Woods play an important and recurring role in horror, fantasy, the gothic, and the weird. They are places in which strange things happen, where you often can't see where you are or what is around you. Supernatural creatures thrive in the thickets. Trees reach into underworlds of earth, myth, and magic. Forests are full of ghosts. In this new collection, immerse yourself in the whispering voices between the branches in Wistman's Wood on Dartmoor, witness an inexplicable death in Yorkshire's Strid Wood and prepare yourself for an encounter with malignant pagan powers in the dark of the New Forest. This edition also includes notes on the real locations and folklore which inspired these deliciously sinister stories.
Gothic gay romance in the stormy coastal woods of the Pacific Northwest. On a downward spiral after a horrifying loss, wealthy New York photographer James Worthington Crane flees to the rural Oregon Coast in search of a puzzling inheritance. But when he pulls into the decaying seaside town of Brooks, everyone seems to mistake him for a bad boy named Beau. Now James must push through his grief to unravel a tangled web of family secrets...with help from a soft-spoken local contractor by the name of Hunter. Hunter Quaid’s been on his own since the age of fifteen. It’s taken years of hard work and healing to build the simple life he has now, fixing up seaside houses while living alone by the river. Then James blows in like a winter storm, disturbing the peace and stirring up dreams Hunter thought he’d given up. As their lives and histories intertwine in unexpected ways, they find out what it means to know where you belong. From the author of Merrick and Hidden Talents comes an eerie, sensual romance inspired by the rugged beauty and offbeat history of Pacific Northwest timber country. In Strange Woods moves through ancient old-growth forests, abandoned logging roads, ramshackle seaside towns, decaying homesteads, coastal highways, and the stories hidden in the trees. This book contains references to grief, mental illness, alcohol abuse, suicidal ideation, suicide and murder. A detailed list of content warnings can be found on the author's website. Reviews for In Strange Woods "I was dragged into the forest and lost among the trees until the very last word ... a mystery and a thriller and a romance all woven together in a stunningly well written story." -Wine Drunk Reviews "Enthusiastically recommended." -Boy Meets Boy Reviews "A really well-written hurt/comfort mystery story that provides a well-deserved happy ending." -Love Bytes "Refreshingly different, with characters who are real, but at the same time straight from our fantasies. Most of all for me, it is fantastic how it utterly transforms soul-sucking devastation to a new beginning, full of love, promise and joy." -Kimmers Erotic Book Banter "The book feels both special and unusual and the characters are real and raw and flawed--and wonderfully relatable. The writing borrows from the Gothic tradition; the descriptions of coastal Oregon are dark and eerie and there is a fabulous sense of claustrophobia despite the immense open spaces." -Wicked Reads "In Strange Woods has exactly what I love in a book -- a bit of everything. Offering suspense, surprising reveals, a quiet romance with undeniable chemistry, great characters, poignant moments, and some heartbreak, this story completely ensnared me." -Bayou Book Junkie "Both James and Hunter's characters were so easy to become attached to with every page read ... and don't even get me started on their incredible chemistry physically. It will have you rooting for them to stay together permanently just like I was." -Making it Happen "This intriguing adult gothic gay story has interesting twists that keep one turning the pages, and beautiful imagery that immerses one in the unique area of the Northwest ... an eerie and entertaining read." -The Reading Addict
A beautifully tangled story of friendship, fairy tales, and family secrets. For those who loved Pax and The War That Saved My Life. A Kirkus Best Middle Grade Book of 2017 An Amazon Best Book of 2017 A 2018 Bank Street College Best Book of the Year A Telegraph Top 50 Book of the Year Everyone is too busy to pay attention to Henrietta and the things she sees -- or thinks she sees -- in the shadows of their new home, Hope House. Mama is ill. Father has taken a job abroad. Nanny Jane is busy taking care of her younger sister. All alone, with only stories for company, Henry discovers that Hope House is full of strange secrets: a forgotten attic, ghostly figures, mysterious firelight that flickers in the trees beyond the garden. One night she ventures into the darkness of Nightingale Wood. What she finds there will change her whole world...
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The remarkable true story of a man who lived alone in the woods of Maine for 27 years, making this dream a reality—not out of anger at the world, but simply because he preferred to live on his own. “A meditation on solitude, wildness and survival.” —The Wall Street Journal In 1986, a shy and intelligent twenty-year-old named Christopher Knight left his home in Massachusetts, drove to Maine, and disappeared into the forest. He would not have a conversation with another human being until nearly three decades later, when he was arrested for stealing food. Living in a tent even through brutal winters, he had survived by his wits and courage, developing ingenious ways to store edibles and water, and to avoid freezing to death. He broke into nearby cottages for food, clothing, reading material, and other provisions, taking only what he needed but terrifying a community never able to solve the mysterious burglaries. Based on extensive interviews with Knight himself, this is a vividly detailed account of his secluded life—why did he leave? what did he learn?—as well as the challenges he has faced since returning to the world. It is a gripping story of survival that asks fundamental questions about solitude, community, and what makes a good life, and a deeply moving portrait of a man who was determined to live his own way, and succeeded.
The woods were insane in the dark, terrifying and magical at the same time. But best of all were the stars, which trumpeted their light into the misty dark. Castella Cresswell and her five siblings???Hannan, Casper, Mortimer, Delvive, and Jerusalem??? know what it's like to be different. For years, their world has been confined to their ramshackle family home deep in the woods of upstate New York. They abide by the strict rule of God, whose messages come directly from their father. Slowly, Castley and her siblings start to test the boundaries of the laws that bind them. But, at school, they're still the freaks they've always been to the outside world. Marked by their plain clothing. Unexplained bruising. Utter isolation from their classmates. That is, until Castley is forced to partner with the totally irritating, totally normal George Gray, who offers her a glimpse of a life filled with freedom and choice. Castley's world rapidly expands beyond the woods she knows so well and the beliefs she once thought were the only truths. There is a future waiting for her if she can escape her father's grasp, but Castley refuses to leave her siblings behind. Just as she begins to form a plan, her father makes a chilling announcement: the Cresswells will soon return to their home in heaven. With time running out on all of their lives, Castley must expose the depth of her father's lies. The forest has buried the truth in darkness for far too long. Castley might be their last hope for salvation.
In the Night Realm, vampires, shifters, weirns, and other night things passing for human prowl the streets... but they still have to go to school! Ailis and Na'ya are pretty average students (NOT losers), but when a shadow starts looming and a classmate gets all weird, they are the first to notice. It gets personal, though, when Na'ya's little brother D'esh disappears-It's time to confront the secrets of the forbidden mansion in the Silent Woods! Join the acclaimed author of Awkward, Svetlana Chmakova, for an outing into her favorite fantastical world full of magic and adventure!
Winner of the 2020 World Fantasy Award! From Astounding Award winner and Crawford Award finalist Emily Tesh An ALA RUSA Reading List Selection "A true story of the woods, of the fae, and of the heart. Deep and green and wonderful.”—New York Times bestselling author Naomi Novik There is a Wild Man who lives in the deep quiet of Greenhollow, and he listens to the wood. Tobias, tethered to the forest, does not dwell on his past life, but he lives a perfectly unremarkable existence with his cottage, his cat, and his dryads. When Greenhollow Hall acquires a handsome, intensely curious new owner in Henry Silver, everything changes. Old secrets better left buried are dug up, and Tobias is forced to reckon with his troubled past—both the green magic of the woods, and the dark things that rest in its heart. Praise for Emily Tesh's Silver in the Wood "A wildly evocative and enchanting story of old forests, forgotten gods, and new love. Just magnificent."—Jenn Lyons, author of The Ruin of Kings At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Early in the year, our North American forests come to life as native wildflowers start to push up through patches of snow. With longer days and sunlight streaming down through bare branches of towering trees, life on the forest floor awakens from its winter sleep. Plants such as green dragon, squirrel corn, and bloodroot interact with their pollinators and seed dispersers and rush to create new life before the trees above leaf out and block the sun's rays. Wake Up, Woods showcases the splendor of our warming forests and offers clues to nature's annual springtime floral show as we walk in our parks and wilderness areas, or even in shade gardens around our homes. Readers of Wake Up, Woods will see that Gillian Harris, Michael Homoya and Shane Gibson, through illustrations and text, present a captivating look into our forests' biodiversity, showing how species depend on plants for food and help assure plant reproduction. This book celebrates some of nature's most fascinating moments that happen in forests where we live and play.
