What do you think?
Rate this book
Through the Woods
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Graphic Novels & Comics (2014)Discover a terrifying world in the woods in this collection of five hauntingly beautiful graphic stories that includes the online webcomic sensation “His Face All Red,” in print for the first time.
Journey through the woods in this sinister, compellingly spooky collection that features four brand-new stories and one phenomenally popular tale in print for the first time. These are fairy tales gone seriously wrong, where you can travel to “Our Neighbor’s House”—though coming back might be a problem. Or find yourself a young bride in a house that holds a terrible secret in “A Lady’s Hands Are Cold.” You might try to figure out what is haunting “My Friend Janna,” or discover that your brother’s fiancée may not be what she seems in “The Nesting Place.” And of course you must revisit the horror of “His Face All Red,” the breakout webcomic hit that has been gorgeously translated to the printed page.
Already revered for her work online, award-winning comic creator Emily Carroll’s stunning visual style and impeccable pacing is on grand display in this entrancing anthology, her print debut.
Journey through the woods in this sinister, compellingly spooky collection that features four brand-new stories and one phenomenally popular tale in print for the first time. These are fairy tales gone seriously wrong, where you can travel to “Our Neighbor’s House”—though coming back might be a problem. Or find yourself a young bride in a house that holds a terrible secret in “A Lady’s Hands Are Cold.” You might try to figure out what is haunting “My Friend Janna,” or discover that your brother’s fiancée may not be what she seems in “The Nesting Place.” And of course you must revisit the horror of “His Face All Red,” the breakout webcomic hit that has been gorgeously translated to the printed page.
Already revered for her work online, award-winning comic creator Emily Carroll’s stunning visual style and impeccable pacing is on grand display in this entrancing anthology, her print debut.
208 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2014
About the author
Emily Carroll
48 books2,116 followersE.M. Carroll was born in June 1983 in London, Ontario. They started making comics in 2010 and their horror comic "His Face All Red" went viral at Hallowe'en 2010.
Since then, E.M. has published several books, created comics for vanthologies, and provided illustrations for other works. E.M. has won several awards, including an Ignatz and two Eisners. They are married to fellow Canadian artist, Kate Craig.
Emily's work now uses the initials E.M. Carroll. Visit their growing exhibits at EMCarroll.com.
Since then, E.M. has published several books, created comics for vanthologies, and provided illustrations for other works. E.M. has won several awards, including an Ignatz and two Eisners. They are married to fellow Canadian artist, Kate Craig.
Emily's work now uses the initials E.M. Carroll. Visit their growing exhibits at EMCarroll.com.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 10,588 reviews
December 8, 2014
This book freaked my shit out.
Yeah. How's that for a blurb?
"This freaked my shit out."
- Patrick Rothfuss
The truth is, this book is amazing. I've read a lot of great comics this last year, and out of all of them, this is the one that had the most profound emotional effect on me.
It's not gory, or graphic. It's... unsettling. It's creepy. It's like the darkest of the old-school faerie tales.
I read it at night before I was going to go to bed. And when I was done, I was too unnerved to go to sleep. I had to read something else to settle myself down first.
Seriously. I'm 40 years old. And still this thing got to me.
Highly *highly* recommended.
Yeah. How's that for a blurb?
"This freaked my shit out."
- Patrick Rothfuss
The truth is, this book is amazing. I've read a lot of great comics this last year, and out of all of them, this is the one that had the most profound emotional effect on me.
It's not gory, or graphic. It's... unsettling. It's creepy. It's like the darkest of the old-school faerie tales.
I read it at night before I was going to go to bed. And when I was done, I was too unnerved to go to sleep. I had to read something else to settle myself down first.
Seriously. I'm 40 years old. And still this thing got to me.
Highly *highly* recommended.
August 31, 2015
I feel like this is something I will go back to and reread a few times, but I am slightly terrified to do so...
July 11, 2018
if i were judging this book solely on its artwork, it would be an easy five stars. there are five main stories, plus an introduction and a conclusion, each with their own style of illustration. it's not that i love them all equally, but i do generally appreciate range and variety :
in a way, it kind of reminded me of fear(s) of the dark, a film in which several different illustrators bring their own brand of creepy to life through unique animation stylings:
this book is obviously more limited in its range because it is all coming from a single imagination, but as far as artwork goes, i dig it
however, the stories were mostly just okay.
they are definitely not scary, or weren't to me anyway, and they fall more on the side of "atmospheric" or "ominous" than "you will never sleep again."
which, considering this is meant as a YA book is probably for the best, but i'm still looking for my big scare, and i fear it will never come.
which is totally the wrong kind of fear.
an introduction
this is just a little tease, not so much a story as a setting of the mood for what is to come.
our neighbor's house
this one feels very familiar. there's an olde timey new england vibe to it, and while i don't think it's actually based on anything, it feels like a mashup of a bunch of different stories, like something that would be read aloud in a spoooooky voice during a haunted hayride right before costumed people come running out of the woods all clawing and moaning to the delighted shrieks of girl scouts. makes me want to drink warm cider.
a lady's hands are cold
this had probably my favorite artwork of the bunch
and i enjoyed the way it exploded offa the page
and it's also in the running for top story (along with our neighbor's house). this one reads more like a fairy tale than the others; a little hint of bluebeard but with fewer wives, more property damage, and much less gratitude.
his face all red
i'm honestly not sure what happened in this one. maybe i'm missing some subtlety, but near as i can figure, this is the story arc:
-spooky tease/declaration
-backtrack
-story story story
-action!
-repercussions of action
-spooky happenings
-investigation
-confirmation that previous action! occurred
-the end
i don't understand this at all. there's an expectation of some kind of twist or reveal, but instead the ending is like someone going through the house on their way to bed: yup, door's locked, stove's off, cat has water, everything is where i thought it was...
what am i missing?
my friend janna
this has the bones of a very traditional ghost story, but there's just too much story around what could have been a genuinely spooky read if it didn't meander so much. i think horror works best when it is streamlined, when there's ambiguity left over for the reader to fill in with their own worst imaginings and also when the journey is straight and fast and decisive like a gunshot or a thunderclap. this one is so frontloaded with unfocused exposition at the beginning that you get lulled into what is ultimately a very gentle horror. i think the illustrations work particularly well in conjunction with this story, but i also think it would have been much more effective if it were whittled down a bit.
the nesting place
another one - no idea, really, what's going on here. i mean, i understand the basic plot, but it's the details that leave me head-scratching. the prologue seems to suggest that the ... situation is location-specific, but that's clearly not the case, nor is it familial, although it tangentially affects a family over generations, and i know what i JUST SAID about ambiguity being good for horror, but how does that ending work? is it both? or migrated? and aren't they going to the very same city that was effective as a threat and avoided on the previous page? i don't understaaaaaand!
in conclusion
this is another little shorty - the urban legend rim shot to end end the collection on a pop. it's a little red riding hood offshoot whose zinger is pretty much the same shape as this joke that i am spoiler tagging for people who don't think pedophile jokes are ever funny:
different punch line, but the same basic "gotcha!" energy.
i'm giving it a four because i did like the artwork, but the stories themselves are pretty patchy, so i'm being a bit generous here.
dear books - please be scarier for me!
come to my blog!
September 15, 2015
A set of five short little horror stories.
Everyone loves this book.
Everyone says don't read these at dark.
I thought I would flip out over this book.
I didn't.
I think I may not be the target audience for something like this.
I'm not really a fan of short stories. At least the ones that have no definite endings.
It does have some awesome artwork though. I think if I had read these when I was a teenager I went have went bonkers over them. But my old jaded ass just didn't care for it now because it takes more than spaghetti head to scare me now.
Reviewer Spotlight: Where I spotlight one of my friends that deserve attention and who doesn't attention seek with the review bumps.
My friend Cameron is a reviewer that does the video reviews on youtube. I have no clue why he is not at the top of that game because he is one of the best at it that I've seen.
Everyone loves this book.
Everyone says don't read these at dark.
I thought I would flip out over this book.
I didn't.
I think I may not be the target audience for something like this.
I'm not really a fan of short stories. At least the ones that have no definite endings.
It does have some awesome artwork though. I think if I had read these when I was a teenager I went have went bonkers over them. But my old jaded ass just didn't care for it now because it takes more than spaghetti head to scare me now.
Reviewer Spotlight: Where I spotlight one of my friends that deserve attention and who doesn't attention seek with the review bumps.
My friend Cameron is a reviewer that does the video reviews on youtube. I have no clue why he is not at the top of that game because he is one of the best at it that I've seen.
April 4, 2020
Book 24 of 30 for my 30 day reading challenge.
https://youtu.be/8CA3Ep_Z1-g
https://youtu.be/8CA3Ep_Z1-g
October 8, 2015
Loved the illustrations but didn't love the stories as much unfortunately :/
October 8, 2022
11/11/18: I reread this book because I reviewed and shared some of Emily Carroll's free short stories here for Halloween, and because I read Speak: The Graphic Novel, which she illustrated for Laurie Halse Anderson. Now, more than two years after I initially read it, I am feeling Carroll's groove. I wasn't as appreciative as I am now. I think she is one of the truly talented and smart and entertaining horror illustrators out there.
1/29/15 (edited a bit for clarity): This did creep me out. The stories are good and unsettling. I am rereading Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which is better on many levels, but this is also very good. Focused on images, of course. Initially I thought the kind of wild and splashy art actually undermined the creep-factor in places, it calls attention to itself a little too much, at times? I wasn't sure of her audience, really--is it kids? ya? adults? But when some sort of spaghetti-like material emerges from the dead but animated woman in one of the last stories, I am hooked. I am the audience.
I initially got this from the library, because I have way too many books (points to a life of book hoarding), but I have done the rare thing, for me, now, I bought it and am increasingly digging this woman's approach to horror. I think a lot of kids (and adults) will like it, too. I know we all are going to see a lot more of Emily Carroll's work in the future.
1/29/15 (edited a bit for clarity): This did creep me out. The stories are good and unsettling. I am rereading Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which is better on many levels, but this is also very good. Focused on images, of course. Initially I thought the kind of wild and splashy art actually undermined the creep-factor in places, it calls attention to itself a little too much, at times? I wasn't sure of her audience, really--is it kids? ya? adults? But when some sort of spaghetti-like material emerges from the dead but animated woman in one of the last stories, I am hooked. I am the audience.
I initially got this from the library, because I have way too many books (points to a life of book hoarding), but I have done the rare thing, for me, now, I bought it and am increasingly digging this woman's approach to horror. I think a lot of kids (and adults) will like it, too. I know we all are going to see a lot more of Emily Carroll's work in the future.
August 26, 2022
Vlog/Review: https://youtu.be/p2CBjnqf6Gs
This is what I keep wanting out of Junji Ito.
It's like a fairytale mange written by Edgar Allen Poe.
Read this quote and tell me you don't want to read this book...
"Oh, but you must travel through those woods again and again" said a shadow at the window "and you must be lucky to avoid the wolf every time...But the wolf... the wolf only needs enough luck to find you once.”
This is what I keep wanting out of Junji Ito.
It's like a fairytale mange written by Edgar Allen Poe.
Read this quote and tell me you don't want to read this book...
"Oh, but you must travel through those woods again and again" said a shadow at the window "and you must be lucky to avoid the wolf every time...But the wolf... the wolf only needs enough luck to find you once.”
November 3, 2020
4.5 stars*
November 5, 2020
A haunting, chilling and festive perfect graphic book I am ready to read next Halloween and every other Halloween from here on!!♥️✨
July 20, 2015
Definitely one of the creepiest books I've ever read - SHOULD NOT HAVE READ IT AT NIGHT.
The art was beautiful and the stories were really great. Honestly, some of them, while being creepy, could be a metaphor for mental illness/depression (in a twisted way, yes, but still metaphors) which I found really interesting. Overall a really compelling read with a lot of different elements - most of them being TERRIFYING.
DEFINITELY LEARN FROM ME AND DON'T READ THIS BOOK AT NIGHT OMG.
The art was beautiful and the stories were really great. Honestly, some of them, while being creepy, could be a metaphor for mental illness/depression (in a twisted way, yes, but still metaphors) which I found really interesting. Overall a really compelling read with a lot of different elements - most of them being TERRIFYING.
DEFINITELY LEARN FROM ME AND DON'T READ THIS BOOK AT NIGHT OMG.
Read
October 16, 2019A very creepy collection of short horror comics. Perfect for the Halloween season!
November 1, 2015
That wasn't nearly as scary as I was expecting. The art is beautiful though. I love the color palettes she chose for each story; they work very well together. They read like spooky folk tales, and while I wasn't particularly scared by them, they are rather creepy. I felt like a few of the stories ended too abruptly though. I would love for the author to make a longer, single scary story and really expand on what she has here. There wasn't much dialogue either so it goes by really quickly and relies on the images to deliver the fright. It was fun to read, but not particularly memorable to me.
April 8, 2017
I haven't bought books to 'write off'.....but I actually could. In the guest room of of our Airbnb.... I have a book shelf. I like to leave books for our guests to enjoy while they stay with us. We don't offer a TV in the room. We've been getting a lot of return guests ---people who come to town for business-and enjoy staying in our little retreat oasis- private quiet - their own warm pool and sauna.
I've been getting feedback on the books I leave out - so I keep rotating them for repeat 'friends'. I bought this graphic book because it can be read in one sitting --it's 'for' adults -'not' children .....and the graphics themselves are sooooo exceptional that even if not all 5 stories are phenomenal.... this book is enjoyable to read and LOOK AT!!!!
I liked the first story very much -- called "Our Neighbor's House". It was definitely creepy, not super scary....a little puzzling. I wasn't sure it was believable at all.... but I liked it a lot and the illustrations heightened the story - a perfect match.
I liked the other 4 stories - but I liked the illustrations even more. I think there is something in this book for everybody. And if you get out of a hot tub - and are lazy tired -- and simply want to look through a book that captures your attention which is 'gorgeous' to look at and touch..... this book does the trick.
Nice guest book ---
Taking more suggestions for a few 'guest books' .....I'm all ears!!!
Graphic stories with warmth - lovely photos -- I've already got some lovely 'art' books - of women's bodies - aging women - - great colorful yoga books - and so on... looking for new ideas...
Looking for more fun reading for guests!!!
Note: As the owner of the house - I get to read them too... what else is great????
I've been getting feedback on the books I leave out - so I keep rotating them for repeat 'friends'. I bought this graphic book because it can be read in one sitting --it's 'for' adults -'not' children .....and the graphics themselves are sooooo exceptional that even if not all 5 stories are phenomenal.... this book is enjoyable to read and LOOK AT!!!!
I liked the first story very much -- called "Our Neighbor's House". It was definitely creepy, not super scary....a little puzzling. I wasn't sure it was believable at all.... but I liked it a lot and the illustrations heightened the story - a perfect match.
I liked the other 4 stories - but I liked the illustrations even more. I think there is something in this book for everybody. And if you get out of a hot tub - and are lazy tired -- and simply want to look through a book that captures your attention which is 'gorgeous' to look at and touch..... this book does the trick.
Nice guest book ---
Taking more suggestions for a few 'guest books' .....I'm all ears!!!
Graphic stories with warmth - lovely photos -- I've already got some lovely 'art' books - of women's bodies - aging women - - great colorful yoga books - and so on... looking for new ideas...
Looking for more fun reading for guests!!!
Note: As the owner of the house - I get to read them too... what else is great????
February 15, 2021
If there’s such thing as falling in love at first sight with graphics, I think I just experienced it.
No, really. How am I supposed to rate this beautiful set of short stories? I would give it 5 stars solely for the art. The temptation is real, trust me. As it is, I’m going to do some magic average trick and call it a day. Here we go.
No surprise here, of course the art deserves all the stars! If Emily Carroll uses different techniques in each short story, I can safely say that I loved every one of them.
From the colors and brushes to the fonts used to relate her stories, she shows so much talent that I’m let in awe. I want more. I am definitely a fangirl now. This is such a weird feeling for me O_o.
See, none of these stories really gave me goosebumps, yet I can’t deny that my heart pounding increased as I was getting closer to each story end… In that aspect, this is a real success. Who needs to be scared to death anyway? Certainly not me. Unsettled, though…
Concerning my involvement and interest in the plots, I have to admit that it was rather uneven. If two of the short stories were definitive 5 stars – the neighbor hat and the nesting place – others let me perplexed, especially because every one of them ended on a cliffhanger, which wasn’t always well-handled in my opinion. While it made me think and created a great shock factor, I was lost sometimes. I mean, perhaps I’m stupid (it is possible) but I didn’t understand everything, to be honest. I must reread it, but really, the lady with cold hands? HUH? Someone explains this ending to me?
Yet I was enthralled from the very first page, which is pretty rare when it comes to graphic novels. Captivating indeed.
OVERALL RATING : 4 stars
For more of my reviews, please visit:
August 18, 2018
LOVED THE FIRST 2 STORIES:)
Full review to come!
Full review to come!
February 7, 2017
I want to panel my bedroom with the pages from this book - although that might disturb visitors.
I adored the imagery and writing as a whole, but for over half of the stories, I felt the endings fell a bit flat.
I adored the imagery and writing as a whole, but for over half of the stories, I felt the endings fell a bit flat.
December 15, 2017
Loved this!!! PERFECT book to read near Halloween!!!
May 24, 2020
This is a creepy collection of five graphic short stories by Emily Carroll. I think my favorite was “A Lady’s Hands are Cold” out of the five, but all were quite good and equally disturbing. I plan to revisit this hauntingly gorgeous collection again closer to Halloween.
These are like dark fairy tales. If I were to rate this for the illustrations alone, I’d give it five stars. Something I didn’t like was that a few of the endings were abrupt which leaves you drawing your own conclusions.
4****
These are like dark fairy tales. If I were to rate this for the illustrations alone, I’d give it five stars. Something I didn’t like was that a few of the endings were abrupt which leaves you drawing your own conclusions.
4****
July 16, 2017
This is my favorite art out of any graphic novel i've ever read! Although sometimes I was confused during this, I loved how I was so creeped out that I was nervous to turn the page. Honestly I would highly recommend this graphic novel because it's so neat. I thought I wouldn't like it because it's individual short stories, but I was wrong!
January 18, 2023
A creepy little book with creepy little stories. I loved the artwork, it was stunning. Short stories aren't my thing in general, and while I liked the horror aspects I can tell this book is going to be a bit forgettable in the long run.
January 12, 2016
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
THIS BOOK IS SO COOL, CREEPY, AND GREAT GRAPHICS!
I'm going to do each little story so here we go......
OUR NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE
One day a father of three girls says he's going out hunting, he told the girls that if he didn't come back in three days to go to the neighbor's house. I'm thinking they should have done what he said. Now I'm not sure if the same thing would have happened, but still...
Since they decided to stay there, the next day one of the sisters said a man came to the door the night before, and the next day....the sister... is gone..
This is one of my favorite stories and I just really wish we could have found out what was exactly inside that house at the end!
A LADY'S COLD HANDS
This girl's father marries her off to this man and she moves into his manor. Well, she gets waken up every night hearing some singing.
She decides to search the house while her husband is away and finds a creepy discovery. When her husband gets home she gets the hell out of dodge and leaves behind.....
HIS FACE ALL RED
This one is about a brother who kills his brother or does he, what happened?
They were just going into the woods to kill a monster, but what happened and who is the monster really!
MY FRIEND JANNA
This girl Janna used to speak to ghosts but it wasn't for real, she was scamming people. But her friend really did see ghosts.
Now her friend Janna is haunted and where did she go.....
THE NESTING PLACE
This one is thoroughly creepy. Bell's mother tells her all these scary stories when she was young and when her mom passes away she has to go and live with her brother and fiancee, but something just isn't right.....
Her mother once told her the worst kind of monster was a burrowing monster.... yeah I would agree this is a really creepy monster I would not want to meet!
IN CONCLUSION
This is the story of a girl who lived at the edge of a forest and I'm guessing that is her father's house because he tells her to be careful of the woods on the way to her moms house because of the wolves.
She thinks she made it to her moms house and is safe in bed... or is she....
I loved all of these little stories and I'm going to be buying this one for sure! It's just the right amount of creep and I want some more books from this author like this, where are they? Are there any? Tell me!
THIS BOOK IS SO COOL, CREEPY, AND GREAT GRAPHICS!
I'm going to do each little story so here we go......
OUR NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE
One day a father of three girls says he's going out hunting, he told the girls that if he didn't come back in three days to go to the neighbor's house. I'm thinking they should have done what he said. Now I'm not sure if the same thing would have happened, but still...
Since they decided to stay there, the next day one of the sisters said a man came to the door the night before, and the next day....the sister... is gone..
This is one of my favorite stories and I just really wish we could have found out what was exactly inside that house at the end!
A LADY'S COLD HANDS
This girl's father marries her off to this man and she moves into his manor. Well, she gets waken up every night hearing some singing.
She decides to search the house while her husband is away and finds a creepy discovery. When her husband gets home she gets the hell out of dodge and leaves behind.....
HIS FACE ALL RED
This one is about a brother who kills his brother or does he, what happened?
They were just going into the woods to kill a monster, but what happened and who is the monster really!
MY FRIEND JANNA
This girl Janna used to speak to ghosts but it wasn't for real, she was scamming people. But her friend really did see ghosts.
Now her friend Janna is haunted and where did she go.....
THE NESTING PLACE
This one is thoroughly creepy. Bell's mother tells her all these scary stories when she was young and when her mom passes away she has to go and live with her brother and fiancee, but something just isn't right.....
Her mother once told her the worst kind of monster was a burrowing monster.... yeah I would agree this is a really creepy monster I would not want to meet!
IN CONCLUSION
This is the story of a girl who lived at the edge of a forest and I'm guessing that is her father's house because he tells her to be careful of the woods on the way to her moms house because of the wolves.
She thinks she made it to her moms house and is safe in bed... or is she....
I loved all of these little stories and I'm going to be buying this one for sure! It's just the right amount of creep and I want some more books from this author like this, where are they? Are there any? Tell me!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 19, 2015
I’m looking through a window at some trees in the early evening, the trees becoming darker and darker, and I feel something despite myself - the DNA starts moving, remembering a time when the darkness of the trees meant danger. Emily Carroll plays off of those primal fears in the folkish horror stories of Through the Woods, which also warns “It came from the woods. Most strange things do.”
The first story, Our Neighbor’s House, loosely riffs on Red Riding Hood as a trio of sisters are left by their father in their house in the middle of the snow-laden woods. If he doesn’t return in three days, they’re to grab some food and head to their neighbor. He doesn’t return. And a terrifying figure who wears a wide brimmed hat and never stops smiling is waiting outside for the girls…
It’s a helluva start to the book which sets a standard that the other stories unfortunately don’t match with each one becoming slightly less inspired than the last. They’re all good stories but none measure up to the chilling brilliance of Our Neighbor’s House.
Carroll riffs on the classic fairy tale, Bluebeard, in A Lady’s Hands are Cold, as the new bride of a nobleman hears the haunting cries of a woman throughout the castle at night. The horror is built up really well to a point that feels a bit like the ending of The Shining.
His Face All Red begins a theme that’ll last for the next three tales, namely the idea of someone - or something - possessing your body, wearing it like a meat puppet and undergoing a complete personality change (maybe she’s so fearful of this because someone in Carroll’s family had Alzheimer’s?). Two brothers, one a hero, one forgotten, go into the woods to kill the monster terrorising the village - not realising the monsters were never on the outside.
My Friend Janna is about two girls who decide to exploit the superstitions of others by pretending to speak to the dead. The Nesting Place is about a girl who goes to her brother’s house in the country and discovers his wife has a terrible secret. It’s MR James crossed with HP Lovecraft!
Comics are a unique medium where words and pictures play off each other to tell a story; the great ones have a perfect balance between the two. If I have one criticism of Carroll’s comics - and it really is just one - it’s that the stories feel underwritten with Carroll leaning a bit too much on the imagery to tell the story. Ironically, it ends up making some of the characters feel like the puppets they fear they’ll become rather than rounded, believable characters.
Saying that the art is too much of a towering presence in comparison to the writing is a minor critique though that won’t bother many people. That’s because the art is so gorgeous! The final story I haven’t mentioned, In Conclusion, is straight up Red Riding Hood and has some stunning splash pages that look like concept art for the movie Avatar’s alien planet Pandora - using purple to colour trees and rocks at night? What a choice and it really pays off!
The blues and yellows of A Lady’s Hands are Cold are made all the more powerful for not being colours you’d associate with a horror story, and the spare use of red against the black and white of Our Neighbor’s House is brilliant. The lines are very confident and the layouts are very imaginative, alternating between panels of varying sizes to free-flowing imagery.
The more successful stories - Our Neighbor’s House and His Face All Red - are effective because the horror is less explicit/understandable. It’s almost more threatening to the reader that if you don’t know what the danger is by story’s end, it could happen to you. The less scary stories are conversely the ones that show you the horror straight up which I always find unsatisfying, and that’s the case here.
Through the Woods is an excellent collection of fantastical horror stories with a strong fairy-tale theme, almost like a comics adaptation of some of Angela Carter’s stories from The Bloody Chamber. Delightfully creepy reading guaranteed - read them at night in a room with no curtains where the tree branches can cast some interesting shadows in the moonlight… mwahahahaha!
The first story, Our Neighbor’s House, loosely riffs on Red Riding Hood as a trio of sisters are left by their father in their house in the middle of the snow-laden woods. If he doesn’t return in three days, they’re to grab some food and head to their neighbor. He doesn’t return. And a terrifying figure who wears a wide brimmed hat and never stops smiling is waiting outside for the girls…
It’s a helluva start to the book which sets a standard that the other stories unfortunately don’t match with each one becoming slightly less inspired than the last. They’re all good stories but none measure up to the chilling brilliance of Our Neighbor’s House.
Carroll riffs on the classic fairy tale, Bluebeard, in A Lady’s Hands are Cold, as the new bride of a nobleman hears the haunting cries of a woman throughout the castle at night. The horror is built up really well to a point that feels a bit like the ending of The Shining.
His Face All Red begins a theme that’ll last for the next three tales, namely the idea of someone - or something - possessing your body, wearing it like a meat puppet and undergoing a complete personality change (maybe she’s so fearful of this because someone in Carroll’s family had Alzheimer’s?). Two brothers, one a hero, one forgotten, go into the woods to kill the monster terrorising the village - not realising the monsters were never on the outside.
My Friend Janna is about two girls who decide to exploit the superstitions of others by pretending to speak to the dead. The Nesting Place is about a girl who goes to her brother’s house in the country and discovers his wife has a terrible secret. It’s MR James crossed with HP Lovecraft!
Comics are a unique medium where words and pictures play off each other to tell a story; the great ones have a perfect balance between the two. If I have one criticism of Carroll’s comics - and it really is just one - it’s that the stories feel underwritten with Carroll leaning a bit too much on the imagery to tell the story. Ironically, it ends up making some of the characters feel like the puppets they fear they’ll become rather than rounded, believable characters.
Saying that the art is too much of a towering presence in comparison to the writing is a minor critique though that won’t bother many people. That’s because the art is so gorgeous! The final story I haven’t mentioned, In Conclusion, is straight up Red Riding Hood and has some stunning splash pages that look like concept art for the movie Avatar’s alien planet Pandora - using purple to colour trees and rocks at night? What a choice and it really pays off!
The blues and yellows of A Lady’s Hands are Cold are made all the more powerful for not being colours you’d associate with a horror story, and the spare use of red against the black and white of Our Neighbor’s House is brilliant. The lines are very confident and the layouts are very imaginative, alternating between panels of varying sizes to free-flowing imagery.
The more successful stories - Our Neighbor’s House and His Face All Red - are effective because the horror is less explicit/understandable. It’s almost more threatening to the reader that if you don’t know what the danger is by story’s end, it could happen to you. The less scary stories are conversely the ones that show you the horror straight up which I always find unsatisfying, and that’s the case here.
Through the Woods is an excellent collection of fantastical horror stories with a strong fairy-tale theme, almost like a comics adaptation of some of Angela Carter’s stories from The Bloody Chamber. Delightfully creepy reading guaranteed - read them at night in a room with no curtains where the tree branches can cast some interesting shadows in the moonlight… mwahahahaha!
May 18, 2018
Just finished this and I'm honestly so disappointed. The art was gorgeous but I didn't like ANY of the stories. I feel like they ended right when I started enjoying them. Ugh. Womp x10000
January 9, 2019
This one is as darkly beautiful as it is beautifully dark. What more can a nefarious tyrant with a penchant for all things aesthetic ask for, I wonder? Not much, methinks. Not bloody shrimping much.
The graphics and colors are scrumptiously delicious and deliciously scrumptious.
Damn, the whole thing is so magnificently done even the fonts are yummy as shrimp. (Which is slightly outrageous, if you ask me.)
Then there's the Sometimes Creepy Something Spooky Sometimes Serie Stuff (SCS⁵™).
There are hatchet-wielding damsels indistress lovely yellow dresses.
And friendly flappers with, errr, problematic dental hygiene.
Then there are Somewhat Shook Up Maidens (SSUM™) who should stay at home and play whist or sew or embroider or some other fascinating occupation of the sort (like any proper, self-respecting, young Regency lady) instead of pretending she can speak to the dead and stuff.
Oops.
(“Serves the silly girl right,” is reported to have said Mrs Bennett when she heard of poor Janna's demise.)
Things gobump
sshkhhcsshkks
in the night.
Madame Beauchamp? I wouldn’t bet on it, darling child.
Some puny humans have trouble sleeping. (I’d read Historical Romance, if I were them. Best cure for insomnia, if you ask me.) Either because they did slightly horrible stuff and deserve NOT to succumb to sweet slumber for the rest of the entirety of their entire life…
…Or because they are revoltingly innocent little children with super cool, affectionate andnot-so-imaginary friends who love to stay up and chat with them at night.
My my, Big Bad, what beautifully, healthy teeth you have! Mind having a word with Ms Flapper of the Dubious Dental Hygiene up there? Pretty sure she’d love to have your dentist’s number and stuff.
All in all, I think you could say that all the lovely stories in this collection are heart-warming tales of affection, kindness, good humor, warmth, conviviality and happiness. Ergo, the perfect Christmas gift. QED and stuff.
The graphics and colors are scrumptiously delicious and deliciously scrumptious.
Damn, the whole thing is so magnificently done even the fonts are yummy as shrimp. (Which is slightly outrageous, if you ask me.)
Then there's the Sometimes Creepy Something Spooky Sometimes Serie Stuff (SCS⁵™).
There are hatchet-wielding damsels in
And friendly flappers with, errr, problematic dental hygiene.
Then there are Somewhat Shook Up Maidens (SSUM™) who should stay at home and play whist or sew or embroider or some other fascinating occupation of the sort (like any proper, self-respecting, young Regency lady) instead of pretending she can speak to the dead and stuff.
Oops.
(“Serves the silly girl right,” is reported to have said Mrs Bennett when she heard of poor Janna's demise.)
Things go
Madame Beauchamp? I wouldn’t bet on it, darling child.
Some puny humans have trouble sleeping. (I’d read Historical Romance, if I were them. Best cure for insomnia, if you ask me.) Either because they did slightly horrible stuff and deserve NOT to succumb to sweet slumber for the rest of the entirety of their entire life…
…Or because they are revoltingly innocent little children with super cool, affectionate and
My my, Big Bad, what beautifully, healthy teeth you have! Mind having a word with Ms Flapper of the Dubious Dental Hygiene up there? Pretty sure she’d love to have your dentist’s number and stuff.
All in all, I think you could say that all the lovely stories in this collection are heart-warming tales of affection, kindness, good humor, warmth, conviviality and happiness. Ergo, the perfect Christmas gift. QED and stuff.
November 30, 2019
This book is an anthology of horror stories, told in graphic novel form. Horror is my favorite genre, and my favorite medium for it is the graphic novel, so I ended up reading this in one sitting. All the stories found herein had an eerily creepy feel to them, and the artwork matched the tone of it perfectly. The only reason I chose four instead of five stars is because, within the horror world, vague endings are just not my thing. Unhappy endings are perfectly fine, but I'm not a fan of ambiguous ones. So I do highly recommend this to anyone who loves horror, graphic novels, short stories, unconventional endings, or monster tales. Enjoy!
February 9, 2017
Horror stories done stark and right, minimalist and tear-your-face-off creepy.
Seriously. I think I only like one of the five stories, but I loved the other four. Crazy solid scares, and now I've got a good book to read to my daughter once she finally stops needing to sleep with the light on.
After all, we can't have our children growing up unafraid, now can we?
(Puts on a wide brimmed hat and grins in such a way that all of his teeth gleam like piano keys.)
Right?
But my favorite story of all was the one that was told to the monster. How hella cool was that? Totally awesome. :)
This is by far the most solid all-around tale(s) of horror I've ever read in a comic. Others might have a lot more creativity, strange plots, more odd characters, but this one excels in doing one thing extremely right:
Scaring you.
Bravo. :)
Seriously. I think I only like one of the five stories, but I loved the other four. Crazy solid scares, and now I've got a good book to read to my daughter once she finally stops needing to sleep with the light on.
After all, we can't have our children growing up unafraid, now can we?
(Puts on a wide brimmed hat and grins in such a way that all of his teeth gleam like piano keys.)
Right?
But my favorite story of all was the one that was told to the monster. How hella cool was that? Totally awesome. :)
This is by far the most solid all-around tale(s) of horror I've ever read in a comic. Others might have a lot more creativity, strange plots, more odd characters, but this one excels in doing one thing extremely right:
Scaring you.
Bravo. :)
August 27, 2015
I'd heard this graphic novel was creepy, but I don't think I'd realised just how creepy. I probably should have guessed when it said it was perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman.
A collection of horror stories that all feature that epitome of childhood creepiness - the woods. The artwork style, simplistic and almost child-like adds to the tension, and Emily Carroll is not afraid of some blood and gore in her illustrations.
This is a definite recommendation for fans of darker graphic novels, horror and especially for Halloween-time reads.
A collection of horror stories that all feature that epitome of childhood creepiness - the woods. The artwork style, simplistic and almost child-like adds to the tension, and Emily Carroll is not afraid of some blood and gore in her illustrations.
This is a definite recommendation for fans of darker graphic novels, horror and especially for Halloween-time reads.
August 28, 2022
Simply beautiful - so haunting, eerie and atmospheric.
February 7, 2016
Some background: I picked up this little beauty at Drawn & Quarterly in Montreal, an amazing bookshop specialising in graphic novels and comics, and when I bought it the cashier told me, "This book is really good." Cool, I thought, that's a good recommendation. But then I read the book and let me tell you that is the understatement of the freaking century.
This book is not just really good. It is fantastic. It is dark and creepy and weird and beautiful and artistic and everything you'd want from a fairy tale, a horror story, and a graphic novel all rolled into one. And since it is so wonderful and I can't talk about the book as a whole without devolving into rampant, incoherent praise, I'm going to review each of the stories in Through the Woods separately, and in the order they appear.
An Introduction
★★★★★
While not technically a story, this introduction sets the tone for the rest of the collection. The author, Emily Carroll, talks about how she used to read at night as a child, by the light of a lamp clipped onto her headboard. She imagined that there were things waiting for her in the dark beyond the beam of light, things would grab her and pull her down if she let them. In a way, the rest of the book is about all those things waiting in the darkness.
Our Neighbor's House
★★★★★
A really strong opening which elicited my first "WHOA". This tale of three sisters, Mary, Beth, and Hannah, in a cold, lonely cabin and what becomes of them is stark, simple, and marvellously scary. It's a feat because we never actually get to see the villain, and we never truly know what becomes of our three sisters, but the ending gives a sense of closure all the same. There's a mounting sense of dread running through the story, culminating in the moment when
This was also my first immersion into Carroll's artwork, which is stunningly beautiful. Most of her stories take place in the winter, and the dark woods, enormous snow drifts, and tiny cabin are really beautiful imagery for My Neighbor's House.
A Lady's Hands are Cold
★★★★★
"And then it settled into her bones. Every night, that song (that wail) until the girl's insides were clotted with cold heartache."
Many of the stories in this collection read like warped fairy tales, this one especially so. A woman is arranged to marry a rich man and life seems to be going well- she has several handmaids, antique jewellery, fancy gowns, a huge mansion. But every night she hears a strange, keening song emanating from the very house itself, which leads to the dark heart of the story, and the secrets that both her husband and the mansion are hiding. Think Bluebeard, but darker, weirder, and cooler.
My absolute favourite part about this tale is the last page, when everything finally clicks and you realise, without needing to be told, that Beware, friends- this is one of the gorier stories, as it depicts dismembered limbs and reanimated corpses and such. But it's never overly gory.
His Face All Red
★★★★☆
"But three days later my brother came from the woods. (Most strange things do.) The joy. The joy on all their faces... but it couldn't be him. It couldn't be."
Most strange things come from the woods. Beasts, madmen, and occasionally something...
...darker.
This is a pretty open-ended story, not everything is explained, but that's the case with most of the tales in Through the Woods. If you're the type of reader who needs everything to be explained and figured out, then you might be irritated by this book, and especially this story. But if you're like me and you can enjoy a good story without needing to know all of its secrets, you'll love this. Part of the creepiness in this collection emanates from the unknowns in every story, and how one must use one's imagination to fill in the deliberate blanks.
But, getting back to this one. It's the story of two brothers, a beast, a hole, and what happens in the darkness of the woods when nobody else is around. Plus, Mrs. Carroll has it posted on her website, so you can read it for free here!
My Friend Janna
★★★☆☆
"I admit, at the time, we thought it a splendid diversion. Because I was what waited within the walls of Janna's mother's house. No ghosts, no spirits. No demons. 'Are you there, O visitors? O otherworldly things, O creatures of the faraway darkness!'
Me, who would scratch and kick when I heard my cue. Me, who would shake the plates from the wall."
While I really liked the premise- two friends, Janna and Yvonne, who trick their neighbours into thinking that Janna can speak to the dead- I wasn't crazy about the execution. I was never really sure why, or how, or by what And while I loved reading Janna's nonsensical notes, I wish they were explained more than just "Oh well Janna's gone bonkers look at this stupid stuff she's written".
The Nesting Place
★★★☆☆
Mabel, nicknamed Bell, spends summer vacation at her older brother's house, ringed by ominous woods she's been warned to stay out of and an unsettling feeling from the cook, Madame Beauchamp, and Bell's brother's mysteriously cheery wife, Rebecca.
This story is remarkable because it reads a lot like a book condensed into a few pages. It has a great plot, characters with backstories, mysteries, twists, and, in keeping with the theme, monsters. In fact, I loved the monsters in this one, because I've always been a fan of monsters that burrow deep within you and whom you don't realise are there until it's too late. They're the scariest kind, in my opinion, and they're the ones that grace the freakish pages of The Nesting Place.
So why only three stars, then? Well... I just didn't get it. It felt like it had been building up to a bigger reveal then the typical This is definitely the goriest story, though, so be warned. There's some pretty startling imagery, such as: Yeah. Ick.
In Conclusion
★★★★★
A really, really wonderful and short conclusion in the vein of Little Red Riding Hood, which closes up the collection with this amazing quote:
On this book as a whole, I have to agree with J. Caleb Mozzocco, who wrote in his review that, "Through the Woods is thus a completely 21st-century form used to tell new stories that read as if they could have been centuries old." And while I would love to say that this hauntingly beautiful collection is perfect for Halloween, I would really recommend reading it in the cold of winter, when the darkness of the woods and the things that wait within can truly come to life.
P.S. Also! Emily Carroll has a bunch of other cool stuff on her website, my favourite being an interactive comic/story called Margot's Room
P.P.S. This book pairs incredibly well with the song In the Woods Somewhere by Hozier. They are perfect together.
This book is not just really good. It is fantastic. It is dark and creepy and weird and beautiful and artistic and everything you'd want from a fairy tale, a horror story, and a graphic novel all rolled into one. And since it is so wonderful and I can't talk about the book as a whole without devolving into rampant, incoherent praise, I'm going to review each of the stories in Through the Woods separately, and in the order they appear.
An Introduction
★★★★★
While not technically a story, this introduction sets the tone for the rest of the collection. The author, Emily Carroll, talks about how she used to read at night as a child, by the light of a lamp clipped onto her headboard. She imagined that there were things waiting for her in the dark beyond the beam of light, things would grab her and pull her down if she let them. In a way, the rest of the book is about all those things waiting in the darkness.
Our Neighbor's House
★★★★★
A really strong opening which elicited my first "WHOA". This tale of three sisters, Mary, Beth, and Hannah, in a cold, lonely cabin and what becomes of them is stark, simple, and marvellously scary. It's a feat because we never actually get to see the villain, and we never truly know what becomes of our three sisters, but the ending gives a sense of closure all the same. There's a mounting sense of dread running through the story, culminating in the moment when
This was also my first immersion into Carroll's artwork, which is stunningly beautiful. Most of her stories take place in the winter, and the dark woods, enormous snow drifts, and tiny cabin are really beautiful imagery for My Neighbor's House.
A Lady's Hands are Cold
★★★★★
"And then it settled into her bones. Every night, that song (that wail) until the girl's insides were clotted with cold heartache."
Many of the stories in this collection read like warped fairy tales, this one especially so. A woman is arranged to marry a rich man and life seems to be going well- she has several handmaids, antique jewellery, fancy gowns, a huge mansion. But every night she hears a strange, keening song emanating from the very house itself, which leads to the dark heart of the story, and the secrets that both her husband and the mansion are hiding. Think Bluebeard, but darker, weirder, and cooler.
My absolute favourite part about this tale is the last page, when everything finally clicks and you realise, without needing to be told, that Beware, friends- this is one of the gorier stories, as it depicts dismembered limbs and reanimated corpses and such. But it's never overly gory.
His Face All Red
★★★★☆
"But three days later my brother came from the woods. (Most strange things do.) The joy. The joy on all their faces... but it couldn't be him. It couldn't be."
Most strange things come from the woods. Beasts, madmen, and occasionally something...
...darker.
This is a pretty open-ended story, not everything is explained, but that's the case with most of the tales in Through the Woods. If you're the type of reader who needs everything to be explained and figured out, then you might be irritated by this book, and especially this story. But if you're like me and you can enjoy a good story without needing to know all of its secrets, you'll love this. Part of the creepiness in this collection emanates from the unknowns in every story, and how one must use one's imagination to fill in the deliberate blanks.
But, getting back to this one. It's the story of two brothers, a beast, a hole, and what happens in the darkness of the woods when nobody else is around. Plus, Mrs. Carroll has it posted on her website, so you can read it for free here!
My Friend Janna
★★★☆☆
"I admit, at the time, we thought it a splendid diversion. Because I was what waited within the walls of Janna's mother's house. No ghosts, no spirits. No demons. 'Are you there, O visitors? O otherworldly things, O creatures of the faraway darkness!'
Me, who would scratch and kick when I heard my cue. Me, who would shake the plates from the wall."
While I really liked the premise- two friends, Janna and Yvonne, who trick their neighbours into thinking that Janna can speak to the dead- I wasn't crazy about the execution. I was never really sure why, or how, or by what And while I loved reading Janna's nonsensical notes, I wish they were explained more than just "Oh well Janna's gone bonkers look at this stupid stuff she's written".
The Nesting Place
★★★☆☆
Mabel, nicknamed Bell, spends summer vacation at her older brother's house, ringed by ominous woods she's been warned to stay out of and an unsettling feeling from the cook, Madame Beauchamp, and Bell's brother's mysteriously cheery wife, Rebecca.
This story is remarkable because it reads a lot like a book condensed into a few pages. It has a great plot, characters with backstories, mysteries, twists, and, in keeping with the theme, monsters. In fact, I loved the monsters in this one, because I've always been a fan of monsters that burrow deep within you and whom you don't realise are there until it's too late. They're the scariest kind, in my opinion, and they're the ones that grace the freakish pages of The Nesting Place.
So why only three stars, then? Well... I just didn't get it. It felt like it had been building up to a bigger reveal then the typical This is definitely the goriest story, though, so be warned. There's some pretty startling imagery, such as: Yeah. Ick.
In Conclusion
★★★★★
A really, really wonderful and short conclusion in the vein of Little Red Riding Hood, which closes up the collection with this amazing quote:
On this book as a whole, I have to agree with J. Caleb Mozzocco, who wrote in his review that, "Through the Woods is thus a completely 21st-century form used to tell new stories that read as if they could have been centuries old." And while I would love to say that this hauntingly beautiful collection is perfect for Halloween, I would really recommend reading it in the cold of winter, when the darkness of the woods and the things that wait within can truly come to life.
P.S. Also! Emily Carroll has a bunch of other cool stuff on her website, my favourite being an interactive comic/story called Margot's Room
P.P.S. This book pairs incredibly well with the song In the Woods Somewhere by Hozier. They are perfect together.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 10,588 reviews