leverage, SyFy’s Eureka, and the hit webseries The Guild. He is the creator, producer, and host of the wildly successful webseries Tabletop, credited with reigniting national interest in tabletop gaming. Most recently, he played a fictionalized version of himself on CBS’s The Big Bang Theory, one of the most highly rated and watched sitcoms of the last decade.
An accomplished voice actor, Wil has lent his talents to animated series including Family Guy, Teen Titans, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. His video game credits include four installments each of the Grand Theft Auto and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon series, as well as Fallout: New Vegas, DC Universe Online, and Broken Age.
His audiobook narration of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list, and was one of Goodreads’ 10 Best Narrator and Audiobook Pairings of All Time. He has also lent his voice to titles by John Scalzi, Randall Monroe, and Joe Hill.
When he isn’t acting, narrating, or podcasting, Wil Wheaton is writing.
A lot.
He is the author of Just A Geek, Dancing Barefoot, The Happiest Days of Our Lives, Hunter, and Dead Trees Give No Shelter, plus a forthcoming novel, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything. He has contributed columns to Salon.com, The A.V. Club, LA Weekly, Playboy, The Washington Post, and the Suicide Girls Newswire.
In recent years, Wil has earned recognition as an outspoken mental health advocate, chronicling his own journey in his blog and as a public speaker for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. His powerful, candid essay about his struggle with chronic depression and anxiety garnered national attention.
Wil lives in Los Angeles with his badass, irrepressible wife Anne, two rescued dogs, one cat, and two vintage arcade cabinets. If you’re not a robot, you can reach him at: wil at wilwheaton dot net.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 281 reviews
October 23, 2018
This is a perfect story to read for Halloween. Part slasher, a feeling of King, and more than a few references to Scream, Wil Wheaton pulls off a traditional monster tale of a town with a dark secret.
Yes, that's right. Wil himself wrote and made an audiobook with his own perfect audio-voice. :)
I was thinking of American Gods when I read this, too. :) Yep. Quite decent. :) Traditional novella, even. :) I'm glad I got to read it. :)
Yes, that's right. Wil himself wrote and made an audiobook with his own perfect audio-voice. :)
I was thinking of American Gods when I read this, too. :) Yep. Quite decent. :) Traditional novella, even. :) I'm glad I got to read it. :)
April 16, 2018
4.0 Stars
Dark and depressing, this was an excellent piece of horror short fiction. The ending was a bit unbelievable, yet I still thoroughly enjoyed the story as a whole. I listened to the audiobook version, which was a fantastic because the story was narrated by the author, Wil Wheaton.
Dark and depressing, this was an excellent piece of horror short fiction. The ending was a bit unbelievable, yet I still thoroughly enjoyed the story as a whole. I listened to the audiobook version, which was a fantastic because the story was narrated by the author, Wil Wheaton.
September 27, 2018
Quick and scary from beginning to end. I enjoyed this nightmarish novella, it was perfect for my Halloween themed read, and the narration was perfect.
October 22, 2018
This was a quick but still quite disconcerting read.
We start with following a young man who apparently witnessed something terrible happening to his baby brother when he was just a kid. He watches the execution of his brother's supposed murderer before going back to where it all began ... seeing his mother, the town, coming to terms with his life derailing because of the trauma ... confronting something.
As my literature teacher once said: the shorter the story, the more important every single word. Thus, it is always nice to read a short story where the author manages to make you care and lay out the puzzle pieces, still surprising you, despite the shortness. The overall story of a family tragedy is, of course, making most people sympathetic but the way Wheaton pulled it off in combination with that mindfuck in the end ... very well done and perfect for this time of year!
We start with following a young man who apparently witnessed something terrible happening to his baby brother when he was just a kid. He watches the execution of his brother's supposed murderer before going back to where it all began ... seeing his mother, the town, coming to terms with his life derailing because of the trauma ... confronting something.
As my literature teacher once said: the shorter the story, the more important every single word. Thus, it is always nice to read a short story where the author manages to make you care and lay out the puzzle pieces, still surprising you, despite the shortness. The overall story of a family tragedy is, of course, making most people sympathetic but the way Wheaton pulled it off in combination with that mindfuck in the end ... very well done and perfect for this time of year!
August 30, 2018
This isn't my usual sort of reading material, but I found myself caught up in it pretty quickly. I got yoinked out of the story a couple of times by timelines that seemed off to me somehow and made me have to scramble back to figure out what was what.
Overall, though, I really liked the characters and found myself caring about them even though it was such a short format -- that takes some mad skills. By the end of the story I was wishing it was a full novel because I wanted to know more about those people and that town.
Overall, though, I really liked the characters and found myself caring about them even though it was such a short format -- that takes some mad skills. By the end of the story I was wishing it was a full novel because I wanted to know more about those people and that town.
May 20, 2019
This was a pretty good audiobook narrated and written by Wil Wheaton about this man named Jay who comes back to his hometown of Garron Indiana to see his mother and find out the truth of how his brother Charlie really died. If you like thrillers and short stories, be sure to check this book out at your local library and wherever books are sold.
September 16, 2022
4¼⭐
For a short story, this was quite good. A lot of time short stories don't really get me invested in the short amount of time I spend on them. But this was one of the good ones. I knew, from Ready Player One that I loved his narration...now I know that I really like his writing, too.
For a short story, this was quite good. A lot of time short stories don't really get me invested in the short amount of time I spend on them. But this was one of the good ones. I knew, from Ready Player One that I loved his narration...now I know that I really like his writing, too.
August 21, 2019
Solid. Damn you, Wil Wheaton! I want more story!
July 12, 2020
Well this was a good one! I thought I knew where this short story was going but nope, it kept twisting and turning. I liked that! Jay returns home after his brother's murder's execution. His mother never recovered from Charlie's death. She has been in a mental institution since it happened. Jay goes to visit her while he's in town and she starts saying crazy things. He begins to dig into the past to uncover the truth about his brother's death.
I borrowed this from Overdrive and it was a little under 2 hours. The author reads it. He did good, I had no problems with that. I love the title but I don't understand what it had to do with the story. That's ok though. Based on this one, I would read or listen to more by this author.
I borrowed this from Overdrive and it was a little under 2 hours. The author reads it. He did good, I had no problems with that. I love the title but I don't understand what it had to do with the story. That's ok though. Based on this one, I would read or listen to more by this author.
February 5, 2018
I had no idea that Wil Wheaton had published this, so was thrilled to read something by him. I don't normally go for novellas or short stories. Kindle app says this was 55 pages. It was worth getting. At times it was a little predictable, but not in a bad way. I really feel like this could have been fleshed out into a full length novel. I'm curious about this creature. I'm curious about this town. And I'm kind of curious how they go about making deals with the creature and work out the arrangements. I liked how the book begins and ends. If you are looking for a quick horror read that isn't too intense, this is a great book to try.
February 26, 2018
This short story is a master class in horror. The end is somewhat predictable but that doesn’t make it any less impactful and shocking.
October 14, 2025
Well, I was not expecting that ending but was pleasantly surprised. This was just the type of story I have been looking for. So happy I stumbled across it! A perfect story for the month of October/season of Halloween.🎃
January 1, 2023
CW: child death, blood, casual ableism (use of the word stupid, etc)
well dang. this was awesome. creepy, heartwarming for a hot second, then we get a wtf ending. big fan! Wil has talent and if he writes anything else, I'll read that too! 🙀
well dang. this was awesome. creepy, heartwarming for a hot second, then we get a wtf ending. big fan! Wil has talent and if he writes anything else, I'll read that too! 🙀
December 10, 2024
Mommy issues but make it supernatural
May 31, 2017
as much as I love 's Wil Wheaton's work I hesitated to pick this up b/c I'm not a huge fan of horror. Who am I kidding, I don't like to be scared, so I generally don't read and I especially don't watch it.
I purchased the audio version off bandcamp and gave it a whirl, and was delightfully surprised with the story. It was creepy and terrible- but in the best way possible. thought in my head after I finished it was, "Wow, that was really messed up.." Wil's reading of the story, takes it up a notch by giving personality to the characters and depth in the story you may not have chosen in your own head while reading.
give it a go. you won't regret it
I purchased the audio version off bandcamp and gave it a whirl, and was delightfully surprised with the story. It was creepy and terrible- but in the best way possible. thought in my head after I finished it was, "Wow, that was really messed up.." Wil's reading of the story, takes it up a notch by giving personality to the characters and depth in the story you may not have chosen in your own head while reading.
give it a go. you won't regret it
June 3, 2018
Jay has come back to the small town he grew up in order to witness the execution of the man arrested for the murder of his brother. In doing so he needs to confront the night he watched his brother die, and learn the dark truth of the town he lived in.
This is surprisingly good. I listened to it because Will Wheaton wrote and narrated it, and because it was free. I didn't expect a lot, but Wheaton does a good job of portraying the feeling of a lost innocence and inability to move past the trauma of the past.
I think horror works best in short stories and novelettes because the creeping dread and terror never fully go away if it ends before we learn too much.
The revelation was given at precisely the best time. It's an old story, but it was well told.
This is surprisingly good. I listened to it because Will Wheaton wrote and narrated it, and because it was free. I didn't expect a lot, but Wheaton does a good job of portraying the feeling of a lost innocence and inability to move past the trauma of the past.
I think horror works best in short stories and novelettes because the creeping dread and terror never fully go away if it ends before we learn too much.
The revelation was given at precisely the best time. It's an old story, but it was well told.
December 8, 2019
Fantastic novella. Seriously creepy vibes, and the ending had me staring at the iPad with my eyes wide open, and my mind saying 😱😱😱.
Will Wheaton wrote this novella, and it’s very good. I hope Wheaton writes much more novels, and sticks to the horror genre, too! He’s very good at it, and people really seem to love it here at gr.
The audiobook was read by Will Wheaton himself, and he is brilliant at narration! I hope Wheaton narrates many more novels, not just his own. Bravo, dude...!
This novel was just what I’d needed after the last novel being such a dud. Thanks you! Will Wheaton, for this little treasure. It’s superb.
4 stars, and highly recommended to all.
Will Wheaton wrote this novella, and it’s very good. I hope Wheaton writes much more novels, and sticks to the horror genre, too! He’s very good at it, and people really seem to love it here at gr.
The audiobook was read by Will Wheaton himself, and he is brilliant at narration! I hope Wheaton narrates many more novels, not just his own. Bravo, dude...!
This novel was just what I’d needed after the last novel being such a dud. Thanks you! Will Wheaton, for this little treasure. It’s superb.
4 stars, and highly recommended to all.
November 21, 2023
Jessica girl WTF
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 24, 2020
I listened to Wil Wheaton's Dead Trees Give No Shelter a couple weeks ago and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I remember thinking it was a quick little story that dragged a bit in the middle, but was well written, compelling, and spooky.
If I'm being honest, than I need to admit that I don't really remember a lot of this book, so I guess it was also forgettable. I wish I had more to say on this one, but I'm behind on my reviews and I need to keep moving forward.
I rated Wil Wheaton's Dead Trees Give No Shelter 4.5 out of 5 stars. I may give it another listen and return to this. If I do, I'll write a review in a more timely manner.
If I'm being honest, than I need to admit that I don't really remember a lot of this book, so I guess it was also forgettable. I wish I had more to say on this one, but I'm behind on my reviews and I need to keep moving forward.
I rated Wil Wheaton's Dead Trees Give No Shelter 4.5 out of 5 stars. I may give it another listen and return to this. If I do, I'll write a review in a more timely manner.
January 29, 2019
Cool little horror story. I listened to the audio book narrated by Wil Wheaton.
April 11, 2017
I finished it in one evening, because I wanted to know how it would end. I could really feel the pain and the confusion of the main character as he slowly stumbles upon the truth of what happened. It's not a long story but the writing is well done.
May 20, 2017
Wow
Bought it because I was curious about how well this actor I've watched my whole life could write. Seems like Mr. Wheaton has another career to pursue if he is tired of acting. This story was amazing! Suspenseful with a great twist at the end.
Bought it because I was curious about how well this actor I've watched my whole life could write. Seems like Mr. Wheaton has another career to pursue if he is tired of acting. This story was amazing! Suspenseful with a great twist at the end.
June 16, 2018
A short story on audio, enjoyable enough on the commute to/from work. Wheaton continues to be a top notch voice actor, this time for his own work. The story itself was a little hard to follow at first but it came together in the end like a Brothers Grimm story.
June 24, 2018
Enjoyed it.
Wil Wheaton can write. It was only 50 or so pages, but I couldn't stop reading until it was finished. It was as creepy as a Stephen King short story. I'm very impressed, and will read more from Wil in the future.
Wil Wheaton can write. It was only 50 or so pages, but I couldn't stop reading until it was finished. It was as creepy as a Stephen King short story. I'm very impressed, and will read more from Wil in the future.
April 4, 2017
Creepy and fun! Great atmosphere and a scary read. I'll be looking over my shoulder all day now!
August 2, 2017
Scary and well written horror novella from the terrific Wil Wheaton. After listening to Ready Player One several times, is it crazy I "heard" it in his voice in my head?
December 15, 2017
This was pretty good for a novella!
January 29, 2018
Very interesting short story
July 6, 2018
Enjoyable, but so short - it needs to be with more stories in a collection.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 281 reviews