In the House in the Dark of the Woods

 

In the House in the Dark of the Woods by Laird Hunt was published by Little Brown and Company in 2018. This is a dark adult fairy tale with psychological and paranormal horror elements set in colonial New England. It is short but it is intense with witches, spirits, murder, betrayal, and self discovery. Trigger warnings for abuse and psychological elements.

I would like to get my thoughts out of the way before going into detail about this book. I went into this story blind, randomly grabbing it off the library shelf on a whim after I read the opening words "Once upon a time there was and there wasn't a woman who went to the woods." I didn't read the description, I didn't look up anything about it. I just grabbed it and jumped right in.

As I read, I enjoyed identifying the fairy tale elements that I have read before while also being pleased to find this was an original story and not a retelling of one I was already familiar with. I also liked how I was never sure if I could trust the main character's perspective, she is called Goody by the other characters but she never gives her real name, and if the odd elements that she notices at the beginning of the story are hinting at something darker or if she is slowly loosing her mind. As the book progresses, it takes a turn towards the weird and paranormal as the reader starts to realize what exactly is happening in these woods and the events of her own past. 

i will say the ending feels both sudden and unfinished, yet somehow perfect for this story. There is a pattern taht appears about halfway through the story and the ending appears to be a renewal of that pattern. it makes sense but it doesn't necessarily leave you relieved and satisfied.

I ended up giving this a 3.5 star on GoodReads. i enjoyed it as I was reading it and I liked telling friends about it, but I wouldn't say it's absolutely amazing and mind blowing.

So what is this book about?  *SPOILERS AHEAD!*

Set in colonial New England, the main character has left her home to gather berries for her husband and young son. As she picks, she becomes lost int he woods, leading to her injuring her feet and becoming ill. She meets a young woman, named Captain Jane, who takes her to the home of Eliza, a strange young woman living by herself in the middle of the woods. As Goody, the name Eliza gives the main character, heals, she begins to notice strange things about Eliza and her house and the woods around her. Meanwhile, we start to get Goody's backstory through snippets of flashbacks and memories, most of which are focused on her childhood by the sea with an abusive mother and a kind by cowardly father.

Goody insists she has to get back home to her husband and son but every time she tries to leave, she finds herself drawn back to Eliza's house. One night, she awakens to discover there is something wrong in the house. The next day she's visited by a strange little girl who gives her some bark that allows her to see the world as it actually is. Frightened, she runs away from Eliza only to meet Granny Someone who tries to eat her, and then goes with Captain Jane to visit a man Goody met during her childhood. 

She returns home only to realize she is unhappy in her marriage and decides to return to the house in the woods to help Eliza, not realizing she was being tricked into being trapped inside the house and continuing the cycle that a mysterious figure has set in motion for the women who enter the woods. Eliza, now freed from her name and house, returns to her home only to discover she is unhappy as a good wife and mother and desires to return to the woods again, this time taking up the new mantle of Captain Jane. 

The story ends with Goody's son, now older, leaving home and wandering into the woods to find his mother.

I feel like this is the type of book you read in a college class and have several long discussions on just to dig down past the strange and into the real meaning of the story. I do think there is something else here, or at least one could argue that, besides witches, magic, and deals with the devil, and I have a feeling it is connected to the psychological trauma of being a woman in colonial America or maybe surviving an abusive childhood or even a reaction to a more traumatic experience. Unfortunately, I don't currently have the time to dig that deeply into it.

I do recommend this book, even if it's just a conversation starter or something you read once and never again. It is well written and Hunt has a great style. I'm just not sure it's a book everyone would enjoy and I don't think everyone should read it. Remember: horror fairy tale with murder and abuse. If you can handle that, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this book. Should I read more of Hunt's work? Let me know in the comments.

Until next time travelers.