Through the Woods in WACKY READING CHALLENGES

Jul 31, 2014 Mary-Megan rated it liked it

Through the Woods is a graphic novel made up of five short stories which mostly seem to take place in or around the woods. While these stories won't necessarily keep you up at night, there is definitely a creepy factor to them all.

The graphic novel starts off with the idea of reading in bed in the dark and thinking about what creatures might lurk in the shadows. The first story, "Our Neighbor's House," is about three sisters who are left alone while their father goes hunting. They are given stri Through the Woods is a graphic novel made up of five short stories which mostly seem to take place in or around the woods. While these stories won't necessarily keep you up at night, there is definitely a creepy factor to them all.

The graphic novel starts off with the idea of reading in bed in the dark and thinking about what creatures might lurk in the shadows. The first story, "Our Neighbor's House," is about three sisters who are left alone while their father goes hunting. They are given strict instructions to head to their neighbor's house if he doesn't return in three days. When they ignore that direction, a stranger visits and the sisters start to go missing. The second story, "A Lady's Hands are Cold," is about a recently married woman who keeps hearing a strange song coming from different parts of the house. When she finally searches for the source, she makes a startling discovery. Story number three, "His Face All Red," is about a brother who doesn't believe the man in front of him is his brother, especially after what happened to them in the woods. The Fourth story, "My Friend Janna," is about a girl whose best friend used to pretend that she saw ghosts. After a trip to the woods, a strange presence seems to be lingering beside the friend. The final story, "The Nesting Place," is about Mabel's experience with her new sister-in-law and how the monsters her mother used to tell her about might not be stories after all.

The stories in the book are all interesting and a little creepy. Most, if not all of them, leave the ending sort-of open and up for interpretation although still pointed a certain direction. That adds to the eeriness of the story because you're left wondering what's really going on - in a sense, the story will haunt you since it's not neatly wrapped up in a nice bow. I don't think that these stories will give the reader nightmares, but they are certainly twisted. The illustrations add to the suspense of the story.

In the end, if you're looking for a twisted graphic novel with a bit of a creep factor, this is worth picking up. You'll have it read in an hour but the stories will stay with you longer. ...more

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Aug 02, 2020 Irene rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 4-stars, own-physical, vromans, popsugar-2020, comics-graphic-novel, atmospheric, simon-schuster, my-weak-stomach, horror, got-in-2020

*2020 Popsugar Reading Challenge*
Prompt #35: A book with a three-word title

This book was incredibly unsettling, and became more so the further on I read. The first story, "Our Neighbor's House," is a little bit creepy but is open-ended and ambiguous enough that there's a tiny bit of hope there, as everything sinister can be chalked up to the girls' imaginations. From there on, it gets gradually more frightening in a slow, sinister way that sneaks up on you. The last two stories had my heart rate *2020 Popsugar Reading Challenge*
Prompt #35: A book with a three-word title

This book was incredibly unsettling, and became more so the further on I read. The first story, "Our Neighbor's House," is a little bit creepy but is open-ended and ambiguous enough that there's a tiny bit of hope there, as everything sinister can be chalked up to the girls' imaginations. From there on, it gets gradually more frightening in a slow, sinister way that sneaks up on you. The last two stories had my heart rate elevated, and this is coming from someone who doesn't flinch at most horror movies and loves staying up all night alone!

I'll try to summarize the main points of this book below:
- The stories have ambiguous endings. Even the ones that seem pretty straightforward are still somewhat open-ended. I don't mind this at all, but I know a lot of people dislike these kinds of endings.
- While not gory, some illustrations are a bit graphic and nightmarish - insomuch as illustrations of this level of realism (of lack thereof) can be graphic. A face made up of just worms and teeth, a ghostly figure with a heart and veins, lots of sunken in eyes, etc. I know I said above that I'm good at watching most horror movies, but I actually have a very weak stomach (especially when it comes to the human body, organs, parasitic creatures, etc) so I had to put this book down to breathe several times.
- It's NOT for children. These are tales for adults. Or at least teenagers who can handle violent concepts and sinister villains. Think the level of the first Saw movie: no real gore on screen, but with mature themes/concepts that you wouldn't want kids to see. Don't make the mistake of thinking a graphic novel with beautiful illustrations is going to be kid-friendly.
- Speaking of the illustrations: the art style is absolutely gorgeous and I'm obsessed with how little the stories are told in clean panels. The words swirl around wherever is appropriate for the artwork, and it really comes across as art-first, words-later rather than prose-first, art as an embellishment/after-thought/visual tool for the words. The art does 90% of the storytelling, although the prose is also genuinely well-written. It's just refreshing to see that the art is not the secondary form of storytelling here, as it is with many of graphic novels/comics.
- It's genuinely creepy. I've read my fair share of scary story collections, but I've rarely encountered villains/evil beings that are this malignant. You're not going to meet a sad ghost that's haunting you because you're in the wrong place at the wrong time; you're going to meet merciless creatures that want to hurt you, not get you to "avenge" them.

TL;DR: Creepy and gruesome collection of open-ended stories that are gorgeously illustrated but are NOT meant for children or anyone with a weak stomach. Don't read alone at night. ...more

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