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A review by darlaslays
Through the Woods by E.M. Carroll
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
There are 5 short stories, plus an introduction story and ending story that are even shorter. I enjoyed the spooky atmosphere and the relatable feelings of dread that each story highlighted in relation to these topics. The things that I’m afraid of that I recognized in the stories include the following:
Introduction: Darkness and the monsters that hide within it.
1. Losing family members until you are left alone by yourself as a result of uncontrollable external forces. Also, these events could have been avoided if basic instructions were followed.
2. Your husband is hiding something big from you and has skeletons in his closet. It haunts you and keeps you up at night when you’re trying to sleep. In this story, it’s a literal skeleton— more specifically, fragments of his ex’s corpse all over the house. It beckons you to do some digging on his ex and piece together who they were so it stops bugging you, but it makes everything worse when you find out all the nice stuff you have now was his ex’s so you just leave his ass instead of dealing with all this baggage .
3. Jealousy and wanting approval from others can make you do horrible things. You will be haunted by and suffer from the consequences of these actions.
4. Lying to others and deceiving them is an insidious force that causes you to lose yourself as you lose track of what is real. You don’t communicate in a straightforward way and hide things out of fear to your loved ones, so everyone gets hurt and confused in the end when the “truth” comes out.
5. Nobody knows who you really are on the inside, so who would notice if you disappeared or got replaced?
Ending: Your safety means that have to be hyper-aware and on guard at all times. You can avoid unwanted situations over and over again, but it only takes one wrong move from you for things to end badly. Especially if you follow the same routines and take the same routes over a long period of time.
Introduction: Darkness and the monsters that hide within it.
1.
2. Your husband is hiding something big from you and has skeletons in his closet. It haunts you and keeps you up at night when you’re trying to sleep.
3. Jealousy and wanting approval from others can make you do horrible things. You will be haunted by and suffer from the consequences of these actions.
4. Lying to others and deceiving them is an insidious force that causes you to lose yourself as you lose track of what is real. You don’t communicate in a straightforward way and hide things out of fear to your loved ones, so everyone gets hurt and confused in the end when the “truth” comes out.
5. Nobody knows who you really are on the inside, so who would notice if you disappeared or got replaced?
Ending: Your safety means that have to be hyper-aware and on guard at all times. You can avoid unwanted situations over and over again, but it only takes one wrong move from you for things to end badly. Especially if you follow the same routines and take the same routes over a long period of time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Stalking, and Death of parent
Minor: Domestic abuse