Through The Woods, Stories by Emily Carrol

Title:  Through The Woods
Author: Emily Carroll
Illustrator:  Emily Carroll
Publisher:  Margaret K. McElderry Books (imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division)
Copyright: 2014
Price: $21.99
ISBN: 978-1442465954
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Summary and Quick Thoughts: Five stories. Five haunting stories about the woods, monsters, and fears unspoken. Each story takes you to a different time and to a different fear. The first story, "Our Neighbor's House" is in the later part of the 19th Century. Three sisters are left alone while their father goes out. When the red sun sets, the middle sister knows her father is dead. One by one her sisters meet a man with a wide-brimmed hat and disappear. The second, "A Lady's Hands Are Cold," tells of a lady in the 1700s who marries a man. She hears voices and destroys their house to find the parts of the first wife. The third story, "His Face All Red," is in an unknown time period. A younger brother saw his brother die, so why is his brother back and why won't he meet his eye? The fourth story, "My Friend Janna," involves two girls: one who sees ghosts and the other who doesn't. They fake seances together until one girl is haunted. The last story, "The Nesting Place," in the 1920s, involves a monster and I'll leave it there. Some people lived, and some people...well, did they live or die? That is the question. The connecting thread to the stories are the intro and epilogue about the reader (maybe author?) and the fears she had while reading stories at night.
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Recommended Audience: teens and older
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Things to be aware of: gore
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Further Thoughts: CREEPY, but delightfully so. The only story that really freaked me out was "The Nesting Place." When I first glanced through it, I thought there was no way I could read the story, it would give me nightmares. I started the book and kept reading and found myself skimming over "The Nesting Place."

Emily Carroll utilizes colors and images wonderfully. Each story has a pervading color, but all stories have a strong red that weaves in and out of the stories.  The colors are striking in the story "A Lady's Hands Are Cold," where there is blue, yellow, and red splashed against black. The rest of the stories use brown and some blue, with the bold red. The art is probably what makes the stories all the more haunting.

For me, this reminds me of a book I have from Dame Darcy (I don't remember the title) and the stories written by Angela Carter. Haunting, and ending on just the right note to make you question what you read. It is a haunting, satisfying horror read. I know I'll think of it every so often (like Angela Carter's stories and Dame Darcy's work). If I personally owned it, I'd pull it from my shelf to read it occasionally.

Overall feeling: If you have fans of horror, or even fans of Gothic Literature, this is a must have. Actually, I just highly recommend this. It's delightful, in a creepy way.
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Source: Library