Through the Woods

Product Information

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. TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. E mily Carroll's Through the Woods mesmerizes and inspires; a Victorian gothic playground haunted by Mary Shelley & Edward Gorey, awash in the dream-like haze of Odilon Redon, and composed with the poetic elegance of Ukiyo-e. I loved it." Disappeared Dad: Justified. The father of the the three girls died from the extreme cold after going out hunting for food in the woods.

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! 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 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.Helpless Window Death: The story "My Friend Janna" climaxes with Yvonne watching helplessly from outside Janna's house as Janna is apparently murdered in front of her window by the "ghost" that has been haunting Janna. 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.

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… 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…They Would Cut You Up: Bell tells the monster that its children would be at danger of being captured and experimented on (among other things) if they went to live in the city. This leaves the monster so afraid that it changes its mind and decides to stay away from the city to protect its children. 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. 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.

Hannah wears a white dress and a yellow cloak, which emphasizes her youth and innocence. Of the three sisters, she doesn't really understand everything that's going on, including the importance of surviving a heavy snowstorm and the ramifications of their father's death. 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. 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. At the 2014 Doug Wright Awards, Carroll won the Pigskin Peters Award, which "recognizes the best in experimental, non-traditional or avant-garde comics". She was also nominated for the Doug Wright Spotlight Award in 2012. [22]

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. Canadian comics writer Emily Carroll has produced a graphic debut that blends the gothic strangeness of Tim Burton with the macabre illustrations of Edward Gorey to create a wonderfully chilling collection of tales. 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.

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 am a bit torn on this collection. It is evident that Emily Carroll is a skillful artist and writer. The graphics for this collection are beautiful and striking. But, the stories left me feeling flat. They seemed rushed and because they seem rushed the setting that Carroll creates doesn’t have the buildup necessary for it to be effective. 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. Woerner, Meredith (17 July 2014). "Exclusive Horror Story From The Absolutely Chilling Through The Woods". io9.

Develop

The Ghost: The girls' neighbor is only alluded to by Beth and her family, with their father instructing them to go to their neighbor's house if he doesn't return from his hunting trip. Beth hopes that the neighbor will grant her and her sisters safety from the snowstorm. But after losing both of her sisters, Beth travels to the neighbor's house alone and discovers, through the presence of the man with the wide-brimmed hat, that their neighbor has already died. 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. 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. 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.