What Lives in the Woods
by Lindsay CurrieAlso by this author: Scritch Scratch
Published by: Sourcebooks Young Readers on September 14, 2021
Genres: Middle Grade, Horror, Paranormal
Pages: 320
Format: eBook
Source: Library
Rating:
Welcome to the decrepit Woodmoor Manor…where something in the woods is always watching. From the author of Scritch Scratch comes a chilling middle grade story about a creepy mansion and sinister creatures in the woods.
All Ginny Anderson wants from her summer is to relax. But when Ginny's father—a respected restoration expert in Chicago—surprises the family with a month-long trip to Michigan, everything changes. They aren't staying in a hotel like most families would. No, they're staying in a mansion. A twenty-six room, century-old building surrounded by dense forest. Woodmoor Manor.
Locals claim the surrounding woods are inhabited by mutated creatures that escaped a mad scientist over a hundred years ago. And some say campers routinely disappear never to be seen again.
When the creaky floors and shadowy corners of the mansion seem to take on a life of their own, Ginny uncovers the wildest mystery of all: there's more than one legend roaming Saugatuck, Michigan, and they definitely aren't after campers.
They're after her.
Content Tags:
Perfect for readers who want:
- Spooky, atmospheric middle grade horror that gives you goosebumps.
- The perfect fall read.
- Beautifully written sibling bonds in the face of adversity.
- Bookworms and book lovers.
- Haunted houses and creepy woods.
- A compelling mystery that’ll hook readers.
Ever since reading and loving Scritch Scratch last year, I’ve been determined to just read everything Lindsay Currie releases. It’s a pretty safe bet, honestly. This book, though, instantly captured my attention because, one, who the heck doesn’t love haunted house stories?! Especially haunted houses sitting on the edge of what might be haunted woods with plenty of local legends about them? Count me in! Do I need to spend the night there to get a copy? Because I’m still in!
What Lives in the Woods is a spooky middle grade book featuring an aspiring mystery writer, a haunted house, and all sorts of spine-tingling occurrences. It’s the perfect fall read!
Currie lives up to her previous books in this standalone novel, creating a wonderfully spooky atmosphere that wasn’t necessarily scary (so perfect for a middle grade audience) but definitely inspired goosebumps. The mystery instantly hooked me, and I wanted to find out more. Plus, I really connected with Ginny, who wants to be a mystery writer (and definitely doesn’t want to live in an old, creepy house, which is weird, but okay, fine). After finishing this, I’m already super eager to pick up The Girl in White, which is Currie’s next book and comes out on September 6! I obviously can’t get enough of this author’s spooky books.
Welcome to Woodmore Manor, a sprawling 26-room, century-old structure that is currently under restoration. Oh, and it happens to be haunted by . . . something. Locals can’t decide what, but they all agree that it’s bad news.
Doesn’t that sound exactly like where you want to spend your summer vacation?! Okay, not gonna lie, I would definitely love to spend my summer vacation there . . . or any vacation, really. Ginny Anderson, though, obviously has much more survival instinct than I do, and isn’t keen on having to give up her summer plans to stay in some creepy murder house. Which . . . okay, that’s maybe kind of fair.
Woodmore Manor, on the surface, sounds absolutely amazing. If you’re into old houses or any sort of restoration projects, there’s a lot of promise there at Woodmore to catch your interest. Despite being abandoned for a very long time, it’s not necessarily in a state of disrepair. It’s more of a case of staggering under its local legends, which aren’t exactly positive. Not that many local legends are. Not everyone in town thinks Woodmore Manor deserves a makeover and a second chance at life.
“Oh, just that everyone here believes mutant creatures live in the woods around the mansion.” Hitchhikers. That’s what the locals call the creatures with large heads they swear prowl around the woods that surround the mansion. Rumor has it a mad scientist was performing horrible experiments on people a hundred years ago, and they became these twisted-up creatures. One day the creatures killed the doctor, escaped into the woods, and created a tunnel system where they supposedly live today. Some people swear they’ve seen glowing eyes watching them from the woods at night. Others say if you stop your car for too long, they’ll crawl under it and ride home with you.
Ginny is an entirely relatable protagonist: a reader, an Agatha Christie fanatic, and an aspiring mystery writer in her own right. Only, she’s discovering that writing a mystery is a lot more fun than living a mystery.
Bookish readers, in particular, will relate to Ginny’s affection for reading, even if mystery isn’t their preferred genre. There’s definitely a sort of familiarity for bookworms with any character who loves books. Especially ones that read them to study the craft in order to be writers themselves.
Agatha Christie is Ginny’s favorite author, which one might assume is perfect, given the fact that Ginny is about to find herself smack dab in the middle of her own mystery. Surely she can do what Hercule Poirot does, right?! Unfortunately, Ginny learns that real-life mysteries aren’t quite as exciting (or as easy to solve) as fictional mysteries.
I enjoyed the way Ginny used her love for Agatha Christie mysteries to convince herself to continue with her own mystery. There are times she has to ask herself what would Hercule do? The answer isn’t always what she wants it to be, but it helps her work through next steps for solving the mystery. Sometimes, it even gives her the bravery she needs to do the hard things. Because mysteries look so easy on paper, but they take a lot of bravery, dedication, and some help in real life. (I realize Ginny’s mystery is still a fictional mystery, but the point is that I enjoyed the realism of Ginny’s struggle!)
No, she didn’t write all those books alone. Agatha had a whole team of people at her publisher helping her. I didn’t expect Leo to know that, though. In fact, I didn’t really even expect him to remember her name. Maybe he pays more attention than I thought.
One of my favorite things about Currie’s writing is the way she writes siblings! Ginny and Leo are no exception to that. They don’t always get along, and sure, they endlessly tease each other and get on each other’s nerves. But when it really matters, they’ve got each other’s backs.
Ginny and Leo’s interactions always crack me up. Sometimes they’re as childish as one might expect of their age, trying to get the other in trouble or teasing the other for getting in trouble. That’s just how siblings work. I have enough of them that I should know. The way they give each other a hard time cracks me up and reminds me of my siblings.
The best part about their dynamic, though, is that as different as they are, they still care very much about each other. And if something is messing with one of them, the other is going to step up and help out. Because that’s how siblings roll. The mystery is very much Ginny’s, and it’s her to solve, but that doesn’t mean Leo’s going to let her tackle it all by herself. The way the siblings come together to help each other is heartwarming and everything I want to see in middle grade fiction.
A little piece of me is grateful to hear that. Most of the time I don’t think Leo would throw a bucket of water on me if I were on fire. But right now, in this dark hallway with who knows what prowling around my bedroom, I think he actually cares. Taking a long, deep breath, I refocus on his face. It looks determined.
“Okay, but if we die, I’m blaming you.”
Currie is a master at establishing a creepy atmosphere that gives readers goosebumps and has them jumping at the shadows in the night.
I want to be clear that this book is still middle grade scary and perfectly appropriate for readers that age. But doesn’t that, in some ways, make it even scarier? I don’t mean in the way that middle graders themselves are terrifying (and I assure you, I have one, and they are). Adults are used to the real horrors of the world, so when faced with the unknown, it’s all the more terrifying!
I am utterly addicted to the atmosphere that Currie cultivates in her books. It isn’t always scary (I mean, it has to be day at some point, right? And everyone knows spooky stuff doesn’t happen during the day . . . mostly). When it is, though, I love the feeling that something is lurking on the next page, waiting to get the reader! If you’ve ever watched Are You Afraid of the Dark obsessively, the way my daughter and I have, you’ll recognize this sort of feel. Currie manages to create that creeping dread beautifully without having a ton of overtly scary things happen.
I’m just about to walk away when I hear the crunching again. It’s closer than before. Too close. I take a step back, but it’s too late. The bushes begin shaking, and a horrible, gut-wrenching squall pierces the silence. A dark shadow bursts out of the woods and runs directly at me. I stumble over a cement parking block and fall. Pain shoots up my thigh. Out of instinct I shield my face, hoping that whatever hideous forest monster I’ve awakened will eat something other than that. I did just get my braces off.
The resolution felt sort of sudden, rushed, and easy. After all the tension that’s built throughout the novel, the big reveal sort of took the wind out of my sails a little bit.
Resolutions in middle grade books are hard, especially when it comes to horror or mystery, because it still has to be within the wheelhouse of what’s acceptable for the age category. I get that. I loved the resolution for Scritch Scratch, though!
Here, the resolution felt a bit easy and unearned, especially after what all the characters have been through. I wanted something a little more that tied everything together a bit tighter and not necessarily have been so neat and tidy of a conclusion.
That’s obviously a very personal preference, though, and what didn’t work as well for me might very well be what someone else wants from their ending!
About Lindsay Currie
Lindsay Currie loves a great mystery, and is the author of a number of award-winning mystery books for young readers. Her titles include THE PECULIAR INCIDENT ON SHADY STREET (2017, S&S) and SCRITCH SCRATCH (2020, Sourcebooks Young Readers), WHAT LIVES IN THE WOODS (2021, Sourcebooks Young Readers) and the forthcoming THE GIRL IN WHITE (2022, Sourcebooks Young Readers).
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This sounds like it has the right amount of spookiness for MG readers. Wonderful review!
Wendy recently posted…New Releases in August 2022 That I’m Excited About!
It does! Right amount of spookiness for scaredy cats like me, too. 😛
This sounds cool! Middle grade scary is the right kind of scary to me—I’d much rather have the scary be something unknown (as in common in MG horror) than body horror (as is currently common in adult horror).
Nicole @ BookWyrm Knits recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday ~ Books Set In a Place I’d Love to Visit
Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of body horror, either. Probably why I enjoy MG horror so much, too. 🙂