I love the way horror novels are often tied to a specific, vividly rendered place: a scary house, a sinister hospital, a remote stretch of woods. Today I’m drilling down on that last one, with a few horror novels where characters bring something unexpected back from their wilderness adventures. These novels also share a focus on close friendships and the ties that bind.
Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
“Nature is calling—but they shouldn’t have answered” – that’s the publisher’s hook, and wow did it hook me. Nick and Augustin, mountaineers and friends, decided to tackle a remote peak in the Swiss Alps called Le Maudit (meaning cursed, in French), but got the weird feeling they weren’t alone on the slopes. Only Nick came back from the mountain, but he brought something home within him. Sam, Nick’s boyfriend, delves into the history of Le Maudit, even as people begin to die strange, violent deaths at the hospital where Nick is recuperating. Sam’s notes alternate with Nick’s diary entries in this atmospheric, creepy novel. Continue reading “Horror: What We Bring Back From the Woods”