Through the Woods

Product Information

The Grim Reaper: One of the interpretations of who the man in the wide-brimmed hat is. It's likely that the region was hit by such a hard snowstorm that many died of hypothermia, including the three sisters and their father. Death came to collect Mary and Hannah and is waiting at the neighbor's house when Beth arrives, as the neighbor has died too. He Who Must Not Be Seen: The man with the wide-brimmed hat never appears in-person, only showing his hat, arms, and hands, to create an aura of foreboding and build up tension as to what his true intentions for the girls are. Fortunately, he's actually a very nice man who is implied to be The Grim Reaper ushering the girls' souls to the afterlife. One last word of caution: make sure you read this with the lights on, preferably during the daytime. I speak from experience – waking up in a cold sweat because you read this book too late at night is terrifying.)

Never Say "Die": The story itself never directly mentions death, only alluding to it via characters suddenly disappearing after meeting the man with the wide-brimmed hat. In "The Nesting Place", Bell is explicitly warned against the woods near the house of Clarence and Rebecca. She ignores the warnings and ends up discovering a cave pool where "Rebecca" has become a host for a monster that kills and inhabits people's bodies, and has been looking for other victims for her children to inhabit.

Table of Contents

While their father is gone, the girls play games on the first day, do chores on the second, and spend the entire third day in a state of lethargy ( implied to be due to hypothermia). Unfortunately, that's when things start going bad for the girls, starting with the realization that their father died hunting. The Nesting Place –This is my favorite story of the bunch. It is the story of Bell, a young girl home visiting her brother and his new fiance. The horror part of this story is that Rebecca, the fiance, is not at all what she seems. There are worms, I will leave it at that. Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The protagonist, a young woman in an Arranged Marriage, finds pieces of her husband's murdered first wife concealed all over the house. Wife #2 reassembles Wife #1, which Wife #2 (and the reader) assumes to be what the corpse wants. Unfortunately, now that she's reassembled, Wife #1's first goal is to kill Wife #2 so she can have her husband all to herself. However, this also turns out to be a blessing in disguise — had Wife #2 not revived Wife #1, she still would've been in danger as her husband is actually a despicable murderer who killed Wife #1 for her wealth and property. In Conclusion": A story very much in the spirit of Little Red Riding Hood. A young girl confidently sets off through the woods to see her mother. She reaches her mother's house without any problems or meeting anyone, but perhaps the wolf was closer than she ever realized.

Don't Fear the Reaper: The man with the wide-brimmed hat and a toothy smile is implied to be The Grim Reaper, but he's a completely non-malicious entity who only seeks to usher in the souls of those who died during an extreme snowstorm, including the three girls. Mary and Hannah are happy when they speak of him and even wait for him when he approaches, and in one panel Hannah is seen hugging the man like old friends. Beth is afraid of him at first. But once they meet at the neighbor's house, Beth comes to accept the man when he kindly plants his hat on her head and lets her enter the house, where she reunites with her dead parents and sisters. Creepy Long Fingers: Having been dead for some time now, the first wife possesses extremely boney, shriveled fingers as a consequence of her advanced decay. Dying Candle: The "ghost" haunting Janna appears to kill her just as candle that Yvonne was carrying goes out. Big Sister Instinct: Beth, despite being the middle sister, is convinced that Mary was taken away by the man with the wide-brimmed hat, and searches for her all over the house. Unfortunately, while she's busy looking for Mary, the man with the wide-brimmed hat takes Hannah, too. Phony Psychic: Yvonne and Janna have played at being able to talk to the dead for years. (Janna is the person who acts like a psychic, Yvonne makes sound effects and voices from an unseen location.) It started as a joke when they were kids and was a fun game, but they found they couldn't stop people from coming to them even if they tried. Yvonne, however, can actually see what might be a ghost (or might be... something else) apparently haunting Janna that nobody else can.

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In His Face All Red, a man grapples with his jealousy of his charismatic brother – a brother this man knows cannot be alive. When you finally learn the meaning of the title of this particular story, it’s a wonderful – terrible! – realization. Perpetual Smiler: The strange man with the wide-brimmed hat is always described as smiling in a way that shows all his teeth. This, combined with what is implied to be a thin, almost bony body, implies that the man is actually The Grim Reaper who comes for the girls to usher them into the afterlife. Hidden Eyes: As she flees the wrath of the first wife's corpse, the second wife is now drawn with her eyes being replaced with creepy eyeshadows. This, combining with her previously immaculate hair coming undone, represents her trauma over her near-death experience and learning of the gruesome history between her husband and his first wife.

My Friend Janna": Yvonne and Janna are two close friends who have spent years pretending that they can talk to the spirits of the dead. But Yvonne actually can see what might be a ghost, and it appears to be haunting Janna. Through the Woods will dazzle you, seduce you, amaze you, delight and frighten and enchant you. What a talent. What a voice."--Mark Siegel, author of SAILOR TWAIN, OR THE MERMAID IN THE HUDSON Nameless Narrative: "A Lady's Hands Are Cold", "His Face All Red", and "In Conclusion" play this trope completely straight, as none of the characters get called by name. "In My Friend Janna", only Janna and the main character, Yvonne, get names. Other characters, such as Yvonne's sister or the people who come to see Janne the fake psychic go nameless. Only in "The Nesting Place" does every character who appears on screen get a name. Parting-Words Regret: Mary's denial over their father's death and stubborn refusal to leave for the neighbor's house sparks a heated argument between her and Beth that lasts into the night, and they go to bed angry with each other. Two days later, Mary dies, leaving behind Beth and Hannah. Hannah doesn't take it well and cries until the afternoon, while Beth silently braids her hair with a regretful look on her face. My Friend Janna follows two unlikely best friends; Janna is a medium, while the narrator of the tale helps Jana swindle the bereaved who come to her for answers from beyond the grave. Although this is, in my opinion, the weakest of the five stories, it’s still an effective supernatural ghost tale with an interesting twist of an ending.Break the Cutie: Being a young child, Hannah really doesn't take Mary disappearing/dying the night before very well and spends much of her time wailing. Beth notes there's no place in the house that would allow her to escape her sister's crying. Misplaced Retribution: The first wife tries murdering the second wife out of furious jealousy, believing the second wife replaced her as the husband's wife and rightful owner of the mansion they lived in. This is despite the fact that the second wife had nothing to do with her husband's crimes and only helped reassemble the first wife's corpse out of symapthy.

Minimalist Cast: Pretty much all the stories have an absolute bare minimum of characters who are depicted, named, or have spoken lines. Mary is a brunette who wears brown colors, which represents stability and a down-to-earth nature. Being the oldest sister, she was put in charge of looking after Beth and Hannah by their father before he left to go hunting. Ironically, it is Beth who takes charge, especially after Mary sinks into denial when they realize after the third day that their father died in the snowstorm.

More Teeth than the Osmond Family: As a girl, Bell's mother would tell her stories of such monsters. Bell never believed them. Monster Is a Mommy: "Rebecca" is actually a mass of worms inside Rebecca's stolen skin and wants Bell's skin for her children, so they can leave their spawning pool. Bell seizes on this and saves herself by horrifying the monster with stories of the dangers its children would face in the city. This book is a collection of five gothic horror scary stories beautifully illustrated. Each of them in one way or another is about the horrors that exist inside of a person, and the horrors we cannot see that are lurking for us in the dark whether literally or figuratively.