The Gothic Wonder of Emily Carroll’s Through the Woods

For fans of: Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Gillman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and Grimdark fiction

The creeping dread of Shirley Jackson at her best, the gothic set pieces of subverted Grim Fairy Tales, the pacing and gut-punch endings of Bradbury’s best horror shorts. Emily Carroll’s 2014 collection, Through the Woods, does all of the above in every story. The collection contains 5 chill-inducing comics, plus a wrap-around biographical tale. 

Carroll, who resides in Stratford, Ontario, first came onto my radar when I was looking for new Horror comics to share with my English students. On her website (emcarroll.com), Carroll has a number of her comics for free, including “His Face All Red”, which is also published in Through the Woods. Carroll uses a seemingly simple illustration style, reminiscent of something child-friendly and safe. This leads the reader to let their guard down, and so when the Horror hits, the impact is all the more resonant. 

The Horror in Through the Woods ranges from the quiet dread of being alone in the woods to full on body horror in the vein of Junji Ito. 

It’s tough to pick a favourite story from the collection, and my choice is constantly changing. One story that conjures dread from the first panel is the first in the collection, “Our Neighbour’s House”. Three sisters are left alone when their father leaves their isolated house in the woods. He doesn’t return when he’s supposed to, and so one-by-one, the sisters leave to seek refuge in their neighbour’s house. Without spoiling too much, the pastoral setting and quiet dread gave me serious The VVITCH vibes. 

I can’t recommend Through the Woods enough. There’s something in here for every Horror fan, and you can even share this with your teen readers. 

Purchase Link –(CAN), (USA)

Direct Website – www.emcarroll.com  

Rating: 5 Fingers Hidden in the Walls Out of 5

Review by Ian A. Bain

Twitter: @bainwrites

I purchased this book