This review was written by: B
Received: Library
Date of Publication: July 15, 2014
Pages: 208
Stars: 4.5/5
-A Lady's Hands are Cold (Through the
Woods by Emily Carroll)
Through the Woods is a graphic novel littered with a collection of five short, spine-tingling stories. Emily Carroll was able to create an equally disturbing yet equally breathtaking creation that made me want to keep the lights on all night long for days after finishing this great read. The artwork was stunning and mortifying to the point where it fit the stories perfectly. The black colored theme incorporated throughout a lot of the stories also created an atmosphere of darkness that surrounded me wherever I looked.
I don't want to go into details about the stories in fear that I will ruin the entire thing for you, but I will say that I was deeply disturbed after reading this book. There are ghosts, creatures that cannot possibly be named for I have no words to describe them, deaths, murders, lies, deceit, despair, and a boarding on insanity suspense factor that wouldn't let me put down this book even if I had wanted to. Lights are definitely necessary when reading Through the Woods unless you are brave enough to flip through this in the dark! Family members disappear one by one, a husband has a sick and sinister history hidden from his new wife, the dead come back to life, a girl claims she can communicate with the deceased, and a terrifying creature comes from the woods....the strangeness continues on.
The only thing that I will say about these stories, though, is that a lot of them are open ended. For some reason, I'm always bothered by these non-conclusions! I want definite facts and endings that will officially bring closure to a piece even if they are horrible. Mysterious closings are hard to handle because you have to decide for yourself the true meaning behind what happened which basically says that I may never know what actually took place. Of course, I can easily see that this was purposeful for a further scare factor which I definitely respect. But still... I prefer closure or else I go crazy!
Through the Woods was a great yet quick read that grabbed my attention from the first page. I actually ended up reading a couple of the stories multiple times because I just couldn't get over them! So, are you brave enough to walk through the woods and encounter what waits for you in the deep, dark blackness?
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