In the House in the Dark of the Woods

The eerie, disturbing story of one of our perennial fascinations -- witchcraft in colonial America -- wrapped up in a lyrical novel of psychological suspense. "Once upon a time there was and there wasn't a woman who went to the woods." In this horror story set in colonial New England, a law-abiding Puritan woman goes missing. Or perhaps she has fled or abandoned her family. Or perhaps she's been kidnapped, and set loose to wander in the dense woods of the north. Alone and possibly lost, she meets another woman in the forest. Then everything changes. On a journey that will take her through dark woods full of almost-human wolves, through a deep well wet with the screams of men, and on a living ship made of human bones, our heroine may find that the evil she flees has been inside her all along. In the House in the Dark of the Woods is a novel of psychological horror and suspense told in Laird Hunt's characteristically lyrical prose style. It is the story of a bewitching, a betrayal, a master huntress and her quarry. It is a story of anger, of evil, of hatred and of redemption. It is the story of a haunting, a story that makes up the bedrock of American mythology, told in a vivid way you will never forget.
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Community Reviews
For me the book had a slow start, but I was easily hooked by the atmosphere and writing style. Enjoyed it so much I practically absorbed the last half of the book. I also feel it's a 3.5🌟 read and will clearly read this author again.
Laird Hunt captured exactly what it's like to describe a dream or nightmare to someone else. In this case, a fever dream set during Colonial times. While I understand why some people found it confusing, it was an easy read for me.. being the dreamer that I am. You feel the main characters curiosity entering into the woods, searching for herself and crossing paths with spirits and entities who play off of her lost and wandering mind. You get wrapped up in the goodness of the characters and are shocked right alongside the main character when their masks are ripped off exposing their true evil. Honestly, it reads like your classic fairy tale before Disney pours sugar all over it. This book is about the main character, Goody's, self discovery. Her re-evaluation of the way she was raised and her core beliefs, what it means to be a mother and wife in the time period this book takes place in and making the choice for herself, who SHE want to be and the life she truly wants... Just written in a dark and very macabre tone! Im only giving it three stars because I was hoping for an element of scare that just wasn't there, but I definitely didn't hate it.
a neat little fairy tale/folk horror