Through the Woods

by Emily Carroll

[nannah]

(3.5)

Oh, this is a perfect read for autumn (I read it back in November, but autumn is never really over in my heart). Through the Woods is a collection of five chilling short stories told in graphic novel format. It's classified as horror, and while some of these really do send chills up my spine that keep spinning around my mind after reading, others were more folky ghost tales, which is just fine for a collection like this, too. Variety is good!

Content warnings:
- lots of blood
- a massive amount of body horror in "The Nesting Place"

Representation:
- in "The Nesting Place", the protagonist uses a cane and has a leg brace

This is one of the most gorgeous graphic novels I've ever seen. I think I say that about almost every one that I read, but this one really stands out with its bicolor schemes and the quality of the book in general. The pages are large and heavy with a wonderful thickness. The art style reminds me of Over the Garden Wall in a way (maybe because of the folk horror), but each of the four short stories are differentiated by little stylistic differences and color palette changes.

It also turns out that I was one of the many who had seen and enjoyed Emily Carroll's "His Face All Red" when she posted it online years before she got published. I'm glad for it, too, because that's probably the reason this ended up on my to-read list.

1). Our Neighbor's House:
I love the style for this one! The story is very loosely based on The Red Riding Hood, and a father leaves his three daughters and tells them to go to their neighbor's house if he doesn't come back in three days. Of course he doesn't return, and someone terrifying is waiting for each of the girls. It's a bit predictable, but it has a suitable ending.

2). A Lady's Hands Are Cold:
Good god. The author definitely did a good job grossing me out with the eating scene, and I was gagging. But I'm not sure I like this twist on the Bluebeard tale, even if I think that the style and the art quality, as always, is expertly done.

3). His Face All Red:
This was the comic I had seen online. I'm still haunted by it today. That ending still gives me shivers. Two brothers go out to hunt a monster, and only one returns — the younger, jealous brother killed the older one. But then the older brother mysteriously returns.

4). My Friend Janna:
In this story two friends con folks by pretending to be psychic and speaking with the dead. I didn't like this one as much; the ending was fairly predictable in a way I found corny, and it didn't draw out any strong emotions from me.

5). The Nesting Place:
This one is grotesquely terrifying. The ending is horrifying, but probably also predictable to those who read horror more frequently. I don't, so it freaked me out thoroughly. The body horror is absolutely disgusting.

I also loved the very tiny In Conclusion comic, too. It's a chilling spin on "you only need one yes". All in all, I think I loved the art far more than I did the actual stories, and reading this at night probably improved my opinion of it. But I look forward to what Emily Carroll creates next.