An Appalachian Horror-Mystery Novel: “The Woods Are Waiting” by Katherine Greene https://ift.tt/38NmHhU
For those looking to escape the summer heat by slipping into a somewhat-spooky mystery novel, The Woods Are Waiting by Katherine Greene is a perfect choice. The Woods Are Waiting brings together elements of thriller, mystery, and horror genres to immerse readers in the Appalachian forest. In the fictional town of Blue Cliff, Virginia, young children have been missing and murdered in groups of three every few years since the town’s founding, and the townspeople cling to superstitions about the Hickory Man, a local legend believed responsible for the murders. However, five years ago, right before Cheyenne Ashby moved away, an “outta-towner” named Jasper Clinton was convicted of the most recent murders. When the novel begins, new DNA evidence has led to Jasper’s release, another boy is missing, and the whole town is on edge.
When Cheyenne left, she was fed up with her mother’s strange behavior and witchy reputation, especially after the last three children went missing and Jasper was convicted. But with yet another local child missing, Cheyenne returns home to help her mother cope and finds that the truth is far more unsettling than she imagined. The novel alternates between the perspectives of Cheyenne and her former best friend, Natalie. The two have not spoken since Cheyenne moved away, but despite their long separation, they quickly find themselves working together to solve the latest in a string of small-town tragedies.
Tensions run high in the town partly because townspeople blame Natalie’s father, the prosecuting attorney, for letting Jasper get away. They refuse to believe that Jasper is actually innocent. Locals claim to have seen him around town, and some of them even burn down his family’s home. Even a local Peeping Tom, recently released from prison, does not warrant as much suspicion from locals as an “outta-towner” like Jasper. Though there has been a pattern of missing children over many years in Blue Cliff, the people want to believe that an outsider is responsible, echoing many true crime cases in which someone “passing through” is suspected rather than someone familiar with the local geography.
The Woods Are Waiting has mystery novel aspects as well, but Cheyenne and Natalie aren’t detectives or even true crime enthusiasts. Their efforts to uncover the truth are purely personal, and their limited first-person perspectives allow the red herrings to pack more of a punch. The women suspect a couple of different people. Still, the possibilities are not numerous enough to create confusion, and each possible suspect makes enough sense to propel the story forward. At some points, I even caught myself skipping ahead for a glimpse of what would happen next.
Intertwined with the mystery of the missing children are parallel explorations of belonging and independence. Cheyenne, who wanted to leave Blue Cliff, is drawn back to the town, to her mother, and to her high school friend group as the novel progresses. Natalie, who stayed behind, has spent the past several years in a difficult relationship with her high school boyfriend, now fiance, Hunter. His younger brother was one of the three children killed years earlier, and he and his family still deal with the trauma of that loss daily. With the current case weighing heavily on his mind, his relationship with Natalie reaches a boiling point, and Cheyenne’s presence does nothing to ease the tension. Natalie has to decide whether she will continue to tolerate poor treatment, excusing it because of Hunter’s grief, or whether she will find her own way forward with the support of her newly returned friend.
In the end, the crimes appear to be solved, but the mysterious landscape of Blue Cliff and the Hickory Woods lingers. Could the Hickory Man be real despite what our protagonists have discovered? Could there be both human and supernatural forces at play? Several instances in the novel suggest that more-than-human forces are at work within the narrative. The resolution does not fully explain away every odd incident, and for those of us who have spent time in the forests of Appalachia, it’s not hard to believe that there could be something else out there. The added layer of supernatural horror elevates The Woods Are Waiting from an interesting thriller to a multifaceted exploration of how superstition and legend can operate alongside all too human horrors.
Katherine Greene is the collaborative pen name of A. Meredith Walters and Claire C. Riley. Their debut thriller The Woods Are Waiting is now available in paperback, and their next book, The Lake of Lost Girls, is scheduled for publication in November 2024.
FICTION The Woods Are Waiting
By Katherine Greene
Crooked Lane Books
Published July 11, 2023
Paperback July 23, 2024
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