Title: Through the Woods
Author: Emily Carroll
Edition: Paperback
Page Count: 208 pages
Rating: 5 / 5 ✨✨✨✨✨
Short Summary:
Five mysterious, spine-tingling stories follow journeys into (and out of?) the eerie abyss.
These chilling tales spring from the macabre imagination of acclaimed and award-winning comic creator Emily Carroll.
Come take a walk in the woods and see what awaits you there…
“It came from the woods. Most strange things do.”
I’m going to be very honest here – I bought this book for my boyfriend as a Christmas gift, and had no idea what it was before seeing it on his wishlist. I’m a huge horror fan, and have an enormous comic collection, but somehow I totally missed the existence of Through the Woods and Emily Carroll’s creative storytelling. I’m glad my boyfriend has better taste than I do, ’cause this is one of my favorite reads of the year already.
The whimsical art style lends itself perfectly to the creepy, subtle dread that builds in the words on each page. The monotone quality to a lot of the art is accompanied by bright pops of color to add effect or emphasis, which really added to the spooky atmosphere created by each of the 5 tales included in the book. Carroll chooses her words very carefully, keeping things succinct without sacrificing impact – I found myself flipping pages quickly, curious & terrified to see what would happen next.
The writing has an almost fairy tale like quality, and parts of the book felt like they were being told through poems or songs. Melodic writing is another talent Carroll has, in addition to being able to evoke emotions like fear and dread from her artwork:
Overall, suffice it to say I’m obsessed and will be eagerly looking into everything else that Emily Carroll creates. I’d happily read 50 more books like this one!
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Wow that art work is awesome thanks for including it in your review, that looks like something I would love, I going to have to check it out.
I’m not a huge reader of illustrated books, but horror and fairytale-esque aesthetics are right up my street. I’ll definitely be getting myself a copy soon!
Emily Carroll is fantastic! I love her particular style of horror; her art just fits those eerie undertones of all the stories that she creates. Fingers crossed that I’ll pick up her second one, When I Arrived at the Castle, soon-ish!